You can read about CC's multi point plan on the front page of this site. They're planning on "raising the bar" with programming and talent proven to be most popular with audiences and local PDs will be the ones to make the decision to pick and choose all, any, or none of these elements to run on their stations. Translation: less locally originated programming if the local PD chooses. Anyone think Providence will fall victim to this "bar raising"?
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WILL CLEAR CHANNEL RAISE THE BAR IN PROVIDENCE?
- Thread starter McRadio
- Start date
Clear Channel may end up AS A BAR IN PROVIDENCE
This is just daffy:
http://www.clearchannel.com/Radio/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=2394
Stripping radio of what-little-is-left-of "local," and CALLING IT LOCAL.
Two people whose-hands-I-want-to-shake:
1. The guy who said: "Lite Beer. We ADD water and charge MORE."
2. Mr. Clear Channel, if this plan doesn't get the horselaugh of public ennui.
HC
PS: Tough times EVERYWHERE these days. At least Patrice is still there. We know her, we believe her. If something REAL BAD is happening, I'd sure prefer that SHE tells me. If something GREAT is happening, she's who we want to hear it from.
This is just daffy:
http://www.clearchannel.com/Radio/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=2394
Stripping radio of what-little-is-left-of "local," and CALLING IT LOCAL.
Two people whose-hands-I-want-to-shake:
1. The guy who said: "Lite Beer. We ADD water and charge MORE."
2. Mr. Clear Channel, if this plan doesn't get the horselaugh of public ennui.
HC
PS: Tough times EVERYWHERE these days. At least Patrice is still there. We know her, we believe her. If something REAL BAD is happening, I'd sure prefer that SHE tells me. If something GREAT is happening, she's who we want to hear it from.
M
Moonstruck
Guest
Great. Less reason for Clear Channel to have to hire astute local PDs because this gives them less to do and I don't believe for a minute the whole decision rests in the hands of the PDs as to what to run. However I don't see the Providence stations being able to cut on air staff much more. HJY still has a decent size staff compared to B101 and Coast. If Coast is still getting dismal numbers maybe it is time to simulcast WHJJ on 93.3 to compete a little more with the Citadel talk stations and save some music fees.
"I don't see the Providence stations being able to cut on air staff much more."
Stick around.
And it's not just radio.
Now, sportscaster Frank Carpano is anchoring the weekend news on NBC10.
No need for a third person to be there to do the sports.
And how about the ProJo? Lots of big wire photos filling-up pages; and they sold their building.
To quote longtime marketwatcher Archie Bell, from Houston, Texas: "Tighten up."
Stick around.
And it's not just radio.
Now, sportscaster Frank Carpano is anchoring the weekend news on NBC10.
No need for a third person to be there to do the sports.
And how about the ProJo? Lots of big wire photos filling-up pages; and they sold their building.
To quote longtime marketwatcher Archie Bell, from Houston, Texas: "Tighten up."
Re: "I don't see the Providence stations being able to cut on air staff much more."
Don't forget that the deadline to for stories to be in the ProJo is now 10:30PM(or earlier...).Holland Cooke said:
Sorry, but I've gotta think that 93.3 does BETTER than WHJJ. What does WHJJ have besides Rush? Nothing. I don't care how many awards Helen Glover wins, nobody's talking about her. WHJJ would be better being sold to WBRU to put Jazz & 360 over there 7 days a week (then 920 & 95.5 will have been reunited too!). So, why put NOTHING on 93.3? At least with 93.3 as-is you get a 25-44 female audience. As-is, WHJJ is an also-ran at best.
WPRO is the mack-daddy of talk in R.I.! Let's say C.C. was stupid enough to go all yak-yak on 93.3; WPRO has the shows, the news team, the heritage (of NOT having been screwed with in the past 10 years & left on the vine to rot like WHJJ has been), a reasonable F.M. presence with 99.7, etc.. What will flipping 93.3 do? Piss off the soccer moms! No, 93.3 can be left in the format for now because the music licensing fees HAVEN'T been changed yet & what real expenses do they have? The transmitter, ASCAP/BMI/SESAC & the morning show? 93.3 would have to definitely up the bar as a talk station because hearing Rush's mono feed on 50kW of F.M. just won't cut it.
