Y-100 under Dan Mason and Dave Denver

[jbrasco951]

From the bio that J-Nice has according to the Kisscleveland website, maybe he will hold his own jocking 7-midnight.

Hopefully, Dan will give him some space to create personality and create a morning show feel to nights ,which Y-100 has not had, which I think Adam Bomb never really had the airtime to do.

But I want to direct some comments on the new Y morning show. I'm giving this show a fair shot, but it is obvious that all of the show segments are no longer live as some of the segments that were live when the show first started are now being taped and re-aired the same day in order to make the segments more Y-friendly.

I believe it is the fault of Z-100 along with Y-100 with not structuring a network clock so that Froggy, who is now simply a "glorified board operator" could jump in and out of Z-100 programming with the use of hard commercial and could make the live programming better.

Without any callers or talk about things going on in from Miami, there is truly no local feel to this morning show when you only hear callers and content that applies only to New York, period.

Dan needs to hire a "female" to handle middays, and him and Dave Denver should start looking into plans for a new "live and local" morning show.

I only hope that "Elvis Duran and the Z Morning Zoo (with Y playing it as a simulcast) is a band-aid to patch up things until a new morning show comes in.

 

[Froggy Y100]

"Glorified Board Operator" checking in!!

The reason the morning show sounds "no longer live" is becasue we are running a "Best Of" type show while Elvis is on vacation. This is has been going on for 3 weeks now...you are catching on fast!! The reason for not calling it a "Best Of" show here in Miami is becasue we are playing content that this audience has never heard before.

Just wanted to clear up any confusion...

 

[XCountry285]

Froggy, why don't they just have you on you're own morning show. You'd do pretty good. I like Z100 morning show, but it's not for Miami.

 

[954]

Hello Froggy... Welcome to the board!

Since that was your first posting here and you might not have seen this...
You and Footy and the rest were pictured in May Radio News,
http://RadioPages.net/radio/2006may.html ... on Footy's last day.

Maybe you can answer a question for me... although Mike might also know this:

Is Dave Denver the same guy who was at WADY, the Lady, back in '80?

73s

 

[jbrasco951]

Froggy,

I said "Glorified Board operator" because I feel the role you were expected to have on the morning show has been limited and that the show still caters only to the New York audience with very few callers from Miami. It has nothing at all to do with your skill and experience. I worked at Clear Channel for 2 years before I left and its things like the situation you have been put in is exactly why I left.

I use that term not to put you down, becuase I think you did a great job at FLZ for MJ and BJ. So, your promotion to Y100 was well deserved.

Still, I don't like the audience not being informed of the show being on vacation, especially for three weeks. How come you don't get a piece of that vacation time. I'm really giving the morning show a chance, but there is no local feel to the show.

Froggy, you know you could do more with a morning show if you had a live and local morning show to produce.

Dan and Dave should remove the Band-Aid and audition a new local morning show.

 

[954]

I said "Glorified Board operator" because I feel the role you were expected to have on the morning show has been limited and that the show still caters only to the New York audience with very few callers from Miami.

Hey JB .... I think it was obvious that you meant it positively, and weren't
criticizing Froggu. Not Froggy's fault when CC does something dumb!

73s

 

[The-Major]

From the bio that J-Nice has according to the Kisscleveland website, maybe he will hold his own jocking 7-midnight.
Hopefully, Dan will give him some space to create personality and create a morning show feel to nights ,which Y-100 has not had, which I think Adam Bomb never really had the airtime to do.

Speaking of Adam Bomb I just realized yesterday (via Y-100's web site) that Adam was gone. What happened to him ? Where did he end up going to ?

THE MAJOR

 

[jbrasco951]

He went to join Rob Roberts at WWWQ (Q100 Atlanta) you can hear him in his regular timeslot online at http://www.q100atlanta.com

 

[Radaioman]

jbrasco951 ,

A few comments on your posts. My understanding is that the Zoo IS the morning show. it is not a Band-Aid. No one would put that kind of effort into such a sucsessful show like the Zoo for a temp move.

