Williams Out in AM Drive at 'GN

[radioman148]

>>Instead we get colon cleansing infomercials, time brokered foreign language programs, and far left/far right "hate" radio. BORING!!! Radio today has become the vast wasteland, and that is why many older Americans don't bother listening.>>

Don't forget all the great financial advisers that are so anxious to tell us where to invest our money.

 

[Prais]

That's called "easy sales."

It works for revenue for the station or they wouldn't have it.

"To me, it is absolutely a crime that in a city the size of Chicago we can't have even one station playing adult standards, or jazz, or blues, or any other creative or interesting format.

It takes a staff to do that and that takes money. Nobody has that kind of time or money, now.

 

[Arbitorn]

Okay, Radioman - I've settled down.

And I agree that ad agencies take the easy way out, paying 26 year-olds to do the math on cost per thousand for stations they never listen to. I'll be the first to admit that K&J had a larger audience than the measurements showed and their audience was listening with both ears, paying far more attention to the ads than listeners of stations with much larger numbers that people only have on to drown out the air conditioner. If ad dollars were allocated to the most effective buy rather than the most efficient, WGN would be near the top of the list.

I've heard the arguments about why 55+ is undesirable. I'm not sure I believe my mind is set in stone about the car I'll buy, beer I'll drink or bank I'll go to. Clearly there is a ton of new services and goods that I have no history or preconceptions of. The industry has been trying for a long time to expand the money demos to include 35-64 on sensible buys. Some progress has been made, but not enough.

While we're lamenting lack of unusual formats, may I start a fight by crying about the absence of classic country? Kid rock on a country station...please. I don't care if it's a daytimer-AM with less power than a hair dryer. The one country station in this market is abbismal. The last time I heard a real country song on 99.5, I told my wife it was probably a syndicated program. Sure enough, it was!

So see, I'm an old guy who wants his radio back, too.

 

[radioman148]

>>So see, I'm an old guy who wants his radio back, too.>>

I absolutely agree. The Oldies stations, or "classic hits" as they're now called will rarely play any 50s or 60s music anymore because as far as they are concerned we're all dead. We're irrelevant as far as they're concerned.

 

[b344077]

radioman:

It's a fact that it takes a lot gain a "call to action" threshold with folks over 50. So, why would an advertiser want to spend $100 to motivate you and me while it takes only $50 to get the same results reaching the 30 somethings? It onlt dollars and sense. Sure, there a products and services geared to the greybeards (cemetery plots, cruise ships, Lipitor, etc.) but this is a highly targeted market where other advertising forms may be more effective (direct mail).

Like you, I would like to hear a wider variety of music and information but as has been stated here and other message boards, there are many pressures being brought to bare on the market that renders we older listeners "out". It would be great if it were different but it's not and so we need to migrate to such delivery systems like the internet or satellite. Even XM is starting to focus more and more on the key deomgraphics and dropping "stations" like the Great American Songbook.

 

[radioman148]

radioman:

It's a fact that it takes a lot gain a "call to action" threshold with folks over 50. So, why would an advertiser want to spend $100 to motivate you and me while it takes only $50 to get the same results reaching the 30 somethings? It onlt dollars and sense. Sure, there a products and services geared to the greybeards (cemetery plots, cruise ships, Lipitor, etc.) but this is a highly targeted market where other advertising forms may be more effective (direct mail).

Like you, I would like to hear a wider variety of music and information but as has been stated here and other message boards, there are many pressures being brought to bare on the market that renders we older listeners "out". It would be great if it were different but it's not and so we need to migrate to such delivery systems like the internet or satellite. Even XM is starting to focus more and more on the key deomgraphics and dropping "stations" like the Great American Songbook.

Sadly you are right.

 

[audioguy]

b--

You can't be THAT old if you like to go cycling and referee volleyball in your spare time! I'm guessing you still have a few shekels of disposable income as well!

Somebody will meet the need for better programming, even if it's on the Internet. But still, the idea of a small station running "hair dryer power" (that's about 1.5 kW these days!) using "beauty school dropouts" for the announcers sounds like fun!

