What is Dayton missing radio-wise?

[lovejamminoldies]

Dayton, OH has been kinda weak in radio lately. So what is the DYT missing?

My votes...

Kick-ass Rhythmic or Urban because our source for hip-hop is weak with WDKF sounding cookie cutter and WDHT barely holding on.... I hope WDHT falls in ratings (which it won't considering it's the only source) because it doesn't set the example for Rhythmic CHR. It's what I like to call "watered down"

CHR to kill WDKF considering it is the cookie cutter Channel we all are tired of.

Maybe a Mega Old School... something like "The Old School Station". Basically Jammin' Oldies because there are "The Old School Stations" that exist that do well. Dayton is missing one.

Rhythmic AC? Would it work?

What you guys think?

 

[kentuckymedia]

Dayton is a very Mid-West Centric city. Urban Decay, Inner Core city. The primary problem is what surrounds it within 10 miles of downtown...fields, fields and more fields.

The logic is that Country, AC and Rock are your strongest formats, and if you see the breakouts of the ratings...it holds true for Dayton as well.

Jammin Oldies did extremely well in Cincinnati, which to be honest..was partially due to the fact that the market lacked a form of Urban AC or Jazz.

Dayton does have a Jazz station, which is extremely rare. But it looks like you will be stuck with WDHT and WROU for quite a while.

 

[Flavin]

It's own message board!

 

[lovejamminoldies]

Dayton is a very Mid-West Centric city. Urban Decay, Inner Core city. The primary problem is what surrounds it within 10 miles of downtown...fields, fields and more fields.

The logic is that Country, AC and Rock are your strongest formats, and if you see the breakouts of the ratings...it holds true for Dayton as well.

Jammin Oldies did extremely well in Cincinnati, which to be honest..was partially due to the fact that the market lacked a form of Urban AC or Jazz.

Dayton does have a Jazz station, which is extremely rare. But it looks like you will be stuck with WDHT and WROU for quite a while.

So because of the Urban AC & Smooth Jazz we have, Rhythmic Oldies wouldn't work?

 

[kirkiefan]

In a word:

PERSONALITY!


Lou Emm at WHIO-AM, Gene "By Golly" Barry at WING, "loveable huggable" Dave Michaels at WTUE, John Hall at WIZE,Kim Faris at Z-93 and now WLQT.


We need more local personalities.

 

[KFodor]

In a word:

PERSONALITY!


Lou Emm at WHIO-AM, Gene "By Golly" Barry at WING, "loveable huggable" Dave Michaels at WTUE, John Hall at WIZE,Kim Faris at Z-93 and now WLQT.


We need more local personalities.

Well, Lou and Gene, obviously can't come back...but, the point you make is valid.

Unfortunately, you're not going to see radio go back to live 24/7 operation...ever. Even if a "local" owner came in and bought a group of stations, some level of voicetracking would be required to make the budget meet. But, I'll be the first to agree with you, a lot of people in broadcasting do not know how to properly voicetrack, or else...are not allowed the time, or the comittment to do it right.

The fact is: if a station is voicetracked correctly, 99% of radio listeners won't be able to notice the difference.

The important thing, though: a voicetracked jock can't be saying it's raining, when it's not (at least somewhere in the area.), and a tracked station needs some provision (besides EAS) for broadcast of emergency information (weather or whatever). It can be done, but that takes comittment from the station which, in some cases today, is vitually non-existant.

 

[marketweis]

In a word:

PERSONALITY!


Lou Emm at WHIO-AM, Gene "By Golly" Barry at WING, "loveable huggable" Dave Michaels at WTUE, John Hall at WIZE,Kim Faris at Z-93 and now WLQT.


We need more local personalities.

Well, Lou and Gene, obviously can't come back...but, the point you make is valid.

Unfortunately, you're not going to see radio go back to live 24/7 operation...ever. Even if a "local" owner came in and bought a group of stations, some level of voicetracking would be required to make the budget meet. But, I'll be the first to agree with you, a lot of people in broadcasting do not know how to properly voicetrack, or else...are not allowed the time, or the comittment to do it right.

The fact is: if a station is voicetracked correctly, 99% of radio listeners won't be able to notice the difference.

The important thing, though: a voicetracked jock can't be saying it's raining, when it's not (at least somewhere in the area.), and a tracked station needs some provision (besides EAS) for broadcast of emergency information (weather or whatever). It can be done, but that takes comittment from the station which, in some cases today, is vitually non-existant.

