WHEN OVER THE AIR RADIO BECOMES OBSOLETE

[Steve Eberhart]

I'm guessing that will be the day that online streaming can be easily and readily listened to in a car and/or handheld device. Technically I think you could do it now but when that becomes second nature to us, it makes everyone a broadcaster...you think the market is dilluted with 50 signals, imagine a million!

Interestingly, it might put radio in the hands of those with the passion to try it. A great deal will probably be quite horrible, some might be interesting, and some might actually be very good.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I'm waiting. Right now, those of us who like niche formats have to listen to generic supposedly wide appeal formats - dumbed down to emcompass as broad an audience as possible. When you dilute too much, drinks become weak. So it is with corporate radio. Bland, watered down, uncreative. When I hear something with a bit of an edge to it, like KLAK, KMAD, or KOOI, it isn't as boring.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

The wireless is coming to vehicles,and will probably be standard in about 7 years. Steve pretty much hit it on the head. I find it ironic,that when it does happen it will be revisiting the history of radio back in the 20's and 30's when anything and everything could be heard.

 

[Robert Bass]

Terra Radio… Obsolete?

Well some may think it already is, while others will disagree.

OTA Radio’s deathbed will be its own doing, as long as corporate management continues its reign.

You know the old saying about the only thing to fear, is fear itself.

The only thing commercial radio has to fear, is itself?

R

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Robert - you guys over there at KEOM are doing a great job - some of the best in the dismal Dallas scene. With the demise of KXEZ, I am listening even more.

 

[SeanRuadh]

Maybe I'm missing something, but to get an online service, don't you have to pay?
If you listen on a cell-phone system, aren't you charged for minutes?
These wireless networks: do they have seamless coverage, or do they cut in and out as you drive down the road?
I see that millions are paying for satellite radio, but I have to believe there is an advantage to free media. These on-line radio stations still have to pay a music license fee, don't they?
I'm not ready to proclaim the death of over-the-air broadcasting. Corporate homogenized commercial broadcasting, maybe, but I think there will always be an AM, an FM, and a shortwave band. What it becomes will be up to creative and visionary minds.

 

[txchipk]

I'm waiting. Right now, those of us who like niche formats have to listen to generic supposedly wide appeal formats - dumbed down to emcompass as broad an audience as possible. When you dilute too much, drinks become weak. So it is with corporate radio. Bland, watered down, uncreative. When I hear something with a bit of an edge to it, like KLAK, KMAD, or KOOI, it isn't as boring.

If you think KLAK and KOOI have "a bit of an edge" to them, is your basis of comparison watching "Lawrence Welk" reruns on KERA-TV with your grandmother before going to the bingo parlor with her and her feisty gal pals for a night on the town?

I propose several new man laws:

(1) No station that plays Neil Diamond/"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Billy Joel/"Just The Way You Are," Celine Dion/"Because You Loved Me," and Dionne Warwick/"That's What Friends Are For" during the same hour (as KOOI did today) can be considered a station with "an edge."
(2) No station that airs either the syndicated John Tesh (KLAK) or Delilah (KOOI) show can be considered a station with "an edge."
(3) Men who listen to stations described by (1) or (2) might be a quart low on their testosterone levels; "today's soft rock" stations target women. The only forces of nature to suck away manhood any faster would be watching "The View," "iVillage Live," or Oprah on daytime TV.

If KLAK, KOOI, and KMAD-FM (which runs a national satellite classic rock feed -- how could you be any more homogenized or generic than that?) are considered something not "bland, watered down, uncreative," I'm afraid to hear what is considered to be "bland, watered down, uncreative."

 

[davideduardo]

The wireless is coming to vehicles,and will probably be standard in about 7 years. Steve pretty much hit it on the head. I find it ironic,that when it does happen it will be revisiting the history of radio back in the 20's and 30's when anything and everything could be heard.

So, new cars 7 years from now will have it. How about the near-200 million old cars?

And less than a third of radio listening is in the car. What about the clock radio, the shower radio, the kitchen radio, the loading dock radio, etc., etc?

Hell, cell phones have been around since the late 80's, and many of my calls still drop, I still have to ask for things to be said over again, and some places have no signal at all.

