Whats up with WHAM??

[eartotheradio]

Seems like the last month or so WHAM 1180 has really slid downhill. Dead air (not just for a min. or two), commercials running over each other, no local news from late evening till 5AM, not even the local temp. is broadcast overnights. The weather forecast is the same recording each hour and half hour. All this cuz they want to save a buck or two? 50,000 watts wasted, IMHO "your news leader" yeah right!
Oh yes, they put that ---hole Beck on now from 11:00 - 1PM now?? I cant even stand him for one hour let alone two. Come on WHAM what are you doing??

 

[listener-in]

Maybe the dead air is a creative attempt to improve their programming. WHAM started leaving me years ago. Its talk shows turned me off so I turned them off, and I quit even the local news programming - which was once excellent - as a personal protest against the downright hostility of the station's talk lineup to people who think the way I do.

If you want plenty of freedom of choice, check out WiFi radio.

 

[Mark Giardina]

The recent termination (last year actually) of some on-air staff might be one of the reasons there is no local news during the evenings and especially overnights.

Former co-worker Bill Flynn use to report news overnights on WHAM, but he was one of several people let go by Clear Channel.

Another reason for the lack of news during the evenings and overnight boils down to what some in the business believe the old chestnut that nobody listens to the radio during those hours. Instead people are watching TV.

Personally I believe that there is an audience for radio, IF a station provides entertaining and enlightening programs.

 

[TheBigA]

Another reason for the lack of news during the evenings and overnight boils down to what some in the business believe the old chestnut that nobody listens to the radio during those hours. Instead people are watching TV.

They don't have to believe old chestnuts. They can simply look at the ratings. And look at the ad dollars. If local news in overnights doesn't attract specific ad dollars (not bonus dollars left over from more popular dayparts), then that local programming becomes expendable. I often say you can gauge your job security by listening to the ads running in your show. If it's mostly national ads, then the dollars aren't there for local programming.

 

[Bob1370]

"I often say you can gauge your job security by listening to the ads running in your show. If it's mostly national ads, then the dollars aren't there for local programming."

Or, your sales staff isn't making the best use of all the inventory it can sell. When a small sales staff is asked to sell every daypart in every station in a cluster, sometimes it can be spread too thin and some stations and some dayparts can fall through the cracks even though they could be sold profitably. A lot of cluster managers probably are seeing sales opportunities slip through their fingers even as we speak...

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Yes, but no matter what they're trying to do to save money, there is no excuse for ads running on top of each other. That's a no no. It's causing an upset to the advertisers.
When the bread and butter are sitting at the table, you're supposed to spread the butter ON the bread, not just sit there and stare at it thinking it looks nice on the table!

 

[TheBigA]

A lot of cluster managers probably are seeing sales opportunities slip through their fingers even as we speak...

That's easy to say from the comfort of the outside world. Blame the over-worked, unstaffed sales folks.

It's been my experience that GMs are always open to great money opportunities that come from outside the existing sales structure. If they actually exist. Quite often they don't. And I've looked at enough ratings reports to know that 7PM to 5AM isn't the huge sales opportunity some outside the business think it is. Even at public radio. I don't know about your station, but the NPR stations I worked at didn't fundraise after 8PM.

 

[yugoidar]

"They don't have to believe old chestnuts.  They can simply look at the ratings.  And look at the ad dollars.  If local news in overnights doesn't attract specific ad dollars (not bonus dollars left over from more popular dayparts), then that local programming becomes expendable.  I often say you can gauge your job security by listening to the ads running in your show.  If it's mostly national ads, then the dollars aren't there for local programming".


The fact that audiences are small(er) at night is not late breaking news.  Seems to me there are advertisers that could take advantage of whatever the audience is if it's priced accordingly.  Audience is smaller, demand is less - the pricing should be lower.  And wouldn't that be found money that the GMs could add to their revenue stream?

A, with your line of reasoning, I guess we can expect stations to simply sign-off in the future when there's not enough advertising to pay the electrical bills for the studio and transmitter facility.

