What in the WORLD happened to radio?

[TheBigA]

Let me tell you about my wonderful manual typewriter. It comes complete with carbon paper. Those were the days.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Let me tell you about my wonderful manual typewriter. It comes complete with carbon paper. Those were the days.

Your manual typewriter was a wonderful tool for communication. What happened to it? It was replaced by a newer too for communication that could spit out more paper faster. But, has the quality of the content changed? Would Shakespeare have written more and better plays if he'd had a word processor?

Let's not confuse the delivery system with the content. Radio works JUST FINE as a delivery system - with the possible exception of IBOC. A return to AM Stereo would be an improvement on that dismal technology, and FM analog flat out sounds better than FM "HD". As far as adding MORE stations on HD channels, is that the antithesis of the complaint that we're already "over-radioed"?

The problem is the CONTENT. A lot of what's being delivered just isn't capturing the fancy of an ever growing number of people. People still sample radio - which is why cume hasn't fallen off the table - but they're finding less reason to lock into a station than they used to. The exception may be talk radio - which is stocked with (you guessed it) PERSONALITIES. Talk radio delivers what your iPod can't - live, relatable, unique, and mostly real-time content. Local content often beats syndication in markets where it's presented on equal facilities, with equal promotion.

If you guys are so sure that radio is "over", GET OUT. Sell. Quit. Leave. The best thing that's happened is that the price of radio stations has fallen so much that people who love the medium, and know how to make it profitable, are beginning to get back into the game. They're joining the people who didn't sell out when offered a wad of cash by the consolidators, or weren't in big enough markets to interest the consolidators. BTW, guess who's riding out the recession best? It ain't the consolidators who overpaid.

I don't know what the next chapter will bring, but I know that some people will write Chapter 11, some will write Chapter 7, and that something interesting will rise out of the ashes.

 

[TheBigA]

Let's not confuse the delivery system with the content.

OK...let's go back and transcribe the CONTENT in those YouTube videos. What did the jocks say, and what songs were they playing? Let's get specific. The music JoJo was playing was awful, and he didn't say anything worth mentioning.

Don't romanticize to me about the past. And those who say they love the medium, like you, don't have enough money for a down payment on the transmitter site. Get real.

 

[SirRoxalot]

So, Bub, just what station do you own? Have you put YOUR money where your mouth is? Transcribe most pop songs. Find anything resembling Shakespeare there? It ain't always the words. Sometimes things are greater than the sum of their parts.

You talk a "big" game, but maybe it's time for YOU to put you bona fides out here and reveal your lofty position in the broadcasting world. The only thing we know about you for sure is that you troll multiple boards at all hours of the day, espousing the corporate point of view. Your last name wouldn't be Mays, would it? The boys have been pretty invisible lately.

 

[Steven21]

Speaking of "What in the world happened to radio".....

Remember when news items on industry sites (or papers) would mention jock moves? Here's one I cam across today:

WSIX Welcomes Ty Bentli For The Night Shift
CLEAR CHANNEL Country WSIX/NASHVILLE has hired TY BENTLI to take over the night shift, effective immediately. TY, who also does afternoons for sister Top 40 WKSC/CHICAGO, will voice-track for WSIX from there.



Notice anything different?

Geeeeez. Pooof. There goes another position (there was a local jock 'til now).

 

[TheBigA]

So, Bub, just what station do you own? Have you put YOUR money where your mouth is?

I have. But then, I'm not the one complaining about ownership every day. If it's so easy to own a station, take some of your personal money and invest. I did. It's very different when it's YOUR money.

The only thing we know about you for sure is that you troll multiple boards at all hours of the day, espousing the corporate point of view. lately.

And actually you're wrong about that too. This is the only message board I visit. Once again, I'm not the one complaining. There are other people whose resumes are well known who have the same opinions as I, and they get no more respect from you that the anonymous posters. You don't care about "bona fides." That's pretty obvious.

 

[TheBigA]

Geeeeez. Pooof. There goes another position (there was a local jock 'til now).

