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Tunch and Wolf

P

Pratte4Life

It seems when there show is discussed on this board it always comes with the precursor- "They had to buy the time."

Okay. So what?

Let's give them credit for getting off their duffs and going out and selling their own show, even syndicating it to a few other small AMs.

And the thing is I'm sure that they have money in the bank after playing in the NFL all those years. To have that kind of drive- to do a morning show and get up at 4 a.m.- is worthy of praise.
 
I don't think anybody's ever denigrated them for buying the time. When I've referenced it, it's been to point out that the station is not paying for a local show in that slot, which speaks to the overall strategy for 970 within the CC cluster.

To wit: If they weren't buying the time, 970 would not have a local show in that slot.

They're good guys and I hope they're doing well with it.





> It seems when there show is discussed on this board it
> always comes with the precursor- "They had to buy the time."
>
>
> Okay. So what?
>
> Let's give them credit for getting off their duffs and going
> out and selling their own show, even syndicating it to a few
> other small AMs.
>
> And the thing is I'm sure that they have money in the bank
> after playing in the NFL all those years. To have that kind
> of drive- to do a morning show and get up at 4 a.m.- is
> worthy of praise.
>
 
> I don't think anybody's ever denigrated them for buying the
> time. When I've referenced it, it's been to point out that
> the station is not paying for a local show in that slot,
> which speaks to the overall strategy for 970 within the CC
> cluster.
>
> To wit: If they weren't buying the time, 970 would not have
> a local show in that slot.
>
> They're good guys and I hope they're doing well with it.
>

And I'm the other person who tends to reference it, for exactly the same reason, to point out how little CC has committed to 970.

I give the guys tons of credit. They wanted to advance their broadcast careers and went out and did something about it. <P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
I agree with you 100%. Deciding to use a brokered time system to fill the morning slot is something that CC deserves to be raked over the coals for. Deciding to take advantage of the opportunity that presents is something Tunch & Wolf should be praised for.

> > I don't think anybody's ever denigrated them for buying
> the
> > time. When I've referenced it, it's been to point out that
>
> > the station is not paying for a local show in that slot,
> > which speaks to the overall strategy for 970 within the CC
>
> > cluster.
> >
> > To wit: If they weren't buying the time, 970 would not
> have
> > a local show in that slot.
> >
> > They're good guys and I hope they're doing well with it.
> >
>
> And I'm the other person who tends to reference it, for
> exactly the same reason, to point out how little CC has
> committed to 970.
>
> I give the guys tons of credit. They wanted to advance their
> broadcast careers and went out and did something about it.
>
 
I think it's win-win for both parties. If you look at past history of radio, when stations were predominantly independent of each other, there was a lot of purchased air time. I hear a lot of stories about it from some gentlemen who used to buy time "back in the day". It's just not as common anymore with syndication making it easier to fill slots cheap with little work.
 
You're right about that, but only if you look at the station and the talent. But there's a third party involved, the listeners, and they come out as losers. Clear Channel's "Protect the Mothership" strategy has turned many of their other stations into non-players in the local market. We listeners would be the ones who'd benefit most if every station in town had to compete, with co-owned stations limited to one AM and one FM for each owner.

But, those days are gone forever, and they're never coming back. Waxing nostalgic about when there was real competition on the radio is a pleasant way to pass the time, nothing more.

> I think it's win-win for both parties. If you look at past
> history of radio, when stations were predominantly
> independent of each other, there was a lot of purchased air
> time. I hear a lot of stories about it from some gentlemen
> who used to buy time "back in the day". It's just not as
> common anymore with syndication making it easier to fill
> slots cheap with little work.
>
 
You're right about that, but only if you look at the station
> and the talent. But there's a third party involved, the
> listeners, and they come out as losers. Clear Channel's
> "Protect the Mothership" strategy has turned many of their
> other stations into non-players in the local market.

Actually I think that's a gross exaggeration, bordering on just being flat-out incorrect.