 

[Element9]

I don't know about your station, but the NPR stations I worked at didn't fundraise after 8PM.

You may have left money on the table. The number of listeners 7 to midnight may be one third or one quarter the number listening between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., but all indicators point to these listeners as being devoted and loyal supporters of the programs to which they listen, especially NPR programs.

 

[heydaybegone]

I guess we can expect stations to simply sign-off in the future when there's not enough advertising to pay the electrical bills for the studio and transmitter facility.

Yugo...this will be saved on the RI servers for posterity.
It is time/date stamped so you will have your 15 minutes of fame when it's reality. ;D
Unfortunately...maybe not far from being true.

BTW- Did daytimers have profound foresight for the future....j/k

 

[TheBigA]

A, with your line of reasoning, I guess we can expect stations to simply sign-off in the future when there's not enough advertising to pay the electrical bills for the studio and transmitter facility.

Not at all....engineers tell me it's cheaper to leave the transmitter on than to turn it off and on. But when there's only enough money to support a few employees, you put them on the air when you get the most bang for the buck.

Regarding your other comment, we already know that AM radio audiences tend to be older. Smaller and older is not a good combination for advertisers. But if you don't believe me, you're welcome to ask them.

 

[TheBigA]

You may have left money on the table. The number of listeners 7 to midnight may be one third or one quarter the number listening between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., but all indicators point to these listeners as being devoted and loyal supporters of the programs to which they listen, especially NPR programs.

I had this exact argument with my overnight guy. He told me he'd be willing to answer the calls himself, so we didn't have to staff the pledge phones. After a couple of days, the phones stopped ringing. They were devoted and loyal, but the same people listened every night. That was our experience. It's easier to get volunteers at night than during working hours. But the demand doesn't justify it. It's one thing to see ratings in a book. It's another thing to be in a room, pleading for pledge calls, and the phone doesn't ring. That will sober you up quick.

 

[Savage]

"Engineers told you" it's cheaper to leave transmitters on the air than to turn them on and off? Which engineers were those? The ones who told Chernobyl techs that "nuclear reactors really don't need cooling?"

That's one of the most asinine posts I've read on this board. Ever.

If you leave all the lights and appliances on in your house 24-7, does your electric bill go down???

 

[SirRoxalot]

Yeah, those 7-Midnight and overnight people are a real payroll burden. What would it cost to pay for them? One spot an hour, including benefits?

Did it ever occur to any of the corporate thinkers that the audience might be a little bigger and younger if there was something to listen to that was more timely and relatable than the automated and syndicated pap we get now? Believe it or not, the stations who do have live talent actually have clients that only buy airtime after 7PM because the cost of daytime spots is simply too high. Of course, that means that some of the AEs don't make quite as much on the buy, but certainly those customers are more lucrative than what they'll get from cold-calling.

If you're an AE, and you're burdened with 2 hours a day of corporate paperwork and teleconferences, you might concentrate your efforts on the clients with deeper pockets, and nobody would blame you. Maybe if there were a few more bodies filling empty cubicles, both sales people and stations would benefit. Maybe if there was a little less micro-management, they'd have a little more time to service some of the smaller clients.

 

[Bill Myers]

"Engineers told you" it's cheaper to leave transmitters on the air than to turn them on and off? If you leave all the lights and appliances on in your house 24-7, does your electric bill go down???

No disrespect to Mr. Savage here as I am not trying to gain the upper hand on the knowledge wire - but regarding the comment from Big A about the engineers saying it's cheaper to leave the transmitter run than to keep turning it off. I respectfully ask Bob, and please forgive me for the ignorance - but does it require more power to fire up the transmitter from a 'cold' start and to get it runnin' at it's peak than if an operator just let her 'burn' 24/7? Like air conditioning - again, forgive me for my layman's analogy here - as I understand a xxKW transmitter is far from central A/C - but is it good to leave the temp at a desired level than to keep turning the air/heat off and on causing large temperature swings? Realizing Mr. Savage is the proud radio station owner of a great alternative to WHAM radio - I respect Bob's authoritative postion on the matter and simply ask from an unlearned postion from a curiosity standpoint. But if this is construed as 'asinine level' I humbly stand in the 'to be butt kicked' position. Thanks.

