TIC TOC TIC TOC ON THE IMUS CONTRACT CLOCK

[WNTIRadio]

Under your system, how does any new talent happen? You're touting the same thinking that is killing radio. Trying the same old same old over and over with failure as the result. Bring on another celebrity for big pay and low ratings. Go back to the same well that has been on in the morning since the mid-70's.

If radio is to survive, it's time to go against the old way of thinking. Yet another lame morning show isn't going to keep people away from their iPods.

Would Booker have been a good replacement to Stern? No. Nobody would have been. They should have played wall to wall music in the morning for at least a year before bringing on the next morning show.

Elvis Duran came from the farm system, and has a successful show.

 

[wadio]

WABC's best bet at this point might be to reassemble the Curtis & Kuby show -- which they should never have dismantled in the first place to make room for the aging iMan. There's your heritage. It would generate some excitement, or at least interest, in this town to bring back a show that was pretty popular for about 7 years.

WOR made a wise move by rehiring Gambling -- and Cumulus brought Doug McIntye back to mornings at KABC, so anything's possible.

 

[TheBigA]

Under your system, how does any new talent happen?

It's not "my system." It's the reality of the marketplace. Creating new talent is a challenge. How do you start from zero? No one wants to invest time and money building a talent, only to have him pick up and go to a bigger market. So that kind of thing is frowned upon.

Building radio talent is similar to building a recording artist. I get thousands of press releases about new artists every year, and only a couple ever amount to anything. Look at the hundreds of singers who've gone through those TV talent contests. Maybe ten have sold any records? The rest become punchlines in trivia contests. The public is fickle about music and radio talent.

Consider the baseball farm system. I've seen hundreds of players in Double A and Triple A. I can't remember any of their names. But it's a limited marketplace. If you watch the farm system, you know what's going on. Just as PDs watch the smaller markets, and get demos from hundreds of wanna-bes. That doesn't mean there's an A-Rod in Double A some where. And you don't know how the successful farm player will do until you actually bring him up. How do you do that with a talk show host? Fill-in for the big guy? His audience won't sit through the amateur hour. And the big guy often has it in his contract that there can be no fill-ins. That's what Howard had. So you're forced to run repeats. I've worked with a lot of morning shows that had that kind of deal. That's great for the talent, bad for the station.

So you're right. The farm system is the old way of thinking. That's not going to work now. Talent needs to develop itself, and then take a fully-formed entity to the radio station.

 

[WNTIRadio]

You don't know what the farm system player will do when you bring them up. They could be Joba Chamberlain or they could be Mariano Rivera. But without taking a chance, how will you ever know? It's like keeping Mo down in AAA ball because you don't know if he will pitch well in the majors.

Putting celebrities on the radio with no prior experience doesn't work. The proof is in all of the failed shows over the years. Whoopi, Ru Paul (remember that one), DLR, Nick Cannon and on and on. DLR worked for what, 3 months and got paid for his 4 year contract? Some of the money wasted on those has-been celebs could have been used to hone talent for the on air product.

Something outside the box needs to be done.

 

[TheBigA]

Something outside the box needs to be done.

You're right. But as I said, the "farm system" isn't "outside the box."

 

[WNTIRadio]

It hasn't been used for so long that what's old is new again, it is "outside the box" if you look at the past 20 years of programming.

Somewhere the next version of Howard is out there and somewhere is the next Yankee closer. The difference is the Yankees will develop him, and radio will pay him dirt until he gets tired of it and moves on to sales or some other completely different industry.

A large company such as CC with stations in market #1 and market #250 should have a talent scout, just like the big leagues, to spot these people and bring them along.

 

[TheBigA]

Somewhere the next version of Howard is out there and somewhere is the next Yankee closer.

The question is who cares? Howard's audience don't want the next Howard, just as I-man's fans aren't looking for a replacement. All the people who think they're the next I-man or Howard are just immitators. And the public doesn't care. Demos for talk are over 55, so that's the next format heading to the dust bin.

A large company such as CC with stations in market #1 and market #250 should have a talent scout, just like the big leagues, to spot these people and bring them along.

They do, and they've tried. That's what Premium Choice is all about. Every company has tried to come up with talkers aimed at younger demos, and the Gen Ys aren't interested. They don't need talk radio to set the agenda. They have their own fan base and support group, so what's on the radio is so irrelevant. Top down formats are done. Other than baby boomers, younger audiences don't have any need for personalities or talk show hosts. Programming outside the box means doing radio differently than it's been done for the last 50 years. Not going back to the past.

 

[wadio]

The problem is that listeners -- regardless of age -- know when they're being "targeted" or pandered to. It doesn't work.

Howard got into radio and succeeded because he had the instincts and the drive to do it ... not because some suit told him to "resonate with" 25-54 demos. The next talk sensation ... and there will be one ... might be 17 or 70 ... it doesn't matter as long as he or she is unique, sincere and talented.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Great discussion, WNTI, Big A, Bob1370, wadio et al. You folks got me all intrigued and I'm neither a talk-radio fan nor a morning radio fan. (The last morning show I remember tuning in was Ross & Wilson -- and that was on my way HOME from work).

Three things seem to stand out in the thread : 1) Local name ..... 2) Curtis & Kuby ....... 3) Don't trip over your own wingtip shoelaces in haste to syndicate the result.

WABC is going to have to put something on the air if Imus decides to clean out his desk, though. WABC fans should hope that the decision doesn't turn into a process-of-elimination default or a last-man-standing default, but much also might have to do with how the 2012 election goes.

In any case, 'tic-toc-tic-toc' is right. Considering that nine months is the human gestation interlude, that doesn't leave too much time to sire, carry and wean a rookie.

All else fails, how about Imus with another Andy Pettitte-type deal for a year for more breathing space? A lot can happen in radio in a short while. But having someone around who, at the minimum, is okay with getting up at that hour should be a start.

 

[TheBigA]

All else fails, how about Imus with another Andy Pettitte-type deal for a year for more breathing space? A lot can happen in radio in a short while. But having someone around who, at the minimum, is okay with getting up at that hour should be a start.

My sense is that the Cumulus folks have some kind of strategy in mind. The Huckabee show is the first element. I suspect they'd like to return mornings at WABC to a local show of some sort. Based on what they did in San Francisco, my guess is they'd do local news rather than political talk. And as you know, there's no shortage of that kind of content in NYC radio right now. I think there's a real desire to get away from the type of talk radio that's been popular for the past ten years. While it gets ratings, advertisers don't like it. So I think we won't see any more angry political talk shows for a while.

 

[WNTIRadio]

For the money they pay for NYC AM drive, I don't know anyone, unless they make $20 million a year, who would be upset getting up at 4am!!!

I can't imagine a company as large as Cumulus is going along without a plan to replace Imus. Given his health and overall frail look, I'm sure a plan has been in place since day 1 in case he drops dead.