RDN Guest Commentary
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WCBS-FM
Returns: A Positive Step for Radio On July 7 1972, WCBS-FM New
York began playing rock 'n' roll oldies 24 hours a day. The format would
continue on the station for 33 years. Larry Stoler November 20, 2006 Will Radio Ever Get It Right? By Larry Stoler Radio, a medium which offered a variety of different formats which millions of people listened to for many years, is now facing challenges from many different places. Satellite radio, the Internet, iPods, etc. How has the broadcast industry reacted to the different choices that listeners now have to obtain music and information?
During the past year, a
campaign to make the audience appreciate how radio has enhanced the
careers of many musicians and performers was heard on many stations.
Spots were aired to promote radio and were played throughout the
country however the audience did not notice or discuss them.
A few years ago, XM and
Sirius, the two satellite services, entered the radio landscape. Both
promised hundreds of channels with commercial free music including
different styles and formats that were no longer available on regular
over the air radio. Different choices for news, talk and sports were
also made available to anyone who subscribed to either of the two
services.
XM was first to launch which
gave them a head start on promotion to the audience. Sirius came later.
As time went on, the
satellite companies began to hire well known voices to host different
channels. Howard Stern left commercial radio and transferred his
program to Sirius where he oversees two channels.
Opie and Anthony who had
been fired by Infinity Broadcasting in 2,002 for the Sex in St.
Patrick's Cathedral incident were hired by XM and this year returned to
the air in a deal they arranged with CBS Radio. They do a three hour
show on both CBS and XM and then they are heard for a couple of more
hours exclusively on satellite radio. The CBS/XM simulcast is heard
during morning drive in most markets and is delayed till later in the
day in a couple of places.
Sirius gave Martha Stewart
her own channel. XM began a 11 year agreement to broadcast major league
baseball games from all over the country. These are just a few examples
of what has happened to satellite radio over the years.
At first, the industry chose
to ignore satellite radio's existence however recently they felt they
had to react so HD radio entered the race to get more listeners.
HD Radio, developed by
Ibiquity Digital Corporation, is a service that promises the listeners
FM sound quality on AM and CD quality on FM. It does not require the
public to pay any subscription fees or any other costs after purchasing
the proper receiver and any associated hardware.
The company has assured the
major radio group owners that they will provide many different kinds of
music plus in depth talk shows and interviews.
The AM band offers only one
channel for digital audio while on FM, their are more choices which lead
to more program diversity.
At this point, very few
radios are on the market that handle this technology and according to
people I have spoken to, they do not have the sensitivity required for
the average person to comfortably listen to what they enjoy.
I have listened to some of
the HD channels and I feel they are not to different from what is on
analog radio. Although formats that have disappeared from the air are
on HD, most of the stations do not have any announcers. This is also
the case with satellite radio.
When the HD Alliance was
formed to promote this technology, they said that HD would be commercial
free for approximately 18 months. Most stations are at this point
however this will change and when it does, it will be probably
voicetracked from different locations as so much of regular radio is
today.
Their is no guarantee that
new talent will result on HD radio as more receivers become available
and stations start airing commercials and if new broadcasters are heard,
they will probably sound the same as what is already available all over
the country.
Another point is that with
the number of channels available on HD radio, information such as
traffic and weather and song titles can be available on a digital
screen. This will result in more people losing their jobs in the
broadcast business.
Stations will feel they don't have to pay disc jockeys because what they do is being displayed on HD. This would be a loss in an industry that does not have any security as it is.
I also find it ironic that
the same people that took oldies off the air in New York and Chicago are
playing the music on their HD channels. They removed oldies last year
because they felt the audience was getting too old and they could
not properly sell the format. They wanted to reach the "25/54 or the
"big money" demographic. This led to many other stations taking this
music off the air.
What makes the people in
decision making positions in broadcasting think that they will be able
to successfully promote HD or any other technology? The public does not
understand what HD is as pointed out in a recent survey. They think
they are getting better sound quality from the station they are already
listening to with the radio they have owned for years. This is poor
promotion by the HD Alliance and the many groups that have backed this
development.
I think HD was not well
planned from a promotion, marketing and programming standpoint. The
people that believe so strongly in this are talking out of both sides of
their mouths and they have ignored Internet Radio which is growing at a
faster rate than both satellite and HD combined.
Approximately 19 million
people a week listen online. They do not need to purchase an additional
receiver or have to subscribe to the majority of stations that are
available. Online radio offers many choices and unlike the examples I
mentioned earlier, the Internet is interactive.
Over the next few years, as
the technology continues to progress forward, people will be able to
walk around and listen to their favorite streams or download the music
they like from anywhere. This is already beginning.
The best example for
downloading music is the iPod. The iPod allows anyone to store up to
10,000 songs. This gives anyone the right to listen to what they want
anytime without any commercials.
iPods have grown in
popularity very quickly and this is not expected to stop.
While major companies
continue to waste time, money and energy on worrying and reacting to the
new technology, the answer, I feel, is right in front of them. Improve
the quality of what is on AM and FM.
Work on making your station
stand out. Make the audience feel excited about what they are hearing.
Make people feel they will be missing something if they turn the radio
off.
Work on encouraging and
hiring new talent that know how to talk to people and not at them. Cut
back on voicetracking and syndicated shows. The listeners notice that
something is different and they are leaving their radios off.
The one thing that radio has
over all this technology is that it can bring local product to the
audience. Stations must get back to truly serving the area they are
licensed to.
Radio is not dead, however
if it does not change for the better soon, it could be just a memory for
many in a few years.
It has been stated that it
will take three years for HD to catch on and a long time before both
Sirius and XM break even. Radio cannot afford to wait.
The 25 year old and younger
demographic is going elsewhere to hear what they want. Unless radio
improves, getting them to return will be a lost cause.
As I have said in the past,
the audience and the industry deserve better than what passes for good
radio. Improve radio now and quit putting so much concentration on HD
and other innovations which will fade into oblivion in the future.
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June 13, 2006 Who is Radio Really Serving? by Larry Stoler
A few years ago I was
working at an oldies station. One day I approached the program director
with a couple of suggestions. One involved a syndicated show that I
thought would fit the overall sound of the station. The other was how I
felt the presentation could sound more energetic than it did.
The program director
listened to my ideas and said that he felt they made sense but if they
were implemented what would the agencies think!
This is the belief in
today's radio. It used to be that a station would do anything to
attract the most listeners. Now the ultimate objective is to impress
Madison Avenue or the ad agencies in various radio markets.
The priorities began to
change and stations got away from obtaining the most listeners after the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 became reality. As a few companies
bought most of the radio properties in America, everything began to
sound generic all over the country.
Companies relocated as many
stations as possible to one building. The prices and value of radio
stations increased. Stations were bought and sold for amazing amounts
of money.
