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What Is Good Radio?

M

musicfan101

Guest
Everyday, I always hear on how much L.A. radio "sucks". I am not trying to bash those who feel that way. I admit radio out here is surely missing somethings, but it isn't just here. I sometimes read on other boards from other cities, and they criticize their radio the way we do.

My question is: What Is Good Radio? Where Can We Find It?
 
As to the first question, good radio is something only radio can deliver. Not an iPod, not your computer.

It communicates, live and in real-time. If an emergency happens, it tells you right away. It lets you know what time it is, what the weather will be and if your usual route to work will make you late.

It creates a "stationality" through its on-air personalities, people who communicate with the listener in a way that complements and is relevant to the format. In other words, there's room for strong personalities, humor and knowledge of the music being played. There's also room for air talent that gets out of the way of the music, but isn't chained to an endless reading of liner cards.

In a music format, unless that format is oldies, classic rock, classic hits, nostalgia or classical, it introduces new music on a regular (preferably weekly) basis.

It trusts programmers to make their music choices based on their knowledge of the market, their audience and the station's sound as opposed to relying on "safe lists" from auditorium testing.

It is technically flawless...if a technology might result in seconds, much less minutes or hours (it's happened) of dead air, that technology is simply not adequate for on-air use.

It has immaculate production values...segues are blended for smoothness, promos, sweepers and jingles (if any) are produced to not only fit, but enhance the overall sound of the station.

Commercial inventory is tightly controlled. Stopsets should not exceed four minutes in length. Competing advertisers should not run back-to-back, and ideally should not be in the same stopset. Stations should reserve the right to re-cut spots to fit the format (to avoid screaming car dealer ads on a low-key format).

I'm sure there's more...but those are the basics.

Question two: Where to find it? Sadly, Henry and Dr. o Fun are right...start building the time machine.


---Michael Hagerty
 
michael hagerty said:
As to the first question, good radio is something only radio can deliver. Not an iPod, not your computer.

It communicates, live and in real-time. If an emergency happens, it tells you right away. It lets you know what time it is, what the weather will be and if your usual route to work will make you late.

It creates a "stationality" through its on-air personalities, people who communicate with the listener in a way that complements and is relevant to the format. In other words, there's room for strong personalities, humor and knowledge of the music being played. There's also room for air talent that gets out of the way of the music, but isn't chained to an endless reading of liner cards.

In a music format, unless that format is oldies, classic rock, classic hits, nostalgia or classical, it introduces new music on a regular (preferably weekly) basis.

It trusts programmers to make their music choices based on their knowledge of the market, their audience and the station's sound as opposed to relying on "safe lists" from auditorium testing.

It is technically flawless...if a technology might result in seconds, much less minutes or hours (it's happened) of dead air, that technology is simply not adequate for on-air use.

It has immaculate production values...segues are blended for smoothness, promos, sweepers and jingles (if any) are produced to not only fit, but enhance the overall sound of the station.

Commercial inventory is tightly controlled. Stopsets should not exceed four minutes in length. Competing advertisers should not run back-to-back, and ideally should not be in the same stopset. Stations should reserve the right to re-cut spots to fit the format (to avoid screaming car dealer ads on a low-key format).

I'm sure there's more...but those are the basics.

Question two: Where to find it? Sadly, Henry and Dr. o Fun are right...start building the time machine.


---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

I have to agree that you have captured the concept, precisely and completely. One slight difference, sometimes the goofs can be endearing too because you know that there is a real person behind what you are hearing. Of course when I was doing it myself I always had a fear of accidentally cuing something on air, or missing the end of a cut and having a couple of seconds of dead air. I do think that sweepers are being overused these days and that there is getting to be a mechanical sound on air even when automation is not being used. The automation of today though is a 1000% better than back before I switched to computers as a profession.
 
nmoore6676 said:
I have to agree that you have captured the concept, precisely and completely. One slight difference, sometimes the goofs can be endearing too because you know that there is a real person behind what you are hearing. Of course when I was doing it myself I always had a fear of accidentally cuing something on air, or missing the end of a cut and having a couple of seconds of dead air. I do think that sweepers are being overused these days and that there is getting to be a mechanical sound on air even when automation is not being used. The automation of today though is a 1000% better than back before I switched to computers as a profession.
Click to expand...

