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WKDD Changes

C

CleveFan

It seems that WKDD have made some changes to their weekday line-up. They have a new midday & evening host, & both are voices heard in Cleveland in the recent past.

Lori Bradley (middays) & Cindy Spicer (nights) used to be on the old WMVX Mix 106.5, though not at the same time, but in those same dayparts ironically.

Didn't WKDD changed their midday show this year before the most recent changes? Also, Keith Kennedy is the new midday host on My 101.7 in addition to his other duties.
 
Keith's shift on 101.7 is not permanent.

I already forget the name of the VTer they had on middays on WKDD. Tessa Hall?

Ah, they moved her to PM drive.
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
Keith's shift on 101.7 is not permanent.

I already forget the name of the VTer they had on middays on WKDD. Tessa Hall?

Ah, they moved her to PM drive.
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Tessa was already on PM drive. Heather Williams from CC Columbus had VT'd middays. She replaced Toni Foxx earlier this year I think.

So if Keith's My shift is not permanent, why is Greg Ausham on Rock 106.9? He was afternoons on My for a while.
 
WKDD now takes the Premium Choice Hot AC "feed". They take the music 24/7 and the jocks in middays, nights and weekends. How can you tell? Only Tessa in PM Drive actually says the call letters when she does breaks. Besides that, Y105/Mansfield takes the PC Hot AC music/jocks in the same dayparts. Lori and Cindy are national in their respective dayparts.
 
CleveFan said:
Tessa was already on PM drive. Heather Williams from CC Columbus had VT'd middays. She replaced Toni Foxx earlier this year I think.
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I get all these VTers/PC jocks confused. :D

CleveFan said:
So if Keith's My shift is not permanent, why is Greg Ausham on Rock 106.9? He was afternoons on My for a while.
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I have no idea. I noticed Keith on the 101.7 schedule, and ran it up the flagpole at Freedom Avenue...and was told it was a temporary situation.
 
Someone said years ago that many stations would not be live anymore outside of AM drive and here we are in 2011 and that is what happening. Thanks Clear Channel for destroying radio. :mad:
 
CleveRadioInsider said:
Someone said years ago that many stations would not be live anymore outside of AM drive and here we are in 2011 and that is what happening. Thanks Clear Channel for destroying radio. :mad:
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It's not just Clear Channel. It's symptomatic of the entire broadcast industry.

There are FAR WORSE companies than CC. Be thankful Cumulus or the now-defunct Citadel inflicted themselves onto the Cleveland market. And there are other companies that have a good reputation like Townsquare (which I wouldn't mind seeing an entry into Cleveland one day). And CC hasn't been the only company subsidizing the farce known as IBOC-HD Radio, a known assault on the AM band that fails on the market every time it's put up.

Local owners are not as populated as they HAD been, but they still do well given their station's size and scope.

Radio isn't destroyed, and Clear Channel didn't destroy it. But it is on life support as a whole for a wide variety of reasons, the least of which include the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
 
If I had a dime for every time a listener said "WTF? The jock didn't say the call letters?!?!?" I'd have no cents. :)

Top two listener complaints:
1) you don't tell me the song title and artist enough
2) why do you constantly bang me over the head which station I'm listening to? I get it, I'm already a fan of the station, I know! Stop the hype. (ppm has shown this too)

Working as an ad buyer I've seen a recent sales piece from a competitor of CCs touting how they don't have Premium Choice talent, have jocks that answer the phones etc. My co-worker said to me, so basically they just told me CC has better sounding radio station? Why would they put this out?
Some people just don't get it, they still think its 1984.
 
Sorry, Nathan...but CC started the ball rolling and everyone else had to either do the same or go out of business...watch the 'premium choice' model begin to be duplicated in every company...to save money, and nothing more.
 
garnet said:
Sorry, Nathan...but CC started the ball rolling and everyone else had to either do the same or go out of business...watch the 'premium choice' model begin to be duplicated in every company...to save money, and nothing more.
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Actually, the trend was started in 1981 with Transtar Radio Networks' establishment of satellite-delivered 24/7 radio formats. It's now known today as Dial Global Total (Dial Global Local, the former WAITT Radio Networks, is a more personalized VT service; but still, almost all of the personalities originate from Omaha, Nebraska). And small, locally-owned radio stations used those services - and a lot still do - way before the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

And why was that? Because for a small, class A signal in a rural area, it's cheaper than staffing with live talent. WQKT/104.5 in Wooster, for example, is a locally-owner FM that's well known in the community, but they run one of DG Total's country formats non-stop. Ditto with BAS Broadcasting, who run DG Local formats on most of their stations, and have run off the bird for nearly a decade.