As this trend continued,
what the listeners would listen to became less and less a consideration
in making programming decisions. The most obvious example of this took
place on June 3, 2005 when Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio),
dropped the oldies format on WCBS FM in New York and WJMK in Chicago.
The disc jockeys many of whom were legends were let go an hour before
the change to a concept called Jack. This involves playing a lot of
music with no announcers or promotions or contests.
WCBS FM was reported to be
making over $30 million while broadcasting oldies 24 hours a day. WJMK
was also making a good profit for the company.
On several occasions since
June of last year, the CEO of CBS Radio admitted that they
stopped playing oldies because they wanted a younger audience and
despite the loyalty of the listeners, they believed that people over 50
do not buy products based on commercials.
I think after this change
occurred, many groups decided that they must also take oldies off the
air in different parts of the country where they own radio stations.
After all because it happened in two large cities then obviously oldies
is a dead concept, right! I don't think so.
Many people in ad agencies
are in their 20s and 30s and they have never been inside a radio
station. They don't listen to the formats they are supposed to
represent. They just quote charts and graphs when talking to potential
clients.
Anyone can use statistics to
support a particular point of view. The so called experts believe that
the 50+ demographic stops making purchases after a certain age. Nothing
could be further from the truth.
While it is true that the
older audience may decide what to buy in a different way than the 20+
age group, the 50 and older listeners will do anything to support
their favorite radio station. They will buy expensive cars, houses, do
a lot of traveling, etc. They do not stop living or spending money
after 50.
As Scott Shannon who put
Z-100 in New York on the air in 1983 and now programs WPLJ also in New
York said "I would rather have older listeners than none at all."
The
question of how to grab the right demographic always comes up regarding
this subject. Stations today are out to score with the 25/54 or the
"big money demo."
While attempting to
successfully get this group to listen, the very demo they want is going
to places other than traditional over the air radio to obtain music and
information. The number of sources available for this purpose is
increasing every day.
As this trend continues, the
diversity that made radio stand out in the past is disappearing. Many
different kinds of music are not being heard and different groups of
listeners are not being served on commercial radio.
Now more than ever,
radio has to return to live-local programming around the clock.
Exciting promotions also must become part of the broadcast day.
Sales departments at radio
stations have to work harder to convince businesses that people of all
ages will listen and buy their products.
The ad agencies must
change their marketing strategy and approach for radio. If they do this
along with the broadcast community better programming will result on the
AM and FM dial. It can be done.
Larry Stoler
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Can Talk Radio Appeal to a Younger Audience? By Larry Stoler CBS Radio (formally Infinity Broadcasting), has launched a format called Free FM on several of the companies radio stations. The concept of the format is talk programming designed to reach a younger audience than traditional talk stations attract.
Free FM is also the reaction
by CBS to Howard Stern's move from traditional over the air radio to
Sirius Satellite Radio. He announced his intensions in October, 2,004.
Howard told his listeners
that he would transfer his show to Sirius because he felt he could not
give the audience what he was known for due to intervention from the FCC
which made it impossible for Infinity Broadcasting to purchase more
radio stations. He also had his program dropped on several Clear
Channel stations. On Satellite Radio, he would have the freedom to say
whatever he wanted without any interference from the government or any
other sources. People would pay $12.95 a month to hear two channels
that he would be in charge of programming.
During the years that Howard
Stern was heard over the air around the country, it was a known fact
that many of the stations that offered his program did not do well
during the rest of the broadcast day according to the Arbitron ratings.
At the same time, young people were moving from FM radio to other
sources to get whatever kind of music they wanted to hear. On both XM
and Sirius the two satellite companies the music channels do not contain
any commercials.
During the past year, the
competition for ways to obtain music and information increased and
people became aware of what was available. Internet radio grew to 19
million listeners a week. IPods started becoming more available in the
market place. An iPod allows anyone to download thousands of songs. In
addition other alternatives for more diverse programming became publicly
available.
While many talk shows lean
towards politics or try to convince the audience that on every issue one
side is right and the other is wrong, Free FM does the opposite. The
topics are not necessarily controversial in nature and the assumption is
made that outside of discussions about sex or gossip about who slept
with who or making disagreements with the various hosts that do these
shows public that young people are not interested in anything else.
The tone of Free FM is
negative in nature. This is especially noticeable when a famous person
goes through a bad time in their life.
An example of this took
place on the air after Dick Clark appeared on ABC during New Years
Rocking Eve. He had suffered a stroke and this was his first public
appearance since then. His speech was a little hard to understand but
he made it his business to appear at the event which indicated that
things were improving for him.
On Free FM, his appearance
was made fun of by playing different examples of how he sounded
and critiquing them. This was not funny or entertaining and it went on
to long.
Most of the shows are run
by a host and several other voices. Usually they are in the background
making comments or we are treated to forced laughter as if we need to be
told what is humorous. Also we don't know who the other people are
because usually they are not introduced.
Why are so many people
required to do a talk show on Free FM? Is it because the consultants or
people who came up with this idea felt this was the only way young
oriented talk could be done? Is it because the hosts can not carry a
show on their own or both?
The goal of bringing a
younger audience to talk radio is not a new initiative in the broadcast
industry. In the 1970s, Alex Bennett who now does a show on Sirius, had
a program which was for young people on WMCA and later on WPLJ in New
York. It was very creative, humorous and it did not talk down to the
audience. Bennett would interview everyone from rock stars to political
people and he would take serious as well as fun calls on the air from
his listeners. The show was successful and lasted for many years on the
New York airwaves.
Alan Colmes, co-host of the
Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes and also does a nightly syndicated
show on Fox News Radio, had a show that was for young people in the late
70s on WPIX FM in New York (now WQCD.) He did the same thing in the 80s
on WNBC and later on WMCA.
Mark Simone who is now a
political talk show host on WABC in New York, hosted the Simone Phone on
Sunday mornings in the late 70s on WPIX FM. Others have been successful
at reaching this demographic.
The thing that all the above
mentioned shows had in common was that they did not insult the
intelligence of the audience. This is a concept which has been
forgotten or is purposely being ignored at Free FM.
The lack of professionalism
is obvious in this new attempt at hot talk. The programs lack
direction. They tend to go all over the place and the bits run on and
on.
At best, Free FM sounds like
a college station that was taken over by a bunch of people that did not
know what to do with it. If this is what the people that planned this
format had in mind as far as the overall sound is concerned, then I'm
afraid they have achieved their goal.
This current version of talk
radio for a younger audience was the best kept secret in radio. It was
known for months that in 2,006, this would be heard in many markets.
Unlike Jack where the
announcers were given an hours notice that they were being let go on two
oldies stations in June of last year, the preparation for Free FM in
theory went on for months. You would not assume this to be the case
after listening to the way it is being done on the air.