Nmoore: To be clear, I said if a technology might result in dead air. I don't propose doing away with human error (as if that were possible). But a year or so back, KRTH had an on-air meltdown...it was later explained that the problem was with the control board, which apparently is a device that resembles an audio console but is in fact "a computer interface". To solve the issue, everything had to be rebooted...a process that took several minutes, while L.A. heard nothing out of a major station.

More recently, here in Phoenix, KOOL had several hours of dead air in morning drive (detailed on the Phoenix board here at Radio-Info). A switch was left in the wrong position. Yeah, it was human error, but it was exacerbated by the technology.

In the same way that radio stations didn't use hand-cranked Victrolas or battery-operated tape decks in studios, they shouldn't now employ any device where, by its nature, a reboot may be required, resulting in dead air.
---Michael Hagerty
 
Those of you who boil bad radio down to "computers", "tight playlists", "liner cards", "live and local jocks" really miss the point.

You see, good radio is:

Connecting with the listener, however it's done. And yes, it can be done, even if it's voicetracked. I know I've connected when a listener comes up to me having heard me on the radio mornings on one station and evenings on another and says, "Don't you ever sleep? I hear you all the time!" Obviously that person had no idea I wasn't live, and doesn't care.

Being there with the information people need when it's needed. Our town had a serious weather emergency that caused problems that lasted for days. Our news station dropped syndication for several days to give emergency information - now that same station which was top 5 before is consistently #1 or #2.

Being tied in with your community. Those 16 hour days broadcasting for free (other than your salary) doing a day-long community event. Those days, thankfully, don't come every week, but when they do, they're long, exhausting...but at the end of the day when you've finished shaking hands with 30 or 40-thousand people you go home thinking "Darn...we really did something today".

Helping to raise funds for the local Children's Hospital. One of our stations has raised over 2 million dollars for the local hospital over the years. Those broadcasts, I assure you are not a "hinderance" to my day, but a pleasure to be part of.

That's called acting in the public interest, convenience and necessity. If we can do it "in the sticks", L.A. radio can do it, too. The problem is, in my humble view, there's only a few "good" radio companies anymore. Too many of them are now watching their investments blow up because they made bad business decisions. Buying too much at ridiculous multiples. Putting too much faith in the thought that the economy would never downturn.

We should all hope the bad ones implode quickly, take as few people down the tubes with them as possible and see potential new owners who will treat stations like the crown jewels they can be.

You see, I've never been an over-egoed "DJ". I've been in the business to be a "broadcaster". There's a big difference...and I still love getting out of bed in the morning to go to work. Oh yeah, I also work for what I think is the best broadcast company in the country today. For a lot of reasons.

I'm not the best paid in the business, that's for sure. But, I have money in the bank, and can put food on my table. And I like to think I'm respected by my peers. But know one thing, every time I turn a microphone on, I try to make it the best I can.
 
michael hagerty said:
nmoore6676 said:
I have to agree that you have captured the concept, precisely and completely. One slight difference, sometimes the goofs can be endearing too because you know that there is a real person behind what you are hearing. Of course when I was doing it myself I always had a fear of accidentally cuing something on air, or missing the end of a cut and having a couple of seconds of dead air. I do think that sweepers are being overused these days and that there is getting to be a mechanical sound on air even when automation is not being used. The automation of today though is a 1000% better than back before I switched to computers as a profession.
Click to expand...

Nmoore: To be clear, I said if a technology might result in dead air. I don't propose doing away with human error (as if that were possible). But a year or so back, KRTH had an on-air meltdown...it was later explained that the problem was with the control board, which apparently is a device that resembles an audio console but is in fact "a computer interface". To solve the issue, everything had to be rebooted...a process that took several minutes, while L.A. heard nothing out of a major station.

More recently, here in Phoenix, KOOL had several hours of dead air in morning drive (detailed on the Phoenix board here at Radio-Info). A switch was left in the wrong position. Yeah, it was human error, but it was exacerbated by the technology.

