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What Makes a Radio Station "Good"

L

longleggs

Guest
Pearlman and Sandscott got me thinking about this because they both made valid points in my opinion. From a ratings standpoint, 98.1 is on the rise and that is good business. However, Sandscott hates the inconsistency of their format. I would agree they are kind of inconsistent on what exactly they are, but if the ratings are there, what do I know?

My question is this, what makes "good" radio? Does it simply come down to ratings? playlists? etc. In terms of a playlist, I think we can all agree that favorite artists, etc is subjective. No one is ever going to be COMPLETELY pleased, but on the other hand it has been years since I have actually heard someone say "so-so is a great station. I love most of the music they play." Usually it is a bitchfest on the repetition of songs. In other words, they listen because it is the type of music they like, but the station rarely satisfies. They listen mainly because there is nothing better to listen to.

For me, I loved when 92.9 WMFS first started. That station rocked and they played just about everyone which was very cool. I saw tons of their bumper stickers and their deejays had personality. It was always a fun listen and created a buzz. It also didn't get any ratings and part of that was due to the lack of signal strength. It was a cool station, but not a successful one.

Therefore, my question is what makes a station "good" by your definition. I am not sure that there is a single station in Memphis that I legitmately enjoy though I listen on occasion to 103, 98.1, Fm 100, Kim, and WEVL if I am within the signal range.
 
That's a question that's going to have as many different answers as responses. In other words, I don't think there's any real way to define what makes a station good specifically, otherwise we'd have a lot of really good stations. For me, all stations could improve with more live localism, actual news and community information and perhaps specialized programming. Remember the King Buscuit Flower Hour? You could get people to specifically tune in to hear that. That may be one thing WEVL does exceptionally well. Because the format is pretty much whoever happens to be in the control room for the next two hours, it tends to be rather eclectic and interesting, at least to me.

As long as stations stay with the unattended juke box formats I don't see any of them as being "good," but getting management to bring in live people that have something interesting to say and opening up the music rotation a bit is highly unlikely.
 
One term I've heard recently is "Robot Radio!" (Most of you will know where I've heard it)
I mostly listen to my iPod or cd's in the Jeep, because of that very thing.
To me...right now...one definition of "good" would have to be "Live and Local."
NOT playing songs, jingles, spots, and voice tracks that SUCK would be another.
I'd prefer to listen to live radio that wasn't that great than to listen to "Robot" radio that is polished to a high shine.
It's called "relatable" and Robot Radio is not that. I'd like to occasionally hear a human stammer over a name once in a while or push a wrong button-just to let me know there's a PERSON there.
But...I'm still "Old School" when it comes to radio...yes...John "Records" Landecker and Rick Dees really WERE the deal.
A former PD of mine did his best to keep us Live, Local, and Relatable...and I always tried.
He's still in radio, still pushing that, I'm sure-and doing pretty well for himself...I guess a few "Major Market Station of The Year" awards will do that for ya!
 
What makes a "Good Radio Station"

-Good Staff
-Direction
-Organization
-Dont hire anybody from Memphis


Follow those steps and youll be ok!
 
Well, at the risk of sounding creaky (and I don't really care if I do)...

There used to be this thing called "talent". There were "personalities". There were "programmers" who weren't filling in a paint-by-number Picasso, who were playing to win instead of playing "not to lose".

There was a tension between the programming hall and the sales hall. If a wise GM was in charge, that tension was managed, and good radio ensued.

The preponderance of drivel pouring out of your speakers is the direct result of that delicate balance ceasing to exist. Sales WON! Whoo-Hoo! Congratulations! That money-grubbing mentality led to a couple of medium market companies running everything, not because they deserved to be in charge, not because they were more talented at making good radio, but because they were adept at snowing other people into letting them run up great debt.

I mourn for the new generation of potential great radio people who will never be developed because, by and large, the inspiration just isn't there any more. I feel sorry for the kids who will never hear their era's version of a John Landecker, a Jack Armstrong, a RedBeard, a Dickie Doo-Doo Edwards, a Dewey Phillips, or an Early Wright.

What makes a good radio station:

People. Talent. Timing. Luck.
Preparation/Concentration/Moderation.
 
robgrayson said:
Well, at the risk of sounding creaky (and I don't really care if I do)...

There used to be this thing called "talent". There were "personalities". There were "programmers" who weren't filling in a paint-by-number Picasso, who were playing to win instead of playing "not to lose".

There was a tension between the programming hall and the sales hall. If a wise GM was in charge, that tension was managed, and good radio ensued.

The preponderance of drivel pouring out of your speakers is the direct result of that delicate balance ceasing to exist. Sales WON! Whoo-Hoo! Congratulations! That money-grubbing mentality led to a couple of medium market companies running everything, not because they deserved to be in charge, not because they were more talented at making good radio, but because they were adept at snowing other people into letting them run up great debt.

I mourn for the new generation of potential great radio people who will never be developed because, by and large, the inspiration just isn't there any more. I feel sorry for the kids who will never hear their era's version of a John Landecker, a Jack Armstrong, a RedBeard, a Dickie Doo-Doo Edwards, a Dewey Phillips, or an Early Wright.

What makes a good radio station:

People. Talent. Timing. Luck.
Preparation/Concentration/Moderation.
Click to expand...

[size=10pt]Bravo, Rob, Bravo!![/[/size]b]
 
Thanks for the replies! I think Rob summed it up perfectly. I realize it is not profitable but local talent, local flavor in the playlist, listener request, etc. is what I miss.
 
robgrayson said:
Well, at the risk of sounding creaky (and I don't really care if I do)...

There used to be this thing called "talent". There were "personalities". There were "programmers" who weren't filling in a paint-by-number Picasso, who were playing to win instead of playing "not to lose".