I realize it takes a long
time to acquire a loyal audience for talk radio and I know developing
the rhythm and pace that will work for a show requires a lot of work and
patience but if Free FM continues to sound the way it does now will it
still exist in 2,007?
The way this type of radio
is being done needs a lot of work. Hear are a few suggestions:
#1 Put less people on the
air during a show. As is the case with morning shows on music stations,
to many voices are being heard. This is confusing and gets in the way
of providing a good show for the listeners.
#2 If a bit or a topic is
not working, move on to something else. If you feel the subject you are
pursuing is failing then drop it.
#3 Don't purposely go for
callers that sound negative or angry about everything. I am not saying
they should not be heard. It's just that the objective should lean
toward a more positive look at life.
#4 Don't limit the topics
that are covered every day. Young people are aware of more than are
given credit on these shows.
You can discuss politics in
an interesting-creative way and the audience will not tune out. Also
when done right, you can get guests to talk about anything from the
usual to the unusual.
#5 Whether you get along
with the other people on the station or what goes on behind the scenes
does not matter to the people listening. If you have difficulties with
the people you work with handle them off the air.
This "reality radio" which
also exists on music stations with morning teams, has gotten out of
hand. Obviously this approach has made its way into talk too.
People have enough to deal
with on a day to day basis. Radio should be an escape from the normal
routine. This is what made it so great in the past and it can be done
again.
I believe that young people
can be successfully drawn to talk radio however the way to accomplish
this is to make the station fun to listen to as opposed to an annoyance
which is the way this kind of programming currently sounds.
Larry Stoler
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They Rallied for Oldies By Larry Stoler On June 21, 2,005, 150 people gathered at the headquarters of Infinity Broadcasting 1515 Broadway in New York City. The purpose of the lunchtime rally was to let the company know how they felt about the change from oldies to the Jack format that took place on June 3rd on WCBS FM.
WCBS FM had been presenting
oldies 24 hours a day since July 7, 1972. During its 33 year existence,
the station managed to achieve very high ratings and along with that
some of the best broadcasters in America worked there. Some of the more
well known names were Harry Harrison the morning mayor, Big Dan Ingram
and Cousin Bruce Morrow (aka Cousin Brucie. Others that were also there
for many years and contributed to the station's success were Bill Brown,
Bob Shannon, Don K Reed and Bobby Jay.
The participants were very
upset about the way the parent company had handled the change. The disc
jockeys were not told that this would go into effect until about an hour
before oldies would disappear on 101.1 FM. They were not given the
chance to say goodbye to the millions of people who considered the
personalities more than just a bunch of voices coming out of an FM
radio. They had developed a close bond with the people that graced the
microphone at
the station. This does not
happen in today's radio.
An example of the listeners
identifying with the announcers took place earlier that day. Mickey
Dolenz, the lead singer of the rock group The Monkeys, had been the
morning man since January 10, 2,005. He was celebrating his one
hundredth show earlier that day with a live broadcast from a club in the
city. No one knew that six hours after his show ended, he along with
the rest of the jocks would be informed that they and the music the
station had become famous for were being terminated.
Radio has always been a
business where job security does not exist. Stations change owners and
direction constantly. Usually when these changes occur, they are not
noticed or commented about.
One of the few times where
disc jockeys were allowed to go on the air and thank the audience was in
1982. Music Radio 77 WABC was about to become a talk station and Dan
Ingram along with Ron Lundy did a three hour program just before the
change where they talked about and played examples of the station's 21+
year run doing the top 40 format
In 1996, WYNY in New
York ended its country programming. The announcers had a weekend to
talk to the listeners before the only country station in the market
became history.
The situation at WCBS FM was
different and should have been given a proper sendoff before the new
Jack sound would enter everybody's radios.
Another matter that bothered
the people at the rally was how they felt they had been told to go away
and that the oldies audience did not matter to the decision makers at
Infinity. This has been denied by the company.
It should be mentioned at
this point that Jack is a concept that was developed several years ago
and was first marketed in Canada where it has achieved much success and
notice by the radio industry in America. Jack has become the industry's
reaction to the growing trend of people subscribing to the two satellite
companies XM and Sirius. People are now paying monthly for a wider
selection of music than they have gotten for years on over the air radio
and all of the music comes without any commercials.
Jack is also responding to
the ever increasing number of iPods that are in use. An iPod gives you
the opportunity to in a sense program your own radio station by
downloading whatever music you enjoy listening to. IPods are being seen
on airplanes, trains and in subways.
Jack's play list is about
1,200 songs as opposed to the usual 300 hits that get continuously
played in rotation on most oldies stations in America. The diversity of
what is heard is broader than what has been the rule on the air for many
years.
The rally was attended by
people of different ages and backgrounds. Several personalities and
formats were represented.
Jim Kerr who does mornings
on q1043 WAXQ Clear Channel's classic rock station in New York stopped
by on his way home to meet the participants and promote his program.
Opie and Anthony now on XM,
also made an appearance. Their show was canceled in 2,002 after they
broadcast a couple having sex at a church in New York City. At the
time, they were employed by Infinity which had been doing a talk format
for a younger audience on WNEW another property they own in the market.
The talk programming would end five months after they were let go.
WQCD the Emmis Broadcasting
Smooth Jazz station in New York was represented with people handing out
tea shirts and bumper stickers which they hoped would urge the ralliers
to tune in and listen to what they had to offer.
WKHL a Connecticut based
oldies station was also seen at the event. They are located in Stamford
which is approximately 40 miles from New York. They play music mainly
from the 60s and 70s. This was the direction Infinity took WCBS FM
during its final two years. This resulted in a limited play list. A
fact which also made many unhappy with the overall content of the
programming.
WMTR,
an AM station in New Jersey which plays oldies from the 50s and 60s,
brought a sound system to the rally. Unfortunately music was not
allowed at the site.
Sirius Satellite Radio was
there to make people aware that Cousin Brucie would soon be starting
three shows a week. Two of them would accent the music and the other
would be a talk show. He had signed a five year contract with the
satcaster. Brucie and Norm N Nite, another deejay who was a well known
voice on the station are the only two that are employed at this point.
Norm is on Sirius six days a week. Many of his shows are aired from the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio.
Barbara Harris, lead singer
of the group The Toys also stopped by. The group's best known song is A
Lover's Concerto which was a hit in 1965. That song is played on most
oldies stations including WCBS FM when it did the format.
It is believed that Infinity
Chairman/CEO Joel Hollander was seen walking through the rally. Mr.
Hollander in a recent article in the Chicago Sun Times admitted that he
made the decision to drop oldies on both WCBS FM and WJMK over Memorial
Day weekend. A select few in upper management were informed that this
would happen a few days before the actual event took place. As was the
case in New York, the announcers in Chicago did not know this was going
to happen till an hour before Jack arrived on the FM dial.