In the same way that radio stations didn't use hand-cranked Victrolas or battery-operated tape decks in studios, they shouldn't now employ any device where, by its nature, a reboot may be required, resulting in dead air.
---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

Got that, sorry I wasn't clear. However as a person who makes a living with computers there is virtually no excuse for a properly maintained system to go down and not be able to be restored nearly instantly. In any event the lack of human monitoring accounts for most of your concern.

Also in the old days radio stations had redundancy, if your main control board went out they could patch in another like in a production studio on air and resume. The same should be done with computers. Banks and other critical applications have redundant systems running parallel. The problem is penny pinching and the perception that computers are infallible which they are not, this from one who is surrounded by them as I type this.

As I said, you got it right and you and I are on the same page.
 
Wow, those are great descriptions of good radio. I think we have some current examples right here in LA. In the news-talk-sports world, KFI qualifies as good radio IMO. In the music world, I would go with KIIS, KPWR, KRTH and KROQ. After so many years of success, it is easy to take them for granted.
 
One Who Knows said:
Those of you who boil bad radio down to "computers", "tight playlists", "liner cards", "live and local jocks" really miss the point.

You see, good radio is:

Connecting with the listener, however it's done. And yes, it can be done, even if it's voicetracked. I know I've connected when a listener comes up to me having heard me on the radio mornings on one station and evenings on another and says, "Don't you ever sleep? I hear you all the time!" Obviously that person had no idea I wasn't live, and doesn't care.

Being there with the information people need when it's needed. Our town had a serious weather emergency that caused problems that lasted for days. Our news station dropped syndication for several days to give emergency information - now that same station which was top 5 before is consistently #1 or #2.

Being tied in with your community. Those 16 hour days broadcasting for free (other than your salary) doing a day-long community event. Those days, thankfully, don't come every week, but when they do, they're long, exhausting...but at the end of the day when you've finished shaking hands with 30 or 40-thousand people you go home thinking "Darn...we really did something today".

Helping to raise funds for the local Children's Hospital. One of our stations has raised over 2 million dollars for the local hospital over the years. Those broadcasts, I assure you are not a "hinderance" to my day, but a pleasure to be part of.

That's called acting in the public interest, convenience and necessity. If we can do it "in the sticks", L.A. radio can do it, too. The problem is, in my humble view, there's only a few "good" radio companies anymore. Too many of them are now watching their investments blow up because they made bad business decisions. Buying too much at ridiculous multiples. Putting too much faith in the thought that the economy would never downturn.

We should all hope the bad ones implode quickly, take as few people down the tubes with them as possible and see potential new owners who will treat stations like the crown jewels they can be.

You see, I've never been an over-egoed "DJ". I've been in the business to be a "broadcaster". There's a big difference...and I still love getting out of bed in the morning to go to work. Oh yeah, I also work for what I think is the best broadcast company in the country today. For a lot of reasons.

I'm not the best paid in the business, that's for sure. But, I have money in the bank, and can put food on my table. And I like to think I'm respected by my peers. But know one thing, every time I turn a microphone on, I try to make it the best I can.
Click to expand...

One: Absolutely voice-tracking can be done right and can work. My only beef is when it's not...when automation is allowed to be an excuse not to serve...and when even the most basic criteria ("are we on the air?") gets ignored because someone's too cheap to build in redundancies.

---Michael Hagerty
 
michael hagerty said:
One Who Knows said:
Those of you who boil bad radio down to "computers", "tight playlists", "liner cards", "live and local jocks" really miss the point.

You see, good radio is:

Connecting with the listener, however it's done. And yes, it can be done, even if it's voicetracked. I know I've connected when a listener comes up to me having heard me on the radio mornings on one station and evenings on another and says, "Don't you ever sleep? I hear you all the time!" Obviously that person had no idea I wasn't live, and doesn't care.

Being there with the information people need when it's needed. Our town had a serious weather emergency that caused problems that lasted for days. Our news station dropped syndication for several days to give emergency information - now that same station which was top 5 before is consistently #1 or #2.

Being tied in with your community. Those 16 hour days broadcasting for free (other than your salary) doing a day-long community event. Those days, thankfully, don't come every week, but when they do, they're long, exhausting...but at the end of the day when you've finished shaking hands with 30 or 40-thousand people you go home thinking "Darn...we really did something today".

