The Empty Studio Is Killing Radio
Recently my son and I drove from Dallas to Lake of The Ozarks for a reunion of radio friends. I love long road trips with my son because of the conversations we have. And I like to catch up on listening to local radio.
The fact that there are fewer local performers on the air couldn’t have been more apparent. Over the 1,400 mile round-trip journey, I listened to a lot of local stations in markets like Atoka, Springfield, McAllister and Muskogee. And while I did hear an occasional local DJ or even talk show host in some of the markets, the majority of the on-air programming was presented by obvious ‘out-of-town’ air talent. And after 6PM local time, good luck finding anyone who can fog a mirror or read a ‘live’ newscast at a local station. I did, however, get to hear a lot of John Tesh, Ryan Seacrest and my favorite person to tune away from, Delilah.
Radio Stations Have Been Gutted
Delilah, Ryan and Tesh are not the problem. The issue killing radio is that the majority of radio stations have been gutted from within by the banks that ‘own’ them. Sure, the names of the companies may say ‘radio’ or ‘broadcasting’ after them, but in more and more companies, the bankers are dictating that broadcasters hit operating efficiencies to keep expenses in check. Because of shrinking revenues, local talent has been all but removed at many stations in the US. The big operators led the charge to gut their radio stations of DJs, talk show hosts and news professionals. After all, why should they pay someone in Springfield when they have a more seasoned talent in Kansas City who can do the same job (except pronounce area names correctly, be in touch with the community and know the listeners). Medium and smaller market owners have, in many cases, emulated the big operators. In some cases it’s for the same profit motivation. Additionally, some smaller owners were forced to make the changes to stay competitive or to be in compliance with the terms for their own debt.
So, back to my road trip with my son. Based on the 35-40 stations we listened to across middle America, it’s more obvious than ever that radio’s no longer the place that people turn to for local news. They’re getting that from the local television outlets and the local newspaper. I did hear news on radio. Yes, it’s there every hour at exactly 00:00 when the automation plays the most recent feed from ABC, CBS, CNN or Fox.
Observing my son listening habits during the road trip only added to my concern. Families used to have arguments over what station to listen to in the car. Remember those days? Now, the kids couldn’t care less. When I asked my son if he wanted to find a new station to listen to, occasionally he’d start scanning. More often, he’d just say “That’s OK Dad. I’m listening to Pandora.” Or he say, “I’m on Facebook right now.”
I asked my son to tell me what he thinks of radio programming and how he uses it. To no surprise, he said he doesn’t want to wait through the long commercial breaks. When I described to him how local DJs used to get a 90 share of the teen market in their respective cities he shrugged and said that he gets his connections by scanning his Facebook feed. Just for fun, I gave him my Grundig all band radio that I take with me on all road trips. He played with it for a few minutes and returned it saying, “My iPhone is easier, has better sound and has more stuff to listen to”.
The Radio Talent Crisis Points
We have 3 crisis points in radio right now. First, the on-air product has been made irrelevant, largely by budget cuts that have removed the reason people consumed local radio in the first place. Secondly, and as a result, younger demos who previously had connected with local personalities have one less reason to consider radio important. Lastly, because radio’s adopted the ‘All Delilah All The Time’ format after dark, there’s no place for young talent to learn the craft. When I was 16, KCHA my local station in Charles City, Iowa was glad to get an enthusiastic kid on the air. For $2 per hour they knew that I would get all the kids in town listening. And while I still cringe when listening to my early airchecks, this job gave me a place to learn my craft. Because of I was able to get on-air experience while in high school, I was later able to get a part-time job at KDWB in Minneapolis which led to being promoted to afternoon drive within a year. Radio’s farm system was working. Where does that young broadcaster go to learn a craft today? Nowhere. The jobs are gone.
The bottom line, there’s no talent coming up through the ranks because radio’s gutted the ranks. Kids wanting to get into communications now go to television stations or new, hip internet start-ups.
Can Radio Be Saved?