The overall turnout and
significance of the rally has been downplayed by many. A few things need
to be mentioned.
First of all, this gathering
was put together in about a week. it was all done online through the
New York Radio Message Board and on a website where people signed
petitions to bring oldies and WCBS FM back to the air.
The amount of opposition to
a format change including the rally has been the most I have seen in
over 48 years of keeping up with the radio business.
The anger about what
happened became so intense that the CEO of Infinity Broadcasting
appeared recently on CNBC where he was interviewed by Ted David. This
in my view was an attempt by the company to do damage control but the
results were very poor.
Currently no radio station
in the New York market plays the greatest hits of all time on a
continuous basis. Some stations have added more oldies to their play
lists but that does not substitute the loss people still feel. They
miss the personalities and the way they talked to them which resulted in
a unique and very successful approach for the presentation of oldies.
It could be argued that if
the organizers had more time to plan and if the word had gotten out to
more people that the turnout would have been higher but considering the
circumstances everyone involved in planning and executing the rally can
be very proud of what they accomplished.
I feel this course of action
was noticed by Infinity Broadcasting. Whether this results in the
oldies format returning to 101.1 in New York or 104.3 FM in Chicago
remains to be seen.
The ratings have not come
out yet and the first book will not help determine the success or lack
of concerning Jack. It will take a number of months before those in
power can decide if what they did was right or not from a business
standpoint.
Chances are that
whatever happens Infinity will not return oldies to the air in either
city although in radio anything can happen.
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Did Oldies Have to End in New York and Chicago? By Larry Stoler On Friday, June 3, 2005, the oldies format ended on WCBS FM in New York and WJMK in Chicago. WCBS FM had been programming oldies 24 hours a day since 1972. WJMK offered oldies to the Chicago market beginning in 1984.
Many well known
personalities worked on both stations. When you tuned into WCBS FM,
you could hear Cousin Brucie who first became well known when he
worked at WABC when it was a music station.
Harry Harrison who
originally began his successful career in Peoria, Illinois was heard
mornings from 1980 till 2,003 when he left the station. He returned
to do Saturday mornings in October of last year.
Some of the other
broadcasters who became friends to the New York audience were Bill
Brown, Bobby Jay, Bob Shannon and Don K Reed among many others who
graced the microphone at 101.1.
On WJMK, two great
Chicago radio legends were heard. Dick Biondi who is
well remembered from his days at WLS and WCFL. Fred Winston who was
also heard on WLS. Greg Brown and Paul Perry were also part of the
air staff in addition to many others throughout the station's 21
year history.
Although both stations
made adjustments in the playlist and delivery of the presentation,
they were both doing well in the Arbitron ratings and saw
appreciable revenue as a result.
The announcers were not
informed that a change would be made and their services would no
longer be needed until an hour before the music and direction
changed. They were not given a chance to say goodbye to the audience
that had supported them for many years.
What was heard instead
of oldies is a concept called Jack. Jack began about three years
ago in Canada. It consists of a playlist of 1,200 songs which
covers the last 4 decades.
Jack has become the
radio industry's response to the growing trend of listeners
subscribing to XM and Sirius the two satellite radio companies and
buying iPods. An iPod allows you to download thousands of songs and
in a sense put your own playlist together.
In between songs, a
voice is heard saying things like "This is Jack FM. Playing what we
want. Another statement by the voice of Jack said "don't tell us
what to play. We determine the boundaries."
This is a very different
approach and direction for both stations. No deejays and no news,
traffic and weather reports are broadcast. This is a juke box with
commercials.
If I was a casual
listener, I would be insulted by the statements being made between
songs. It's as if to say at Jack FM we don't care about you. You
don't matter to us. If that is the case then why bother listening?
What made oldies work
in New York and Chicago was not just the music. It was
personalities that talked to the listeners and not at them. This is
an art that for the most part has disappeared on the radio in
America.
The argument has been
made that oldies as a concept can not be sold to the 25 to 54
demographic. This is the age range that ad agencies and potential
advertisers believe respond most often to commercials and as a
result buy the products being advertised.
This way of thinking is
being pushed in many cases by people that are below the desired age
group. They work in these agencies and think they are experts at
media buying when they don't have a clue about how to work with a
devoted audience that cares about what comes out of their radio.
One thing these "know it
alls" should be reminded is that the population of the United States
is getting older and they have disposable income. They make and
spend money and buy many products that they hear about on the radio.
In an attempt to get
to the 25/54 demographic, oldies stations around the country started
taking a current approach to the format. In other words they would
play music mostly from the 60s and 70s and put a typical morning
show on the air with a team that would talk about reality
TV programs or do ridiculous gimmicks.
It never made sense to
me when stations went in this direction. The audience that listened
didn't care about what was on TV currently. They wanted to go back
to a time when the songs they were listening to first became hits.
They also didn't want to be talked down to on the air. They wanted
information and a positive approach in the morning which is what
they grew up with on top 40 radio.
The music became very
repetitious. The playlist was limited which caused many to tune
out.
Oldies is not like other
types of radio. A station that offers this music should spotlight
the history of rock and roll. About 3,000 songs should be played in
rotation. Much of the music can be found by looking at the top 100
of each year from the 1950s on.
Another thing that
happened was the contests and promotions became very bland. Instead
of using the phones and station websites and doing live remotes,
radio stations started giving away movie tickets if you were the
correct number caller. Anyone can do that.
Over the past couple of
years, stations began to drop the term "oldies." They felt the use
of this term was causing people to leave because oldies meant old.
If you talk to the
average person about music from the past 30 to 50 years, you will
notice that it is still called oldies. I don't know anyone that
becomes offended by that term. Do you? I doubt it.
This is a time when
radio needs to stand out. Oldies by its nature presents the perfect
opportunity for this to take place.
The idea is to make the
listeners feel that if they turn off the radio, they will be missing
something. This does not mean "shock jocks" or relevant morning
shows.
What is still needed at
oldies stations are exciting personalities along with a live up
tempo approach that is oriented to the community being served 24
hours a day.
The audience that was
served in New York and Chicago have created a strong backlash to the
recent change to Jack. Many are keeping lists of advertisers that
are heard on the air. They are contacting various businesses urging
them not to support a station that would fire many legendary deejays
and not inform the audience that a change was about to take place.
The things people object
to are first that the music is not available on their favorite radio
station, second that they were not allowed to thank the announcers
that became their friends for a long time, and Infinity's
arrogant, unfeeling, and cavalier approach to their listeners.
Many of the songs from
the 60s and 70s are now being streamed on
www.wcbsfm.com
and
www.wjmk.com.