Pooof...you're wrong. The person who did that shift before voicetracked from Atlanta.

 

[oak068]

[/quote]

The problem is the CONTENT. A lot of what's being delivered just isn't capturing the fancy of an ever growing number of people. People still sample radio - which is why cume hasn't fallen off the table - but they're finding less reason to lock into a station than they used to. The exception may be talk radio - which is stocked with (you guessed it) PERSONALITIES. Talk radio delivers what your iPod can't - live, relatable, unique, and mostly real-time content. Local content often beats syndication in markets where it's presented on equal facilities, with equal promotion.

[/quote]

Hi Everyone - first off - I am not a radio person or have ever been in the business. Just an average listener who has recently purchased an iPod because I can no longer listen to the same old-same old crap that is being played over and over and over and over again.

I come to these boards once and awhile to see what is happening in the radio world because I used to love listening to radio and hope to catch late breaking news over here. What I read usually isn't good news....

Please hear me out: Allow me to pick on a radio station; let's take CMF. What would it take for them to mix up their play list to make it exciting again??? Hendrix really did play more than "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze"...but we get those two same songs EVERY DAY!! Stevie Ray Vaughan did more than "The Sky is Crying" and "Crossfire"....you get my point. I cannot and will not listen to that station any more. It's the same crap day in and day out from the same bands. Please stop the madness and insanity.

So when you say "content"...why not start with music - gee what a concept!! Everyone has heard the same music for the past 40 years and nothing really good that's new is being played. So where is the future for these radio stations?? Play some different music by these artists and mix in some of the new stuff.

The same can be said for every station (if you want rock) - I'm sure PXY plays all the new hip-hop stuff but I am too old to get into "Lady GaGa".

Thanks for letting me vent : )

Cheers...

 

[TheBigA]

So when you say "content"...why not start with music - gee what a concept!!

Because...to put it simply...radio is not in the music business. That's not what we do. The record labels do the music thing. It's like blaming Rush Limbaugh for George W. Bush. He's not in the Bush business. He's just a talk show host.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Besides, it's easier to blame "the music business" than it is to contemplate the idea that music research methodology employed by radio stations may be flawed.

 

[gr8oldies]

So Rox, what's your better way? Listen to request line callers, or is the PD supposed to "just know"?

 

[TheBigA]

Besides, it's easier to blame "the music business" than it is to contemplate the idea that music research methodology employed by radio stations may be flawed.

The only flaw in the research is taking people at their word when you ask them which songs they like.

But I've said here many times that I believe we're in the dying days of music being played on free radio. It simply can't provide the kind of personalization some people want. And at some point, the audience for music will become SO fractured and splintered that there won't be enough people to attract advertising.

 

[gr8oldies]

I've got to think there will still be the big A/C listen at work station, and a couple of classic hits/rock and country. Everyone isn't going to have the time and inclination to spend a lot of time programming their iPods when they're already trying to get the kids to day care and school, then soccer practice after work. Sometimes with this board be so overpopulated with "I hate radio. I listen to 50000 songs on my iPod" it sems that way, but I'm not convinced the non-radio geek world lives their lives like that.

 

[TheBigA]

I've got to think there will still be the big A/C listen at work station, and a couple of classic hits/rock and country.
[/quote

I agree...just a handful of the most commercially popular formats around. But the classic/oldies formats are on the edge of the demo now. Five more years, and they'll be gone.

Let's face it: programming to music fans and niches doesn't work. The artists can start their own internet streams, and pay label royalties.

 

[oak068]

You folks simply aren't getting it: People are turning off the radio because (A) - People are sick to death of hearing the same tunes over again by the same artists. Go to ANY gym, for example, and you'll find that it's satellite. Why? The selection is incredible and you don't have to hear "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Bad to the Bone" for the millionth' time that day.

