tripton99 said:
You make my case. Campbell was smarmy and at his best all he could do was squeeze a few words (or a lot of words) into a tiny space between records. That's not brilliant broadcasting. He was like so many no-talents who could only read flip cards and take direction. His ability to loan his car to a listener doesn't put him in any hall of fame.
My comment was in regard to his making radio seem important. By doing this he helped create the illusion that so many people here embrace. Radio is showbiz after all. And like any showbiz, it's smoke and mirrors and shortcuts and trap doors and things that aren't what they seem at all. Tom Campbell was great at bringing that showman aspect to radio.
I know from first-hand listener feedback that his commercials were a tune-out for a large enough part of a radio audience that keeping his annoying delivery out of prime time was a constant challenge. If all a station cared about was the day's billing his crappy spots had the run of the station. A few discriminating programmers could keep the annoyances to a minimum.
I'll bet that you and your "first-hand listeners" were neither 14-21 year old girls nor the 14-21 year old boys trying to impress the 14-21 year old girls. I listened to his "Action Line" talkshows on KYA, and it was clear that those were his target demo. With them, radio was important and Tom Campbell was a Radio Star. That's what it's about.
Now, I didn't like his style myself, but I wasn't in his target demo, either. I do respect the showman aspect of his style, however, because, as I said, it's about showbiz.
Sure he was responsible for some great business for his clients. They wouldn't use him so often if he didn't deliver.
That's what commercial radio is about.
If you adore him for his delivery, then I have little respect for your other opinions. And I don't need to be schooled in commercial radio. As a programmer I knew how to balance revenue and programming demands and did it pretty well, though I am sure my affinity for programming and my battles with sales finally cost me my best radio gigs. I slept at night and didn't have the stink of selling-out on my hands.
Selling out? You think you're so grand and mighty because you haven't sold out? Tell me, exactly who is the client at a radio station? I'll tell you. It's the advertiser. It's not the listener. This listener is the product being sold to the advertiser. You get more listeners in a desired demo range and you can charge more to the advertiser for delivering them, just like a load of granny smith apples.
If you want to be a programming purist, you belong in non-commercial radio, a whole different animal from commercial radio. But I'd suspect that you have even more of a chip on your shoulder than even the snarkiest pubcaster around. So, what do you do now, sell shoes?