This is an attempt to quiet the people that disagree with what has
happened.
Many people that
listened to both stations are not on the Internet. Also this does
not substitute the identity that the audience had with the voices
they heard on the air every day.
In Chicago, WRLL 1690 AM
offers the Real Oldies format. This brings music from the 50s till
1964 to the audience. Unfortunately anything after that is pretty
much ignored.
In New York, nobody is
playing the hits of the 50s, 60s, or 70s on a consistent basis.
I feel that the oldies
format has many years to go and this decision was made in a very
hasty way.
I hope that if
an alternative is not found that oldies will return to both WCBS FM
and WJMK and that the personalities.
Larry Stoler What
Radio Really Needs Over the past several months, many articles have been written and surveys have been done regarding the state of radio in America. This concern has come up throughout radio's history except this time, the competition comes from different sources.
In the 1950's, the future of
radio was in doubt as television became a part of the American culture.
Network radio's future was threatened as the habits of the audience
began to change.
In 1955, Monitor began on
NBC radio. It was a weekend program which consisted of music and
special features, reports and commentaries on a variety of subjects. It
was created by then NBC President Sylvester L. "Pat" Weaver who also
invented the Today and the Tonight show. Monitor was an immediate
success. It ran for 20 years and to this day is credited as saving
the radio network.
Radio has had other threats
to its existence over the years. As inventions such as the Walkman
entered our lives, many questioned whether traditional over the air
broadcasting would survive and guess what, it did.
Today satellite radio has
entered the landscape. Two companies, (XM and Sirius,) offer
subscribers many channels full of all kinds of music much of which has
been ignored by commercial and even non commercial radio in America.
Both satellite services have
also begun to hire well known names such as Howard Stern and Opie and
Anthony. XM has an 11 year agreement to broadcast major league
baseball. Sirius has the NFL and their is more to come for both
companies as the competition increases.
As a result of brilliant
marketing through commercial free music channels and making people
believe they are getting more diversity many are willing to pay monthly
for something they got for free for years as long as they supported the
station they listened to and the advertisers that were on the air.
Internet radio is listened
to by more people than ever before. Despite the Recording Industry
Association of America's successful attempt to demand that radio
stations pay massive amounts of money for making their programming
available online, the choices via the net increase and as such are
available to a wider audience all over the world.
The examples I mentioned are
only a few of the ever increasing sources people have for obtaining
music and information at a faster rate every day.
How is the industry
reacting? In my opinion, much time is being wasted by creating formats
with ridiculous names such as Jack, Bob, Frank, Dave, and now Ben. They
all say they are "playing what _we want." Who is the we they keep
referring to? Does the we mean only people that were contacted by a
research firm or is it an example of imaging being done for the wrong
reasons?
It's okay to offer a wide
variety of music but if you don't know the artists and titles, what does
it matter.
The formats are not being
promoted with good sounding jocks or live remotes or audience
involvement by phone or station websites. Instead you hear things like
don't call the request line. We don't have one. You're just a
listener. How is that going to help what you are after when building an
audience. This approach is telling the listener that they are not worth
anything and their opinion doesn't matter.
Another thing is that many
stations tell you what they are not instead of what they are. Remember
the days of no rock, no rap and no sleepy elevator music? That is what
the station doesn't want to be. Now what is the station in question all
about? What kind of music is emphasized every day? What will the
audience hear when they tune in? I don't know.
Recently the industry
launched a $28 million campaign to tell people through messages from
many performers that they got their start and became famous as a result
of radio. I think to the average person when they hear this they will
think so what or who cares. it doesn't make people excited about this
great medium.
So much of what is available
on the AM and FM dial is "reality oriented." This is done through
morning shows where they talk about reality TV or what the team has to
do when they get off the air or gossip about who slept with who.
One of the things that got
so many of us interested in radio were the announcers that made it
larger than life and they were positive on the air. Much of what is
permitted or accepted as the norm on the air would not have even been
considered years ago.
When I turn on the radio I
don't care about the problems someone in a morning team is having. One
day I heard a couple of people talk about how they had to go home and
moe the lawn. How does knowing that fact affect my life or anyone
else's? It really doesn't. It's just another example of reality radio.
The demographic argument has
become extremely nitched. This became apparent to me recently while
reading an interview with the program director of a station in New
Jersey who decided to change the focus of a weekly oldies show. The
show had been 70's based with a countdown from a specific year each
week.
The decision was made to
drop the concentration on the 70's and play requests from the 60's
through the 80's.
In the article, it was
stated that the core audience the station was after was 35 to 45
years. What's next? Maybe a format for people aged 25 to 26 that would
be for adult women who sit on the right side of the front seat of the
car.
The point is this. What
happened to going after everybody? The purpose is to get the most
people possible to listen to a station so more advertisers will buy time
and the ad rates can increase.
I have also noticed a
concentration on the 9 AM to 5 PM office audience. What happened to the
rest of the broadcast day? I thought the belief was you were not
supposed to pay attention to the radio when you are at work. I guess
instead you have it on in the background just enough so you will be able
to write down information about what you listened to in an Arbitron
diary.
I attended a conference on
what it takes to get music played on the air. One of the participants
mentioned a station that does a "specialty show" on Sunday nights where
rarely heard bands are featured.
One of the panelists said
that it didn't matter on Sunday nights because people are watching
television. It used to be that the industry cared about good content 24
hours a day. Now after seven o'clock the assumption is that everyone is
on the Internet or watching TV or exploring other sources for
entertainment. This is wrong.
Stations might as well sign
off at night based on that logic.
Those are just a few of the
decisions and perceptions that have contributed to the way radio sounds
today and why listeners are going to alternatives as mentioned earlier.
This is what I think needs
to be done in order for things to change and ultimately make radio worth
listening to again.
(1) Although music selection
and the number of songs played is important remember it's what goes on
between the songs that also matters. Make the station sound exciting
around the clock. Stop the practice of voice-tracking from a different
location. This does not make a station sound like it cares about the
area it is supposed to serve.
Radio's biggest advantage
and potential draw when done right is that it can be live and local.
This concept needs to return to the air right away.
(2) Radio should be looked
at as an escape from what the average person has to deal with every
day. Make the morning shows sound positive and market them that way.
Get away from inside jokes, discussions about reality TV shows, etc.
Cut back on the reality approach and make it fun to tune in.
(3) Promote the station
constantly through audience involvement on the phone, through the
website, at live remotes and other appearances.
(4) Stop the $28
million campaign I mentioned earlier. In the end, it won't matter and
people will forget about it.
(5) Pay attention to the
entire broadcast day. Make a station sound as exciting at 10 PM as it
would if the audience tuned in at 7 AM. Do everything necessary to get
people to leave the radio on at night. It is just as important as
during the day.
