WBEN/Bauerle

[flybynight]

Can't believe this board was down during what had to be one of the oddest local radio stories in quite some time.

Has the whole Bauerle-thinks-Cuomo's-out-to-get-him thing blown over completely? Is everything back to normal at 500 Corporate Parkway?

Noticing WBEN's Fall numbers were off by about 20% compared to normal Fall ratings. Have people finally become fed up with the predictable once-sided polemic machine that WBEN has become and started to exit in larger numbers?

 

[TheBigA]

Seems interesting that Hannity is singing the same song.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The time swap between Beach and Bauerle was a big change. I've heard more than a few regular WBEN listeners register unhappiness with that change. It'll take another book or two - and books unaffected by Christmas music - to get a real handle on whether there's a real exodus.

Meanwhile, I suspect that the suits at Corporate Parkway are keeping a close eye on Tommy-boy. I don't think it's an act. I think that he's got real problems. Let's hope that he gets the right meds - and stays on them.

 

[flybynight]

Let's hope that he gets the right meds - and stays on them.

What about the scary amount of their listeners who were VERY supportive in comments on WBEN's facebook page----not because they thought he was in crisis, but because they thought his delusional paranoid rantings were completely reasonable and accurate?

I'll side with TB on one thing: All because you cannot "see" it, doesn't mean it's not there, as in, the immeasurable damage WBEN is doing to this community by allowing reckless and irresponsible misinformation to continually poison the minds of listeners who are more than eager to believe that this nation's first black President is illegitimate and an American-hating terrorist. It's a very frightening mentality WBEN has decided to butter their bread with. Considering that many listeners are by default from decades of responsible broadcasting AND that there's no other place to go for over-the-air talkradio in town, did they really have to stoop this low? Really?

The damage they've done to their OWN brand is irreversible.

 

[TheBigA]

The damage they've done to their OWN brand is irreversible.

That's the price of a free and unregulated press. A hundred years ago, you had yellow journalism. Hearst and his rich friends out to control the news. Now you have this. And as we see right here on message boards, people want to believe what they believe, and will support those who say what they believe.

Meanwhile, as I've said many times, there is an alternative to the screaming and hate: WBFO. They aren't driven by the same need for advertising.

 

[flybynight]

That's the price of a free and unregulated press. A hundred years ago, you had yellow journalism. Hearst and his rich friends out to control the news. Now you have this. And as we see right here on message boards, people want to believe what they believe, and will support those who say what they believe.

Meanwhile, as I've said many times, there is an alternative to the screaming and hate: WBFO. They aren't driven by the same need for advertising.

The point was simply that WBEN didn't NEED to go batpoop crazy with their wingnut rhetoric. They have cashed in on many decades of responsible broadcasting and have many listeners still thinking they're getting accuracy and honesty from their hosts. They also get many listeners by default---out of habit, also those searching for service elements like news, traffic & weather---yes, even these days.

WBEN is a shell of what it once was. Granted there have been economic demands that resulted in lots of staffing cuts, but the irresponsible garbage that they now call content was not necessary. They didn't need to create a pipeline of red meat for the lunatic fringe. Due to their corporately manipulated monopoly on the dial, they have plenty of "normal" people still listening while holding their nose. God knows how many people they regularly repel for the final time, never to return. I'm getting there myself.

 

[TheBigA]

As I've said to you many times before, there are no examples of extremely successful commercial talk shows that aim for the higher ground. Nationally, Jim Bohannon has tried for that, and you see how that's paid off. If people really want accuracy and honesty, it's available on the very same radio as WBEN. They just prefer the other stuff. As the Romans showed thousands of years ago, when the masses want red meat, you give them red meat. It's what kept the emperor in power.

 

[flybynight]

As I've said to you many times before, there are no examples of extremely successful commercial talk shows that aim for the higher ground. Nationally, Jim Bohannon has tried for that, and you see how that's paid off. If people really want accuracy and honesty, it's available on the very same radio as WBEN. They just prefer the other stuff. As the Romans showed thousands of years ago, when the masses want red meat, you give them red meat. It's what kept the emperor in power.

I'm not saying they should be like NPR. I wouldn't even listen to that myself for very long. I'm simply saying that they can still throw red meat out WITHOUT what's now referred to as the "dog whistle" crap. It makes the station sound disgusting. Anybody who thinks they'll lose listeners by eliminating THAT is naive and is buying into the wingnut radio bandwagon hype.

 

[TheBigA]

Anybody who thinks they'll lose listeners by eliminating THAT is naive and is buying into the wingnut radio bandwagon hype.

Unless you have proof that they WON'T then you're the one who is naïve. And would you put your paycheck and career on the line for your opinion? That's what they have to do.

 

[flybynight]

Unless you have proof that they WON'T then you're the one who is naïve. And would you put your paycheck and career on the line for your opinion? That's what they have to do.

So you're of the opinion that WBEN's numbers had started to sag, so they ratcheted up the rhetoric to bolster those sagging numbers? If that's your assertion, then you'd be WRONG. To the contrary: In recent years their ratings have dropped, as they have systematically gone further and further to the wingnut end of the spectrum.