Short-term, there are some things that radio can do to stop the listener erosion. First, we must be proactive to reach out to young demos to give them a reason to listen. How about embracing a high school media class and helping them find a sponsor for a Saturday or Sunday night talk show? Or what about featuring new music being produced by 18-24 year olds? A local version of American Idol could be a great cume magnet and generate sales revenue too. There’s 20 more ideas that can be added to the list.
Radio is not going away. It will remain relevant and will certainly survive as long as there’s a baby-boomer left to listen and support the advertisers. But watch what happens when the pipeline to our smartphones and smart cars get a bit more developed. Wait until we have entire communities connected under WIFI umbrellas. Then, as Malcolm Gladwell would say, we’ll be at a ‘tipping point’. It’s then that radio may really have to pay the piper.
Pete Thomson
CEO
McQ Media
Dallas, Texas
I originally trained as a broadcast technician in the early ’80s. As part of that training, I worked air shifts at the college FM station (a whopping 250 watts at the time), with easy-listening and jazz formats.
Today, those jobs are few and far between, even for college stations. Automation has largely taken over even small-community stations. Why? I believe the decisions have been mostly driven by financial considerations. Owners and managers look more at the bottom line and less at community connection. At the same time, they wonder why their audiences are dwindling.
It seems to be a pervasive and insidious malady…short-term thinking (profit margins and advertising revenues) rather than long-term (maintaining local listenership).
If things continue the way they’re going now, it won’t be long before the only “local” stations are Part 15 and pirate broadcasts.
Just my two cents’ worth.
Alan,
Thanks for reaching out with your comments. Keep fighting the good fight! Best, Pete
Pete. Great story. I was recently let go by Clear Channel from a small market on the Mississippi gulf coast. That particular station now has only a live morning show, now. I did afternoons. Delilah followed. Midday was voice tracked from Birmingham. The other stations in the 4 station cluster, also have only one live show on the air and one of their stations has none. I can’t believe that these companies are living up to their responsibility to their F C C licenses by providing out of town air talent in smaller markets. Some of these out of town talents are actually trying to pass off themselves as part of that community. It seems to me that’s just lying to their listeners. They’re not visible to the people of those markets. They don’t do public appearances, whether it’s remotes or benefits for non-profit organizations. I would think F C C would crack down on these monolithic, monopolistic companies that obtained these licenses just because they were “greedy” to begin with and now have to cut expenses to make the bottom line look good. Hopefully, sometime in the future, things will change. My advice nowadays to young, energetic people wanting to get into radio as an on air talent, is FORGET it. They don’t need you. We should all hope and pray that things change in the immediate future for the better.
Alan — you’re so right. As a voiceover guy now, specializing in radio imaging, it has paid off slightly for me as the markets “outsource” everything.
But, although I’m (mostly) conservative, I cringed when Ronny Reagan pushed through DEREGULATION. I was certain what has happened would. Some things need regulation (like WALL STREET).
Broadcasters simply don’t own broadcasting anymore. I try to adjust but hey, as they say, I’m too old for this shit.
Regards, Carter
Pete,
With you all the way on this. I am one of the lucky ones to be owned and operated by a local group who believe in live and local. Two of our 5 stations are live all the time. TWO!!! And I’m considered lukcy in this business.
In an era when personal connection is so important (social media is there for that reason), we have disconnected.
We have a CHR in our group and, believe me, the means we use to connect with them are where your son is right now…that IPhone….Facebook…twitter…wherever they are si where we need to be. Frankly, nothing has changed about that. Be where your audience is……we’ve always had that task in this business. The method is the same…the means has changed and we have to recognize that. We no longer “drive the bus”. The consumer does. Just go to KFOG in SGF where their Facebook fans were the sole reason for zapping a 2-week old morning show. We have to understand the power of the consumer…esopecially the young consumer and, then, speak their language in their arena.
RE: Radio is not going away. It will remain relevant and will certainly survive as long as there’s a baby-boomer left to listen and support the advertisers.