(6) Drop the Jack, Bob, Ben
and other names that don't mean a thing. Use call letters and tell
people what the station is all about.
What I have suggested takes
a lot of work but the end result will be worth it. The listeners will
talk in a positive way about radio. The ratings will increase, the
sales people will be able to charge more for commercials and a good
bottom line will result.
The idea is not to panic.
Realize and accept the fact that Satellite Radio, the Internet, iPods
and other ways to obtain music and information are hear to stay. They
are not going away.
You can't "fight fire with
fire." Realize radio's strengths and use them.
Radio is not dead but in
order to insure the future growth of it, these suggestions and others
should be considered and ultimately added to the overall sound and
presentation.
Radio in
2,004-An Overview It is the end of the year. A time when we look back at our accomplishments and what we hope to achieve in the up coming 12 months.
Let's look at what has
happened regarding radio during the past year and where the industry
stands at this point.
During the year many of the
patterns and concepts that have existed for a long time on the AM and FM
dial remained the same. In the case of music radio, the morning teams
continued to talk down to the audience all over the country. They also
perfected the art of being able to talk for long periods of time on the
air and say nothing in the process. They kept laughing in a very
forceful way at inside jokes that didn't matter to most people and
talked non stop about reality television shows, who was sleeping with
who, etc.
Most attempts at being funny
went on to long. The phone scams, war of the roses and so forth sounded
staged and dull at best.
The overall purpose of many
morning shows continued to be negative and stupid across America.
The rest of the day on music
stations for the most part was filled with people who read the same
liners over and over and did not bother to have any real contact with
the audience they were supposed to serve.
The direction of some
formats changed in 2,004. This particularly happened at oldies
stations. Many started moving into the 70s musically and dropped
the hits of the 50s. An attempt was made to make the oldies concept
sound more contemporary in approach by bringing in morning teams and the
points I mentioned earlier.
They missed the point of
oldies radio. When listening to rock and roll, people do not think
about what they have to do today. They like to go back to a time when
the songs they are hearing first became hits. That is the approach this
format should take. Making an oldies station sound current does not
work.
Playlists on music stations
remained as restricted and tight as ever. That never seems to change
especially on Adult Contemporary stations.
Voice tracking continued up
and down the dial. This was especially true in the evening after 7
o'clock and during most of the weekend.
Some of the voices heard
originated from other parts of America not even where the station was
located.
Talk radio continued on with
a lack of humor during this year. Whatever your point of view was on
political matters, you could be sure that most hosts would tell you that
one side is always right and the other is wrong. Wouldn't it be
interesting if everything in life worked that way. In reality, it
doesn't and not every issue can be explained or solved in 30 second
sound bites.
I am not saying that
important issues should not be pursued on the air. I do feel that many
national hosts have forgotten how to be entertaining and use humor only
when they want to make fun of a person's point of view or life style.
I miss the days where true
intelligent discussion and all sides of an issue were heard on
commercial talk stations.
People were put on the air
nationally who did not work their way up in the business. In other
words, they were just given the position without any previous radio
experience. This is unfair to many who are trying to get a break in an
industry that never had any job security and certainly does not now.
The pattern of giving
someone with a name a national show without previous experience does not
happen in other fields. For example, in baseball, people that make it
to the majors worked in other cities or in farm clubs before they were
discovered and given an opportunity to play for a good salary in
a bigger part of the country.
Why is it different in radio
where standards that used to exist seem to be disappearing. In the
past, you did everything in a small station and worked your way into
a medium and hopefully a major market. The cluster mentality along with
other factors have taken those opportunities away.
Big companies continued to
purchase as many properties as possible which did away with local
programming during many parts of the day and in many cases for the
entire broadcast week.
I think many of the
decisions this year were made by people who were scared to do anything
different or try something new on the air. In many cases, radio has not
moved foreword since the 80s.
The most significant things
that happened concerning radio this year took place from competition
outside the regular industry. Satellite radio branched out and became
stronger and more viable.
XM and Sirius, the two
satellite companies originally began with the idea of providing more
music and choices than what exists on commercial radio today. This
year, important decisions were made by both companies.
XM Radio hired Opie
and Anthony and gave them their own channel. They were let go by
Infinity Broadcasting over two years ago for the incident in a Catholic
church in New York, City where a couple had sex on the air.
XM made a deal to provide
live broadcasts of major league baseball for 11 years.
Sirius Satellite Radio hired
Howard Stern who will move from Infinity to the company in January 2,006
when his contract ends. They also started broadcasting the NFL and
college games.
The types of music broadened
on both services and they announced that all music channels would be
commercial free.
After leaving
Viacom/Infinity as their Chairman, Mel Karmazin was named the new CEO of
Sirius. This is another significant step in the growth of the company
and this service.
XM has 3.1 million
subscribers while Sirius has surpassed its goal of signing a million by
the end of the year.
It was announced recently
that Internet radio has 19 million people listening to it. This despite
the fact that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
continues to charge licensing fees to radio stations that stream their
product live. Many stations still offer their programming on the net.
I-Pods grew in popularity.
An I-Pod allows you to be able to carry about 10,000 songs on your belt
while you go through your normal daily routine.
This growth received
national publicity a few weeks ago on Sunday morning with Charles Osgood
on CBS television. The first few minutes of the program highlighted
this subject.
Duke University entered into
a marketing agreement where the Freshman class was given free I-Pods.
They could carry an entire library of music with them from that point
on.
More ways to obtain music
and information became part of the normal way of living this year and
yet radio refuses to acknowledge or take these threats to its existence
seriously.
Some have predicted that
radio is dead or will die soon. I don't believe that. Radio still has
a purpose however I do think now more than ever, it is time for the
industry to take a serious look at itself and where it intends to go.
One of radio's strong points
that can not necessarily be achieved to the fullest extent on satellite
radio is localism. In other words, being out and active in the
community. Being at the scene of an important event at a moment's
notice and providing necessary information to the residents of where a
station is licensed to broadcast. The industry has to resume this
practice of being community active.
Radio has to go back to
providing information after 8:30 AM during the week or in the evening
after #7 and on weekends too. Not every area of the country has a 24
hour all news station within hearable range.
Music stations have to
become exciting to listen to again. The bland approach that has taken
over has to end. People have to feel they are part of the station and
they don't want to turn off the radio because they might miss something.
I don't mean so called shock
jocks when I say this. Radio can be positive, fun, creative and funny
when done right. We saw this for years on top 40 stations. This has to
return again.
Playlists have to be
broadened. On Oldies stations for example, play more than the same
tired 300 songs. Don't ignore the hits. Just add more and make the
approach sound up and worth listening to.
Cut back on the number of
morning shows that use or insult people and have to many voices involved
with them on the air. Make the bits shorter if you have to go that way
and do away with forced laughter, inside jokes and the examples I
mentioned earlier.
