What do you think is the worst radio market in the top 50?

[imadethisusernamemyslef]

I'm not sure what section to put this in, I picked this one.

A lot of people in the Columbus section say that the Columbus, OH market is the worst. Cause all the stations there are generic and there's a lot of format holes there. I agree with them, if it is not the worst in the top 50, it sure comes close.

 

[Transisterman]

The Columbus Market is pretty bad. It may not be the worst, but surely is in the top 10. The worst may be Houston, followed by Dallas, then Kansas City. This is based on opinions from friends who are still working in those markets as well as personal experiences. What makes them worst worthy, management, attitudes, and in the case of Columbus a lot of very poor decisions back in the late 90's.

 

[Jay F]

I remember reading articles as far back as the 1980s claiming Columbus is the most boring large market. This is because there are less full strength FM signals there than similar size markets. The stations with the good signals dominate year after year and decade after decade. Less competition=boring but not necc. "bad".

 

[radioguy39nj]

Big market radio leaves much to be desired as well! Talk radio in NYC is the worst in the country for a market of its size and importance! Last year, there was a governor's race in NJ and a mayoral race in NYC. This year, there's a governor's race in NY State. Where can you talk about all this on NYC radio? NOWHERE! WABC is 100% syndicated. On WOR, only John Gambling in AM drive and Joan Hamburg in middays are live and local. WNYM has Curtis Sliwa in AM drive, but it's stick isn't strong. Three talk stations, one that never talks about New York and two that offer only a token reference!

Syndication is a reality everywhere, but there are stations in markets outside NY that have thriving live and local news/talk programming. I can log on to news/talk outlets in markets as diverse as Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix and others and get a feel for what's going on in these areas. Sadly, a person planning a trip to NY isn't able to do the same.

NY does have WFAN (sports), WCBS and WINS (news), all successful and profitable. Why is that? Because they're live and local! That's the good news! The lack of local news/talk in NYC is both appalling and disturbing!

 

[TheBigA]

NY does have WFAN (sports), WCBS and WINS (news), all successful and profitable. Why is that? Because they're live and local!

They're also all run by the same company. In fact if you look at the all-new stations in all of the major markets, they're all owned by CBS except for WTOP in Washington. I think ownership and management has a lot more to do with it than some simple formula like "live & local." Because all three stations you identify have syndicated elements, but they're incorporated in ways that are seamless in the station sound. That is a key part of using syndication.

One other thing is that most syndicated talk show hosts are based in New York. And they're local celebrities, even though they're heard nationally. If you're a talker, you want to be heard in your home town, and you want to give your audience the best-known talent available. Save the local politics for the smaller markets. This is New York!

 

[radioray]

Not impressed with Atlanta.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I think radio is pretty much the same all over. That's part of the problem stations don't reflect the city they are in anymore. Maybe there are some small market stations doing the job out there?

 

[TheBigA]

I actually think radio reflects the towns, because the towns are becoming the same in many ways. There is a nationalism that is affecting most places, driven by mass culture, the internet, national chain stores and restaurants (I can't tell you how grumpy I get when I can't find a P.F. Changs), and travel. For example, my grandparents mainly stayed in the same geographic area their whole lives. I've been moving since I was a teenager. And I'm not the only one. Sure there are still some unique elements in towns. But they're shinking, and every day I read an article about another local instution closing up shop.

Anyway, so when you say radio is the same all over, that's what I think of.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Yes, I remember car trips back when it was a time of discovery. Load into the car and make an all day or multi-day trip to visit grandparents. Drive 600 miles and not see two restaurants that were alike. Pass by motels disguised as Indian villages or light houses or log cabins, but no two locations alike.

Welcome to the 21st Century. Go from city to city and even the barber shops are plastic. (Great Clips everywhere you look.) Need a fast lunch so you get in your 600 miles today. McDonalds lined up as far as you can see. Car dealerships must clip their floor plans out of Better Homes and Gardens classified section. They all look alike. Airports: may have a bit of exterior gingerbread but they are really all alike. O.K. skip the airliner. Get your pilot's license and grab your Cessna and make a few stops along the way. Little home town airport runways are now Federally funded and they all look alike.

