The Morning Show with Jennifer and Eric

[sportsannouncer]

What happened with the Point's Morning Show with Jennifer and Eric. I read on Facebook that it was eliminated today? Any truth to that and if so, what's going on that Signal Media decided to make that change?

 

[rockclassics]

It appears to be true. Word is they were told immediately after their show on Friday morning 1/7/11. IIRC, I think Jennifer and Eric were number 2 or 3 in Central Arkansas mornings. The Point website no longer has them listed as on air personalities. A banner rotates that says Sharpe and Mike want you to listen in the mornings. Word is they are taking over the morning slot. Also there is an ad posted for an afternoon drive time personality here - http://www.allaccess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12467

Strange things happening at the Point. My guess is that a format change is the next thing on the horizon. I also see their overall ratings starting to circle the drain.

 

[sportsannouncer]

It is indeed sad that the Point has gone that way. They seemed to be a very widely respected station, but in the last year or so, they have really changed. First, Dennis Allen leaves, then Beaker Street gets dropped and now Jennifer and Eric are gone. Maybe there is a format change on the horizon, but theres a way to do things and a way not to do things.

 

[rockclassics]

There recent ratings were very good - with a large cumulative number of listeners. But the turnover of those listeners is very high. I think they are trying to get people to stick with the station and lower the turnover. I know they have adjusted the playlist so only known songs are played. To me, that means you will hear the same songs even more - which probably won't get people to listen any longer.

 

[TVJunkie12]

I don't know how much more they can trim the playlist. They've been playing the same songs every day for years now so staff changes may seem to be the only thing left. Their TSL problems may also come from having to compete with alternative media along with other stations since they don't have head to head competition in their format. When you look at the market, yes they don't have direct competition but a station like Tom FM plays enough of the usual classic rock songs to suffice many listeners but are also playing songs you don't hear every single day from different genres and those songs aren't unfamiliar enough to drive listeners away. Then there's some intangibles that could factor into it like their overall audio quality. It's not that any one in Little Rock sounds all that great but the Point's audio is very 'heavy' to listen to after a while-not quite as bad as the awful sounding Crain stations but still fatiguing. There have been studies done by well respected audio processing designers and engineers that have shown that heavily processed audio will drive listeners off and the listener might not even realize that's why they're tuning away. I make the audio quality comments from a radio engineering standpoint as this is what I've done for many years (though not all of them in Arkansas but I am a contract engineer here now for a couple of stations and have been for a few years). My contention is that like the entire industry right now, there's probably no one solution to their problems but many. I'm not sure that the old adage is true anymore that "you can't be hurt by what you don't play". That was another idea from another time when radio was the main source for music.
Just my .02 on the matter.

 

[MN Maniac]

Good point on the overly "aggressive" processing used by KKPT. Really, there is no need for this. Overprocessing is often used by rimshots and others to compensate for lack of signal strength. But as one of the 4 original Little Rock proper FMs and a full Class C stick (the others are 95.7, 98.5, and 103.7), this isn't necessary. That signal can and could be heard everywhere, even without the heavy lean on the audio processors. Before their local 94.1 fired up, you could hear it almost to Memphis while driving I-40.

One thing KKPT *does* need to do is get consistency regarding the versions of songs they play. Usually, they play the "album" (long) versions. But sometimes, they play the "45" (short) edits of their tunes. Two which immediately come to mind are Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" and the Little River Band's awful chopped edit of "Lady." (Why is "Lady" being played on a Classic Rock station, anyway?) Either play all album cuts or all 45 edits, but don't mix them up. It sounds strange, to say the least.

 

[LNO Rigby]

Boy, New Boss is not wasting a minute in putting his personal stamp all over The Point. What a class act!

I don't care what the separation package was, the termination of a successful morning team is nothing less than ego. In the days of Philip Jonsson, loyalty, attitude and team spirit counted for something. With the latest trend of purely automating the 7:00 PM - 6:00 AM hours (aka the FM Daytimer Syndrome), the night guy would do well to watch his posterior region.

