The way I see radio

[BillParcells]

As you all know I’m the World's greatest football coach but most do not know i pretty much know everything about everything else.

As I sit here and watch Tony Romo screw up again I’m reminded of the fact Football is a lot like Radio. EGO!
Egos have to be put in check. As the Cowboy's were in transition in the early 60's and then again in 88 and now post Triplet era RADIO is in transition.

I'm hearing too many goddamn Tony Romo's on the air. Just last sat night after consuming turkey leftovers that my precious wife prepared, I’m listening to The Wolf and what do i hear? Some girly girl squealing on the air that sounded like she was 13 years old!!! Then i tune over to 96.3 and hear what i thought was a radio station from Tyler, Texas but no it was indeed my once favorite station KSCS. The on air personality was totally lost. Sounded unprepared at best. I'm hearing this all over the radio dial. What is going on with management/programming these days to allow this on the air in the 5th largest radio market? Where's the common sense and leadership? The Ticket has gone from clever men's humor to outright bathroom humor. They still can't get the breaks right!!!!

And before you start to call me an old washed up fart let me remind you how many young bucks out there screwing things up!!! Hell some of the people on the radio these days couldn't carry my water. I could jock better than you blind!!!!

Now before you get out the anointing water with this HD bull shit let me make a prediction. If radio doesn't get off it's ass and realize TALENT is the key to saving the industry you'll all wind up like a second rate football team like the Houston Texans.

Now on to a bit of constructive criticism concerning a new talker on KLIF Jeff Bolton. Before you start to think I’m picking on him let me say he has potential but he has a long way to go. What Jeff needs to work on is proper grammar. It's not; "he goes". It's he say's. Also work on traffic intro. Not smooth enough. In general work on the way you hand things off to the next person. Please stop all the ughs, too many. Be prepared.

I’ll be back.

 

[Robert Bass]

Me thinks you answered your own question. ;D

Bad management that don't care to pay didly squat to the board ops don't help either.

Then of coorse their's the advertizer who buy time at the lowest commun denominater.

Poor spelling and grammar aside, the age of station consolidation is, in my opinion, the most responsible cause of the shape commercial radio is in today. Clear Channel has always been one of the most loathed companies buying low and recently selling high. This is yet another sad example of “corporate egos” doing as little as possible to earn (or maybe steal) a quick buck.

R

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Well said Mr. Bass. Corporate radio held in high esteem by some as a money maker,truly never pays much attention to its consumer( listener).
Stations are now called "brands". How disgusting is that? Talent is far and few and now its the equivalent of a computer keyboard punch operator. There have been many radio stations in the past that had talent and made money. Really you say?? Yes. Why has WBAP,KRLD,KLIF,WRR,KVIL last as long as they did before the stupidity of 1996? Some are 80+ years old! Obviously someone did something right.
To hear a consultant,or a corporate owner reflect on it now,they sing the same chorus"they were losing money". They Couldn't have been that bad,if they managed to have stayed on he same freq,same calls all those years. The thing that keep them alive was solid talent, solid program directors and owners (who were broadcasters),not stock holders,or investment management firms. They got so big they lost sight. To so call "fix things" they bring in their own researchers,their own managers who never understood radio,except the off and on switch and a push button channel changer. They also lost sight of the people knowing their listeners,not by a manual printed far far away but by getting out and knowing them.
The post 1989 broadcaster doesn't understand that,because they were taught not to think for themselves,not to innovate, but immitate. That is why radio has the problems it has today,and the bland sound it emits.

 

[adguy]

You heard it here first. If satellite radio were ever to REALLY take off and radio remains in the current state that it is in, then you will see the real death of terrestrial radio. I, like most sat radio owners, only listen to certain am talkers that carry entertaining talk show hosts. For music, it's all XM for me; genre and time period. You don't need anything else with commercials, interrupting traffic reports and very lame jocks. By the way Parcells, thanks for the Texans compliment. I'm glad to hear that you think they are a 2nd rate team when in reality they are a 3rd rate team at best.

 

[gbsncmtr]

Great point, adguy. I, too, turn almost exclusively to satellite for listening to music. The only exception to this is some of the Christian music that is played during the music blocks on 91.7. That particular mix of music is not duplicated on any of the Sirius Christian channels. I also like to listen to Hal Jay on WBAP in the mornings, and from 3:00-3:20 I try to catch the intersection of the Bob and Dan/Hardline shows on The Ticket . . . 20 minutes of guaranteed daily laughs!