And yet we who devour radio expect every market to have unique, customized radio.... so that radio would be like making a car trip and getting your kicks on Route 66 just like 1950.

P.S. Anyone know of a car dealer that has a blue Hudson Hornet for sale?

 

[radioguy39nj]

NY does have WFAN (sports), WCBS and WINS (news), all successful and profitable. Why is that? Because they're live and local!

They're also all run by the same company. In fact if you look at the all-new stations in all of the major markets, they're all owned by CBS except for WTOP in Washington. I think ownership and management has a lot more to do with it than some simple formula like "live & local." Because all three stations you identify have syndicated elements, but they're incorporated in ways that are seamless in the station sound. That is a key part of using syndication.

One other thing is that most syndicated talk show hosts are based in New York. And they're local celebrities, even though they're heard nationally. If you're a talker, you want to be heard in your home town, and you want to give your audience the best-known talent available. Save the local politics for the smaller markets. This is New York!

WFAN once had Imus' national show. They also once carried Scott Ferrall. No more! Ferrall was dropped at least a decade ago. They survived the Imus affair quite well, replacing it with the local Boomer & Carton in AM drive. The result: WFAN is doing better than ever!

New York is probably the only market that has successfully supported two all-news stations. Many national talk shows are broadcast from NY, but they aren't local celebrities. Hannity (a native LIer) and Beck certainly aren't local celebs!

There are more local issues (politics, entertainment etc.) to talk about in New York than anywhere else! The three CBS AM stations (all-news and all-sports) reflect NY and the surrounding region. NY talk stations (WABC, WOR, WNYM) might as well be on satellite.

 

[carolinaradio]

Atlanta and Kansas City.

 

[TheBigA]

Atlanta and Kansas City.

Ironically, those are two markets that have some intense format competition going on, at least in country. And I keep reading that competition makes for interesting radio. Guess that's not necessarily true.

 

[gr8oldies]

The worst market is the market each individual poster is in.

 

[radioray]

I dont think it's that homogenized throughout the USA just yet.

You can still only get Abita beer in Louisiana and where elese can you get a shrimp po-boy? Knishes still rule New York. Chicago style dogs (no Ketchup!) really are only found there as is decent deep dish. People still call Coke "soda" in New York and "pop" in the Midwest (and other places) Now that's just food, but there are plenty of other things too. College football rules the south, you go to New York City and it's tough to find out anything about it in traditional media apart from an excellent New York Post columnist. You wont be reading about the rodeo in the New York Times and you wont be reading about the Cannes film festival in Oklahoma newspapers. I see the homogenation, it has increased no doubt, but its not like cities still dont retain some local flavor and vibe to them. I shopped at "The Gap" in the 70s in both New York and St. Louis, so its not like this is too new. And the Holiday Inn chain was all over the place back then as well (as were others, remember Howard Johnsons?). My point is, its "More than before", but not like it never existed, or that its that bad now. Sorry for the ramble, am sick in bed with the flu and am just typing away while the antibiotics set in, off to sleep now!

 

[TheBigA]

I dont think it's that homogenized throughout the USA just yet.

You can still only get Abita beer in Louisiana and where elese can you get a shrimp po-boy? Knishes still rule New York. Chicago style dogs (no Ketchup!) really are only found there as is decent deep dish. People still call Coke "soda" in New York and "pop" in the Midwest (and other places) Now that's just food, but there are plenty of other things too.

But it's not as though those local items are the only choice. They sit side by side with the national brands. But years ago, all you had were local brands or local food. Same thing with local sports. People move from where they were born to other parts of the country. That homogenizes customs and tastes even more. The southern restaurant that imports its pastrami from Brooklyn. NASCAR is growing in the north and west. Even hockey is making inroads in cities outside the original 8. A 20-year old country singer is the #1 selling recording artist across the country, and sells out venues in all regions, not just where country music is popular.