Who cares if you think the audience should have been told the show was off for 3 weeks. It's a new show in Miami and as Froggy pointed out, it's all new to them. What is the difference as long as the audience is enjoying it? Then you are upset because you think Froggy didn't get vacation. Do you know that? Why do you care FOR him? I listen to the show. It's a hell of a lot better than what WAS on the station regardless of whether you thhink it sounds local enough for you, a radio fan who listens for stuff like that. I think Froggy is doing a nice job of keeping the show "Miami" . Maybe you left Clearchannel because you couldn't think outside the box? Hmmm?
As a fan of radio, i think this was a great move. A Bold move by a new regime. Did you see the numbers of the LOCAL show that was here? And be honest. You made the dumb board op comment becuase you did'nt know he was reading the board.

 

[top4odj]

OUCH.....DID ANYONE GET THE LICENSE NUMBER OF THE TRUCK THAT RAN OVER JB?

Now....Y-100 should as well as any other radio station inform the listening audience if it is a "Best Of" show. It would be like selling you $250 a piece concert tickets to see The Rolling Stones, and you get there only to see the opening group because the Stones didn't play for what ever reason. You wouldn't be a happy camper. It's something not etched in stone, but by saying it's the "Best Of", it says to the new listener "Hey, the Morning Zoo will be back in blah blah days, and if you think they sound this good taped...wait till you hear them live!"

Speaking of Live & Local broadcasts, i'm not a fan of syndication either. As i've said before, I don't care what's happening in NY or LA or Chicago or anywhere else...I turn on the radio to know what's going on in MY back yard.

As for being a BOLD move, I guess it's all in how you look at it. Bold would have been keeping Howard Stern on Big 105.9. By simulcasting Elvis from NY allowed Clear Channel to save money by not having to hire a full local morning show.

I'm also really glad you think "Froggy is doing anice job of keeping the show "Miami". I hope he does well, he's good people. Face it, FOOTY was the Y-100 morning show for years & such a major change like the one that's under way takes time for listeners to adjust. Some will stay, some will go elsewhere, but make no mistake....JB's comments were his OPINION. Whether he knew or not that Froggy reads the boards, he's intitled to give his view. This is what these boards are about....PEOPLES VIEWS AND OPINIONS. I'm sure it wasn't ment as a personal attack on Froggy. When you place things in text, and you can't see the expression nor hear the way the comment is delivered, it can be, and usually is taken out of context, but in any case, we are all entitled to say what we feel. There is no right or no wrong answer. It is how each of us see it.

 

[Radaioman]

By the way, from what I understand, and can assume, this wasn't a money saving move. You think a show that substantial and sucsessful comes cheap? My guess is they make more than some local, inexperienced show would have cost. There's a ton of talened, high proced people there. This isn't a voice track situation. The show has been in NY for ten years and never syndiacted before. I believe this was done because this is the show the WANTED in Miami. There are plenty of cheap shows around the country they could have gotten. This ain't one of 'em.

 

[jbrasco951]

Stuart, thanks for adding your points to the post. I can tell you that although I was too young to hear your night show on 96X. I listened to you on Y100 and I have a lot of respect for the work you have done in Miami radio.


My comments to Froggy come off negative, but they were real. You had to work for Clear Channel to understand the justification of my opinion.

Broadcasting "Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo is simple and very cheap to air on Y100. The memebers of that morning show are on the Z100 payroll. Froggy controls the commercial breaks via Prophet and takes the live Z100 feed probably from an ISDN link.

The ISDN link was probably the only money spent on the program. Froggy just has to wait for break cues from Elvis to go to break, run traffic reports and play the same songs that are being played by Z100 and then Froggy will play a liner that has Elvis saying something that refers to Y100 and then he segues back to the Z100 feed. Then Froggy will pre-tape a segment or two with Elvis and maybe Carolina during music or spot breaks to basically promote something going on Y100.

So that's exactly why the show is cost-efficient to the advantage of Y100, probably because Dave Denver wants to cut costs on the station's budget coming into the new gig. They're also saving money on talent, because Y100 has been saving money by having out-of-town jocks like Kane, Ashlee Reid, Nikki and Brother Fred voice-track four -hour shifts from their respective production studios, and compensating them a small fee. Clear Channel has a knack, especially with small market stations and in a temp case with Y100, to pay up to $7k for jocks to spend an hour a day to vt air shifts for other out of town stations. Why bother paying a full time jock $20k when you voicetrack with good talent.

It's unfortunate that good CC jock talent has to resort to picking VT assignments and taking on as many remotes as possible in order to survive cost of living.

I will say that I respect Clear Channel for truly knowing how to micromanage and cut costs, but they treat their talent like pure garbage.

I only have admiration and respect for those that can handle having to work "inside their box" limited in creating their rescpective personas.