The doomsdayers have said armageddon is coming... and they have been for centuries.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

David...I don't think any of us are referring to "todays technology"...we are talking about "future technology" when devices capable of picking up online streams flawlessly are commonplace. It's coming, there's little doubt - ten years from now everything will be "online"...whether or not we in the industry acknowledge that and take advantage - who knows. The technology is there, it is a matter of improving upon it.

 

[TheLaffer]

I'm waiting. Right now, those of us who like niche formats have to listen to generic supposedly wide appeal formats - dumbed down to emcompass as broad an audience as possible. When you dilute too much, drinks become weak. So it is with corporate radio. Bland, watered down, uncreative. When I hear something with a bit of an edge to it, like KLAK, KMAD, or KOOI, it isn't as boring.

If you think KLAK and KOOI have "a bit of an edge" to them, is your basis of comparison watching "Lawrence Welk" reruns on KERA-TV with your grandmother before going to the bingo parlor with her and her feisty gal pals for a night on the town?

I propose several new man laws:

(1) No station that plays Neil Diamond/"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Billy Joel/"Just The Way You Are," Celine Dion/"Because You Loved Me," and Dionne Warwick/"That's What Friends Are For" during the same hour (as KOOI did today) can be considered a station with "an edge."
(2) No station that airs either the syndicated John Tesh (KLAK) or Delilah (KOOI) show can be considered a station with "an edge."
(3) Men who listen to stations described by (1) or (2) might be a quart low on their testosterone levels; "today's soft rock" stations target women. The only forces of nature to suck away manhood any faster would be watching "The View," "iVillage Live," or Oprah on daytime TV.

If KLAK, KOOI, and KMAD-FM (which runs a national satellite classic rock feed -- how could you be any more homogenized or generic than that?) are considered something not "bland, watered down, uncreative," I'm afraid to hear what is considered to be "bland, watered down, uncreative."

No station that plays Neil Diamond/"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Billy Joel/"Just The Way You Are," Celine Dion/"Because You Loved Me," and Dionne Warwick/"That's What Friends Are For" during the same hour (as KOOI did today) can be considered a station with "an edge."

Maybe those songs mean nothing to you but People who DO like them (and there are many) could care less if they are edgy are not.

Why do you think KLUV does so well? They play Familiar hits and keep it fairly tight. If they could get rid of the cheesy presentation they might perform better in the 25-54. People under 45 just don't go for the Chezzy stuff. They're more refine and sofisticated.

 

[Robert Bass]

I see that millions are paying for satellite radio, but I have to believe there is an advantage to free media. These on-line radio stations still have to pay a music license fee, don't they?

Yes, all Internet music streaming providers must pay ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/RIAA for the right to stream copyright musical works. Any terra station that also webcasts, and plays copyright music, must pay fees for both their OTA and Webcast signals.

R

 

[Robert Bass]

Maybe those songs mean nothing to you but People who DO like them (and there are many) could care less if they are edgy are not.

Well yeah, I like three of those songs, exxcept the Celine Dion song (I've never heard it). But hearing them all in a single hour? Isn't that a little too sappy? Unless of course slow songs make up a majority of the format...

R

 

[TheLaffer]

Maybe those songs mean nothing to you but People who DO like them (and there are many) could care less if they are edgy are not.

Well yeah, I like three of those songs, exxcept the Celine Dion song (I've never heard it). But hearing them all in a single hour? Isn't that a little too sappy? Unless of course slow songs make up a majority of the format...

R

Well that's FOUR songs. I would assume they play between 10-12 songs per hour. I doubt ALL the rest are slow sappy ones as you call them. If they are then the PD needs to learn Programming 101.

 

[Robert Bass]

I said "too many slow songs / hour" seems sappy, not that those four songs are sappy.

R

 

[txchipk]

I'm waiting. Right now, those of us who like niche formats have to listen to generic supposedly wide appeal formats - dumbed down to emcompass as broad an audience as possible. When you dilute too much, drinks become weak. So it is with corporate radio. Bland, watered down, uncreative. When I hear something with a bit of an edge to it, like KLAK, KMAD, or KOOI, it isn't as boring.

If you think KLAK and KOOI have "a bit of an edge" to them, is your basis of comparison watching "Lawrence Welk" reruns on KERA-TV with your grandmother before going to the bingo parlor with her and her feisty gal pals for a night on the town?