When will radio change it's paradigms? Or is it simply too late. Change what your doing (if you can) and more people will tune in.

and here is "B" - People have to endure talk radio on FM & AM all friggin' week. So why does (again I'll pick on CMF) CMF have to play a rerun of those morning idiots on Saturday morning? Are you serious? What ratings can you grab from that? I'm just trying to understand the logic behind that....

Again...thank for letting me vent....

Cheers

 

[OttoM]

After reading this thread I had to check the calendar because this discussion on "what happened to radio" made me think I'd been transported back to 1999. Folks - it is what it is, and that's the way it is.

Take the energy you're spending on defending your point of view and do something constructive with it - like volunteering for a local charity.

You'll feel a LOT better.

 

[Mark Giardina]

It's true that the broadcast radio cash cow has been milked dry of advertising effectiveness and the programming strip-mined of credibility by some of the large corporate operators.

It's true that many of the failures within the radio business past and present can be attributed to bad management or misguided ownership.

It's true that many talented and creative people have contributed to the art and craft of radio broadcasting throughout the past century, and that generations of listeners have been entertained, enlightened, amused and aroused.

But a century is a long time for any particular technology to be culturally dominant, especially a high-tech information and entertainment technology.

Nobody communicates by telegram anymore or attends the nickelodeon. Fewer and fewer of us write letters or read the newspaper regularly. Even books are starting to be supplanted by digital reading appliances. Competition from new audio and video media will continue to diminish the time spent listening to the radio in the daily life of the average person.

Accelerating audience losses, along with an ongoing economic contraction, have been steadily shrinking the dollars flowing into the mass-appeal commercial radio business over the past twenty years, and will likely continue to do so. Remember that the radio ownership consolidation of the 1990's was a result of that revenue shrinkage, not a cause of it.

Those exciting decades of boss jocks and elaborate promotions that we all remember so fondly were made possible only by the torrents of undiluted advertising dollars that were flowing through the industry in those days. Not to mention the incredible music and audacious programming that marked the American cultural zenith of the mid 20th century.

Those dollars and days are gone.

Broadcast radio technology has outlived the telegraph only because it is adaptable, inexpensive, effective, elegant and reliable . Its future, whether analog or digital, is assured. The future of the broadcast radio business model is less certain. Certainly any advertising-supported operations will be have to be very frugal ones. Maybe some listener-supported/commercial hybrid will emerge. Perhaps the volunteer-staffed, non-commercial model will prevail. In any event, there will be a future. It just won't be like the past.

As Paul Harvey would say: "Stay tuned for news".

I also agree with Gary Smith. Excellent post Lee.

 

[TheBigA]

You folks simply aren't getting it: People are turning off the radio because (A) - People are sick to death of hearing the same tunes over again by the same artists. Go to ANY gym, for example, and you'll find that it's satellite. Why? The selection is incredible and you don't have to hear "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Bad to the Bone" for the millionth' time that day.

That's not why you hear satellite radio at the gym. The real reason is no commercials. Especially commercials for competing gyms. The other reason is minimal interruptions from personalities. But as for music lists, they're typically the same as any commercial station in the format. Especially now that Sirius people are making the decisions.

 

[SirRoxalot]

TheBigA is right. Radio is fine the way it is. That's why the consolidators are raking in loads of cash, and the business is booming. Nothing's wrong. Mass firings are justified. Declining listening isn't their fault. Stop looking for different answers. Just continue with the current program. Corporate knows what it's doing.[/sarcasm]

 

[TheBigA]

TheBigA is right. Radio is fine the way it is. That's why the consolidators are raking in loads of cash, and the business is booming. Nothing's wrong. Mass firings are justified. Declining listening isn't their fault. Stop looking for different answers. Just continue with the current program. Corporate knows what it's doing.[/sarcasm]

Just to be clear, I've never said rdaio is fine the way it is. If we got rid of the complainers, it would be a lot better.

Also, they ARE raking in loads of cash, and ratings are great. Mass firings are justified because the current people aren't happy. As evidenced by....

My job is to look for answers. You have none.