WPRO is the mack-daddy of talk in R.I.! Let's say C.C. was stupid enough to go all yak-yak on 93.3; WPRO has the shows, the news team, the heritage (of NOT having been screwed with in the past 10 years & left on the vine to rot like WHJJ has been), a reasonable F.M. presence with 99.7, etc.. What will flipping 93.3 do? Piss off the soccer moms! No, 93.3 can be left in the format for now because the music licensing fees HAVEN'T been changed yet & what real expenses do they have? The transmitter, ASCAP/BMI/SESAC & the morning show? 93.3 would have to definitely up the bar as a talk station because hearing Rush's mono feed on 50kW of F.M. just won't cut it.
A
aqualung
Guest
I don't agree that WHJJ should be on FM either. If you wanna listen to the station you're already listening. Coast is a royal disaster and I doubt anyone in that building has any hopes for improvement but the station does bring in some females so it stays. With B101 and HJY in the same cluster someone has to bring in females although I don't see why B101 couldn't. Frankly I'd like to see Coast go with a jockless MIKE type format that plays everything. It probably couldn't hurt.
A-trend-already-in-motion suggests otherwise...
As a former WSNE program director, I don't suggest the following casually, and I say this with respect for remaining WSNE staffers:
Making 93.3 "WHJJ-FM" would be REAL smart.
I'm in-the-process of flipping three music stations to Talk elsewhere.
One, in Texas, has lots in common with WHJJ's situation.
The MINUTE we announced it, calls and Emails (including from advertisers) started congratulating us.
Listeners "get" that we're making shows-they-can't-hear-as-easily-on-AM more-available.
Facts:
1. 80+% of TSL is to FM,
2. AM's footprint changes month-to-month sunrise/sunset,
3. the bottom half of 25-54 grew-up-without an AM radio habit, and
4. a PILE of research demonstrates than women do NOT dig AM's snap-crackle-pop.
Including Rush, WHJJ has what-promos-at-other-such-stations-I-work-with call "the three biggest stars in Talk Radio" (Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck).
Nothing personal! Heck, I think Limbaugh's a buffoon.
But he's OUR buffoon, if my client is the affiliate.
In markets where we compete with El Rushbo, he's just a buffoon.
Hannity is a genuine star (and, personally a very nice guy), and well-exposed on TV.
He lights-up a room and can fill an arena.
Where the station has Rush AND Sean, we try to make it a-6-hour-Rush Limbaugh show (like the seamless way WABC transitions).
Beck? Although his cocksure TV persona is disturbing, he's CLEARLY on-a-roll, and his work ethic is how-it-OUGHTTA-be-done.
Based on Tea Party TV coverage I saw, she had a good day yesterday!
OK, so she says "dubba-yew." Nobody else locally can seem to say "double-you" either.
Clearly, she's earnest and energetic and enthused.
WPRO News sounds better today than it ever has in the 40 years I've been listening.
Let 'em have "the news position."
A smart WHJJ should claim "the Talk position."
More: http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,124615.0.html
Again, respectfully,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
As a former WSNE program director, I don't suggest the following casually, and I say this with respect for remaining WSNE staffers:
Making 93.3 "WHJJ-FM" would be REAL smart.
I'm in-the-process of flipping three music stations to Talk elsewhere.
One, in Texas, has lots in common with WHJJ's situation.
The MINUTE we announced it, calls and Emails (including from advertisers) started congratulating us.
Listeners "get" that we're making shows-they-can't-hear-as-easily-on-AM more-available.
Facts:
1. 80+% of TSL is to FM,
2. AM's footprint changes month-to-month sunrise/sunset,
3. the bottom half of 25-54 grew-up-without an AM radio habit, and
4. a PILE of research demonstrates than women do NOT dig AM's snap-crackle-pop.
N1WVQ said:
Including Rush, WHJJ has what-promos-at-other-such-stations-I-work-with call "the three biggest stars in Talk Radio" (Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck).
Nothing personal! Heck, I think Limbaugh's a buffoon.
But he's OUR buffoon, if my client is the affiliate.
In markets where we compete with El Rushbo, he's just a buffoon.
