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Back in the days of Fido and RIME, when we were uploading and download QWK and REP packets over dial-up modems, I would have agreed with you about bandwidth and time. But those days are long gone.
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Useful talk radio?
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Back in the days of Fido and RIME, when we were uploading and download QWK and REP packets over dial-up modems, I would have agreed with you about bandwidth and time. But those days are long gone.
Nobody would hire Bruce Williams today. WHY? Because he isn't a right wing ideologue.
You think I"m kidding? Guess again. It's sad, but true. Even specialty show hosts often take that approach in executing their shows.
What made Bruce interesting was the same thing that made Larry King interesting: They covered a wide range of subject matter and you often DIDN'T KNOW what they would say before they said it. How many talk hosts can you say THAT about these days? We all know what these pimps are gonna say long before they open their mouths.
You think I"m kidding? Guess again. It's sad, but true. Even specialty show hosts often take that approach in executing their shows.
What made Bruce interesting was the same thing that made Larry King interesting: They covered a wide range of subject matter and you often DIDN'T KNOW what they would say before they said it. How many talk hosts can you say THAT about these days? We all know what these pimps are gonna say long before they open their mouths.
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You're on the right track. As von Clausewitz said, you must attack the weakness of your enemy's strength. Useful information does that. However, you might want to ask yourself how big an audience there is for financial advice in your market. I don't know where you're located, so I can only speak in the broadest of generalities. Have you considered approaching local businesses about doing paid informercial programming? I'm reminded of how popular Car Talk was on NPR. For example, if you could find a local building supply company to sponsor a show, find a reasonably competent host, and have people phone or e-mail questions in advance about solving household problems. Then the building supply company would provide the answers, and the host could interview experts from the store. If you can luck out and find an entertaining host, such a show might become popular. If you can't find the right host, never mind.
You've obviously never spoken with him. Not to say he's an "ideologue," but he's conservative.
The thing I've learned is there are a lot of people who have Bruce's business knowledge and experience in every town in this country.
When you listen to him, it's not overbearing.
He's conversational and relatable, just like King was.
I'm not saying you have to be devoid of opinion or an ideological bent. It's about not being an overbearing preacher of an inflexible ideology---without any humility or humor.
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Well, yeah, if you call kissing Ted Nugent's @$$ for an hour doing a show biz interview, I guess so.
Well humility isn't his strong suit, and he's not very funny either. In fact, in my opinion, that's what would hurt him as a personality today. He's pretty cut & dry. But his advice was dependable, and he paid attention to what his callers said. I think that's something missing from some talk radio today.
The problem is none of them want to do radio.
There are two types of people who get into talk radio these days:
1. People who have a political agenda
2. People who want to do radio for the sake of doing radio
Both types are incompatible with full service advice radio. Since they're usually either political hacks that have never had a regular job, or radio geeks who have only wanted to do radio.
I could give advice on matters related to my former profession, but it's a very specific thing that wouldn't draw listeners on a local level. So what do I do? News talk. Interviews. It's not my ideal situation, but I enjoy it enough to keep doing it.
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You nailed it! People who chose to work in radio can't seem to grasp that most people wouldn't accept a job in radio if it were offered. Many of the people with the skills to be outstanding in radio would rather put those skills to work somewhere else. Though, there was a time when being a disc jockey was one of the entry level positions towards a career in show business. Nowadays, not so much. I wish I had a dollar for every disc jockey or booth announcer I ran into at an audition who was desperate to move up to acting or stand-up comedy, I'd have a lot of dollars.
Actually a lot of them ARE doing radio. Though mostly on weekends. As I travel around, I hear a lot of lawyers, gardeners, home handymen, and financial advice folks. Most of them local, most of them bringing their own sponsors.
It goes both ways. I know a guy who was a successful touring comedian who got tired of the road, and got a job doing morning drive in radio. He still gets to be funny, but he sleeps in his own bed.
Brokered time doesn't count in my book. But point taken.
That's mostly what Bruce did, especially in his later years. Most of the ads were for products he sold.
He didn't buy time on stations, though. That's the kind of brokered time I'm talking about. The weekend stock brokers and mortgage lenders we hear on radio these days are paying for the time. It's a money maker for the stations, so I don't blame them, but I don't count that as real talk radio any more than I would dollar a holler preachers.
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The fact that there are multiple models for brokered air-time arrangements doesn't really mean that only one style of brokered programming counts as brokered. "Pay to play" is "Pay to play", no matter how the terms of the deal might be structured.
Huh? I mean you're right that pay to play is pay to play, but I don't get what you're trying to get at here.
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You can sell commercial spots, keep the money, and use it to buy airtime. That's one way. Or, you can sell airtime for a station with the advertiser paying the station direct, and as a result, you're "hired" to do a show on the station. That's a different way, but it amounts to pretty much the same thing.
Neither of which Bruce did. His show was just a barter deal. You run it, you get a few minutes of avails and he gets the rest. Pretty standard for radio these days.
You are confusing bartered shows withe brokered airtime.
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When given two different "for examples", can you not extrapolate them to recognize that a "barter deal" is simply a third alternative method of "pretty much the same thing"? Go back one post earlier from me in this thread. "The fact that there are multiple models for brokered air-time arrangements doesn't really mean that only one style of brokered programming counts as brokered." I don't claim to know the precise details of whatever sort of brokered airtime deal Bruce did. Regardless of the details, it was one of those "multiple models".
I'll wager if anyone cared enough, they could describe even more alternative models. I'll also wager no one cares enough.
In any case, barter deal, straight cash "pay to play", sell as a rep in exchange for time, or any other permutation, they're still "pretty much the same thing".
No. They're not the same thing. There's a HUGE difference between a show that barters time and a show that brokers time. A lot of respectable and professional shows BARTER time (most shows, in fact). Almost no BROKERED shows are done by real radio people. They tend to be infomercials for something or other.
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