Will Dave get Fresh?

[Insideradio]

I think by good partnering he meant that Dave is somewhat isulated by V and the fact that they bill like mad, so, that gives the company some lattitude with Dave

Why is Holly not a good fit for Dave?

Have you seen the ratings? I think Holly is a great person but not a great radio personality. But Wheeler is keeping her. I'm not sure why they just didn't try to find an established morning show but logic is out the window in this market.

And I think CBS has given enough latitude with 92.9. It's a waste of a tremendous signal right now.

 

[mshawnarnold]

I will agree to disagree with you on her not being a great radio personality. I would argue that the ratings issue has very little to do with Holly's ability as an on-air talent. Let's look at the what's been going on with Dave. The music is just now getting to be where it should be (primarily because Margot is a wiz when it comes to music and, contrary to when Michelle Engel was PD, she is actually getting to do her job as MD now) and let's remember that when Barnes left, they went to a mostly music format for the moring show. How can any on-air talent drive any ratings when the are limited to news and Hollywood stuff as their only content breaks? And, not to mention, the music was all over the place as well. I would argue that you could put anyone in that scenario who has a lot of talent (Baron, Wachs, Von Haessler, Toucher, et. al.) and when you tell them, "OK. You're on AM drive. Only read the news and throw us some celebrity gossip until we get this whole morning thing figured out." and they would have a hard time driving any kind of ratings, especially with the music being all over the place.

I think when Holly had a chance to contibute, she did a great job and had some good insight. Much like a lot of successful radio talents, you have to be in the right scenario with the right partner. So, in my humble opinion, it's pretty dodgy to say she has no talent when for the last year she hasn't really had a single opportunity to display it. To me, it would be a lot like signing Tom Glavine, playing him in left field the entire season, and then calling him a terrible pitcher at the end of the season. Not really very fair.

 

[Insideradio]

So, in my humble opinion, it's pretty dodgy to say she has no talent when for the last year she hasn't really had a single opportunity to display it.

I didn't say she wasn't talented, I said she wasn't a great radio personality. I also said that she wasn't good for Dave in it's current format, but would do well in a A/C format. And to your point, The "River" does pretty well in the morning, so did Project before Giant Brian. I will agree that Dave's music was all over the place, and that Margot's expertise is this format, I just don't think this format hits home with enough people to make a difference.

Holly isn't going anywhere so we'll see if she does better when they change formats or if/when they allow her to open up some.

 

[OutOfTheBiz]

"Good Partnering" also means that Dave's demographics are exactly the opposite of V103s. Let's be honest, that's exactly what groups wanted all along when they began buying and clustering stations years ago. The goal isn't to have a bunch of 12-plus ratings leaders, but to have one that reaches urban 25-54s, one that reaches all-white 18-34s, etc - giving the sales team things to sell to any target. And while I've never seen detailed breakouts, it's obvious Dave must have some strength with some money demo - based just on the clients that are on the air.

As for going AC - highly doubt it. When you have a ratings monster like V103 you would never slide your niche station in a direction that could pull even a half point or two away from your cash cow. AC could pull some of the older female demos away from V.

 

[mshawnarnold]

I think the River anaology is a bit of a bad one because they fit into a very specific niche that filled a very specific void with old Z93'ers and 96Rock'ers and it has nothing to do with the talent, or lack thereof in this case. Also, the River comparison addressed another point with regard to Dave. The River dumped a pretty good chunk of change into it's launch promotion. The bought a ton of TV and beat the promotional bushes very hard, something that CBS has never done with Dave. Other than a billboard or two and a couple of bus stops, there really hasn't been any marketing that I've seen for Dave, which also, like it or not, affects listenership.

Regarding Project, also a bit of an optical illusion on those ratings as well since they essentially merged two stations. So, you had all of the listeners of the Buzz comming over to Project as well as the leftovers from 96Rock that didn't move to the River or elsewhere. Combining listener bases would also have a positive affect on the ratings numbers. Much like if CBS bought B98, moved the Dave content to 98.5 and collapsed 92.9 into something completely different. You would get an inflated ratings number at 98 moving forward from the merger of listeners.

However, since I am a Dave fan, I'm curious as to the status of the morning show. I have heard most of the overnight try outs, but I haven't heard any announcements about what is going to happen. Do you know who they are leaning toward? I also haven't heard anything about the new lead or Firfer's status. Has there been an announcement?