Hannity is a genuine star (and, personally a very nice guy), and well-exposed on TV.
He lights-up a room and can fill an arena.
Where the station has Rush AND Sean, we try to make it a-6-hour-Rush Limbaugh show (like the seamless way WABC transitions).
Beck? Although his cocksure TV persona is disturbing, he's CLEARLY on-a-roll, and his work ethic is how-it-OUGHTTA-be-done.
N1WVQ said:
Based on Tea Party TV coverage I saw, she had a good day yesterday!
OK, so she says "dubba-yew." Nobody else locally can seem to say "double-you" either.
Clearly, she's earnest and energetic and enthused.
N1WVQ said:
WPRO News sounds better today than it ever has in the 40 years I've been listening.
Let 'em have "the news position."
A smart WHJJ should claim "the Talk position."
More: http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,124615.0.html
Again, respectfully,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
As a fan of talk radio & former P.D. of a talk station myself, I don't say this casually: WHJJ's programming has never interested me. WPRO has always been THE NEWS *and* TALK station. At 29 years of age, I've been listening to WPRO for about 14 years along with WRKO, WSAR, etc. but WHJJ has always been second-best. So again, why put second best on F.M. when the demo is already there? You talk about females not liking the A.M. signal because of interference. But where in WHJJ's current lineup is anything female-friendly? Helen? Maybe. The rest of it? Not likely.
We had Sean Hannity on for a year on WPEP ~2004. His show didn't do anything for us. The TRN personalities did more in terms of response than Hannity. Most of all though, people liked talking about local issues. That's why WPRO is successful & why I think WHJJ-FM wouldn't be: because it would be more national programming. C'mon, you've been around long enough to know that Providence is a big small town as are Taunton, Fall River, Woonsocket, etc.. The "big 3" you mentioned work in Florida (I lived there for over 4 years) where there are a lot of transplants who don't really care about local issues. But again, Providence (and the greater surrounding area) is close-knit. WPRO dropped Rush for Buddy because of that reason. This is the land of not driving more than 15 minutes to get anywhere. Personally, I think that the real Rhode Island ends at Rt. 4 & south county might as well be in Connecticut!
The point to all of this is that what works in the rest of the country doesn't necessarily play well here. If it plays in Peoria, it might still flop in Providence. Just putting their 2nd rate station on F.M. won't save either 920 or 93.3. They'd have to get aggressive & they (the powers that be at WHJJ/C.C.) don't seem to have the fight in them.
Going back to a female friendly talk station. What would that be? The satellite output of WLNK like they tried a few years ago? I know that programming that attracts women has been the holy grail for years but it seems they're happy with gossip on the morning shows & then music the rest of the time. My girlfriend is 33 & doesn't like talk at all. She listens to Mike F.M. if she even listens to radio. Most of the time it's C.D.s in her S.U.V.! She's a layman in terms of radio & I've asked her flat out: she doesn't like talk nor does she like the idea of talk on F.M.! To her, F.M. is for music! Yes, there's ~80% F.M. listenership, which is about the same as what I first saw for A.M. vs. F.M. when I started reading Billboard in 1995. It was 23% for A.M. & 77% for F.M.. That was roughly 14 years ago. The numbers really haven't changed in over a decade. People are living longer but I've heard A.M.'s audience has been dying out for years. Yet the numbers are just about the same.
I think most of the people here think that if WHJJ were to go to 93.3 that all of a sudden there'd be a fight in Providence once again. I don't think so. The numbers would see an increase but I don't think anything more than what they already are.
40 years ago the bottom half of the 25-54 demo grew up without an F.M. listening habit. 40 years from now the bottom half of that same demo will have grown up without any listening habit! Come to think of it, that WHOLE demo will have grown up without a listening habit.
From what I've heard on WSAR, a lot of people had a good Tea Party yesterday. The phones were lit up for 3 hours today during the Barry Richard show with people talking about it!