If this is true, and the majority of C-level executives hold that position, there is little incentive to radically overhaul business/ministry models. We have passed the point where one broadcaster or group can fix the problem you have described. An industry solution is needed and by definition, that will require a meeting of the minds on these things, a working together
Where these things pertain to the gospel, there is a lot a stake. Namely, a mass distribution platform for teachers and preachers to continue reaching the world.
Rebuilding for that purpose is incentive enough, I think.
Good post, Pete, and your points are relevant and spot on. Radio used to be about a local presence customized to the particular culture and market. Now it’s all about ROI and Ad revenues to make the business profitable rather than providing desired and valuable local content. It occurs to me that the moniker “radio” is the potential issue as you’ve noted with your son’s interaction. My teenagers are the same way; they get most of their music from iPODs, their iPhones, or on their personal computers at home. Like the Reel to Reel, Cassette, Cart, Minidisc, and CD, the technology or media transmission system is being replaced by the storage device/media itself. I’m a talk radio junkie, so there’s plenty of humanity as talent on air, but except for a few stations, like you’ve noted, a live DJ (that name isn’t even relevant because they’re firing digital files from a computer/server and don’t spin discs any more) is a rare individual.
Keep the good articles coming!
Great post Pete!
Just like TV, Radio is experiencing the paradigm shift of “In-Demand” media that the latest generation expects (and so do I frankly). So the concept of linear programming is problematic in the first part.
The other real issue for radio talent… it does not pay!
Lastly, of course, is with sites like blogtalkradio and podcasts, anyone can have a voice and does not need to be selected by or censored by a station or program manager (think Pig Vomit from WNBC years for Stern).
I hope the crisis creates a pendulum shift, where only attracting TOP talent will save radio and if you want top talent, you have to pay!
(For the right price, I am available BTW 🙂
Radio is already irrelevant. Your son already showed you that. Generation Next has already been trained to look elsewhere for music, news, fun and companionship — the four staples that have always been the only relevant “cume magnets” for radio in decades past.
Musicradio has made its bed, and now must sleep in it. It’s the dreaded dirt nap.
RIP, musicradio.
And I have more bad news: Talkradio is not far behind. Generation Next is not the least bit interested in the confrontational, constantly argumentative and always partisan posturing of today’s talkradio. They are, to put it in Rodney King terms, wondering why we all can’t get along. They’re far more social, more embracing, more tolerant of people “different” from themselves, and far less idealogical than any of us 40-, 50- and 60-somethings are. Yep, Talkradio is the next thing to die. There are not enough young listeners interested, so the demographics of talkradio keep getting older and older with each passing year. Eventually, it will fall off the cliff, just as the “Beautiful Music” format did in the ’80s. By the time today’s 18-34s of the age to be a viable target for talkradio, something else will have come along to take its place. Some might argue it already has — the internet.
Here’s a historical fact that doesn’t bode well for radio’s future: Radio’s leaders have always lacked vision. Remember, this is the same medium whose leaders once told us, “This TV thing will never catch on,” or “No one has FM receivers, so FM is doomed,” or “Nobody has figured out how to monetize internet radio, so the internet is no threat to radio,” and of course, “Nobody listens to satellite radio.” (They weren’t as far off on the last one, although I must say that when I’m in the car, the only two things I ever listen to anymore are Sirius/XM or the iPod in my iPhone. Oh, and occasionally I hear that voice in my GPS tell me where to turn.)
How will radio re-capture the listeners it has already driven off? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it won’t. How many of you have gone back to your old girlfriend? Yeah, I thought so. Once you’re driven away, you move on. You find better friends. It is extremely rare when old lovers get back together and it works. But when it does, it’s usually because the bond that held the two together in the first place never really died.
Sad to say, but the same can’t be said of radio and its former listeners. Consider the four things that always attracted listeners to radio, and what radio has done to break the bonds:
Music? Radio always told you what to like, instead of you telling radio what to play and it responding. And don’t even get me started on those insidious 6-minute commercial breaks that radio programmers actually thought listeners might tolerate in exchange for “long music sweeps.” (Interrupt a “long music sweep” with a 10-second sweeper and I’ve got news for you: you just stopped the music sweep to play a short commercial for the radio stations. People hate that.) People won’t sit through such annoyances as 12 or 15 minutes per hour of commercials just to hear 3 or 4 songs (out of 9 or 10 played in an hour) that they like. People create their own playlists in Pandora and any one of a dozen other apps, or just plug in their iPods. No commercials. No annoyances. And radio thinks it can compete with this? Are you crazy?
