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What Stations in Memphis Are in Trouble?

S

Sandscott

Guest
Since I am just a radio fan (though becoming less of a commerical radio fan with each passing day), I am not really in the loop. I hear rumor that 98.1 The Max needs their ratings to go up quickly, and KIM FM 98.9 is all but gone. I even hear some heat is being put on Spencer concerning 103's declining ratings. I love classic rock but the playlists are what is turning me off. 98.9 is too much like FM 100 for me to care about that station.
 
With the Corporate ownership mindset that permeates the Memhis radio landscape today, practically ALL station are in trouble of one form or another. Some are being taken down from outside forces.....and some from the inside.
 
pretty easy answer
the stations with low ratings are in trouble
the stations with high ratings are sitting pretty

just like your report card though...you gotta keep the grades up or you will be in trouble too

I would think 92.9, 98.1, 98.9 would be a little worried. 99.7 will probably ride it out.
 
littlebig beat me to my answer, basically.

Unless it's one of the top "urban" stations...in reality, any one of them could be fodder for change.
Nowadays, when things in Memphis radio are finally changing on a broad scale, rather than an isolated one, one should be prepared to say "Good-bye" to much of the "old" school.

Tom and Steve gone from FM100
(leaving RON for God's sake-by far the weakest-and most expensive-of the three. ENTERCOM is Brilliant)
Butler gone from 'RVR
Bev out at 103, etc...

I'd say that anything is liable to happen anywhere.
Beware if you're in the "upper level on-air earner" category.
Numbers are simply NOT justifying costs-thus something will have to give.
(The exception that proves the rule may be the son of Mr. and Mrs. Olsen)

How much longer will the "corporate" minds hang onto formats and people that simply aren't pulling numbers.
(Entercom has been known to dump folks and formats when they WERE pulling decent numbers)

Tim and BadDog, Drake and Zeke, Mike and Mindy (or whatever. it's horrible!), unfortunately Bill Bannister, all these kinds of vets with healthy paychecks and/or LOADS of paid time off, benefits, perks, etc.

It's almost certain these things are under consideration for change by corprate suits.

Always remember, with the big companies owning everything, they have 21 year old geeks in places like Kansas City, that are computer literate (whizzes, actually) and can do simultaneous "live" shifts on multiple stations at once.
They can be pretty "live and local" with Internet connection providing weather, traffic, news info and more.

Plus, whiz kid will do it for an extra "C" note a week and free concert tickets. Only one worker's comp and benefit package to cover a shift on 10 of our stations at once?
Suits LIKE it!

Radio has changed.
I don't like it.
It doesn't care whether I do or not.
To paraphrase the words of the late philosopher Frank Zappa...
"It is what it am...a cow don't make ham!"

Church! ;D
 
In today's radio landscape, anything is subject to happen anywhere on the dial from non comms. on down the line..Numbers can't even be a deciding factor. Even the urban stations that are top performers here aren't out of harms way of change, the last time Clear Channel made those massive cuts, one must not forget they also cut on air personell from WHRK, WHAL, WDIA, and KJMS (those stations have always been in the top 5 or 6 here) and to this day no one can really knows why they were let go (esp. when they weren't big figure personalities).
 
I definitely agree with Meepster regarding Olson. He definitely is the weakest of the three between him, Prestigiacomo, and Conlee. I never have understood the phenomenon that is Ron Olson??????
 
Meepster said:
They can be pretty "live and local" with Internet connection providing weather, traffic, news info and more ...
Suits LIKE it!
Click to expand...

Interesting way you described the issue. If it does sound live and local, and it is way cheaper, why wouldn't the suits like it? I sure as heck would. And, if I had a Board to report to, live, local and cheap is the correct answer.

Just a thought.

DE
 
This is what I'm sayin'.

It's the wave of the future, man. Why run a hundred radio stations with 400 jocks, when you can buy the technology to run your hundred radio stations with 40?
Insurance, benefits, unemployment, office/studio space, vehicles, payroll and bookeeping costs, etc. all VERY expensive!!!,
Doing things the new way looks really good on a balance sheet.
In their minds, "The product" doesn't suffer enough quality-wise by doing this-to NOT do it.

Adding to the problem is the fact that the average listener doesn't much care (or notice) if the jock is live or not.
 
I do care if they are local or not. I am sick of every station owned by a company sounding the same. If you would let me be program director for a classic rock station, you would be amazed at what you hear. You would get the standards but a ton of other stuff. I am sick of how vanilla radio is. I am also sick of the ignorance shown when it comes to radio. Did anyone think that 98.9 KIM Fm was going to work with the exact same format as Fm 100? They are to close each other on the dial if nothing else.
 
radiocheeseballs said:
I definitely agree with Meepster regarding Olson. He definitely is the weakest of the three between him, Prestigiacomo, and Conlee. I never have understood the phenomenon that is Ron Olson??????
Click to expand...

How about because Ron Olson is hilarious.
 
