Stealing listeners is one thing........

As much as we yearn for competition among local stations, this takes it a bit too far.

It's really not funny, but it fits in as an "only in radio" story.......


http://cbs13.com/local/radio.dj.burglary.2.2003579.html

As if we care about online radio commercials?

The case could be made that sales and marketing are becoming separate categories at CBS Radio, at least based on Monday's (Mar. 30) announcement. If this story had come out on Wednesday (4/1) I would have taken it for a dud of an April Fool's joke. As it goes with the current state of radio, I wish it was.

CBS Radio actually made it a story that it will have live reads by station personalities of commercials for its online and mobile streams. I must have missed the statistics about the number of CBS Radio listeners who tune in when commercials are read by the station announcers.

Once upon a time, music stations would promote things like "We play the most music". Now it comes down to promoting "We have the best commercials"????

To me it is hard to believe the quote in the story release from their "President of Digital Media and Integrated Marketing" about how this "will result in deeper online and mobile engagement, and listener satisfaction".

This being announced by CBS really did happen. It is not a joke. I wanted to be sure this post is dated before April 1st.

I can see it now. Their JACK-FM stations will probably have a "Playing the commercials we want!" promo on the air within the week.

Hopefully the rush of consumers logging in to hear CBS stations online and their live reads of commercials won't shut down the internet for very long.

A Radio Fantasy? League that is...........

It's as though the world of sports has taken over the radio industry over just the past few days. The story of CBS Radio and Clear Channel literally trading some stations sounds like it was concocted at the baseball winter meetings instead of the boardrooms of the two largest radio station ownership groups in the country. And a playlist to be named later.

At almost the same time, two Chicago powerhouse stations were involved in major management changes. The story broke that Bob Shomper has left WGN Radio as Program Director to move literally down the street (less than a mile away, physically) to become PD at news/talk rival WLS-AM. And, presto, WGN brings in Kevin Metheny from Cleveland to replace Shomper.

As an aside, Shomper's timing is impeccable. WLS-AM is enjoying ratings success of late and seems to be holding its own under the PPM audience measurement, which not all talk shows and stations are doing. WGN has seen a dip in its large audience. Some say it is because the Cubs baseball season ended in October, and others say it is a reflection of the PPM system. Others say it is both. Nonetheless, Shomper departs with a dip in overall audience, and within hours of the retirement of morning market leader Spike O'Dell. WGN will be hard pressed to maintain its morning numbers, and Metheny might just be starting under more pressure than one might expect for joining WGN Radio.

Here we are within a matter of days seeing a trade of major market radio stations and a change of Program Directors involving major market stations. In the past, these would be "once in a lifetime" stories, and here they both happen at the same time with less fanfare than many would expect.

Could this be the start of things to come? If so, I'd like to propose starting a "Fantasy League" for radio fans. Just as baseball and football fantasy leagues are rampant as a means to maintain fan interest in games even though we are priced out of the market to attend them in person, maybe a Fantasy Radio League will give some folks a reason to still pay attention to local radio stations.

After all, a CBS + Clear Channel trade is like the Red Sox and Yankees doing a swap. As a fantasy general manager, we could draft the radio markets we think will increase billing the most for 2009, and then draft and trade the stations within that market to maximize the profit potential.

For example, when the NBA Playoffs are about to start, I would draft KLAC Radio because the Lakers post-season games will probably increase their audience. For this week, with the cold and snow storm sweeping the northern part of the country, I would bid for KOA in Denver and WCCO Minneapolis, figuring their audiences will rise as people seek weather coverage. And so it goes.

Some of the radio publications would then start publishing the dates that the leading air personalities' contracts will end so that we can ponder their free agency. If we think that the top rated morning man will change stations next summer, we might not draft his or her station for the year. We'll be seeking rumors and speculation about which stations will be up for trade in the various market clusters.

A format change will be devastating as an injury to a (fantasy) general manager. Many times format changes mean a reduction, if not short term elimination, of commercial time, along with firings. Both of those mean reduced revenue for that station for the short term. Or the long term if the new format is not successful.

Shall we schedule a draft?

Steve Dahl signs off Chicago's JACK-FM

It's the radio version of the chicken or the egg. Rumors were abundant all week that Steve Dahl would be fired any minute from Chicago's JACK-FM as CBS Radio continues its cost slashing.

On Friday morning (Dec. 5th), Dahl told the remaining listeners that we was signing off and ending his show. It's the old "You can't fire me - I quit!" story, unless there is more than meets the ear.

Dahl's contract is/was supposed to run well into 2011. I suppose it is possible that both Dahl and CBS have agreed to make it appear as a resignation to avoid further embarassment. CBS has suffered with JACK-FM in Chicago, although a recent tweak toward more 80's music has stimulated a few more listeners into November. Yet, Dahl's ratings got to the point of being worse than some of the music hours. Let alone that Dahl was the only live voice on the station.

I'm betting that there will be no replacement named, and the station will go right back to their music format in the morning. Dahl was moved over to JACK-FM due to a format change at the former WCKG Radio on which he did afternoons for a few years as his ratings bounced up and down.

CBS Radio had dumped its Oldies format on 104.3 FM to become JACK-FM, which has yet to catch on in Chicago. Meanwhile, WLS-FM and its oldies format, consisting of former 104.3 personalities, has now entered the top 6 overall in the November monthly Chicago ratings, taking that format to near its highest level in recent memory.

Meanwhile, CBS Radio in Chicago has already rid itself of the $1,000,000+ contracts of morning hosts Mike North (formerly WSCR-AM) and Eddie and Jobo from B-96 FM. Next comes Dahl. Ooops, this is supposedly a resignation.

During his "sign-off" speech on the air, those few who were listening heard him complain about how the PPM audience measurement is hurting those stations which don't play music because the PPM's account for "background listening". I supposed Dahl was too busy inventing his excuse to notice that WBBM-AM is a top rated station in Chicago, and they have been all news for 40 years. Hardly a background choice, especially in today's economy.

Come to think of it, this story today is probably the most people who have heard about Steve Dahl in a number of years.