I propose several new man laws:

(1) No station that plays Neil Diamond/"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Billy Joel/"Just The Way You Are," Celine Dion/"Because You Loved Me," and Dionne Warwick/"That's What Friends Are For" during the same hour (as KOOI did today) can be considered a station with "an edge."
(2) No station that airs either the syndicated John Tesh (KLAK) or Delilah (KOOI) show can be considered a station with "an edge."
(3) Men who listen to stations described by (1) or (2) might be a quart low on their testosterone levels; "today's soft rock" stations target women. The only forces of nature to suck away manhood any faster would be watching "The View," "iVillage Live," or Oprah on daytime TV.

If KLAK, KOOI, and KMAD-FM (which runs a national satellite classic rock feed -- how could you be any more homogenized or generic than that?) are considered something not "bland, watered down, uncreative," I'm afraid to hear what is considered to be "bland, watered down, uncreative."

No station that plays Neil Diamond/"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Billy Joel/"Just The Way You Are," Celine Dion/"Because You Loved Me," and Dionne Warwick/"That's What Friends Are For" during the same hour (as KOOI did today) can be considered a station with "an edge."

Maybe those songs mean nothing to you but People who DO like them (and there are many) could care less if they are edgy are not.

Why do you think KLUV does so well? They play Familiar hits and keep it fairly tight. If they could get rid of the cheesy presentation they might perform better in the 25-54. People under 45 just don't go for the Chezzy stuff. They're more refine and sofisticated.

Umm...if you read the original post, that person said this stuff is edgy. I was pointing out that 99% of humans that don't belong to AARP don't consider Neil Diamond and Celine Dione or Kool & The Gang or Little River Band or other acts like that that make up much of KOOI's music each hour as music with a "bit of an edge to it."

I realize some people have some sort of personal axe to grind with the people at the CBS stations (they should be shamed for making KVIL a shell of its former self), but it does strike me as odd to see all those attacks on KVIL, but then embrace stations that are identical to them as great broadcasting. KLAK and KVIL's playlists are nearly identical. The only difference is one runs Delilah at night while the other runs John Tesh. The difference between KVIL and KOOI is that KOOI is a softer version of KVIL. If KVIL is musically "bland," please explain to me, as the original poster claims, how KLAK and KOOI are edgy and not bland. I don't get that. KOOI is only more edgy than KAAM...

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

"KLAK and KVIL's playlists are nearly identical. The difference between KVIL and KOOI is that KOOI is a softer version of KVIL. If KVIL is musically "bland," please explain to me, as the original poster claims, how KLAK and KOOI are edgy and not bland. I don't get that. KOOI is only more edgy than KAAM."

It depends how they are formated, who the personalities ,are, etc. I wouldn't call them edgy,but I have seen MANY below the edge of 50 who flock to Neil Diamond and Celeste concerts,etc. So your "AARP" observation needs to be better focused. KVIL is just plain dull,HOWEVER they seem to be holding their own in the book. KOOI is close ( I said Close) to how KVIL was in the early 80's.

 

[adguy]

The wireless is coming to vehicles,and will probably be standard in about 7 years. Steve pretty much hit it on the head. I find it ironic,that when it does happen it will be revisiting the history of radio back in the 20's and 30's when anything and everything could be heard.

So, new cars 7 years from now will have it. How about the near-200 million old cars?

And less than a third of radio listening is in the car. What about the clock radio, the shower radio, the kitchen radio, the loading dock radio, etc., etc?

Hell, cell phones have been around since the late 80's, and many of my calls still drop, I still have to ask for things to be said over again, and some places have no signal at all.

The doomsdayers have said armageddon is coming... and they have been for centuries.

I agree with you David on this one with some caveats. Just like broadcast TV will never die as has been predicted for years, terra radio will stick around as you say, but the value to the advertiser will clearly go away. I used to sell TV many years ago, then started buying it (along with radio & outdoor) when I formed an agency. The proliferation of cable and satellite and the market penetration rates in most markets have made it that the only program you can trust to deliver consistently is local news. Anything else you buy will be greatly overpriced and inefficient on a CPM level. Even the local news is pricing itself out of the market because most major local and national advertisers are realizing that buying other dayparts is vastly inefficient compared to other media alternatives; the result is local news over selling because of its demand. You're already seeing this effect in radio. I have watched CPMs rise steadily over the last couple of years as stations keep losing share everywhere. You know those shares are going to Ipods, satellite, video games and Internet play. I've notice the higher rated stations have become overpriced on CPM levels. Because of the millions of cars, loading docks, bathrooms, etc, terra radio will live, but the corps will have to get creative on finding new sources of revenue because the advertisers are constantly looking for more efficient places and they are finding them. Google, other cost-per-click mediums, network cable, and network talk radio are finding their way into more advertisers' budgets than ever before, all at the expense of terra radio and broadcast TV. And you know that the corps spend vast amounts of times in meaningless meetings and reports looking for more creative expense savings. You all are cutting your own throats. I left that world when I saw it coming and the work ceased to be fun and rewarding.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

