Yo Lou Mercatanti and Mark Mays

[Mike_Shannon]

I certainly don't want to sound presumptious here but I came accross a billboard for the new Frank 107.5 in Berks County and listened to both it and Y-102 today side by side quite a bit.

I should mention that I have called the GM at Y-102 (my former business manager) and the area VP and have received NO return phone call. Do I feel disrespected? No. That's radio today.

I should also say that I called and left messages to Nassau's big wigs who are putting 107.5 together and have also received NO return phone call. Disrespect? No! Not doing your best homework? Perhaps.

I don't know about any of you but if I were putting together a CHR in Philly back in the 80's I certainly would have returned Jay Cook's phone call if not to hire him, just to pick his brain about the market and the competition. Actually I would have probably sought him out without him calling. (For those of you who are too young, Jay Cook was resposible for putting WFIL on the air during the 60's and 70's and putting WIBG out of business.) (Also for any of you who don't know, I was responsible for putting Y-102 on the air and putting WYCL out of business when they challenged us in the late 80's, early 90's) We're talking about a return phone call. But everyone in radio thinks they are the (BLEEP) and so it goes....mediocrity at it's best.

Anyway...It doesn't sound to me that Y-102 has done anything defensively. It also doesn't sound to me that Frank (in it's present form) will be anything great. Having said that any station that goes head to head with a dominant station like Y-102 can expect to garner at least 25% of it's revenues by default. In Y-102's case that could mean 2 million for Nassau and a significant hit for Clear Channel.

Sometimes you do well by default. Most times you should maximize your efforts by doing all you can to do all that you can.

 

[wrathchild]

> I certainly don't want to sound presumptious here but I came
> accross a billboard for the new Frank 107.5 in Berks County
> and listened to both it and Y-102 today side by side quite a
> bit.
>
> I should mention that I have called the GM at Y-102 (my
> former business manager) and the area VP and have received
> NO return phone call. Do I feel disrespected? No. That's
> radio today.
>
> I should also say that I called and left messages to
> Nassau's big wigs who are putting 107.5 together and have
> also received NO return phone call. Disrespect? No! Not
> doing your best homework? Perhaps.
>
> I don't know about any of you but if I were putting together
> a CHR in Philly back in the 80's I certainly would have
> returned Jay Cook's phone call if not to hire him, just to
> pick his brain about the market and the competition.
> Actually I would have probably sought him out without him
> calling. (For those of you who are too young, Jay Cook was
> resposible for putting WFIL on the air during the 60's and
> 70's and putting WIBG out of business.) (Also for any of you
> who don't know, I was responsible for putting Y-102 on the
> air and putting WYCL out of business when they challenged us
> in the late 80's, early 90's) We're talking about a return
> phone call. But everyone in radio thinks they are the
> (BLEEP) and so it goes....mediocrity at it's best.
>
> Anyway...It doesn't sound to me that Y-102 has done anything
> defensively. It also doesn't sound to me that Frank (in it's
> present form) will be anything great. Having said that any
> station that goes head to head with a dominant station like
> Y-102 can expect to garner at least 25% of it's revenues by
> default. In Y-102's case that could mean 2 million for
> Nassau and a significant hit for Clear Channel.
>
> Sometimes you do well by default. Most times you should
> maximize your efforts by doing all you can to do all that
> you can.
>

They could have done better, much better. The fact that they are commecial free from 9-12 leads me to think that they are already having trouble selling it. In my opinion and many others I have talked to think this is a very bad business desicion. What are they thinking??? It's the same ol stale S**t over and over! They say they have the largest cd collection in Reading. LOL!!!!! Then why are they playing the same 40 or so over and over? Very, very sad. They must have the same pinheaded consultant there as they did for The Hawk.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by wrathchild on 03/10/06 03:15 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[scottstjohn]

> I don't know about any of you but if I were putting together
> a CHR in Philly back in the 80's I certainly would have
> returned Jay Cook's phone call if not to hire him, just to
> pick his brain about the market and the competition.
> Actually I would have probably sought him out without him
> calling. (For those of you who are too young, Jay Cook was
> resposible for putting WFIL on the air during the 60's and
> 70's and putting WIBG out of business.) (Also for any of you
> who don't know, I was responsible for putting Y-102 on the
> air and putting WYCL out of business when they challenged us
> in the late 80's, early 90's) We're talking about a return
> phone call. But everyone in radio thinks they are the
> (BLEEP) and so it goes....mediocrity at it's best.

So, what does it mean when you fall asleep at your desk and wake up with "Every Little Step" from Bobby Brown playing in your head and then worse - you think to yourself: damn it, I want to play that on the radio.

Ideas Dr. Shannon?

I do agree, when I was a program director and Rich Hawkins called me I forget how many people I knocked over in the hallway to get to my phone. I wished I had a recorder! Here was the guy who worked for Hot Hits 98 and was now taking on the mighty B-94 in Pittsburgh and was on the phone and wanted to talk to me! Better yet - he offered me a job and I will always cherish the time I spent in Pittsburgh working for him.

It was different though - Rich, the engineer and myself would meet at 2am every couple of months and fine tune the audio processing and I would always send airchecks down for him to review not just me, but the entire station. We were and still are big radio geeks, we love it - it's our art.