Other than that, I'm listening to Sirius.

 

[wbap247news]

I agree, The Ticket is one of (if not the only) station that gets it right. PERSONALITY and CHARACTER are the only advantages local radio has over streaming/satelite. I have both an iPod with 3000 songs on it and XM radio, and the Ticket is the only thing that can tear me away from that. They are new, fun, and exciting every day. They talk about local material almost all day. No other station sounds like it.

There are other great talents in this market like Hal Jay/Mark Davis to name just a couple but they are being severely mis-used. Hal is a genuinely funny man who's insights and opinions I would love to listen to but I can't stand to flip over there just to hear the one sentence at a time they let him deliver in between throwing it to the news guy, and then traffic, and then sports, and then doing it again.

When I listen to talk radio I want to feel like I'm on the same level as the speaker, like we're hanging out like buds. I don't like being preached to or lied to or yelled at like many political talkers (or Rush the blowhard). I want news and talk mixed in conversationally.

Maybe I am the only person in Dallas that feels this way. Maybe I am extremely picky. Maybe I have no idea what I am talking about. -Or maybe corporate radio has ruined all but a handful of local radio shows and they aren't even trying to fight off the rising of XM/iPod except by mimicking them (see JackFM).

 

[purpledevil]

We have a professional football team in Houston?

Where have I been? Whatever it is I've been watching on Sundays is anything but professional. It's like calling WWE legitimate wrestling. ;D

(Hey Bill, since you're not using him right now, can we borrow Drew?)

 

[TheLaffer]

I agree, The Ticket is one of (if not the only) station that gets it right. PERSONALITY and CHARACTER are the only advantages local radio has over streaming/satelite. I have both an iPod with 3000 songs on it and XM radio, and the Ticket is the only thing that can tear me away from that. They are new, fun, and exciting every day. They talk about local material almost all day. No other station sounds like it.

There are other great talents in this market like Hal Jay/Mark Davis to name just a couple but they are being severely mis-used. Hal is a genuinely funny man who's insights and opinions I would love to listen to but I can't stand to flip over there just to hear the one sentence at a time they let him deliver in between throwing it to the news guy, and then traffic, and then sports, and then doing it again.

When I listen to talk radio I want to feel like I'm on the same level as the speaker, like we're hanging out like buds. I don't like being preached to or lied to or yelled at like many political talkers (or Rush the blowhard). I want news and talk mixed in conversationally.

Maybe I am the only person in Dallas that feels this way. Maybe I am extremely picky. Maybe I have no idea what I am talking about. -Or maybe corporate radio has ruined all but a handful of local radio shows and they aren't even trying to fight off the rising of XM/iPod except by mimicking them (see JackFM).

3000 songs huh? I read somewhere the average songs a person has in his ipod is 200 about the same number oldie stations have.

 

[Gopher]

Hal is a genuinely funny man who's insights and opinions I would love to listen to but I can't stand to flip over there just to hear the one sentence at a time they let him deliver in between throwing it to the news guy, and then traffic, and then sports, and then doing it again.


Amen.

The next time Mark is away I would love to hear Hal in that seat for three hours. A year or so ago on either Christmas or New Years eve they had some time to kill on Marks show and Hal sat in. Hearing him talk about writing the morning bits and some of his life's experiences was good radio. I as a listener would love to hear that again.

 

[jd]

The next time Mark is away I would love to hear Hal in that seat for three hours. A year or so ago on either Christmas or New Years eve they had some time to kill on Marks show and Hal sat in. Hearing him talk about writing the morning bits and some of his life's experiences was good radio. I as a listener would love to hear that again.

I'd like to hear it too. Hey, Mark's a witty guy and the two of them could do a killer show. Why not Fridays, for an hour or so? I worked with Hal at KPLX before he went to WBAP, and his off-air comments (little that I could relate here) cracked me up. What a great guy.

 

[wbap247news]

I too have worked w/ Hal and I have nothing but great things to say about him. He is an absolutly fabulous guy. And he is just one of the dozens of examples of wasted talent in this market b/c of the way the suits are running the biz. It is an absolute shame.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

I have worked with Hal as well. Man what a great guy. He actually cares about other staff members. Such a pleasureto work with one who doesn't take himself seriously,but knows what the hell he is doing.

 

[jacojunkie]

Hal's one of those guy who are a dying breed. When I worked there part-time, he was always willing to talk and tell stories and give advice to a younger guy trying to get their feet wet. He's one of the people I miss over there.