To meTy Boyd is a TV personality. By the time I lived in the area WBT had switched to rock and Ty had gone on his rant which, according to one source, would have made a sailor blush. They must have turned down the volume because once WSOC went all-news I didn't think WBT was that bad.eacalhoun1 said:
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WBT no longer local at night.
- Thread starter ncscradiogeek
- Start date
I meant rock in the sense the term was used back then.fortmill said:
By the way, look at what was considered "Charlotte's Best Rock" back in the 70s. I found a newspaper ad with A smaple of WBCY's playlist.
M
Mike Walker
Guest
In 1983 when I worked at WNNC (Newton), I got pneumonia, and was sidelined for a good while. I've always hallucinated a little when I had a high fever, and was in and out of reality while I recovered. One day my dad drove over from Wilkesboro to visit (he taught at Wilkes Community College). When he left, I wasn't sure if he'd really been there, or if I'd dreamed it. (He really was there)!
During my recovery, I lay in bed and listened to H.A. Thompson. He was a reassuring, friendly voice when I really needed one. I never forgot that...what H.A. meant to me when I was sick. He kept me company many other times through the years, but this is the one that stands out. His "visits" were almost as real as the one from my dad. A true legend...such genuine warmth and humanity.
During my recovery, I lay in bed and listened to H.A. Thompson. He was a reassuring, friendly voice when I really needed one. I never forgot that...what H.A. meant to me when I was sick. He kept me company many other times through the years, but this is the one that stands out. His "visits" were almost as real as the one from my dad. A true legend...such genuine warmth and humanity.
O gee Mike, this story sounds like something off "Little House on the Prarie" or worse yet "The Waltons"WBT management should be run out of town. You don't fix ratings problems by cancelling the very thing that makes you special and actually unique in the market! Greater Media is obviously cutting budgets so much that they're bleeding WBT dry. Pretty soon they'll be wondering why their big investment is suddenly worth so little. Here's the answer right now, Greater Media, because you didn't reinvest in the station. Some smart investor will probably be able to scoop up WBT soon for pennies on the dollar and if they do, I sure hope that they are broadcasters not just more of the shortsighted bottom line idiots who are running more and more broadcast outlets today and running them into the ground.
Tessa said:
Sorry, but Greater Media is a family owned broadcasting company, not a bottom line public corporation. A "smart investor" won't buy a radio station. He'll buy a tech company. Or if he does buy broadcasting, he'll do exactly what most companies are doing.
WBT was live and local at night for many years, but the audience didn't support the programming. Blame the audience, not the owner. The audience aged itself out of the target demo, and local advertisers decided not to support the show. The conclusion was that spending money after 7 PM doesn't attract an audience, so you might as well turn the time period over to a national show.
WBT was live and local at night for many years, but the audience didn't support the programming. Blame the audience, not the owner.
If the audience isn't supporting the programming then use some creativity and revise the programming, instead of dumping the greatest asset of being 50k watts live and local. You don't knock down a historic mansion because the carpet and drapes need replacing. And even family owned businesses can be short sighted bottom line driven fools.
If the audience isn't supporting the programming then use some creativity and revise the programming, instead of dumping the greatest asset of being 50k watts live and local. You don't knock down a historic mansion because the carpet and drapes need replacing. And even family owned businesses can be short sighted bottom line driven fools.
Tessa said:
At some point, the mansion needs to be knocked down. You don't keep pouring money into a fire pit.
Look, I know it's hard to accept it when something you love changes. But that's life. They tried everything to keep things the way they were, and there wasn't enough local support at that time of day. If anyone else buys the station, they'll make the exact same realization.
Sorry but I can tell we'll never find common ground Big A. Nothing necessarily wrong with change. Change can be good bad or neutral. Change for the sake of change is lunacy and buying a legendary 3call-letter radio station and then trashing everything that makes it special just to save a few bucks is criminal.
Tessa said:
All they've done is replace a 9PM to midnight show with a national show. That's not "trashing" a station.
At some point, the audience goes to sleep. No need dedicating resources to a time when people are either watching TV, spending time with their family, or getting some sleep. No amount of creative programming will change the personal habits of people.
You mean all that they've done SO FAR THAT YOU'VE NOTICED is lose the live local after 9 oclock. What about all the cutbacks in their newsroom and their promotions and their producers and callscreeners. Interns are cheap but you get what you pay for. And here they are the 50K clear channel collossus with afterdark coverage from Maine to Miami and they gave up their 800 number and thats just for starters! Its like selling off your original Mona Lisa and only keeping the copy and then painting a moustache on it cause you think it might be good for a change! Fools and idiots!