Even voicetracked to the point of the listeners not being able to really tell that it's voicetracked, doesn't equate to "personality." Nor does a live 24/7 operation equate to "personality." For many reasons, many jocks in this radio day and age aren't ALLOWED to be personalities. You can still be a good, solid jock, but not a TRUE personality. It's rather difficult to be a real personality and work within the confines of most station's strict format policies at the same time. Back in Low Emm's day, those on-air were given the freedom to be "stars." Today, in many cases, only if you're a morning jock do you have that kind of encouragement. Hey, after all, "research shows" that listeners want the jocks to just "shut up and play the music"....or that's at least what every consultant and his brother started preaching back in the 90's and everybody followed suit. That's just one of many reasons why the "personalities" are a rare thing....in many markets.

 

[gr8oldies]

First of all, absolutely no one cares if a station is "cookie cutter" other than radio people and wanna-bes. I agree on personality, but at the same time if you could ressurect Lou Emm and bring Kirkie back to the mike every day, that doesn't mean what they did in the 60s and 70s would work today. It would have to be a personality approach that works today. No, everyone shouldn't be given cart blanche to jabber on incessantly. Everyone on the radio wasn't a "star" back in the day either.

As far as what's missing...jocks on Fly. Obviously oldies on a full-market signal but that ain't happening. (We do have two redundant sports AMs though, one with zero ratings). A "true" CHR, whatever that is today. Maybe a real country competitor to K99.1, though I don't see it happening.

By the way there is a local old-school mixshow on WROU Saturday nights 8-12midnight. I don't know how long it's been on.

 

[KFodor]

Thanks, Gr8t: you made a good point.

I agree with some of marketweis' points. But, you guys can wish all you want for live 24/7 radio. Reality is: it's not gonna happen. The FCC is not going to legislate the business back to 1965.

You may not believe in research, but it works.

93/KHJ in Los Angeles succeeded in the 60's because, outside of AM and PM drive, the "jock talk" (read: personality) was trimmed to the bone and the music was the star. Who did they beat? All the other Top 40 stations whose jocks believed the press releases about themselves. Now, talk about Robert W. Morgan, or "The Real" Don Steele...there was the "personality" of the station. This was 1965...well before consolidation, and Clear Channel and "corporate radio". Outside of drive time, you didn't talk more than 15 or so seconds...a second more got you "hotlined". Their success was unquestionable. And before long, many stations in the country were imitating the "formula".

So, stop blaming consolidation and Clear Channel for "formula" radio...it started decades earlier.

Don't believe me? Go to some radio tribute sites that have good collections of airchecks from the 60's and 70's. Sure, you'll hear personality on the morning shows, but the rest of the time the best "personality" came from witty comments and bits that took less than 10 seconds to do.

When I worked for Z-93 in the early 90's, Jeff Ballentine, the PD, only gave us 20 second music beds to talk over. We had to do the code calls and the slogan and incorporate a phone bit...in 20 seconds or less. Anybody remember that 12 share the station had 12 plus?

"Personality" radio can continue today, particularly on AM Drive and, to a lesser degree, PM Drive. Other dayparts can shine with entertaining comments, talk about the music, talk about the lifestyles of the day, talk about what's going on in town...and, keeping people informed about things they need to know (weather, traffic, etc.) Frankly, that's what Lou Emm and Steve Kirk did to the largest extent. Not that they didn't have their trademark "bits", Lou with his stories taken largely out of Reader's Digest, and Steve with his put-ons and other funny bits. Don't take that as diminishing what they did...that is certainly not my intent. They were "personalities" in their own ways and what they did worked for the time. But, "personality" changes over the years. What worked in 1965...doesn't necessarily work in 2008.

What's often missing in this business, is the commitment on the part of the jocks themselves. Ok, in fairness, if your boss insists you voicetrack 5 shows on 5 different stations each day, yeah...that's not going to make you the most creative person in the world. That's wrong. But, I hear jocks in this market doing "that was/this is/coming up we've got" radio when they only track one station...and they can do better than that. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Sometimes management forces this on the jocks and that, frankly, will be ultimately, their undoing. One can be "local" and "personable" in 20 seconds or less. Many stations, whether through overwork, lack of caring, or ignorance...don't teach this as well as they should.

I reiterate my original thought: voicetracking is not "evil" if it is done correctly. Doing voicetracking correctly means remembering that radio was then, and is now "theater of the mind". Create that "theater" correctly, and the listener will have no idea that it's pre-recorded. Nor, as Gr8t pointed out, does the average listener care. It can be done. It's all about what comes out the speakers between the songs. It's all about content.