Helping to raise funds for the local Children's Hospital. One of our stations has raised over 2 million dollars for the local hospital over the years. Those broadcasts, I assure you are not a "hinderance" to my day, but a pleasure to be part of.

That's called acting in the public interest, convenience and necessity. If we can do it "in the sticks", L.A. radio can do it, too. The problem is, in my humble view, there's only a few "good" radio companies anymore. Too many of them are now watching their investments blow up because they made bad business decisions. Buying too much at ridiculous multiples. Putting too much faith in the thought that the economy would never downturn.

We should all hope the bad ones implode quickly, take as few people down the tubes with them as possible and see potential new owners who will treat stations like the crown jewels they can be.

You see, I've never been an over-egoed "DJ". I've been in the business to be a "broadcaster". There's a big difference...and I still love getting out of bed in the morning to go to work. Oh yeah, I also work for what I think is the best broadcast company in the country today. For a lot of reasons.

I'm not the best paid in the business, that's for sure. But, I have money in the bank, and can put food on my table. And I like to think I'm respected by my peers. But know one thing, every time I turn a microphone on, I try to make it the best I can.
Click to expand...

One: Absolutely voice-tracking can be done right and can work. My only beef is when it's not...when automation is allowed to be an excuse not to serve...and when even the most basic criteria ("are we on the air?") gets ignored because someone's too cheap to build in redundancies.

---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

Michael:

You are absolutely right on all accounts here.

But as much as I blame bad managements and ownerships, I also blame bad, lazy PD's and jocks, too. To me, there's no excuse for not trying to do your best. I realize radio people these days do more with far less, but it's doable.

A lot of on air types who complain about voice tracking and long for "live and local" forget radio's biggest attribute: theatre of the mind. A lot of the great DJ's of the past (especially in LA), also spent time doing TV and movie roles when and where they could. Some of them were pretty good actors...and that ability also enhanced what they did on the air.

Being an "on air personality" is being an on air actor or actress. If you're good at it, you can make the audience think you're there...even when you're not.

As for the bad managements and owners are concerned, I'd like to ask them a question: If the only thing you care about a radio station is if it's on the air, why did you pay the exhorbitant cost to buy it? I know of one station in my area that is the worst programmed, with the absolutely worst, least professional, amateur air staff I have heard. The station has a point-nothing in the ratings, yet is (supposedly) a valued part of a "cluster". And yet, no one in the management or ownership structure of that station apparently cares, because absolutely nothing is done on their part to ask questions of the staff, or make adjustments to improve it. The problems with this station come right out of the speakers and any pro in the business can tell. Any pro...except the owners and managers of this "cluster".

That, to me, is not programming to public "interest, convenience and necessity".
 
To me, good radio is...

Compelling, no matter what format. You should keep the listener guessing what you will do next.

Informative, no matter what format. Don't treat your listeners like idiots. Give them information that they need, in a language that they understand.

Good radio isn't always local, but syndication should be the exception, not the rule.

Good radio doesn't need to be live, just compelling.

Good radio should be relivent to the audience the station serves. Everything from programming to imaging, and even commercial spot content.

Good radio should have passionate and multi-skilled people. In this age of doing more with less, I believe the days of the jock only positions are just about gone. If you are passionate about your job, you should be willing to take on the challenge of other duties.

Above all, good radio is being there at a time community of crisis. Just because you are a CHR station, doesn't mean you should ignore the bushfire (wildfire) on the edge of town. Keep your listeners informed. They shouldn't have to go to another station for information. Even if you give basic information, it is still better than none at all. Make use of websites, and cellphone data bases to give your listeners information.
 
Lee Anderson said:
To me, good radio is...

Compelling, no matter what format. You should keep the listener guessing what you will do next.

Informative, no matter what format. Don't treat your listeners like idiots. Give them information that they need, in a language that they understand.

Good radio isn't always local, but syndication should be the exception, not the rule.

Good radio doesn't need to be live, just compelling.

Good radio should be relivent to the audience the station serves. Everything from programming to imaging, and even commercial spot content.