Here's what I see: putting WHJJ is like putting your finger in a hole in a dike. It'll only hold back the water for so long & when it does, the person sticking his finger in the hole will get washed away. Radio lost its magic in the last decade & that's why people are tuning out. Listeners aren't stupid. They can tell. They got sick of their requests not being played or being told that those requests are coming up only to find an hour later that the request hadn't. Moving everything to F.M. is like shuffling the chairs on the Titanic. Eventually it's all going to collapse. WHJJ, with it's 2nd-rate sound (I don't mean audio frequencies either), isn't going to impress many on F.M.. WHJJ is going to have to GET BIG. Get local. If they're going to have the talk position in Providence, it's gonna be a hell of an uphill battle no matter which band they're on. WPRO isn't going to roll over just because WHJJ has an F.M. signal. Guess what: so does WPRO! It's a suppliment to the A.M. signal which is still pretty big! Yes the A.M. signal changes month-month but even from November-February it's pretty good (unless you're in South County). Plus, WPRO streams so people that can't pick up either signal (because, let's face it, F.M. isn't interference-free either) in an office can still hear it. I just looked at WHJJ's site to see that they stream as well. So, the transmission paths are equal online. But, wow is WHJJ's site garbage! WPRO's looks like it should. Everything laid out nicely. WHJJ's is jumbled & kind of sensationalistic. To summarize this all: WHJJ is a MESS!
You want to see broadcasting of the future? Check out WOON's sites!
Yes, I'm enjoying this discussion! How 'bout you?
Best regards!
We had Sean Hannity on for a year on WPEP ~2004. His show didn't do anything for us. The TRN personalities did more in terms of response than Hannity. Most of all though, people liked talking about local issues. That's why WPRO is successful & why I think WHJJ-FM wouldn't be: because it would be more national programming. C'mon, you've been around long enough to know that Providence is a big small town as are Taunton, Fall River, Woonsocket, etc.. The "big 3" you mentioned work in Florida (I lived there for over 4 years) where there are a lot of transplants who don't really care about local issues. But again, Providence (and the greater surrounding area) is close-knit. WPRO dropped Rush for Buddy because of that reason. This is the land of not driving more than 15 minutes to get anywhere. Personally, I think that the real Rhode Island ends at Rt. 4 & south county might as well be in Connecticut!
The point to all of this is that what works in the rest of the country doesn't necessarily play well here. If it plays in Peoria, it might still flop in Providence. Just putting their 2nd rate station on F.M. won't save either 920 or 93.3. They'd have to get aggressive & they (the powers that be at WHJJ/C.C.) don't seem to have the fight in them.
Going back to a female friendly talk station. What would that be? The satellite output of WLNK like they tried a few years ago? I know that programming that attracts women has been the holy grail for years but it seems they're happy with gossip on the morning shows & then music the rest of the time. My girlfriend is 33 & doesn't like talk at all. She listens to Mike F.M. if she even listens to radio. Most of the time it's C.D.s in her S.U.V.! She's a layman in terms of radio & I've asked her flat out: she doesn't like talk nor does she like the idea of talk on F.M.! To her, F.M. is for music! Yes, there's ~80% F.M. listenership, which is about the same as what I first saw for A.M. vs. F.M. when I started reading Billboard in 1995. It was 23% for A.M. & 77% for F.M.. That was roughly 14 years ago. The numbers really haven't changed in over a decade. People are living longer but I've heard A.M.'s audience has been dying out for years. Yet the numbers are just about the same.
I think most of the people here think that if WHJJ were to go to 93.3 that all of a sudden there'd be a fight in Providence once again. I don't think so. The numbers would see an increase but I don't think anything more than what they already are.
40 years ago the bottom half of the 25-54 demo grew up without an F.M. listening habit. 40 years from now the bottom half of that same demo will have grown up without any listening habit! Come to think of it, that WHOLE demo will have grown up without a listening habit.
From what I've heard on WSAR, a lot of people had a good Tea Party yesterday. The phones were lit up for 3 hours today during the Barry Richard show with people talking about it!