Their is a significant
audience that does not necessarily want locker room humor when they
first get up in the morning. Give them information and a voice worth
listening to when they turn on the radio.
Shorten the amount of time
commercial breaks run each hour. Do like Bill Drake, the late Rick
Sklar who programmed WABC when it was a music station and others used
to do. Spread the commercials out during the hour. Forget the long
endless interruptions at 10 minutes before the hour. People look at
these long breaks that way. They are commercials but people feel like
the music or whatever they are listening to has stopped and they look
for something different to hear.
You can still sell the
products and do it just as successfully if you change the way you do it
and shorten the length of each break.
Talk radio needs to be less
nasty and negative in its approach. Remember most issues can not be
successfully explained in a few seconds.
Hire experienced
broadcasters on music and talk stations. Bring in people that know the
market and how to successfully communicate with the audience they are
supposed to reach.
Finally, take a little time
and program from the gut without so much research. You will find when
doing this that you will produce a radio station that people will become
excited about and tell their friends. This will result in higher
ratings and more successful sales.
When was the last time a
station excited you? If you are like me and you have listened to so
many different formats for years, it has been a long time since that has
happened.
I hope in 2,005 that
someone will step forward and be willing to do whatever is necessary to
make radio exciting to listen to. It can be done.
The emergence of XM, Sirius,
the Internet and other forces can be looked at as a good thing for
radio. Now is the time where if done right, radio will receive the
attention and enthusiasm it needs to move forward and turn more people
on to it. This has to be done now or I dread to think what could happen
to a great industry in a few years.
The bottom line is this.
The audience and the industry deserve better than what passes for good
radio these days.
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Radio and the Election by Lawrence Stoler Now that the 2,004 election is history, let's look at how radio handled it
Most FM stations around the
country did not broadcast any of the debates live. This is because many
do not have a working news department after 7 PM. In fact if an
important story takes place after 8:30 AM or on weekends, you won't hear
about it on most commercial FM stations.
Many stations treated the
election as if nothing was taking place. They continued their regular
programming on the night of November 2nd. Those that did or had the
staff only provided brief updates about what was going on. This
despite the fact that the voter turnout overall was higher than ever and
this was constantly referred to as "the most important election of our
lifetime."
If you lived in an area that
had an all news station or a talk station that cared to provide
information on a continuous basis, this wasn't a problem. If not you
were out of luck unless you had a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate
in hearable range. Even then having an NPR station in your area didn't
necessarily guarantee that they would cover the election either.
The lack of coverage during
most dayparts is nothing new to radio. This started years ago when
stations began to cut the size of news departments because they were
expensive to maintain and many in charge felt the audience that listened
to music stations didn't care what was going on especially after Morning
Drive.
The best example occurred on
September 11, 2,001. Even though we didn't expect this terrible tragedy
to happen on that day, most stations did not have the manpower necessary
to provide proper radio coverage. Many resorted to TV audio for
reports.
One example that stood out
in my mind was in New York when a major FM station had to go to WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio to get a feed. This amazed me. The events were taking
place right in their back yard and they didn't have a crew to broadcast
what was going on. This was terrible considering that most people
listen to FM on regular over the air radio. They needed up to the
minute information that day and despite the technical capability
stations outside New York couldn't provide on the spot split second
reports.
Many news talk stations
couldn't always broadcast live election reports. Even though they
pattern themselves as "News Talk", they too have lessened the size of
their news departments. This I find hard to understand on issue
oriented talk radio stations.
Many talk stations claim to
have experienced an increase in their overall audience size. They say
it was due to the election. This is not really the case.
The election was and remains
an important topic but stations began concentrating on this especially
the Presidential race months before November. Many nationally
syndicated talk show hosts put the vast majority of their efforts
towards the outcome. In other words, the increase was not because of
election night but months before that.
The lack of importance given
by many radio stations to November 2nd is another example where radio
became a second class medium. Most people if they wanted current
developments turned to TV. They watched the 24 hour cable news channels
or ABC, NBC and CBS. Unfortunately radio was the furthest thing from
their mind and the industry only has itself to blame.
Their are many sources for
news and information and they continue to increase. AM and FM still
has its place and it always will. All news stations continue to make
money and maintain a large audience.
The problem is that as the
sources for information increase and become easier to access, the more
the audience will decline on both AM and FM. It may not happen right
away but eventually people may begin to wonder why they need regular
radio when they can go to any number of places and get what they are
looking for and at a quicker pace.
One of radio's greatest
strengths is localism or being involved in the community they broadcast
from. This has been forgotten in favor of cost cutting or providing
syndicated programming.
XM and Sirius, the two
satellite radio services offer local traffic and weather. This is
important but they can not bring you what's happening in your town the
way a station licensed to the area you live in can.
The attitude that the
audience doesn't care about what's going on during most of the broadcast
day needs to change. The high turnout on Tuesday, November 2nd, proves
that fact.
Music stations need to make
news a priority in their schedule. They need to begin to bring
newscasts to their audience after 8:30 AM and on weekends. The world
doesn't stop after the morning show ends.
I am not saying that
music stations should constantly talk about what's going on in the
world. They can however update the audience during other parts of the
broadcast day.
In most markets, it is hard
to find a commercial FM station that provides news after 7 PM. This is
because of voice tracking or programming which in many cases originates
from other parts of the country. It's also because of nationally
syndicated hosts that have no involvement with the local area and don't
care to.
The decline in informing the
public is an insult to the intelligence of the listeners. This should
not be taking place at a time when radio needs to differentiate itself
from other media.
More news coverage is one of
many ways which when put in place will make radio standout and will give
it the proper respect it deserves by the audience.
Lawrence Stoler
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A Great Day in New York by Lawrence Stoler
On Friday September 10,
2004, I attended a four hour program at the Museum of Television and
Radio in New York, City. The participants were Max Kinkel along with
special guests Dan Ingram and Joe Franklin.
The program came about as
the result of a Fourth of July broadcast which featured Max Kinkel AKA
SuperMax on WODI in Brookneal, Virginia. Tony DeNicola, one of the
owners of the radio station, arranged for this broadcast to take place.
Tony along with his son Brian met Max Kinkel during a board shift at a
Christian radio station in New York City.
The show was a live six hour
recreation of CKLW the big 8 in Windsor, Ontario complete with some of
the original jingles from the days of the Drake format on that station.
Max Kinkel did the nighttime shift as SuperMax in the 1970s. The
program was heard live on WODI and was streamed over the
station's website.
In addition to CKLW, Max did
overnight radio for 13 years on WCBS FM the oldies station in New York,
City. He brought high ratings to a daypart where this achievement was
not known to happen. At CBS FM, he became the Max Man. He combined
oldies along with high energy and listener interaction on the phone. It
was truly great radio.