News? Who gets their news from radio, anyway? Only radio people do. Everyone else gets it from television and the internet. Or their phone. Or Jon Stewart.
Fun? Radio always had a distorted view of what “fun” was. Radio’s definition of fun was some wacky deejay saying juvenile things that were funny…only to the deejay himself. No self-respecting grown-up is going to tolerate that. (And nobody cares about kids listening to the radio; the lion’s share of the ad money is still in 25-54.) Contests? Fun? Really? Here’s a modern radio contest: “Fax us the name of your office and when you hear us read it on the air, call within 10 minutes and you win a McDonald’s lunch at your office.” What, pray tell, is FUN to the listener in hearing that drivel on the air? Puhleeeze.
Companionship? More people get “companionship” from Facebook than they do from radio. And for those who are looking for something a bit more intimate, they’ll turn to YouPorn.com before they tune in to Biff and Barf in the Morning. As for your afternoon jock, I hate to tell you this, but if you ask a hundred people to name two radio personalities, no more than one of them will be able to name your afternoon jock. You might as well just run the satellite, because no one cares.
And finally, I hate to say it, but talkradio is only good for one thing: to raise your blood pressure and keep you pissed off all day. If that’s the life you want to lead, good luck with that. Everyone I know under the age of 40 thinks you’re nuts.
These are the leading options radio offers today. And people wonder why listeners have turned off the radio in record numbers.
I’ll tell you one idea that might stop some of the hemorrhaging of musicradio listenership:
Stop boring listeners to death with the same 300 song titles repeated every single day of the year. If you’re a ’70s station, why don’t you just change your slogan to “The Best Hits of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac” and leave it at that, because that’s about all you play. This might have worked (it sort of did work) back when listeners only had other radio stations (usually only one or two others in the same format arena) with which to compete. But nowadays, with competition coming from every corner of popular culture, you’re no longer competing for “radio listening quarter hours.” You’re competing for an ever-shrinking number of “minutes of attention” listeners have left to give to radio as they continue surrendering radio quarter-hours to other things that do a better job of delivering music, news, fun and companionship — the very things they once got from radio.
Oh, and it doesn’t help that the farm system of small market radio has dried up. But it’s worse than that. By not nurturing a quality farm system, radio not only has dried up its own pool of talent upon which to draw to fill what few openings there might be, but it also fails to develop compelling new attractions that listeners might some day want to hear.
This paints a pretty bleak picture for radio’s future. But I’ve been sounding this alarm for twenty years, and no one’s been listening. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. By ignoring how society was changing and failing to adapt, radio has done this to itself.
Just as newspapers and magazines did the same thing to themselves a decade earlier.
Their fates will be much the same.
Bravo!! I too, am that sad radio friend that no one talks to anymore, I saw the writing on the wall when I loaded up my first Drake-Chenault automation (excuse me, ‘live assist’) reel. I thought, “this stupid machine just stole my weekend shift.”. Radio survivors are like the band muscians on the Titanic… “what the hell, what else can we do… keep playing!” Religious music/talk is the AM/FM bands’ last stand.
A VERY well written, surprisingly lucid, rant!
I’m a corporate finance consultant. I work on restructuring debt and acquisitions. However, I was on-air at WNYU-FM in NYC for five years in college. This is a pathetic tale of “who’s the weakest link?” The sales staff does not stay around if they are being shorted. Billing and bookkeeping can find work across town. Oh wait, let me screw the talent again. This is the same DJ who does the 5-9 AM drive and attracts all the local buys. Stop hitting on your “product.” It’s not becoming.