So don't go attacking CC entirely on this. Yes, they are now owned by a soulless private capital firm intent on finding loose change underneath a sofa. But to claim that they 'started the ball rolling' vis-a-vis Premium Choice is ludicrious. It was a long time coming.
 
Nathan Obral said:
And why was that? Because for a small, class A signal in a rural area, it's cheaper than staffing with live talent. WQKT/104.5 in Wooster, for example, is a locally-owner FM that's well known in the community, but they run one of DG Total's country formats non-stop. Ditto with BAS Broadcasting, who run DG Local formats on most of their stations, and have run off the bird for nearly a decade.
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Satellite formats on local stations do indeed go way back, in smaller markets or on non-high-profile stations. Premium Choice is bringing that kind of programming, in house, to stations in all but the very largest markets. It has brought Don "Action" Jackson of WMJI to overnights in markets as large as St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

IIRC, though, there's even PC programming on some CC NYC stations in overnights (once they got the union to agree that they didn't have to program overnights live/local a year or two back).

As far as WQKT is concerned, the satellite programming (originally ABC/SMN's "Country Coast to Coast") is basically keeping the needles moving between local sports and news...more so than BAS, which does some of that (especially sports), but not as much as 'QKT does.
 
From time to time you'll hear Premium Choice classic hits/oldies PD/PM driver Marty "The Party" Thompson on WMJI. Not too often but I have heard him on weekends.

Marty years ago programmed WGRR/Cinci, then WWMG/(Magic)Charlotte before heading to KQOL/Las Vegas where he was VP/Oldies for CC. He's a good buddy of mine.

WAKS has carried PC talent/programming for some time now.
 
I have noticed WKDD's programming has gotten a little lighter since they went Premium Chioice. How does PC work? It doesnt sound satelite, does the automation just download the music logs as it always would?
 
Reading this stuff, I'm reminded that WKDD at one time, only a few years ago, had live jocks from 6am-12am at least Monday thru Friday..they were one of the few Clear Channel stations that could make that claim..now..its a jukebox, outside of morning drive...wow..just..wow..
 
Agreed. WKDD really tried to resist their 'Clear Channelization' as long as possible, and tried to remain as live and local as possible. They had live talent and a local website much longer than many other CC stations. I still wonder though if some of WKDD talent of the past jumped ship because they saw what was coming. For what a legendary name and station WKDD was for decades, it's sad to see it become a jukebox with only 3 hours of live programming a day. I give KK credit for keeping it as live and local as he did for as long as he did.
 
I also wonder how many more years they will host Radiothon. Their numbers havent been as strong in the last few years, and it hasnt been the same since Matt Patrick left
 
Actually, the fall in KDD's numbers can be traced back to 2001, when they swapped freqs with Kiss, and lost a lot of their CHR audience who stayed on 96.5. The original 98.1 frequency did not properly cover Akron, and did not penetrate buildings properly, a problem that's only been rectified recently. They've never been the same since, and generally sit around #10 in the market, but may have better numbers in their target demos. While not personally a fan of their music, and not a big fan of their morning show, I do give Keith credit for working with what he has to make the station at least something. I would bet that the reason Matt left is they couldn't afford him with the numbers that they were doing...and he wasn't willing to stay for lower pay. Damn shame, too...at one time KDD was a powerhouse.
 
Lehos said:
Agreed. WKDD really tried to resist their 'Clear Channelization' as long as possible, and tried to remain as live and local as possible. They had live talent and a local website much longer than many other CC stations. I still wonder though if some of WKDD talent of the past jumped ship because they saw what was coming. For what a legendary name and station WKDD was for decades, it's sad to see it become a jukebox with only 3 hours of live programming a day. I give KK credit for keeping it as live and local as he did for as long as he did.
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The three hours of live programming is unlistenable - they would be better off 24 hour voice tracked!
 
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