You may suggest KOOI is "bland" but what a lot of people miss is the simple fact that what works in a major market may not necessarily work in a smaller market.

It doesn't mean anything has to be done any less professional, just that adjustments may be required in the smaller market because things ARE different there.

Values, tastes, and acceptance in smaller markets are often not what they are in the big city.
The programmers who understand that concept tend to do better than those who come into smaller markets and tell everyone to program and operate it as if it is in a large market. It isn't, the people aren't the same, and the mindset is often not the same.

Just like larger markets, smaller markets are not all the same and one size does not fit all.

Playing a lighter version of KVIL in Tyler Texas may be the smartest thing anyone could do. I'd suggest others could learn from that as well. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes a LOT more.

 

[TexasTom]

The wireless is coming to vehicles,and will probably be standard in about 7 years.

So, new cars 7 years from now will have it. How about the near-200 million old cars?

And less than a third of radio listening is in the car. What about the clock radio, the shower radio, the kitchen radio, the loading dock radio, etc., etc?

Hell, cell phones have been around since the late 80's, and many of my calls still drop, I still have to ask for things to be said over again, and some places have no signal at all.

The doomsdayers have said armageddon is coming... and they have been for centuries.

I agree with you David on this one with some caveats. Just like broadcast TV will never die as has been predicted for years, terra radio will stick around as you say, but the value to the advertiser will clearly go away.

I also agree with David's viewpoint on this -- neither broadcast radio or broadcast television are likely to go away. They are free, ubiquitous, and easy to receive. Broadcast is also very efficient; I suspect that the cost of providing streaming audio to 50,000 different listeners is not cheap when compared to the cost of operating an FM transmitter. It's easy to tune in, familiar, and dirt cheap to find a receiver.

Those are all really compelling advantages.

Now, thinking back to the comment that Robert Bass made earlier about the radio business's biggest threat coming from itself -- well, I certainly understand where he is coming from. But even the folks in the industry can't kill broadcast radio. All that will happen is that if they bleed their stations dry through bad management, those stations will get sold off. Should ad revenue decline dramatically as a result of audience splintering caused by streaming radio services, those stations would get sold off for substantially less than they are currently worth. If it revenue drops enough, the big media companies might lose interest in the business, leading to a further decline in station prices. But I suspect that we'd find buyers...and some of those buyers would come up with good ideas that would keep the whole business of broadcasting viable.

In other words, in my opinion, the "worst case scenario" is that the big media conglomerates abandon broadcasting to small businesspeople who might inject some much needed fresh ideas into radio (and television). That "worst case" doesn't sound at all bad to me...

 

[adguy]

I don't know what you've been smokin', but broadcast is becoming increasingly inefficient on a CPM basis everyday. I paid in the neighborhood of $13.00 per thousand on certain demos last year on key stations in Houston and $8.00 per thousand in Austin/SA. This year I'll wind up paying over $20 in Houston and if I buy Austin and SA, I'll pay close to $15. That may efficient in your world, but in the real world there are many more choices that not only offer pennies per thousand, but exact measurement of delivery and rate of ROI. As I stated, broadcast will always be there, but the revenue base will eventually dwindle away. The corp suits are driving that train right into the ground. If they would pull their heads out of their collective asses maybe they would realize that broadcast radio (and TV) is littered with bean counters, low talent on-air personalities and salespeople that cannot add 2+2. It would be great if one day the big corporations realize that these cash cows will eventually dwindle to a fraction of their current cash flow and sell the stations back to the truly passionate and talented radio folks. It would also help if the FCC would relax its rediculous hard-line restrictions and let the broadcasters compete with very entities that are killing them. It's nice to dream. In the meantime, get an Internet business, make a few mill, then be in a position to take one of those future cheap stations.