Here's what I see: putting WHJJ is like putting your finger in a hole in a dike. It'll only hold back the water for so long & when it does, the person sticking his finger in the hole will get washed away. Radio lost its magic in the last decade & that's why people are tuning out. Listeners aren't stupid. They can tell. They got sick of their requests not being played or being told that those requests are coming up only to find an hour later that the request hadn't. Moving everything to F.M. is like shuffling the chairs on the Titanic. Eventually it's all going to collapse. WHJJ, with it's 2nd-rate sound (I don't mean audio frequencies either), isn't going to impress many on F.M.. WHJJ is going to have to GET BIG. Get local. If they're going to have the talk position in Providence, it's gonna be a hell of an uphill battle no matter which band they're on. WPRO isn't going to roll over just because WHJJ has an F.M. signal. Guess what: so does WPRO! It's a suppliment to the A.M. signal which is still pretty big! Yes the A.M. signal changes month-month but even from November-February it's pretty good (unless you're in South County). Plus, WPRO streams so people that can't pick up either signal (because, let's face it, F.M. isn't interference-free either) in an office can still hear it. I just looked at WHJJ's site to see that they stream as well. So, the transmission paths are equal online. But, wow is WHJJ's site garbage! WPRO's looks like it should. Everything laid out nicely. WHJJ's is jumbled & kind of sensationalistic. To summarize this all: WHJJ is a MESS!
You want to see broadcasting of the future? Check out WOON's sites!
Yes, I'm enjoying this discussion! How 'bout you?
Best regards!
'Never heard THAT before...
If I had a buck for every place I've heard that...
Meanwhile, Arbitron does what-Arbitron-does.
The same rules apply everywhere, AM or FM, music or Talk, small/medium/large markets, N/S/E/W.
N1WVQ said:
If I had a buck for every place I've heard that...
Meanwhile, Arbitron does what-Arbitron-does.
The same rules apply everywhere, AM or FM, music or Talk, small/medium/large markets, N/S/E/W.
I
Ill alert the media
Guest
As far as what Clear Channel will do with the bar in Providence: limbo lower now, limbo lower now, how low can you go?
Good News/Bad News: It's not just Providence...
Heck, it's not just Clear Channel.
It's not just radio.
It's NO fun being a newspaper these days.
As the population grew 23% in the last two decades, circulation dropped 20%.
(While craigslist.com diverted $7 BILLION in what-used-to-be Classified revenue.)
Actual READERSHIP is up...online.
But digital dimes aren't piling-up as-fast-as hard-copy dollars disappeared.
Magazines are worse-off.
Sure, Clear Channel's TWENTY BILLION in debt is a problem.
'Would be even without a recession.
But it's also a symptom.
How about cable?
Cannibalizing itself, and the TV stations it delivers, by delivering broadband.
500-channels-and-nothing-to-watch?
No problemo.
The "Hill Street Blues" I watched on hulu.com last night was better than any current network series drama.
And the fewer-commercials-than-TV were :15s.
Radio's most precious asset is its incumbency.
Sure, TSL is eroding, even as cume is up a tad.
But two living generations grew-up-with a radio habit.
And they control more spending and wealth than the other two generations who don't use AM/FM habitually.
As-long-as they're grazing-for-media, we can steer 'em to OUR other media.
But it'll take a-more-seductive invitation than "LOG-ON TO OUR WEB SITE."
Heaven help stations that think they're in the programming-a-single-transmitter business.
If you were on yesterday's Arbitron/Edison Research conference call, you saw the numbers.
If you weren't: http://arbitron.com/downloads/infinite_dial_2009_presentation.pdf
Week-before-last, the president of a broadcasting company I worked for told his staff "every radio station has a web site. But imagine a-web-site-having-a-radio-station? We do!"
In 1995, I registered wpro.com, on behalf of a station I was building a web site for. “Web site” was pretty futuristic at the time, and the station was more curious than committed. Since then, that Internet address has taken you to a company in Ecuador...then to the Womens’ Professional Racquetball Organization...and now an enterprising cyber-squatter has it aimed at one of those pay-per-click index pages.
The lines have already crossed.
I visit Raleigh NC every few months, to listen to an AM station.
At the brand-spankin'-new downtown Marriott they put me up in, there's no AM chip in the clock radio.
(Although it docks an iPod TWO WAYS: on top, and via a plug dangling-out-the-back-of-the-radio.)
lf you've got hit shows confined to an AM...and you can offer listeners and advertisers bigger/better distribution via an FM...and instead you're paddling-against-the-music-Tsunami, lotsa luck.