Richard,
I’ve shared your response with several friends and we’re not sure where you’re going with your comments. Please elaborate if you would. Thanks for posting. Pete
Yes, that makes complete sense.
Pete, You nailed it! As an owner of a Mom & Pop in the Texas Hill Country, we strive to keep LIVE radio on the air. I have a full time News Director, Program Director and Morning Show Host. Our advertisers understand the overhead and the don’t mind paying for LOCAL Radio. They would rather pay for people in the studio than a satellite feed.
Local ownership will be the only way radio survives.
As I’m writing this…my news director is live at a rollover accident. THAT’S WHAT IT”S ALL ABOUT.
Tim Walker, Owner
KBEY-FM
It’s going to get worse before it gets better, as the publicly traded broadcast companies, in particular, will react to flat-lining revenue and dissipating audience with more “operational efficiencies” like regional/national programming and drastically reduced local talent bases. I’d guess that we will look back at 2010-2019 as a lost decade, or reboot of the medium. One of you guys will figure out what happens next.
Pete the big radio companies will survive when radio as we know it is done…that is why they started iHeart Radio
Thanks, Pete, for a great article. Can I get an amen!?
I’m a college professor who’s teaching TV because my department stopped teaching radio classes before I got there a few years ago. I worked in radio in the 80’s and 90’s, loved it and miss it a lot.
Sounding just like some of these comments, former radio folks like me often get together at journalism educator conferences to remember the good times and wonder just what’s going to happen. Just like Pete’s son, none of my students listens to radio and they see it as almost quaint. A few students end up falling in love with radio, but then they’re discouraged to find out there’s no money and very few places to go.
Ownership regs will have to change before there’s any real difference and that’s not a fight anyone wants to champion. Operating in “the public interest, convenience and necessity” translates to corporations wringing all the reasonable profit out of radio before they sell it all and move on to something else.
It is ABSOLUTELY not a lack of potential on-air talent, rather a lack of management talent. Corporatism, liner cards, simulcasting, shared playlists, bland, safe music policies have stifled the will of anyone to do anything different. So the ‘Johnny Hot Jocks’ play the same tunes on hundreds of stations while the shareholders benefit from lack of outlay and imagination. Look around you, alternative art forms on TV and online are everywhere. Aside from in obscurity, like my show, where is the alternative in big time radio? Why would anyone want to hear the same old songs and the same old schmaltz over and over again? It’s what I call the McDonaldsisation of radio. Hey, guess what ‘suits’, ultimately, Pop will truly eat itself. Don’t blame the DJ’S for doing what they were told. What else could they do suckers?
Thanks for the very lucid rant.
I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to understand the oncoming radio/Internet-audio collision. What I’ve learned is it won’t be pretty when the Internet connected dashboard hits.
What you write about dovetails nicely into an essay I wrote some time ago warning that the ONLY AM/FM broadcasters to survive will be LOCAL.
I’ll post that on the LinkedIN comments section.
But to the good local broadcasters, like Tim Walker who posted above … all I can say is your reward is coming. More competition for the listeners ears will bode well for your local programming. As listeners who are happy with automated streams can find thousands of alternatives to your competition’s canned programming … your local commitment will make yours the only logical choice for advertisers looking to reach a local audience.
High regards,
Gregg Simonsen
Northampton, Massachusetts
Its just the same in the UK, I’ve been in local radio for 28 years but always as a freelance and on lots of different stations because I will not play the corporate game and read from cue cards and push buttons for the next track, I’ve studied and listened throughtly to MUSIC for 50 years and therefore I think I know more than the average Joe.
Community radio works to an extent in the UK cos it is local and they are getting the decent broadcasters who can’t get jobs on corporate stations, its a pity but its been the malalise and downfall of radio all over. We dont want to be force fed, we want the choice!
