WPHT Sale

[FredLeonard]

Past tense. Back then, music fans needed someone to be their connection to the stars. Today, the fans can communicate directly. The fans simply have better information than any DJ can have. The only place where personalities still have a role to play is talk.

This under-estimates the role and importance of personalities, which radio management has typically done. Music was only one element of radio. The host/DJ was the focus, the core that pulled everything together. Good or bad, each was unique. In any market of any size, there was more than one station playing the same music. What made the difference was the personality (and management hated that). What made radio local and immediate to listeners was the personality.

Today fans "communicate directly" with stars? In what universe?

 

[John1]

Past tense. Back then, music fans needed someone to be their connection to the stars. Today, the fans can communicate directly. The fans simply have better information than any DJ can have. The only place where personalities still have a role to play is talk.

This under-estimates the role and importance of personalities, which radio management has typically done. Music was only one element of radio. The host/DJ was the focus, the core that pulled everything together. Good or bad, each was unique. In any market of any size, there was more than one station playing the same music. What made the difference was the personality (and management hated that). What made radio local and immediate to listeners was the personality.

Today fans "communicate directly" with stars? In what universe?

I took that to mean it is easier to be 'interactive' via. websites, twitter, Facebook, etc. - but how many 'stars' really personally respond is questionable. Certainly it is easier to get information on singers/bands these days via. the internet. In the old days what you learned about the stars other than from an informed radio personality came from fan mailings & magazines - today's information is constantly current. But beyond that I too miss the real personality radio of a live & local jock on the air to entertain you. And inform - we hear stories especially in tornado belt markets where storm information wasn't dispensed because the studio is empty & the automated voicetracked dj from another city isn't warning you of the danger!

Speaking of instant communications, some of the 'holdovers' from the personality radio era are very good at communicating with their listeners via. facebook - I have asked questions about music played to Harvey Holiday & Tommy McCarthy on Facebook & receive answers in a short time.

 

[TheBigA]

Today fans "communicate directly" with stars? In what universe?

In the Twitter-verse. And the actual stars often do the tweeting. They sometimes get themselves in trouble. Justin Bieber uses his Twitter account as his own personal sounding board. The stars have taken control over their brand and bypassed the mainstream media. They premiere their music on their own websites. Now, mainstream media gets its news from Twitter and Facebook. Why listen to a DJ, when I can get in inside scoop on my favorite star directly from the exact same source?

 

[TheBigA]

And inform - we hear stories especially in tornado belt markets where storm information wasn't dispensed because the studio is empty & the automated voicetracked dj from another city isn't warning you of the danger!

That's fiction. An actual local emergency will trigger the EAS system, which will pre-empt and over-ride whatever programming is on the air. I've actually heard it at work. Even at stations with local staff.

 

[pab]

The "National EAS Test" back in 2011 showed just how few stations were ready for the real thing. You can't rely on automation in an emergency.

 

[TheBigA]

The "National EAS Test" back in 2011 showed just how few stations were ready for the real thing. You can't rely on automation in an emergency.

The national EAS test was a very different thing from local use of EAS.

 

[Bill981]

...and the local EAS is only as good as the local organization wants it to be. If the LP1 actually sends a Tornado Warning, it's still up to the other participating stations to choose to forward it. Remember, there are only three things the FCC requires: Required Weekly Tests, Required Monthly Tests and Emergency Action Notification (Presidential level.) EVERYTHING else is strictly optional on the part of the broadcasters. I'll bet most program directors want as little EAS on the air as is absolutely necessary, including running RWTs strictly overnight.

 

[TheBigA]

...and the local EAS is only as good as the local organization wants it to be.

That's exactly right, and they have the law on their side. As I said, I've seen it used well in a few disasters, and it's how the FCC and DHS want radio owners to handle local emergencies.

 

[JH_Radio]

There are other markets where two rimshot FMs simulcast because they are on different ends of the market (example, one might be somewhat more west, one somewhat more east). There have been examples of this in both the Atlantic City, NJ, and Ocean City, MD, markets.

What sations in Atlantic city do this? WAYV/WAIV perhaps?

 

[epmark]

What about a swap of 1210 for 106.9, with some (premium) cash thrown in for 106.9? CBS keeps the Phillies and puts music back on 106.9, Merlin keeps Rush and keeps a finger in radio.

 

[deepstblu]

There are other markets where two rimshot FMs simulcast because they are on different ends of the market (example, one might be somewhat more west, one somewhat more east). There have been examples of this in both the Atlantic City, NJ, and Ocean City, MD, markets.

What sations in Atlantic city do this? WAYV/WAIV perhaps?

That's the one pair that does it right now. In AC it's never exactly been two rimshots but more often two Class A stations, one licensed to somewhere near the city and the other down in Cape May County. Pairings of the past included 99.3 Pleasantville with 102.3 Cape May (the current WAIV), 99.3 with 105.5 Cape May Court House and 96.1 Margate with 93.1 Wildwood Crest. WAYV is a Class B; it's a little surprising that they want help only 40 miles from their main stick. The two signals overlap in most of Cape May County, but I guess they believe that it's worth it.