 

[gr8oldies]

Well I moved from Ohio to East Tennesee and found little culture shock..I hear as many midwestern and northern accents as southern and have met transplants from all over.

 

[KevinFodor]

Every market in the country has good radio stations, some "OK" stations, some mediocre stations, some not-so-good radio stations, some crappy stations and some really, really bad stations. (I certainly hear some in my market..and other nearby ones as well.)

What we often see here are some people who may actually know better, some who don't, some people who have to ax to grind against a station or company, and some people who've never worked in radio (and maybe more than a few who have) who think all that needs to be done is force Clear Channel and CBS out of business and sell off all the stations to Mom and Pop's. Go back to turntables and cart decks and live and local 24/7, with overnight jocks working for $5 bucks an hour with no benefits and all will be well. (Believe that, and I have a new Partridge Family single to pitch you!)

The fact is: there is extreme competition in most Major, Large, and Medium markets, and even in some small markets as well. If certain stations consistently come out on top, it's because the listeners believe they are the best. And, last time I looked...it's their opinion that matters at the end of the day more than a lot of we "armchair radio" quarterbacks.

Could those station's improve? Quite possibly. No station is ever as good as it can be...that's why one should always be striving to improve. Some do, some don't. (That was true, too...in 1975.) But, every radio company in America operates similarly, operationally speaking. That just doesn't mean the outcome of the programming is the same. Some companies are good...some are OK...some could stand some improvement...and some, well...I wonder why they still are allowed to hold a license.

Creativity on the air? I'd love to hear it. But, the PPM seems to not want to hear it at length and that's a fact of life. Can we as an industry learn to encourage a new generation of broadcasters to "be creative in 15 seconds or less and shut up"? I still think there's enough people in and around the business to do just that.
And it can be done on a computer. You've just got to stop complaining...and try. If it sounds right and correct, not one listener cares whether it's in real time, or recorded three hours ago. (But, the real exceptions to this (severe weather, emergencies) are obvious and need to be dealt with correctly - one area some stations often fail at it these days...)

But, you wanna fix radio? Good...glad to hear it. It begins with applying for the job...

 

[landtuna]

P.S. Anyone know of a car dealer that has a blue Hudson Hornet for sale?

Used to be a very small classic car dealer alongside the highway near Congress, AZ. He specialized in Studes and Hudson's but would put anything on his lot.

Been awhile since I was up that way so don't know if he's still there.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

It seems that the mixing of different peoples does indeed change things in different areas. Here were we are if a person stops at Santee, SC off I-95 and was to ask about BBQ for example they would be sent to the closest place in town which is by far not the best. If this was 7 years ago they would be sent to a really good place about 12 miles out in the country to an old house turned into a BBQ place with a very large crowd, it's still in business and pulling a good crowd but the difference is a chain BBQ place moved into town who is ok but that is all and hotels and motels for the most part have been bought out by people from outside the state who think's all BBQ is the same around here and not very good, of course I am not sure they have any good taste budds in their mouth. Still there are pleanty of local people who love the better BBQ places. Point being there is still pleanty of local flavor "pun" around the area. If you think of the hotels and motels in our area like the radio stations across the country owned by out of town companies then you see why some of the local flavor is missing so to speak on those stations and in some cases why the market might be boring.

 

[CTListener]

NASCAR is growing in the north and west. Even hockey is making inroads in cities outside the original 8. A 20-year old country singer is the #1 selling recording artist across the country, and sells out venues in all regions, not just where country music is popular.

NASCAR's expansion plan has alienated a portion of its longtime fan base in the South (although some may argue that the decision to let "foreigners" Toyota in had a little something to do with that) and its TV ratings are in a three-year nosedive. Hockey has tanked in most of the non-traditional markets it's expanded to, at least in terms of appealing to advertisers and local corporate entities -- oh, and it was the Original 6 in hockey, not 8. And that 20-year-old country singer (Taylor Swift) is from the good ol' down home state of ... Pennsylvania. Makes you wonder...