Back to the topic at hand: There are 168 hours in a week. WGN could give us some hot jazz or some other fun stuff for one or two of those hours. I remember when that big tower used to send out some pretty nice tunes.

 

[Prais]

Why would WGN want to play music and make ascrap and bmi richer?

Playing music on wgn with their revenue, power and ratings would generate astronomical fees - that's why they stopped music there to begin with.

A wide variety of music - or a narrow music choice would drive people away (except you and me) and cost money - where at least an opinionated host that you or I don't like is merely that guys salary - less than the music license fee, of a couple hundred bucks per song.

 

[jprg]

You guys are luck to get Greg Jarrett from KGO/San Francisco. I worked with him there before and he's very talented. Our loss is Chicago's gain. Best wishes to him!

 

[cyberdad]

so we need to migrate to such delivery systems like the internet or satellite

I personally don't have a problem with that.  I'd go so far as to take satellite out of the equation.....given that it's being dumbed down to the point where it's now morphing into a lot of the same stuff that's bad about most terrestial radio.

As I discovered a few weeks back, all you need to do is get an iPhone, download a radio app (most are free....otherwise it's less than $10), and you can listen to anything anywhere anytime. Including your car with a jack or an fm modulator.  Today I listened to K-Bird and CKOC on my morning and evening commute respectively.  Yesterday it was Radio Bop and WRLL.  Tomorrow, I'm thinking Pandora or maybe Rich Bro.  Doesn't get much better than that, and the audio quality is as good as FM....better than a.m.

Meanwhile Tribune company....or what's left of it....goes on making a mockery of why cross-ownership rules were ever put in in the first place.  They're out there proving that it's possible to blow up a broadcast outlet and a newspaper simultaneously (and possibly a major league baseball team while they're at it!).  Who needs them....or others of their ilk????

 

[radioman148]

You guys are luck to get Greg Jarrett from KGO/San Francisco. I worked with him there before and he's very talented. Our loss is Chicago's gain. Best wishes to him!

I've never heard him so I will be interested in checking him out.

 

[b344077]

audioguy:

Yep, I am doing OK at 66 but the fact remains that through the years, seniors tend to become sophisticated buyers.

As an example, I like my Toyota Camry and will probably buy a new one in a year. I am basing my decision on price-performance. I will probably scout the net for pricing info, check Consumer Reports and check out a couple of local dealers. All things being equal, it will probably be Oakbrook Toyota based on previous relationships. The only exception may be a Chrysler Product based upon a potential business tie-in and dealer reputation.

Now, how much advertising would be required to change my opinion versus that 30 something who has less brand experience and/or business relationship tie-ins?

Many older folks have lots of cash stashed but it costs far more in advertising dollars to motivate them to spend it differently than is their custom.

I would think that Toyota, in my example, would want to target this market to remind us old f*rts why we made such a greast decision many years ago. But it doesn't seem to work that way in today's market.

There is another part of this. It is my belief that many of the TV and radio services geared toward us old folks make me feel older than I want to feel and so some of us shy away.

Does this make sense?

 

[talk_radio_nut]

I'm a big fan of John Williams, but I agree that he hasn't worked out in the mornings. It doesn't seem like he's been allowed to be himself, much.

I hope he thrives in the new slot. I'm willing to give the new guy a listen. I hope he's not more of "The Republicans are always right!" drivel that they've been shoving on us.

 

[talk_radio_nut]

Greg just did a visit with John. His voice is very pleasant and he doesn't sound like a screamer. I'm actually looking forward to hearing his show next week. It's the first positive sign coming from 'GN in awhile. (Keeping my fingers crossed.)

No more Jerry Agar!!!!! That's a celebration worthy event, to be sure.

 

[radioman148]

Greg just did a visit with John. His voice is very pleasant and he doesn't sound like a screamer. I'm actually looking forward to hearing his show next week. It's the first positive sign coming from 'GN in awhile. (Keeping my fingers crossed.)

No more Jerry Agar!!!!! That's a celebration worthy event, to be sure.

According to Lewis Lazare's Sun Times column this morning WGN was 16th in 25--54 demo for May.