"TODAY'S COUNTRY"

[DavidCamb]

I understand the state of radio, but my point isn't about what a station should do in the face of a tight budget.

I'm responding specifically to Lauro's requests for evening syndicated shows. On the stations he frequently mentions, there are currently local jocks in the 7p-midnight spots. My question for Lauro is if he thinks syndicated shows are really so much better in quality to make it worth the possibility that someone will lose his/her job.

You do know that replacing a local show with a syndicated show would probably mean that someone from the Boston area would lose his/her job, right?

Not exactly true. What some stations do is have their Music Director or other Full Time person voice-track the evenings. That's what they do in Chicago. So it's the same number of employees spread out over more time.

The reality is that there's only so much payroll money to go around. It's not unlimited, and there's not much income from the evenings. Even less for overnights. They also run syndication from midnight to 5:30. It's not unusual for country stations. You'll find the same thing in Philadelphia and several other big cities. Times are tough in radio. Costs continue to rise, while revenues stay flat. So don't assume that the choice is only between syndication and hiring another local body. Technology offers many other options.

 

[TheBigA]

I understand the state of radio, but my point isn't about what a station should do in the face of a tight budget.

But that IS the point. Limited budgets mean something has to get cut. Greater Media isn't a big conglomerate. It's a family-run company with more limited resources. It's nice to work for a smaller company, but they face the same financial strains. Local people WILL lose their job. If they hire a local person for that slot, that person will be the first to go. That's just how it goes.

If you want to talk about quality, the syndicated shows put the same or more effort into their shows that a local station puts into their morning show. Stations can typically only afford to put that kind of effort into one show, and mornings get the main attention. So stations get morning show quality, with national resources, in a day-part that at best will deliver a quarter of the audience they'll get at another time of day. When you do the math, it just makes sense. And as I said, the options are to voice-track the show, or simply run unhosted music. That's what Nash is doing right now in NYC.

 

[DavidCamb]

I'm not going to argue with you about the point of my post. I don't work for Greater Media and have no idea about its current financial situation or about the company's plan to cut jobs. Since you seem to think it's inevitable, I'll assume you have access to company information I don't have.

I understand the state of radio, but my point isn't about what a station should do in the face of a tight budget.

But that IS the point. Limited budgets mean something has to get cut. Greater Media isn't a big conglomerate. It's a family-run company with more limited resources. It's nice to work for a smaller company, but they face the same financial strains. Local people WILL lose their job. That's just how it goes.

If you want to talk about quality, the syndicated shows put the same or more effort into their shows that a local station puts into their morning show. Stations can typically only afford to put that kind of effort into one show, and mornings get the main attention. So stations get morning show quality, with national resources, in a day-part that at best will deliver a quarter of the audience they'll get at another time of day. When you do the math, it just makes sense. And as I said, the options are to voice-track the show, or simply run unhosted music. That's what Nash is doing right now in NYC.

 

[MR. JAROME_CALVIN]

Boston doesn't need syndication for weekday evenings, period. Would WZLX put Alice Cooper or Nikki Sixx on weekday evenings? No way.

I've read in several places that 102.5 WKLB does skew its playlist to make it more "Northeast friendly," putting more emphasis on country music from more mass-appeal artists and ones that are more likely to cross over to mainstream. Artists and songs that are a bit more "twangy" and get airplay on more rural/Southern markets are not likely to get played on 'KLB, especially if the song stays below the top 20 on the country chart. IIRC, Big and Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" took a while to get played on 'KLB, although WCTK/New Bedford-Providence had it pretty early.

An observation -- as I work on the South Shore, it seems that, from the businesses I go into, the people I speak to, bumper stickers, etc., that WCTK seems to be the preferred country station over WKLB. This is in the Hanson/Hanover/Bridgewater area, where both signals seem to be about equal. I find this kind of interesting.

Jacko

I understand what you are saying. I wouldn't want anyone to lose their jobs. You know how the business is these days, trying to save $, by having Voicetracked shows.
No, I would not want Keith Stevens to lose his job. he is great and all but, when I listen, when he he operates Phone Interaction, most of his callers, when I listen, most of them are guy callers. With that said, woould'nt it be great for those guy callers to hear a (woman voice) on their station?
Anyways, like I said in my original topic, all in all, this station sounds ok, not bad at all. Because these days, for some reason, these days, New Country music sounds cool. I like the (New-Slow Jams Love Songs) All in all, ok, not bad

 

[fmradio1]

And as I said, the options are to voice-track the show, or simply run unhosted music. That's what Nash is doing right now in NYC.
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Nash-FM is a brand new station in New York, and country hasn't been done in that market on FM in a very long time. They are running unhosted to showcase the music to the audience. They already have an ensemble morning show based out of Nashville, which will eventually roll out to other Cumulus country stations (hello, WOKQ). WNSH will be fully staffed in the foreseeable future, and my guess is those dayparts could also be syndicated by Cumulus to their smaller market stations.

Country music rides the pop wave every several years or so, then it ebbs back for awhile. It's done this for decades. It's at a peak right now. While some Southern markets can afford to have multiple country stations, Northeast markets really can't. When the music moves away from the pop lean, there's only enough audience to support one signal. That's why you haven't seen a lot of direct format competitors to stations like WKLB, WCTK, WOKQ/WPKQ, WCTY, WOKO, Kix in Springfield, etc.

 

[CTListener]

And as I said, the options are to voice-track the show, or simply run unhosted music. That's what Nash is doing right now in NYC.

Nash-FM is a brand new station in New York, and country hasn't been done in that market on FM in a very long time. They are running unhosted to showcase the music to the audience. They already have an ensemble morning show based out of Nashville, which will eventually roll out to other Cumulus country stations (hello, WOKQ). WNSH will be fully staffed in the foreseeable future, and my guess is those dayparts could also be syndicated by Cumulus to their smaller market stations.

Country music rides the pop wave every several years or so, then it ebbs back for awhile. It's done this for decades. It's at a peak right now. While some Southern markets can afford to have multiple country stations, Northeast markets really can't. When the music moves away from the pop lean, there's only enough audience to support one signal. That's why you haven't seen a lot of direct format competitors to stations like WKLB, WCTK, WOKQ/WPKQ, WCTY, WOKO, Kix in Springfield, etc.

[/quote]

Although a few stations have challenged WGNA in the Albany market over the years. WZMR does now.