After WCBS FM, he
moved to WXRK (k-rock) in New York City where he did classic rock in the
overnight hours until the station changed format in 1996.
Later, Max brought his
unique style and personality to the talk format. He was successful
perfecting his way of doing talk on WEVD in New York and WLIE on Long
Island.
Max has done many voiceovers
for many years. He is heard on many well known national accounts.
At the museum, Max talked
about his career and played airchecks of his days doing personality
radio. He also did a tribute to the anniversary of September 11th since
this took place the day before. He had some interesting theories about
911 which he expressed to all of us.
Max is launching a
website which will highlight his talents in commercials and all the
different kinds of radio he has done.
www.supermaxradio.com is the website.
Dan Ingram also stopped by
during the program. He had just returned after celebrating his 70th
birthday with one of his children in Salt Lake City.
Big Dan worked at such
stations as WNHC in New Haven, Connecticut, KBOX in Dallas, Texas, WIL
in St. Lewis and of course music radio 77 WABC in New York from July,
1961 till May, 1982. That was when the station changed format from
music to talk.
Big Dan also worked weekends
on WCBS FM from October, 1991 till June, 2,003 when he left after the
station tried to cut his air time down to once a week along with his
salary.
Although he still does
commercials and says he enjoys retirement, he is missed on the air.
Dan Ingram may be 70 in age
but you wouldn't know it when listening to him. He still is as funny,
creative and spontaneous as ever. If he was on the air today, he still
could make any radio station sound great.
Dan talked up several songs
and added some very funny one liners in his usual 10 seconds or less
delivery. As always with Big Dan, you had to get through part of the
song till you figured out what he was trying to say with his jokes.
That's one of the many things I admire about him.
Another guest was the
legendary Joe Franklin. Joe was one of the first to do live talk and
interviews with many famous people on Channel Seven and later Channel
Nine in New York, City. He also brought his many talents to radio.
He hosted Joe Franklin's
Memory Lane on WOR in New York from the late 60s till June 27, 2004. He
turned many of us on to nostalgia and made us aware of many performers
that are not heard these days.
Although Joe ended his
weekly overnight show, he is working on some projects which hopefully
will put him back on the air soon. As he said when he ended Memory Lane
on WOR, "to be continued."
It was an honor to be
in the same room with three true radio greats which I have always
followed and have admired. Imagine someone you have always looked up to
and having the chance to not only be in the same room but to meet that
person or persons in this case. It is a day I will never forget.
Larry Stoler How will
Radio be Perceived in Five Years
There are many sites on the
Internet that salute the medium of radio. You can browse the web and
listen to everything from top 40 radio of the 60's and 70's to original
broadcasts from the 1940's.
One of the sites is a
tribute to NBC Monitor. Monitor was a program that ran every weekend on
hundreds of affiliated NBC radio stations from June, 1955 till January,
1975. The website is
www.monitorbeacon.com.
It contains a history of the program plus a photo album and audio clips
which are updated monthly. Dennis Hart, a long time broadcaster and
listener of the program maintains the site.
I was reading the guestbook
on the Monitor tribute site the other day and I noticed that many
entries came from people that worked behind the scenes to make sure the
program ran every weekend. It also contained observations from people
that would listen while driving on a dark country road late at night or
in their parent's car or at home. People have fond memories of that 20
year show.
The same holds true
regarding classic top 40 radio. Richard Irwin AKA Uncle Ricky, has had
a tribute site for this great period in radio since 1996. It contains
exhibits and collections that you can click on and experience what that
format was all about. He updates the site with new submissions every
week. He does not make money on this project. People contribute
because they want to see this portion of radio history preserved as does
Uncle Ricky. At this point, over 1,300 exhibits exist on
www.reelradio.com.
So
much has changed in the way decisions are made and what passes for good
radio today. This is especially true since the Telecommunications Act
of 1996. In so many cases, it has come down to a few companies owning
everything in many markets. This has resulted in much less local
involvement and generic formats everywhere. The closeness that people
felt about radio does not exist today. People still remember top 40
stations and shows like Monitor for example. People still tell stories
about having the transistor radio under the pillow late at night and
listening to their favorite station or maybe a distant signal that they
happened to pick up while dialing around.
The audience also remembers
going to see their favorite dj at a live broadcast or when that person
appeared at a concert. They also remember when their favorite song was
played on the air.
Where does radio stand today
and what will people remember in five years? Will they think of a
morning team that talked down to them or did inside jokes about the
station all morning or talked about reality television? How about that
liner card reader that was not permitted to say the title and artist of
anything being played and was voice tracked from a different part of the
country. Will they remember when a broadcaster appeared live to go on
the air for two minutes a couple of times an hour to promote an event?
Will people years from now
be able to recite the call letters or slogan of a station that repeated
2 or 300 songs over and over in rotation?
Will anyone remember a talk
show that discussed the same topics and played the tired old sound bites
every day?
Years from now when we look
back at this portion of the 21st century, I don't think people will
fondly remember radio the way they still relate to what was on the air
40 years ago.
We are now in a time where
many sources exist to obtain music and information. XM Satellite Radio
for example has passed 2 million subscribers and they did it in a
relatively short time. People are now willing to pay a monthly fee for
something they got for free in the past. The amount of alternatives
to regular over the air radio increases all the time.
Now more than ever, the
broadcast industry has to make radio stand out. Radio has to stop being
negative on the air. It has to stop treating the listener like they are
not worth anything. Decisions to voice track whenever possible have
to end. It may save money but it has gotten out of hand.
Talent has to be hired that
can make a station exciting. The goal has to be to make people feel
they would be missing something if they turn off the radio. This does
not mean shock jock formats. I realize an audience exists for that kind
of radio but that too has gone to far.
I do not agree with the
government getting involved in matters of indecency on the air. I think
the audience will determine that by whether or not they will listen to
the station airing the material. I do feel however that we need a
choice on the air regarding approach to the listeners. In other words,
you have to spend money to make money.
Clear Channel Radio has
announced that as of next year, they will lessen the number of
commercials and promotional announcements that will be aired in the
average broadcast hour. This is a good move however I feel the problem
was not the number of commercials but the way they were distributed over
the air. In other words, playing 5, 6 or 7 minutes of spots in a row is
to much. They should have been spread out throughout the hour as Bill
Drake used to do. On KHJ in 1965, the average break could not exceed 70
seconds. This has been forgotten.
Radio stations can still
make money by playing commercials at different times of the hour and a
few at a time.
This is a positive step but
more needs to be done. If not radio could suffer a fate it doesn't
deserve in the next several years. I hope that doesn't happen.
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Is Satellite Radio a Threat? By Lawrence Stoler
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