Tessa said:
Who cares? Why would someone in Maine want to call in to a local radio show in Charlotte to discuss issues important to the Carolinas? Makes no sense. Local advertisers don't want to reach people in Maine or Miami either. They care about people in Charlotte. That's what local radio is about. Not blasting to other states. The big signal is a luxury, and a costly one that wasn't supported by area businesses or residents. Why spend money for people to listen in other states?
In case you haven't noticed, things are tough all over. Schools are running with fewer teachers, hospitals with fewer nurses, and towns with fewer police. I'd suggest those people are more important than call screeners at a radio station.
Your logic eludes me. If you were in the farm biz you'd be advocating butchering your only cow for a steak dinner and then wonder why you have no cream for your morning coffee. In any business you play up what makes you special or hopefully even unique. Turning WBT into just another cheesy indistinguishable syndication outlet flies in the face of all logic. It's their money they're going to be losing but even so... just because you've got the money to burn it doesn't necessarily make it right to gut one of the country's few remaining broadcasting treasures. Sorry BigA we're just not ever going to agree on this one but thanks for illuminating the fatally flawed logic behind what's destroying radio across the country.
Tessa said:
Huh? Once again, we're talking about two hours of programming. That's 1/12th of the airtime. Not the whole cow. And it's not the whole station. You have entire 50K stations in New York City, like WABC and WOR, that are 24/7 syndication. WBT has a long way to go. Being "unique" only matters if people are awake and support the station. There's no flaw in the logic. Had people supported the local show, it would still be on the air.
We're going around in circles now BigA. If a show doesn't have enough listeners... change the show not the station. Why hire talent that you know cant generate sponsors... and then kill the concept of live/local when you look at the books and realize that advertising revenue is down? When you have a premium product and times are lean you cut back where it DOESN'T show and revise your sales approach. Look we're never going to agree because we obviously come from two different schools of thought. Hey you've already won the argument because across the country all the lemmings in station management and all the snake oil consultants have been doing it your way. Enjoy the disastrous results.
Tessa said:
That's what they did. The station is still the same. Just one show changed. You're making this far bigger than it actually is. There's not much money to be made between 9 and midnight regardless of what is on the air. That's a proven fact. People are watching TV, spending time with their families, or going to bed. The change was made some time ago, and hasn't affected the rest of the station at all.
I disagree of course and you shouldn't be surprised. Much more than one show changed... the very soul of the station is changed by diminishing the live/local element beyond a certain point ... and the WBT image is watered down in the listener's mind, making the brand less distinctive and the station less of a destination. Look, this is silly to keep going round and round. We're never going to reach agreement on this subject. If I were a WBT talk show host I'd be going to the next caller about now.
Most radio listeners tend to forget news-talk AM's as a whole...until someone blows up a skyscraper or shoots a prominent official or it's election season. Every time a big, newsworthy event happens, listenership on WBT, WSJS and WPTF will trend up for about two months.
It's good that such stations CAN build an audience, but such stations have to find ways to sustain that listenership when local, national and world events are in a "slow and steady" mode. I would say that all three of these stations are still looking for the solution to that. While WBT's lineup tweaking may be a bit disconcerting to some, it is all a part of their ownership's attempt to do just that.
Nationally, the answer seems to be for such stations to add FM signals. To me, that's giving up the battle and surrendering to the folks who try to tell us that "...no one listens to AM anymore...", which we know from data measured during crisis times to not be the case. However, the bottom line is making money...so it may come to that if news-talk is to continue to flourish in North Carolina's radio markets.
Later . . . .
It's good that such stations CAN build an audience, but such stations have to find ways to sustain that listenership when local, national and world events are in a "slow and steady" mode. I would say that all three of these stations are still looking for the solution to that. While WBT's lineup tweaking may be a bit disconcerting to some, it is all a part of their ownership's attempt to do just that.
Nationally, the answer seems to be for such stations to add FM signals. To me, that's giving up the battle and surrendering to the folks who try to tell us that "...no one listens to AM anymore...", which we know from data measured during crisis times to not be the case. However, the bottom line is making money...so it may come to that if news-talk is to continue to flourish in North Carolina's radio markets.
Later . . . .
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