I can certainly prove that they're NOT doing as well now, but YOU can certainly NOT prove that they couldn't have maintained their better numbers without pandering to the lunatic fringe. You're Monday-morning quarterbacking based on industry/format hype. Don't worry, you're not alone, which is a big part of the problem.

You talk of the format like it's a heroin addict who you say cannot be healthy without the heroin. My point is that they could've remained healthy without getting hooked on the heroin in the first place. In fact, the short-term feel-good of the heroin has put them in a much worse position long-term.

 

[TheBigA]

I'd like to see some facts about how a softer approach has led to an increase in ratings. Give me some examples.

 

[flybynight]

I'd like to see some facts about how a softer approach has led to an increase in ratings. Give me some examples.

I'm not talking about a softer approach. I'm talking about eliminating the scum surface that is nothing but inflammatory rhetoric.

They can still be as rude as they want, as loud as they want, as arrogant as they want.
I just want more honesty and less FEMA-reducation-camp fairytales.

Insinuating that the format just HAS to have that garbage is idiotic.

 

[TheBigA]

Insinuating that the format just HAS to have that garbage is idiotic.

I'm not in the business of telling talent what to say or not say. At the end of the day it's their name on the show. If they want to be idiots, that's their business. But it's YOUR choice to listen. The fact that you still do is not their problem.

 

[flybynight]

I'm not in the business of telling talent what to say or not say. At the end of the day it's their name on the show. If they want to be idiots, that's their business. But it's YOUR choice to listen. The fact that you still do is not their problem.

The idea that the format can only do well by doing EXACTLY what they're doing right now, is ludicrous. They've done nothing but drive listeners away over the last 5 years, and that is a FACT. All of the major conservative talk stations around the country are down, some dramatically.

But by all means, keep the craziest of the rhetoric coming and keep driving away people who don't fit into that wingnut niche.

 

[TheBigA]

But by all means, keep the craziest of the rhetoric coming and keep driving away people who don't fit into that wingnut niche.

Unless you have some facts, you're not much different than the people you criticize. With all you say, YOU still listen. What does that say about you?

 

[flybynight]

Unless you have some facts, you're not much different than the people you criticize. With all you say, YOU still listen. What does that say about you?

Dear God have you heard of RATINGS? Go look at them! Look at all the top 50 markets and compare recent numbers with those over the last few years.

Do a little homework before you settle into your usual inflexible concede-nothing-at-all-cost position.

 

[TheBigA]

Dear God have you heard of RATINGS?

WBEN is #2. At a time when conservatives are not very popular. That's pretty good.

Meanwhile, you say the station is driving away listeners, yet you still listen. Talk about conceding nothing. Empty threats. Not that it would matter.

 

[flybynight]

WBEN is #2. At a time when conservatives are not very popular. That's pretty good.

Meanwhile, you say the station is driving away listeners, yet you still listen. Talk about conceding nothing. Empty threats. Not that it would matter.

I'm talking about SHARE, not rank. Need I explain the difference and how it relates to my point? When you are the only game in town and lose 20% of your audience share in a short amount of time, yes, there is a problem.

Yes, I still tune in, but LESS than I ever have before. That is directly the result of their over-the-top insultingly one-sided rhetoric. They didn't used to be that way---and they had HIGHER numbers. I also have a professional interest in listening, so whether "I" listen or not anymore is irrelevant.

Do you even live in the market? Because I talk to people all the time in the metro and MANY convey the same sentiments I articulate here. It is the reality of the situation, but for some reason you cannot comprehend that---or are just being characteristically obtuse.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm talking about SHARE, not rank. Need I explain the difference and how it relates to my point? When you are the only game in town and lose 20% of your audience share in a short amount of time, yes, there is a problem.

But you're making an unsubstantiated connection between their ratings and what you personally don't like about the station.

So you're using ratings when it helps your case, but ignore the fact that they were doing the same kind of talk two years ago when they were #1. They do this kind of talk for a reason. And it's not to drive people away. It obviously hasn't driven you away either. And don't turn this into an attack on me. Don't blame me for what you don't like.

 

[flybynight]

But you're making an unsubstantiated connection between their ratings and what you personally don't like about the station.

So you're using ratings when it helps your case, but ignore the fact that they were doing the same kind of talk two years ago when they were #1. They do this kind of talk for a reason. And it's not to drive people away. It obviously hasn't driven you away either. And don't turn this into an attack on me. Don't blame me for what you don't like.

You keep mentioning "rank". Rank doesn't tell the story, SHARE does. That's probably why you keep ignoring it.

You continue to make an unsubstantiated connection between the surface scum inflammatory lies and rhetoric they vomit out and their ratings, as if the loss of that garbage would lose them audience. Absurd. They did better when they didn't do that crap. They're the only game in town. They can afford to be more responsible.

Stop making this about me. Again, it's ultimately not about what "I" like or don't like. I talk to a lot of people about what they listen to on the radio and why, and there is a marked increase in the number of people I've spoken to IN THE BUFF/NF metro, who have grown a distaste for what WBEN has become in the last few years, particularly since the election of our first black President.

I have no idea why you habitually defend a reckless, destined-to-fail hard right turn in what used to be an interesting format for a whole lot more people to listen to.

I presented evidence that the format is suffering. You dismiss it, offering ZERO evidence of your own.