Footy was given leeway because of who he was to the radio station, and unfortunately his show reached the threshold to the point that the change needed to happen.

Also unfortunately, Loyalty is not a big thing at Clear Channel. Rob Roberts and Dave Ross remained to loyal to Footy until they were removed.

I am optimistic of the "new regime" of Y100 with their changes so far. I think "Elvis Duran and the Y Morning Zoo" will succeed in Miami only when they start including the Y100 audience a whole lot more. If that means moving the spotlight away from New York a little more than so be it.

 

[Faraway]

jbrasco951 writes "Broadcasting "Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo is simple and very cheap to air on Y100. The memebers of that morning show are on the Z100 payroll. Froggy controls the commercial breaks via Prophet and takes the live Z100 feed probably from an ISDN link.The ISDN link was probably the only money spent on the program."

You REALLY think Elvis and Carolina are doing this without being paid? I would bet they are being compensated as well as any good morning show in a large market would be for doing a local show. If not, real close to it. No way do I think Elvis would be doing this just for fun, or minimal compensation.

 

[top4odj]

jbrasco951 writes "Broadcasting "Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo is simple and very cheap to air on Y100. The memebers of that morning show are on the Z100 payroll. Froggy controls the commercial breaks via Prophet and takes the live Z100 feed probably from an ISDN link.The ISDN link was probably the only money spent on the program."

You REALLY think Elvis and Carolina are doing this without being paid? I would bet they are being compensated as well as any good morning show in a large market would be for doing a local show. If not, real close to it. No way do I think Elvis would be doing this just for fun, or minimal compensation.

I think you're missing his point. What he means is, that Clear Channel saved money by simulcasting Elvis & his already set up show. Common sense would know that everyone isn't doing it as a freebie. I'm sure he (and his station) are getting some good scratch for doing it, but less than what Clear Channel would have to dish out on hiring an in house crew here in South Florida.

 

[The-Major]

I think you're missing his point. What he means is, that Clear Channel saved money by simulcasting Elvis & his already set up show. Common sense would know that everyone isn't doing it as a freebie. I'm sure he (and his station) are getting some good scratch for doing it, but less than what Clear Channel would have to dish out on hiring an in house crew here in South Florida.

I think that a lot of us (myself included) who are not in the radio business and have never been so tend to think that your average deejay on the radio makes a lot of money. We place deejays in the realm of TV news anchors and even TV and movie stars. They are millionaires. That's obviously not true, and since I've been active on this board I've learned that radio deejays make even less money than I originally thought. I guess I was naive enough to think that your Kennys and Footys made deep into the six-digit figures a year. In reality I'm guessing that your average radio deejay in a Miami-sized market probably makes in the neighbourhood of 20 to 40 thousand dollars a year ? Correct me if I'm a little off there. I'm thinking that of all of the gigs that Ryan Seacrest has (who is obviously a millionaire many times over) his lowest-paying gig is probably his KISS-FM L.A. morning show.

THE MAJOR

 

[top4odj]

I think that a lot of us (myself included) who are not in the radio business and have never been so tend to think that your average deejay on the radio makes a lot of money. We place deejays in the realm of TV news anchors and even TV and movie stars. They are millionaires. That's obviously not true, and since I've been active on this board I've learned that radio deejays make even less money than I originally thought. I guess I was naive enough to think that your Kennys and Footys made deep into the six-digit figures a year. In reality I'm guessing that your average radio deejay in a Miami-sized market probably makes in the neighbourhood of 20 to 40 thousand dollars a year ? Correct me if I'm a little off there. I'm thinking that of all of the gigs that Ryan Seacrest has (who is obviously a millionaire many times over) his lowest-paying gig is probably his KISS-FM L.A. morning show.

THE MAJOR

When Beasley-Reed purchased WCJX/96X from Wodlinger Broadcasting in 1985, they did a market survey of what announcers were paid. I was startled at what I saw for full time'ers. The worst paid were your overnight people, making on the average of $12,000 a year. Nights were in the area of $15,000, Mid-days and Evenings about $18-25,000, Afternoon Drive about $30,000 and Morning Drive about $40,000 up.