Good radio should have passionate and multi-skilled people. In this age of doing more with less, I believe the days of the jock only positions are just about gone. If you are passionate about your job, you should be willing to take on the challenge of other duties.

Above all, good radio is being there at a time community of crisis. Just because you are a CHR station, doesn't mean you should ignore the bushfire (wildfire) on the edge of town. Keep your listeners informed. They shouldn't have to go to another station for information. Even if you give basic information, it is still better than none at all. Make use of websites, and cellphone data bases to give your listeners information.
Click to expand...

Lee:
Well put. I think you nailed it.

---Michael Hagerty
 
I should add that I was listening to the Indie 101.5 (Denver) stream on Friday morning (my time) and heard an automated tornado warning come on. I wonder if there would be any need for such things if stations had basic gudelines to deal with such things, ie, seasonal weather conditions.
 
I posted a topic about a year ago asking was there anything out there that the posters thought was positive about radio in LA. I got a smattering of response, but then it was back to the usual station bashing/premature grave digging that seems to be the hallmark of the LA board.

One Who Know was spot on about what makes good radio, but in the end, it really is not the radio geek who posts here that determines what we hear on the radio, it's that guy on the 405 stuck in traffic who wants to hear something that will get his mind off of grabbing a baseball bat, getting out of his car, and doing his Robert DeNiro-in-the Untouchables impresonation on the head of the guy in front holding up traffic.

Maybe it's Lady GaGa for the 10th time. Or a bit of Steely Dan. Or a Koblyt rant or a Randi rant. Whatever it is, it is what the listener wants. I think sometimes in our haste to be pundits, we forget that it is the listener the programmer is trying to get.

And in many cases, it's not the greatest number of people or even the greatest number in a certain demo. But if you can put together something that can get 250-300k people listening at the same time, even in an 11 million population, that is STILL a lot of people who like what you are doing.


What IS good radio. Create it and put it out there and see who listens. Then you'll get your answer.
 
Don Paschal said:
But if you can put together something that can get 250-300k people listening at the same time, even in an 11 million population, that is STILL a lot of people who like what you are doing.
Click to expand...

No single show, hour or daypart gets an AQH persons of 200,00 or 300,000.

In fact, in the most listened to daypart, 10 AM to 3 PM, there are 365,000 total persons (12+) listening on the average, divided between all the stations that make the book... which is around 70 in total. The most listened to show, that of Bill Handel, has just over 100,000 average listeners during its 6-10 hours.


What IS good radio. Create it and put it out there and see who listens. Then you'll get your answer.
Click to expand...

That and $100 million or so will get you a radio station to try it on.
 
"Maybe it's Lady GaGa for the 10th time. Or a bit of Steely Dan. Or a Koblyt rant or a Randi rant. Whatever it is, it is what the listener wants. I think sometimes in our haste to be pundits, we forget that it is the listener the programmer is trying to get."

LOL there's a vast wasteland of airwaves in SoCal, that's why God --- or was it Al Gore? -- invented the Internet!! Yes I also like out of market over the air radio stations who stream ... I'm tired of complaining about not getting what I want on the LA market radio. "Mission Accomplished" ;)
 
Good radio is simply one thing:

Satisfying the listener. Which means...playing all that's available within a format, taking requests and playing them promptly and making your day fun, with specialties and listener interaction instead of everyday monotony and repetition. Make the day interesting and bring out the hits! Some stations already do this, some do not.
 
oldies76 said:
Good radio is simply one thing:

Satisfying the listener. Which means...playing all that's available within a format, taking requests and playing them promptly and making your day fun, with specialties and listener interaction instead of everyday monotony and repetition. Make the day interesting and bring out the hits! Some stations already do this, some do not.
Click to expand...

Yes.....yes! That is it!! Satisfying the listener. Why can't more stations do this? It is getting really annoying. I loved listening to Indie 103.1 because they played, and still do play online, exactly what an Indie music listener wanted to hear. Currently, I really enjoy listening to AMP 97.1 because they do a great job of playing CHR/Top 40. However, I believe that AMP would be MUCH better if they had fun, interesting jocks to keep you on your toes. ;D
 
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