There was a tension between the programming hall and the sales hall. If a wise GM was in charge, that tension was managed, and good radio ensued.

The preponderance of drivel pouring out of your speakers is the direct result of that delicate balance ceasing to exist. Sales WON! Whoo-Hoo! Congratulations! That money-grubbing mentality led to a couple of medium market companies running everything, not because they deserved to be in charge, not because they were more talented at making good radio, but because they were adept at snowing other people into letting them run up great debt.

I mourn for the new generation of potential great radio people who will never be developed because, by and large, the inspiration just isn't there any more. I feel sorry for the kids who will never hear their era's version of a John Landecker, a Jack Armstrong, a RedBeard, a Dickie Doo-Doo Edwards, a Dewey Phillips, or an Early Wright.

What makes a good radio station:

People. Talent. Timing. Luck.
Preparation/Concentration/Moderation.
Click to expand...


THAT coming from a guy who was smack in the middle, and and integral part of "good radio" of several different formats. - Well said, Rob.
 
what makes it bad is someone as irritating as that guy who works afternoons on WREC. God, what a monotone, lumbering irritating style. Plus NEVER has anything good to say about anyone or anything. Just bashes with angry, often exaggerated or false statements No answers, no new ideas, no positive anything. plus he's selling some dumb product every 3 minutes... must be making some good extra cash on those.
 
Thank you, Rob.

Do you think it'll ever come back around...at all?

By the way, I know it probably won't do any good...but I'd love to know that John Hogan, John & Lew Dickey and several of the middle-market Mays crew could read this...and actually get it.
 
I agree with Dead Elvis.
Making money makes a good radio station.
While it takes great talent, good promotions, lots of marketing, not to mention playing the hits...
I have never met an owner whose sole purpose was any of that.
It's all about the money.
Take Barnstable Broadcasting for instance.
A great company to work for and be part of, which I had the pleasure of doing for quite a while.
The owner bought KIX 106 and KSSN in LR for 13 million in 1985.
Sold KSSN a few years later back to the original owners for 10 mil.
Bought several more move in's...and had a four station cluster.
Total investment approximately 30 mil.
Sold it to Citadel for 100 mil.
A lot of people got rich.
It is always and will always be...about the money.
Being able to hit a post on a Led Zepplin cut has nothing to do with it.
 
The wise thing to do would be to say "Yep, it's all about the money", turn the other cheek, and give up, but instead I'm typing...

Okay, the bait keeps getting tossed, so I'll bite. Today's cluster radio stations with their pared-down-to-bare-bones programming and 7 plus minute spot sets are so good and making so much money that they can't pay back their debt and are going bankrupt.

Basing an analysis of what makes "good radio" on how much profit someone made by getting OUT of radio during a period of ultimately unsustainable growth rather leaves me scratching my head. IMHO, it's more akin to a Ponzi Scheme where someone ultimately winds up holding the bag. A lot of people got rich speculating on real estate, too. A lot of people made big bucks in dot com speculation. And the suckers who come in at the end always wind up holding the bag. What killed "good radio" was someone trying to make a killing buying low and selling high, with no regard for what it did to the product itself.

Will it ever come back? Not until it bottoms out and finds a solid foundation. I can't imagine it would ever be more than a shadow of what it was.

But remember, this wealth of savvy media philosophy is coming from someone who had a meteoric rise in AM Top 40 radio in the mid-70's, largely because I was blindly going in while anyone with a lick of sense was getting out. In 20-20 hindsight, the total shelf life for what I wanted to do with my life as about 20 years, and I came in about 15 years into the cycle. I chose not to depend on radio for a full time paycheck 22 years ago because I didn't like where it was heading. That was prior to clustering, prior to voice tracking, prior to everyone getting so rich. More than once I have thought of the radio actors of the 40's and 50's who had passion for what they did and excelled at their jobs, but lost their gigs once television wiped out their industry and those blasted disc jockeys took over.

Yep, it's all about the money.
 
"Today's cluster radio stations with their pared-down-to-bare-bones programming and 7 plus minute spot sets are so good and making so much money that they can't pay back their debt and are going bankrupt."


Rob, you could have stopped at the above and it would have still been the post of the year.

Just checked Citadel's stock. Trading today at a nickle a share.
 
And I'll just add...

I've NEVER in my entire life (not just all those radio years) EVER heard anyone try to "Hit The Post" on a Zepplin song. I believe if I had, I may have driven to the station to smack him.

Sanford-Townsend Band, "Smoke From A Distant Fire"..THAT'S a "Post-Hitting" song.
ANYTHING by Led Zepplin...is not.
If we're going to discuss "Back In The Day" radio...let's be realistic.

(I say this in fun...I'd never actually threaten to smack someone. All on here who know me already know how timid a wallflower I am) :D
 
"I've NEVER in my entire life (not just all those radio years) EVER heard anyone try to "Hit The Post" on a Zepplin song"

I have an aircheck of The Real Don Steele on Boss Radio KHJ in L.A. from 1970 where he hits it on Whole Lotta Love perfectly.
 
Heard a late-night KOMA jock talk up Ringo's "Oh My My." Did a liner...then weather...then next morning's amount in the KOMA Cookie Jar...still had time so tossed in, "Ringo Starr on the Mighty 15-20...Oh My My" ... STILL some time, so he kept, kinda rhythmically, repeating "oh my muh my, oh my muh my" -- and stepped on the freakin' vocal! Oh well...
 
It's a big crazy world outside the confines of Memphis TN!
The Real Don Steele...KHJ....that's talent!
Does anyone know if he passed through WHBQ during the RKO days?
Did anyone other than Dees go to LA with RKO?
Just wonderin'
 
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