Let's look at what CC's got going in Pittsburgh right now:

1) DVE - #1 12+ and 25-54. doesn't get any better than that.

2) WPGB- #3 25-54, # 6 12+ and forced KD to circle the wagons

3) 3WS- Despite 12+ numbers being down, still #4 12+ and 25-54. (Their 12+ losses were mostly in upper demos, who went to WSHH in all likelihood).

4) Kiss- #7 12+, top 10 25-54, and probably kicking butt 18-34 (can't see those numbers).

5) The X- Ahead of K-Rock 12+, and if you take Stern's numbers away from K-Rock, the X has got to be crushing them 18-34.

So yes, 970 is a throwaway. But it's got a crappy signal in parts of the market (it sounds like it's underwater in most of the North Hills and is virtually inaudible in Cranberry), but the budget's the budget and virtually every clsuter owned by CC or CBS or any other big players has an internal hierarchy like this.

Could they get more out of 970. Yes.
Would it probably do more if independently owned? Maybe.
Does it significantly impact the bottom line of the Pittsburgh cluster? Nope.

<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Part-timer on 01/22/06 05:05 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> You're right about that, but only if you look at the station
>
> > and the talent. But there's a third party involved, the
> > listeners, and they come out as losers. Clear Channel's
> > "Protect the Mothership" strategy has turned many of their
>
> > other stations into non-players in the local market.
>
> Actually I think that's a gross exaggeration, bordering on
> just being flat-out incorrect.

From the perspective of someone working in radio, who only considers how well stations do in competition with each other for achieving ratings numbers, what I said would be an exaggeration. But I was specifically referring to us listeners, and what Clear Channel's domination means to us. From the perspective of us listeners, the "Protect the Mothership" strategy has turned many of the other CC stations into non-players in the game of providing interesting, compelling audio entertainment over the airwaves.

Sure, they still pull numbers. But that's because their competition also sucks. We've stopped even bothering to turn the radio at on in my office. Aside from listening to Jim Quinn in the morning out of force of habit, I don't turn the radio in my car on much anymore. When I ride home from work, I'll surf through every station that I have a preset button for, then I'll try the search button, then I'll give up and pop in a tape. Or, I'll drive in silence. Pittsburgh radio has gotten so incredibly, mind-numbingly BORING that silence is often preferable to it!

Nobody likes it when I say it, but even Adam Bomb commented on how little there was interesting to listen to on the radio in Pittsburgh the last time he visited here.

The Brazilians have an expression of disdain that goes something like "It doesn't smell bad, it doesn't smell good. It just doesn't smell." That describes Pittsburgh radio. It's not bad, it's not good. It's just bland and boring.

> Let's look at what CC's got going in Pittsburgh right now:
>
> 1) DVE - #1 12+ and 25-54. doesn't get any better than that.
>
>
> 2) WPGB- #3 25-54, # 6 12+ and forced KD to circle the
> wagons
>
> 3) 3WS- Despite 12+ numbers being down, still #4 12+ and
> 25-54. (Their 12+ losses were mostly in upper demos, who
> went to WSHH in all likelihood).
>
> 4) Kiss- #7 12+, top 10 25-54, and probably kicking butt
> 18-34 (can't see those numbers).
>
> 5) The X- Ahead of K-Rock 12+, and if you take Stern's
> numbers away from K-Rock, the X has got to be crushing them
> 18-34.
>
> So yes, 970 is a throwaway. But it's got a crappy signal in
> parts of the market (it sounds like it's underwater in most
> of the North Hills and is virtually inaudible in Cranberry),
> but the budget's the budget and virtually every clsuter
> owned by CC or CBS or any other big players has an internal
> hierarchy like this.
>
> Could they get more out of 970. Yes.
> Would it probably do more if independently owned? Maybe.
> Does it significantly impact the bottom line of the
> Pittsburgh cluster? Nope.
>
 
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