I spent 30 years in a radio as host of various vintage music programs, mostly on public radio. I did an old-time country program for 11 years and then for another 10 hosted a blues and a jazz program. I attracted loyal listenership at each by injecting my personality not only into the presentation, but in the programming of the music, which was themed according to a variety of factors: anniversaries, birthdays, lyrics with commonalities & themes, live interviews, and so on. Two things sparked the death of radio: one was Reagan’s deregulation, the other was the rise of radio consultants. When combined, these two factors enabled corporations to buy up radio stations in major markets and not need experts to run them. Hire a consultant, use homogenized programming and pre-recorded hosts, and you turn a nice, effort-free profit. Satellite radio got started because there was no more interesting music to be heard on landline radio. But the programming and intelligence of the broadcasters was missing. Today, not only do you not hear anything different on radio, but you rarely even hear song titles mentioned. The corporations that own radio stations have a very low opinion of their listenership. They are not interested in who recorded a song, when, where, or about any of the musicians on the record. They just want to cram as many songs & comercials as possible into the time slot. Loyalty has gone out the window as well as regional differences through the country. I last hosted a program in 2004 at a local NPR affiliate. The station GM decided that she didn’t want any volunteers at the station or local programming other than a few talkback news programs so she jettisoned all the locally based hosts who played interesting music and knew something about the music they played. I quit before I could get fired since I knew what was coming. Also, I couldn’t bear to go on the air during the membership drives and beg for dollars when I knew my airtime was going to be reduced so that another NPR game show or rerun of “Car Talk” could be inserted in my time slot. Today, the station plays 90% pre-recorded packaged programming from NPR and virtually no music. The station has no local presence in the community and does not serve the college students on the campus where it is located. The students have since started up their own rival internet station on campus, where they can play what they like and learn about radio by doing it. But no professionals are staffed there. I used to have a very idealized idea of what radio could do, but greed, the fear of taking risks, and lowest-common-denominator thinking has ruined it for good. I don’t think radio will ever come back to where it used to be in the ’60s and ’70s.
Your article is the thesis the film “Corporate FM”. See trailer at http://fmfilm.com
Thanks for speaking up. I tweeted your solution of inviting in the high school media class to host a talk show. The fact that consolidated radio does not do something so easy shows us that even the operational staff has been cut back to the point of zombie radio.
Pete,
What an awesome bit of writing you have put forth there! I am so glad others are talking about this and are as frustrated as myself and every other talent I know. I like Carter left to do Radio Imaging and Commercials after 15 years of being air talent.
It has really paid off for me like Carter. However, I miss interacting with the listeners every day! Out of town jocks don’t miss it – because they don’t have it.
Fight the good fight – Maybe another long music set, NEXT!
Steve Divine
VoicesLtd.com
While the dynamics of radio have changed thanks to greed, the keys for success are still the same. Gene Autry, may he rest in peace, knew it! He hired the best people, paid them well, left them alone, and made a ton of money.
Today’s environment sticks it to the people left with mess, who do the job of several with little or no budget. The listeners get sub standard quality and no personal connection, so they feel no loyalty and go elsewhere. Who can blame them?
I am supposed to “take what they give me and like it?” That’s the message you send when you have Ryan Seacrest on instead of local talent. Someone the listener can talk to, actually meet, and make a personal connection with. That’s what made radio the media growing up. TV people were not approachable while radio people were the fun people to know and to be around.
Play my music, inform me, and give some free stuff. Not an 866 number or a text. What are MY chances of winning. What happened to “for locals only.” Personality always set stations apart as ANYONE can copy your music. Personality is unique. Cookie cutter formulas are killing this business. Hiring one big name and putting them in charge of 1000 radio stations won’t save you. I’s will not get dotted and T’s won’t get cross. You need a decent amount of personnel, and marketing to make things happen. There are only so many rabbits ANYONE can pull out of the hat.
For clients, why buy radio? If it is voice tracked, and a listeners wants to know the name of my business, location, and anything about my business, what good is it when they can’t find out because no one is there.
Think about the money one ratings point costs your business when you cut that salary and marketing budget. Better yet, think about investing in marketing, personnel, and how much money your station will make! There ARE stations making money! Mom and pops can EXPOSE giants for the bullies they are. Brains win every time. They always have.