What's going on lately at The Point reminds me of the Popsicle Stick Theorem, to wit:

Given the choice between a 200-foot polished granite obelisk or a Popsicle stick with his name on it, the New Boss tends toward the Popsicle stick. Same as it ever was.

Cheers,
Rigby
(Personal friend of the Werewolf Of Levy)

 

[rockclassics]

Boy, New Boss is not wasting a minute in putting his personal stamp all over The Point. What a class act!

I don't care what the separation package was, the termination of a successful morning team is nothing less than ego. In the days of Philip Jonsson, loyalty, attitude and team spirit counted for something. With the latest trend of purely automating the 7:00 PM - 6:00 AM hours (aka the FM Daytimer Syndrome), the night guy would do well to watch his posterior region.

What's going on lately at The Point reminds me of the Popsicle Stick Theorem, to wit:

Given the choice between a 200-foot polished granite obelisk or a Popsicle stick with his name on it, the New Boss tends toward the Popsicle stick. Same as it ever was.

Cheers,
Rigby
(Personal friend of the Werewolf Of Levy)

7PM to 5:30AM is already automated at the Point. Saturday night requests are live, but you had better only request something on their playlist.

 

[MN Maniac]

7PM to 5:30AM is already automated at the Point. Saturday night requests are live, but you had better only request something on their playlist.

Many years ago, I worked for a "Greatest Hits of the Seventies" station in Charlotte. Every few months, we'd have an "All-Request Weekend" which was very popular with the listeners. We were encouraged to air phone calls and have fun with it. Someone requested "Jeans On" by David Dundas. It wasn't on our regular playlist. However, it *was* on one of the CDs in the studio. This was before music on hard drive and I happened to know from memory which volume of Rhino's "Have a Nice Day" contained this one-hit wonder gem.

I played it, accompanied by a great phone bit with the listener who made the request. The following Monday, my boss chewed me out. "Why did you play THAT?" Well, um...because it's an all-request weekend and that's what they wanted to hear. The song wasn't a stiff: it hit #17 on the Billboard Hit 100 in 1977. Not obscure, just rare. One of those songs a station SHOULD use for "spice."

Why tell people you're going to play their requests if you have no intention of doing so? It just causes listeners to become further disillusioned with radio and tune out. Something the industry can't really afford right now.

 

[rockclassics]

7PM to 5:30AM is already automated at the Point. Saturday night requests are live, but you had better only request something on their playlist.

Many years ago, I worked for a "Greatest Hits of the Seventies" station in Charlotte. Every few months, we'd have an "All-Request Weekend" which was very popular with the listeners. We were encouraged to air phone calls and have fun with it. Someone requested "Jeans On" by David Dundas. It wasn't on our regular playlist. However, it *was* on one of the CDs in the studio. This was before music on hard drive and I happened to know from memory which volume of Rhino's "Have a Nice Day" contained this one-hit wonder gem.

I played it, accompanied by a great phone bit with the listener who made the request. The following Monday, my boss chewed me out. "Why did you play THAT?" Well, um...because it's an all-request weekend and that's what they wanted to hear. The song wasn't a stiff: it hit #17 on the Billboard Hit 100 in 1977. Not obscure, just rare. One of those songs a station SHOULD use for "spice."

Why tell people you're going to play their requests if you have no intention of doing so? It just causes listeners to become further disillusioned with radio and tune out. Something the industry can't really afford right now.

Interesting story. I wonder how many calls request shows get these days? I think a lot of people have given up calling radio stations since they know that there is probably no one there and that the show is voice tracked.

 

[sportsannouncer]

What's really interesting is the sheer number of people who don't actually realize that certain shifts are not live. One station I broadcast high school sports was automated at nighttime and one of the TV guys(when I simulcast live radio and tape delayed cable TV) would tell me that while they were up all Friday night/Saturday morning editing the TV portion of the game, that people would call at all hours, wanting to request a song. MN, that was a very interesting story you told.