It's always been a stigma as far as I can remember back, that the listening public thinks that DJ's make tons of money & drive lavish vehicles. Geez, few do make the real good money, and the cars are no different than your average person. I remember walking into a BK one day in the mid-late 70's in the 96X van, stepping up to the counter and the first words out of the person taking my order wasn't "Hi, how can I help you" but "What are you doing eating here??". I laughed and my reply was "People in radio eat at places like this too...as a matter of fact, we do alot of things that regular people do....drive the same kinds of cars, eat the same foods, see the same types of movies....hell...we even go to the bathroom the same way!...now...i'd like 2 double whoppers...."

I've explained to people over the years, that when it boils down to it, radio is a job just like any other. difference being, we're in the public eye. that we have the same problems, same BS & get a paycheck, just like anyone who works for a living. It's not the total glamor job that many think. It never was. Money isn't being behind the mic for an extreme amount of announcers. There are few who do vs who don't make a great living in the business. The real money is in Personal Appearances. I think i've said before, that when I started, the average per hour pay scale for someone to make an appearance was $50-100 an hour. In todays market, you're looking at $250-2000 an hour. Even the set up guys (usually from the promotions dept.) get a few hundred for being there.

I'm not sure what the pay scale for full time is today, but if I was a gambling man, i'd say that it wasn't too far off from what it was in 1985. There will always be the exceptions....The Howard Sterns, Neil Rogers, Footy's.....

When people come up to me and ask about getting into the business...and you see the twinkle in their eyes...I just let them know the truth. The pay isn't what you think, the glamor isn't there, few really succeed, alot of politics & the hours can suck. Other than that, it's the greatest job in the world!

 

[PTWorm]

Stuart's comments remind me a lot of one of the anecdotes in The PD Chronicles (great book, check it out if you haven't read it)...the PD is speaking to an old buddy's about-to-graduate college broadcasting class, and one of the first questions asked during the Q&A is "How much will I be making straight out of college?" And when he answers honestly, chaos erupts.

When I was working in radio during high school, I finally got my boss to give me a raise by pointing out that I could be making a lot more money behind the counter at Wendy's, but I spent all my free time at the station instead.

Anyway, to add to the original topic, I wonder about the wisdom of starting in a new market with a "best of" show...don't you run the risk of disappointing listeners, if they hear three straight weeks of comedic gold, and then during the regular show bits are hit-or-miss? That said, I like what I've heard so far

 

[The-Major]

Anyway, to add to the original topic, I wonder about the wisdom of starting in a new market with a "best of" show...don't you run the risk of disappointing listeners, if they hear three straight weeks of comedic gold, and then during the regular show bits are hit-or-miss? That said, I like what I've heard so far

'Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo' crew were back at work this (Monday) morning, and Froggy was right in the middle of many of their interesting and hilarious discussions. I wouldn't consider the last three weeks of reruns being 'comedic gold'. It actually seemed rather 'chopped' and dated at times. It was good to hear the LIVE smooth-flowing format again this morning. Funny stuff. They've got their act down pat.

THE MAJOR

 

[Radaioman]

jbrasco951 ,

Once again, for a guy who clearly knows some things, but you are WAY off base on others. This show has TEN people, all getting paid to do a lot more than what you think you know. This is not a cost cutting move. If they wanted to save money, they could have hired some inexperienced show, or 2 regular DJ's, played 10 songs an hour. This is a high powered, high priced show with 5 lead personalities who chose to syndicate. Not for free and certainly not for the price of 2 local DJ's. The major is right. The show sounds great live and that comes with a price. God forbid the thought ever crossed your mind that they did this for the RIGHT reasons. you are a bitter ex CC employee. I get it. Don't let it cloud your judgement forever. And don't lessen the considerable efforts and manpower it takes to pull something like this off. Or didn't you pay attention when Froggy himself tried to set you straight?

 

[jbrasco951]

Well, I will say after listening today, that it sounds like with the three weeks of vacation time, the Miami staff worked on adjusting their formatics in order to make the morning show sound smooth.

I will stand by my statement that CC New York is still paying the talent. Nevertheless, this show to produce and to air is still very cost-cutting.

I think "Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo" is a very good morning show. It's very funny, but for such a large-market station, the show still needs a local feel so that the Miami listeners will relate and participate more.

I never downplayed Froggy's ability or vskills as a producer, but I hated the downplayed role he got since the change.

Let me put this on a positive note, Y100 is making some very good changes. If I were PD, I would focus on ways to to give the morning show a more local feel, and continue the search for a new midday host (preferably female in my opinion) and bring in a hot new night jock to pick up and even raise the level of the night show where Adam Bomb had left it.

I have faith that the ratings will turn around