"It's different here?"
Heck, it's not just Clear Channel.
It's not just radio.
It's NO fun being a newspaper these days.
As the population grew 23% in the last two decades, circulation dropped 20%.
(While craigslist.com diverted $7 BILLION in what-used-to-be Classified revenue.)
Actual READERSHIP is up...online.
But digital dimes aren't piling-up as-fast-as hard-copy dollars disappeared.
Magazines are worse-off.
Sure, Clear Channel's TWENTY BILLION in debt is a problem.
'Would be even without a recession.
But it's also a symptom.
How about cable?
Cannibalizing itself, and the TV stations it delivers, by delivering broadband.
500-channels-and-nothing-to-watch?
No problemo.
The "Hill Street Blues" I watched on hulu.com last night was better than any current network series drama.
And the fewer-commercials-than-TV were :15s.
Radio's most precious asset is its incumbency.
Sure, TSL is eroding, even as cume is up a tad.
But two living generations grew-up-with a radio habit.
And they control more spending and wealth than the other two generations who don't use AM/FM habitually.
As-long-as they're grazing-for-media, we can steer 'em to OUR other media.
But it'll take a-more-seductive invitation than "LOG-ON TO OUR WEB SITE."
Heaven help stations that think they're in the programming-a-single-transmitter business.
If you were on yesterday's Arbitron/Edison Research conference call, you saw the numbers.
If you weren't: http://arbitron.com/downloads/infinite_dial_2009_presentation.pdf
Week-before-last, the president of a broadcasting company I worked for told his staff "every radio station has a web site. But imagine a-web-site-having-a-radio-station? We do!"
In 1995, I registered wpro.com, on behalf of a station I was building a web site for. “Web site” was pretty futuristic at the time, and the station was more curious than committed. Since then, that Internet address has taken you to a company in Ecuador...then to the Womens’ Professional Racquetball Organization...and now an enterprising cyber-squatter has it aimed at one of those pay-per-click index pages.
The lines have already crossed.
I visit Raleigh NC every few months, to listen to an AM station.
At the brand-spankin'-new downtown Marriott they put me up in, there's no AM chip in the clock radio.
(Although it docks an iPod TWO WAYS: on top, and via a plug dangling-out-the-back-of-the-radio.)
lf you've got hit shows confined to an AM...and you can offer listeners and advertisers bigger/better distribution via an FM...and instead you're paddling-against-the-music-Tsunami, lotsa luck.
"It's different here?"
Re: "I don't see the Providence stations being able to cut on air staff much more."
This is'nt the first time Frank Carpano has anchored the news.Back when WLWC (28) came on the air in the 90's he anchored the 10 o'clock news and I see Meteoroligist Steve Cascione anchoring news as well now on WLNE.
Holland Cooke said:
This is'nt the first time Frank Carpano has anchored the news.Back when WLWC (28) came on the air in the 90's he anchored the 10 o'clock news and I see Meteoroligist Steve Cascione anchoring news as well now on WLNE.
Spotted elsewhere-in-my-travels...
I remember both as well.
What-I-note-now is that it seems to be a regular thing.
Spotted-elsewhere-in-my-travels: Frank Carpano doing sports on WNBC-TV4/New York.
Apparently, he's filled-in several times there.
Looked solid.
kenwood101 said:
I remember both as well.
What-I-note-now is that it seems to be a regular thing.
Spotted-elsewhere-in-my-travels: Frank Carpano doing sports on WNBC-TV4/New York.
Apparently, he's filled-in several times there.
Looked solid.
M
Moonstruck
Guest
As far as simulcasting WHJJ on 93.3 I'm thinking more along the lines of how Clear Channel thinks, which is to save money. No one would expect the listeners to flood in if they did that and of course, the one reason they wouldn't is to retain whatever females Coast brings in. Put HJJ on 93.3 and you eliminate one of the selector crunchers/PDs. HJY and B101 or HJJ and B101 get programmed by the same person. I doubt it would happen as HJJ and Coast are afterthoughts in that building anyway. Nothing ventured nothing lost.
RE "how Clear Channel thinks"
MOST radio stations, not just that company's, are making REAL tough choices now.