 

[TheBigA]

Did it ever occur to any of the corporate thinkers that the audience might be a little bigger and younger if there was something to listen to that was more timely and relatable than the automated and syndicated pap we get now?

If it's not the sales people, you blame the content. You're just full of blame. Younger people have no problem listening to automated stuff on internet and satellite radio. They have no problem watching national network reality TV shows. They have no problem with lots of other things that aren't timely. Why should OTA radio be different from all the other devices they like?

Maybe if owners put younger people on the air, instead of all those over-60 boomers, younger people might be willing to listen. THAT might be a bit more relatable than listening to grandpa complaining about how things used to be.

 

[therealjm12]

From the Big A: Maybe if owners put younger people on the air, instead of all those over-60 boomers, younger people might be willing to listen. THAT might be a bit more relatable than listening to grandpa complaining about how things used to be.

Big A, sometimes your posts could have been written by the guy that wrote the P. D. Chronicles on AllAccess. But I guess not. He seemed nice.

 

[therealjm12]

As a guy who has (had) a first ticket back in the day and limited knowledge of such things, I can say those old AM transmitters (built in the 1930's & 40's) were very expensive to run, power consumption wise especially if you were running 5kw or more.. I think most stations that signed off at midnight or soon after kept their filaments on to #1 save electricity costs & #2 save wear & tear on the tubes. Starting those transmitters from cold did use a surge of electricity. Most stations had to cut power at night so they would run an auxiliary transmitter overnight anyway. When solid state transmitters came in all that changed. I can tell you that in UHF television the klystron tubes were incredibly expensive to run and replace -try $50,000! So you wouldn't be turning those babies on & off like your kitchen light. If we knew we were signing back on in a few hours, we kept the filaments on -especially in bad weather.

 

[heydaybegone]

Maybe if owners put younger people on the air

A...these newbies haven't a clue....and they sound it....a true talent will come through , but few and far between.
And what stations do you refer to?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Did it ever occur to any of the corporate thinkers that the audience might be a little bigger and younger if there was something to listen to that was more timely and relatable than the automated and syndicated pap we get now?

If it's not the sales people, you blame the content. You're just full of blame. Younger people have no problem listening to automated stuff on internet and satellite radio. They have no problem watching national network reality TV shows. They have no problem with lots of other things that aren't timely. Why should OTA radio be different from all the other devices they like?

Maybe if owners put younger people on the air, instead of all those over-60 boomers, younger people might be willing to listen. THAT might be a bit more relatable than listening to grandpa complaining about how things used to be.

I didn't "blame" the sales people. I blame the corporate management for making their lives more difficult by micro-managing and forcing them to waste time doing things that used to be done - and better - by sales assistants and copywriters. Their time would better spent working with clients, and bringing in money, which is what they should be good at. How many additional buys do you need to cover the cost of a sales assistant? This is just one more example of corporate being penny-wise, and pound foolish.

Considering that all of satellite and Internet radio combined equal the listening of a small fraction of terrestrial radio, I'd say that the general audience prefers stuff that IS timely and local. They just don't get as much of it. And TV is a very different animal than radio, so that's an invalid comparison. OTA radio SHOULD be different from the other devices. Radio used to have a special relationship with listeners. Ask listeners, and they'll tell you that they miss that connection when it's not available because of VT or syndication. Radio should be all about content that satellite and syndication can't deliver.

Nobody ever said to put "over-60 boomers" on the air. I said put on relatable talent. Maybe the next generation of air talent might actually have a chance to learn their craft, and develop their skills in a real-world situation. And, there's NO substitute for a real audience when it comes to developing talent.