Lots and lots of female listeners love Ron Olson....its pretty simple. You are never gonna have everyone love you. Just get a big enough share and you can do mornings for 25 years on one station and make a nice living.
 
Most markets this size have two forms of rock stations. (a) a classic rock station, playing your zepplin-boston M25-50 demo, while (b) an alternative/active rock station plays the 90s grunge while playing current rock cuts.

Look at B. You've got 93X, an Alternative station now starting to include the Guns N Roses and Ozzy. While you also now have The Max now playing Nirvana and Soundgarden. *Too much crossover in a majority urban market. One of these has to give face.

I personally hope 92.9 wins this bout. The 92.9 frequency has been a home for Memphis current rock since 1996, while 98.1 has been un-focused, while trying to find their niche. ~My two cents.
 
I agree Stereobrain. The problem for me is I am a classic rocker who loves the 70's stuff with the 80's thrown in as well. In other words, I want some Foreigner, Styx, Alice Cooper, etc. with some Poison and Winger thrown in lol. 93x plays too much of the new stuff for me to want to listen, but now 98.1 is playing half of the classic rock stuff, while leading out a ton of important artists and repeating the same songs over and over even more than 103 , but also playing the new stuff that 93 X plays. They need to make up their mind because I can't stand either one. Drake and Zeke's show has become laughable as well.

What I would really like is a station that plays deeper cuts of classic rock and 80's rock. When they play new music I would love for it to be by 70's and 80's bands that radio seems to have forgotten. For instance, the Scorpions new album is terrific.
 
radiocheeseballs said:
Spaceman says.."How about because Ron Olson is hilarious"




....And you probably think Dane Cook is funny too! Oy vey!
Click to expand...

Sorry bro.

Telling people that Motley Crue is making an appearance at the Memphis Public Library is funny.

Telling people that they have to turn in their old $20 bills when the new ones came out is funny.

Calling Lou Ferigno at home on the day that the Hulk movie opened is funny.

He's done a thousand other funny bits. I got to work with him for a few years, and he was always making me laugh.




On to other things...I think that the 92.9 frequency has lacked focus. From "Solid Rock" to "Rocks Memphis" to "The New Rock Alternative" to "Because Memphis Rocks" to "Everything Rock". The station is all over the place. With such a small signal, the programming should have more of a niche....c'mon, Metallica juxtaposed with Amy Winehouse? It's not hip or cool...it makes fans of either artist change the station when they hear the other. Focus has never been 92.9's strong suit.

Also, I think it's hilarious that people still refer to it as 92.9 when it has been 93x for about 6 years now. Just a credit to the folks who marketed the station as 92.9.

That is all.
 
Is Rob Cressman still the program director over there? I always found him obnoxius.
 
Yeah, he's also the guy whose idea it was to have Danger Boy drop a pumpkin from Clark Tower on Halloween and it totaled somebody's car (Very Less Nessman like)

Also the April Fool's Day "switch" with Andy and Debbie on Kix 106..(How original)

And calling Lou Ferrigno on the day of the Hulk opening, I'm sure he was the only one who thought of that one...Pure effin' genius.. I'm sure nobody else interviewed Lou that week.

He may have made you laugh personally off the air but on the air I he's lame...
 
As I see it, 103 is definitely sagging behind. Their playlist is very repetitive and is not diverse at all. The magic and talent from the station is gone. Too much corporatization for 103 killed the life out of them.
Somehow, FM 100, while the talent is leaving, will hang on... 100 is a Memphis cornerstone of radio, so it will survive.
98.9 is gone. Competing with 100 was a BAD decision... you know who will lose that battle, and it WON'T be 100. They were OK with 70s and 80s, i actually listened a lot to it before the switch. Now, my work radio is mostly on talk radio and 103.5.
103.5 is okay in the afternoon... Baisden keeps me laughing in the afternoon. But their day playlist needs to be a little more inclusive of more soul music than it is.
98.1 is a mixed bag. D&Z are aight, but the music and afternoon talent needs improving. 98.1 needs to select a solid format and stick with it.
94.1 is just plain strange... i can never tell what will happen to them.
92.9 isn't too popular anymore.
Q 107.5 still has their billboard upside down on Union Ave. If you haven't noticed, it is just near the Pizza Hut on Union in Midtown. Been that way since January or before. As far as the station, no telling what Flinn will do.

That's the way i see it.

JP
 
radiocheeseballs said:
Yeah, he's also the guy whose idea it was to have Danger Boy drop a pumpkin from Clark Tower on Halloween and it totaled somebody's car (Very Less Nessman like)

Also the April Fool's Day "switch" with Andy and Debbie on Kix 106..(How original)

And calling Lou Ferrigno on the day of the Hulk opening, I'm sure he was the only one who thought of that one...Pure effin' genius.. I'm sure nobody else interviewed Lou that week.

He may have made you laugh personally off the air but on the air I he's lame...
Click to expand...


Yo, let us know when you spend 30 years in this market and have become a household name, OK?
 
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