TV campaigns for radio stations not successful? Here's why not......

I think of it as a reverse "chicken or egg". Are ads for radio stations on TV not doing well because of the campaigns themselves? Or is it because people are getting so turned off by local radio?
The recent MediaWeek article did a good job at pointing out something I have been concerned about for years, but didn't address the possible reasons why.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3i90ecdc5551eec733a3ec9e368ad77a4e

I'll say it's the chicken. People know these local radio stations are there, but continue not to listen like they used to.

There never used to be clusters of commercials often lasting 5 minutes or longer before getting back into music, talk, or whatever the format.

When the air personality finally comes on, he or she is often voice tracked, sometimes not even in the same city as the station. Yet local radio is supposed to have the local appeal. But without true local personality like there always used to be, many radio stations are no longer the first destination when something major happens in the neighborhood.

The music comes on, and we continue to get edited down versions of longer songs. As I have said for years and years, a song is either good enough to be played on the air or it isn't. If listeners don't like a particular song, they are gone. Those that do want to enjoy it to the max. But if I am going to hear a favorite song with three minutes edited out, I am better off to play my CD with the entire song on it. I'll enjoy that more, and again, it is something that I cannot get from my local radio station.

Now, when a radio spot comes on TV, too many people probably think about the reason(s) why they no longer wish to listen to whatever station, instead of a reminder about why they should.

Your thoughts are welcome.

Meanwhile, this story snuck under the radar late last week. The annual Radio & Records Awards were given out over the past weekend. The winner of "Station of the Year" in the classic hits/oldies category? WCBS-FM New York.

This snuck under the radar because hardly anyone else in the media caught the irony of all this. Station of the year? It wins after a RETURN to a format it had dumped two years earlier for less success. They bring back the format as best radio can. Not exactly what it used to be, as the playlist sways a few years later than their previous incarnation. And now comes the recognition.
In other words, correcting a mistake generates more recognition than before they made it.

The "music on the AM dial" saga takes another turn in Milwaukee. WOKY 920 AM flopped after going retro and bringing back its 1960's sound, complete with hourly newscasts. Weak signal and all, especially at night. So what do they do instead? Last week they become "The Wolf". And, of course, you have to ask, "What is The Wolf?". You guessed it, it is another music format. Now they are trying their hand at Country Music on the AM dial. There. That ought to fix it.

That Milwaukee story was almost overshadowed by the change in Sioux City announced last week. 102.3 FM announced that they have abandoned their "BOB-FM" format of "We play anything". The change was announced the same day it was completed on the air.

Now that you are all excited to find out what 102.3 FM changed to, and in case you missed the major press release, we will tell you. The station is now known as JACK-FM. The new slogan is "Playing What We Want". BOB finished at 9 AM and a mere 3 hours later at Noon the same day, along came JACK.

I suppose with the right TV campaign......................

Air Checking - Sept. 1 update

It seems like radio is becoming much more of a content provider for other media than the innovative originator of programming it once was. New technology isn't stealing the content. Radio is providing it, yet is going to continue to lose out on ad revenue because of it.

Mike & Mike and Imus are among the actual radio shows televised live in part or in full on a daily basis. Other shows such as ESPN's panel talk shows (such as PTI) are nothing more than radio concepts where you can see the people instead of just hear them. WGN-TV America will soon begin showing daily highlights from the syndicated Bob & Tom Morning Show during late night programming.

I commented about mobile service coming into play, such as Sprint bringing live NFL play-by-play to certain subscribers which will come from a team's radio broadcast at http://MajorLeaguePrograms.blogspot.com a few weeks back.

To me, this is radio giving away its product. The same advertisers stations and network hope to attract by offering these programs in the first place now have choices for where they want to reach their target audience. If I want the Bob & Tom audience, now I will be able to compare buying their radio show on a local or regional basis with buying their TV show the same day. And if they go onto satellite, I would have that as an option, based on the number of subscribers. I would like to think radio would do more to protect its programming, and not let it get away.

Meanwhile, this came up in a conversation with a local radio announcer the other day, and it got me thinking. He asked me "What is or would be your favorite air check of all time?".

There is a question I hadn't thought about in all these years. Even with the thousands and thousands of hours of listening to stations locally and in my travels around the country. Yet, even though I had never taken the time to think about it, I had an answer for him within 30 seconds. And it so happens I have the actual aircheck to go along with my answer.

Personally, my "all-time" pick is WCFL Chicago from the afternoon of March 15, 1976. The day the face of rock radio changed forever, and not necesarily for the better. That was the last day of the great Chicago radio wars between WCFL and WLS for top 40 supremacy. Bob Dearborn's final sign-off leading into the song "You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" followed by Larry Lujack doing the final 3 hours of "Super CFL". Including commercials by the other rock stations in town, such as WLS and WBBM-FM. I haven't listened to it in a few years, I'll admit. Probably because even at my age, I might once again tear up when I hear it. The end of an era when I couldn't wait to get my radio on at every opportunity.

Granted, not everyone actually has the air check of that one show or one moment in time when that personal most memorable moment was on the air. But I find this a fascinating topic.

If you could, or do, have that one aircheck from AM or FM Radio in your lifetime, what would it be? And why?

I'd like to publish the responses and see where it goes. Maybe we could come up with a "top 10 airchecks" list, but if not we'll still have some fun with this.