Good radio is theater of the mind…things people talk about around the water cooler at work…something someone said on the morning show, something the guy said or did on the air last night, the afternoon guy was on TV for doing a charity drive, your station is doing a promotion EVERYONE is talking about, etc! There’s more than enough brain power to get it done!
Today’s issue is people much more talented than me aren’t working and some people replacing them are simply not qualified, The training grounds such as college stations like KUNV Las Vegas are no longer student run. When you find that Jimmy Kimmel started there, you know places like this work!
We are left with people who need a body and fill an opening, rather than build a team or add to the family. Unified team concept always wins! You must give people the tolls they need to get the job done. Having ONE person do the job of several is not helping ANYONE.
Todays formula hasn’t worked since the Telecom Act was signed into law. Doing the right thing by the people that work for you, the clients, and listeners are the only way to success.
Pete, great article and nice posting getting tremendous feedback. I was on air in San Antonio, starting what was considered the first Alt. Country/Outlaw Country/Texas Music! A group of us on air persons found ourselves victims of the wave of LMA’s in the mid 80’s. One day your playing music on a formatted station, and the next morning that station is broadcasting in Spanish! Well, of course the last to know is the on air staff! First to go is the On Air Staff!!! Trusting Radio management is like believing the guy at the carnival that this elixir will cure everything! WRONG!!!!
Today, you have guys that are from somewhere, telling someone, that everyone wants to hear this, NOT that! REALLY???? Stations have lost their identity due in part by their selling to a corporate entity that creates then rides a wave of change that the small station owners can’t financially compete in! I was on air in Dallas, and was working with a talented young artist. I was involved with a Texas Legend, Gary P. Nunn who at that time was putting on a chili cook-off and weekend of music. I was playing her music and was receiving great feedback, I used her for a public appearance at one of my clients electronics store “Dalworth Electronics” with the great Morey Lowery, now deceased. We were packed, and he was amazed of the response from a little known, no numbers station, could provide this type turn out! As too was the vendor, AT&T!!! For months, my battle was against the “Numbers” stations! Their propaganda collateral materials were keeping the vendor from allowing a buy without being a top 5-10 station!!!! REALLY??? Well, Morey had the juice to actually pull off the “Client Dictate”! We were a success. Morey became a huge advertiser, a product extension of the station, his business increased dramatically, thus opening up another location, and used us and only us! Our audience identified with him, he saw the advantages of using radio in a manner it was first designed to be used! FREQUENCY – FREQUENCY – FREQUENCY!!!
So, back to the beginning of this story, the talent earlier mentioned was a young artist, like many looking for that moment, that breakout moment, that DJ that will play their music, fit them into the format!! I was fighting with the PD, no to little female artist gets tracked on the station!!!!! Why, I asked? We are targeting the 35-50 M!!!!! What, I asked? I was under a mandate! However, I still played this up and coming artist, and others as well, and was lectured the following day for my error in judgment! Oh but what the hell? The young lady went on to have a pretty good career, today you just have to say her first name, Miranda Lambert!
When all formatted stations sound alike across the country, and the DJ’s are not within the marketplace, what you get is homogenized music dung!
Point, you don’t hear Hayes Carl, Ray Wiley Hubbard, eleven Hundred Springs, Kevin Deal, Trish Murphy, Lucinda Williams, Gary P. Nunn, Sue Foley, Kevin Welch, Bruce Robison, Kelley Willis, etc….but every hour you can hear the likes of those approved by some corporate suit, sitting in the office dictating the daily life of radio as THEY SEE IT!!!!
The stations, playing the likes of the aforementioned are most likely not corporate entities, predicated on the highest rate per commercial, but rather the cost of a listener that will respond to a station format by going into the business and saying I heard you on KDLT and want to become a customer of your business!