Recently I got to share some of the audio processing exchanges with the engineer at Y-102 and that was exciting to me, but other than that I always felt out of place. I made up my mind at 7 that I wanted to be in radio and it was my life. I loved this freaking business and while it was not my full time job (I had to support my family somehow), I still had a very, very strong passion for it.

The biggest frustration for me? I am full of ideas and while I don't have the word consultant in front of my name - I do have 22 years in radio, a knowledge of the business and a genuine passion for delivering a top notch product.

Why did I leave then? As you pointed out Dr. Shannon, no one was listening. I would spend hours a week listening to the station, come up with ways to improve it and no one wanted to listen. I would seek out new trends and get excited about how we (as a radio station) could use those tools to reach our audience even better. FOOTNOTE: I suggested Y-102 start podcasting in December, 2004 and again, no one wanted to listen to me.

I am not saying I know it all, I don't and this is journey, not a destination, but there is nothing more frustrating than being so damn passionate about something only to have no one listen when all you ever do is have the best interests of the station at heart, the listeners and overall, the business.

Sorry for the rant, I feel better now, Dr. Shannon. For everyone else, I broke my silence and now you know the rest of the story. Love to all.

-Scott

 

[radiomayor2]

As you well know WRFY was a cash machine and that's why CC paid so much for it from the franco's.....

if FRANK come anywhere near hurting the cash flow.....your former business manager will have all the corp eyes on him....

they will be reactive sted proactive........

that's the problem with worrying about what wall street thinks first and worrying about product second.........

if it were the reverse...you wouldn't have to be worried about wall street.






> I certainly don't want to sound presumptious here but I came
> accross a billboard for the new Frank 107.5 in Berks County
> and listened to both it and Y-102 today side by side quite a
> bit.
>
> I should mention that I have called the GM at Y-102 (my
> former business manager) and the area VP and have received
> NO return phone call. Do I feel disrespected? No. That's
> radio today.
>
> I should also say that I called and left messages to
> Nassau's big wigs who are putting 107.5 together and have
> also received NO return phone call. Disrespect? No! Not
> doing your best homework? Perhaps.
>
> I don't know about any of you but if I were putting together
> a CHR in Philly back in the 80's I certainly would have
> returned Jay Cook's phone call if not to hire him, just to
> pick his brain about the market and the competition.
> Actually I would have probably sought him out without him
> calling. (For those of you who are too young, Jay Cook was
> resposible for putting WFIL on the air during the 60's and
> 70's and putting WIBG out of business.) (Also for any of you
> who don't know, I was responsible for putting Y-102 on the
> air and putting WYCL out of business when they challenged us
> in the late 80's, early 90's) We're talking about a return
> phone call. But everyone in radio thinks they are the
> (BLEEP) and so it goes....mediocrity at it's best.
>
> Anyway...It doesn't sound to me that Y-102 has done anything
> defensively. It also doesn't sound to me that Frank (in it's
> present form) will be anything great. Having said that any
> station that goes head to head with a dominant station like
> Y-102 can expect to garner at least 25% of it's revenues by
> default. In Y-102's case that could mean 2 million for
> Nassau and a significant hit for Clear Channel.
>
> Sometimes you do well by default. Most times you should
> maximize your efforts by doing all you can to do all that
> you can.
>

 

[Mike_Shannon]

> As you well know WRFY was a cash machine and that's why CC
> paid so much for it from the franco's.....
>
I get your drift but to set the record straight...

US Radio bought WRFY from Doc Franco in 1989 for $18.5 million. CC didn't get it until May 1996 when they bought US Radio's 18 stations in Reading, Memphis, Little Rock, Milwaukee, Norfolk, Raliegh and El Paso.

"cash machine" is a relative term and it doesn't come without work. Cash flow in 1999 was 3 times what it was in 1989. But you are correct in that the team in place during the 90's created a cash machine. I am still proud to have worked with them.

 

[Mike_Shannon]

Scott,

Hope all is well!!!

Doctor Shannon? Thanks for the promotion.

Mike

 

[scottstjohn]

> "cash machine" is a relative term and it doesn't come
> without work. Cash flow in 1999 was 3 times what it was in
> 1989. But you are correct in that the team in place during
> the 90's created a cash machine. I am still proud to have
> worked with them.

Me too

 

[radiomayor2]

DAMN....forgot about US Radio..........

i still go back to the days when it was beautiful music and Marty Miller used to broadcast from the West Reading Motor Inn.....

ahhh those were the days................

> > As you well know WRFY was a cash machine and that's why CC
>
> > paid so much for it from the franco's.....
> >
> I get your drift but to set the record straight...
>
> US Radio bought WRFY from Doc Franco in 1989 for $18.5
> million. CC didn't get it until May 1996 when they bought
> US Radio's 18 stations in Reading, Memphis, Little Rock,
> Milwaukee, Norfolk, Raliegh and El Paso.
>
> "cash machine" is a relative term and it doesn't come
> without work. Cash flow in 1999 was 3 times what it was in
> 1989. But you are correct in that the team in place during
> the 90's created a cash machine. I am still proud to have
> worked with them.
>
>
>