And there'll be more to come.
It's literally down to choosing-between paying-employees and paying-for-electricity.
REAL sad story developing in Pennsylvania, where Citadel's WARM AM590 -- no-less-than "the WPRO of Scranton," a legendary station in that part of the world -- had a transmitter failure. It's been off the air for days, and vague signals from management suggest that the owner isn't going to bother buying-a-new-transmitter-to-put-it-back-on.
As for the situation here: sometimes "the right thing" happens "for the wrong reason."
Talk programming SHOULD be available on FM. If that's what ends-up happening here, listeners (and the station owner, and Beck/Rush/Hannity/et al's advertisers) will be better served...even though that might not be the reason the change is made.
Unfortunately, some folks would lose their jobs, something that's happening every day somewhere in radio these days.
MOST radio stations, not just that company's, are making REAL tough choices now.
And there'll be more to come.
It's literally down to choosing-between paying-employees and paying-for-electricity.
REAL sad story developing in Pennsylvania, where Citadel's WARM AM590 -- no-less-than "the WPRO of Scranton," a legendary station in that part of the world -- had a transmitter failure. It's been off the air for days, and vague signals from management suggest that the owner isn't going to bother buying-a-new-transmitter-to-put-it-back-on.
As for the situation here: sometimes "the right thing" happens "for the wrong reason."
Talk programming SHOULD be available on FM. If that's what ends-up happening here, listeners (and the station owner, and Beck/Rush/Hannity/et al's advertisers) will be better served...even though that might not be the reason the change is made.
Unfortunately, some folks would lose their jobs, something that's happening every day somewhere in radio these days.
The other side of this is if you're a PD at a station that is producing a show carried by other stations, you're now in a power position.
CC is basically running a decentralized, station-originated network, perhaps similar to the old Mutual Broadcasting System, where stations like WXYZ Detroit, WOR New York, WGN Chicago, and WLW Cincinnati produced shows for national distribution.
The place to be right now is at a station that has top notch talent that can appeal to other markets. I'd say WLW is once again in that spot. How about in Providence? Who might be good enough?
CC is basically running a decentralized, station-originated network, perhaps similar to the old Mutual Broadcasting System, where stations like WXYZ Detroit, WOR New York, WGN Chicago, and WLW Cincinnati produced shows for national distribution.
The place to be right now is at a station that has top notch talent that can appeal to other markets. I'd say WLW is once again in that spot. How about in Providence? Who might be good enough?
I started to think maybe Paul and Al, but the bits they do are very local, so I doubt they'd make the cut.TheBigA said:
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Paul and Al are a local phenomenon. In its present form the show couldn't play anywhere else and I doubt they would agree to delocalize it. Keep in mind though Clear Channel is a radio company run by non-radio people and the programming minds behind all this are where they are mainly because they play ball with the higher powers. Still I doubt they would be part of any plan. As far as the other Clear Channel Providence morning shows, TC and Kristin at B101 are fine but you can find a show like this in every market. Solid but nothing out of the ordinary. As far as Tad Lemire on Coast he seems to be in his own little world of silly youtube videos as a means to connect with his audience. It probably isn't even his fault with nothing to work with.
Re: RE "how Clear Channel thinks"
Sorta reminds me of the stunt the 990 "ownership" tried pulling a couple of years back when they tried to get the FCC to grant them Special Temporary Authority to stay silent......claiming that there was some sort of technical problem causing the transmitter to suck down too much electricity, thereby making the station impossible to operate from a financial standpoint.
As for the talk format of 920 moving over to 93.3......I've been in your corner on this one ever since you proposed the idea. It makes so much sense to me......which probably means it'll never happen.
Holland Cooke said:
Sorta reminds me of the stunt the 990 "ownership" tried pulling a couple of years back when they tried to get the FCC to grant them Special Temporary Authority to stay silent......claiming that there was some sort of technical problem causing the transmitter to suck down too much electricity, thereby making the station impossible to operate from a financial standpoint.
As for the talk format of 920 moving over to 93.3......I've been in your corner on this one ever since you proposed the idea. It makes so much sense to me......which probably means it'll never happen.
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