Ratings, station rates, wearing a suit, acting like a hot shot means little to nothing to that prospective advertiser more than the fact that he or she sees a return on the investment! If you spend $1 for the commercial OR $1000 for the commercial…..if it doesn’t work they have paid too much! So until those stations that remain independent of corporations figure out the magic of radio is local identifiable talent, market awareness, frequency, affordable, tie-in to the audience, differentiated format thus in reality the only format in the market place completely different than any other. What is the difference of two country stations, two talk formats? NOTHING, to the advertiser except what he/she hears from reps, and that collateral material. But when you get past the propaganda all stations use, what is left???? That one individual station rep that sells without all the propaganda, but sells results in a manner that is easily understood…..people are coming in and identifying themselves with said station, and recognizing the business as part of the format from that station. I used to scout music, artist all week long – TODAY, you’re told who, and what to play, and when to play!
Okay, so there is my thoughts, and I never even got to pay stations…… I guess we could call that hook, stay tuned to part 2…… Take care Pete and best wishes to you and your son for many more road trips…..
Adios, from the DFW Metromess
Dennis
Good read. I vt a show which is really tough after doing live radio for a long time. I have found that using the statio Facebook and webpage page to have two way comm with listeners is helpful but it’s an extra step and isn’t really part of the “agreement/$s”. It also requires that the personality/vt’er be able to articulate via the written word and handle other and visual media competently (pics/video). It could be used to extend the capability of radio but I’m not sure the net result will yield that.
As far as news and wx…I’m 36 and I have a wx app on my iPhone, a local news app and national news app. They send push notifications if something major is happening and otherwise offer a convenient way to stay abreast of current events with my choice of time and content. It’s gonna be pretty hard for radio to have any traction with the next generation since this level of flexibility is all that they’ve known. Heck, I love local personality radio but I’ve adapted the new tools to give me more time flexibility. Unfortunately, I too find the Pandora thing intriguing. It’s fun to create five of your own music formats and log in anytime you want.
With that having been said, I do find it disconcerting to go through some interesting little town I’m the heartland and not be able to find some indication of local flavor on the local signal.
Well said, Peter. I marked my 10th year out of radio this year after three decades in it . I assumed all roles in a station’s operation except engineering in markets ranging from 15,000 people to a top 30 Metro.
When I was fired (deservedly so for not accomplishing a turn around), I turned and fired the industry back. Radio had become drudgery. There is life after radio, and I’ve reinvented myself three times, earned a Masters Degree, and get certified in my current occupation.
My financial bottom line isn’t “purty,” but my psyche bottom line is well into the black with work that provides significance.
My response is meant to encourage reinvention, retooling, and reorienting for radio folks.
Hi Pete, It’s Robin from Linked-In. Just wanted to say that not all radio is going down the proverbial tubes. But a hefty chunk of it is, and here’s why. The situation started when Bain and Co. (you know, everybody’s buddy – Mr. Romney) and Lee took over Clear Channel. They came in as corporate raiders specifically with the intent to drain the company of every penny. But that’s what corporate raiders do. The original owners of Clear Channel had no idea who (what) they were selling to and frankly didn’t care. They wanted to sell and get their money out. Cumulus followed suit not so much b/c they had to gut like CC but b/c the cost saving (hacking) procedures looked like a good idea to a lot of people b/c of the economy and we all know what started and continues happening to radio with the Internet. Those two companies are big — they are the two top radio station groups, owning 800 and 400 stations, respectively, that they made a impact in the industry. Even the smaller stations started cutting back. There are 9,800 other stations out there so those 2 companies are not the majority, by far. I’ve got everything riding on bringing back the live and local fun radio back and we’re working on that as a long range plan. Everyone who loves good old radio is welcome to join in “The Movement” to take back radio. Se you later, Robin.
Your observations are right on Pete. We never met but both of us worked DFW radio at the same time for many years, me under the name of Pat McMahon. I left radio in 2007 and to say I never look back would be inaccurate. It took many years to “get it out of my system” and quit looking for on ramps to get back in. I received a phone inquiry from Cumulus a few years ago and had no problem saying “thanks, but I don’t do that anymore”. I finally found another calling that lights me up the way radio did for so many years, but it makes me sad to see what has become of a once great institution. Yes I miss it, but like a deceased loved one it’s gone and it ain’t coming back. Cheers !