The end of an era in St. Louis

Wow. It almost seems un-American. To see the latest radio ratings for St. Louis and not see KMOX in the top spot. First time in more than 40 years that has happened.



http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/10/the_mighty_mox_has_fallen_kmox_out_as_no_1_station_in_st_louis.php

Now it will be interesting to see if or how the station rebounds from this.

But I have to tell you. I think this is the start of the decline of KMOX. Just like WGN in Chicago, the one-time "full service" stations have gone the more typical "radio way" and stopped caring about continuity and programming. Listeners, especially the older audience who grew up with these stations, are smart enough to notice that the effort just isn't what it used to be.

Radio "sadness" from Los Angeles

Two radio stories in the news over the past few days each bringing a different form of sadness.

First, sorry to learn of the health struggles of Bob Coburn, now even more limited in his ability to do even a weekend shift on KLOS Radio. Coburn has been a fixture on KLOS going back more than 20 years, and is also remembered fondly in Chicago from his days on WLUP around 1980. He was the first to put "Ma Nugent" (Ted's mother) on the radio and discuss the issues with her. This was in the days when album rock stations didn't do any phone bits other than the morning show, and back then most morning shows were music driven.

Next, a great memory brought back in the Los Angeles Times story about KRLA, KFWB, and KHJ and its personalities.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-then4-2009oct04,0,3720458.story


It is great to read the memories this story brings back, but sad in the sense that it reminds us how local personalities continue to go away in practically every market.

While this is not intended to be a plug for the RadioRecordings airchecks, it might help to know that many of the Los Angeles personalities mentioned in the story are available via airchecks at http://www.MajorLeaguePrograms.com

I would be delighted to share memories that you have of these great personalities.

Radio losses................

Sorry to see the recent radio “losses” which have nothing to do with cash flow and bottom line. One way or another, radio has lost 3 major contributors within the past week. Unfortunately, 2 are due to deaths.

Earl Finckle, the radio weather voice of several radio stations around the country who probably enjoyed his biggest success on Milwaukee radio for more than 30 years, passed away over the weekend. He will be remembered for his hard work of personally predicting local weather forecasts accurately enough to make his living from it year after year as much as, or even more than, his easy going radio demeanor.

We also lost long time radio and TV game show host and voice Ken Roberts over the past weekend.

Yet, the “loss” that will generate the most talk was not from a death, but from the 4th of July marking the end of a radio institution. There will probably always be a “countdown” of the top hits of the day as well as oldies lists and songs to fit whatever the format. But there will always have been only one “American Top 40”. As of this week, that is past tense.

Casey Kasem quietly aired his final “Casey’s Top 40” show this past weekend after 39 years of “counting ‘em down all the way to number one” and reaching for the stars every single week. The only good part of this is that Casey says he is not retiring and will continue working on other projects even at the age of 77. For a while, maybe we can forget about Casey losing the “American Top 40” show to another host and basically having to compete against himself, along with all of the typical radio “stuff” that was thrown his way over the past 15 years. We should remember Casey taking such a simple idea and making millions with it.

Every radio market had a “top 40” station and a survey of music sales and requests which it updated every week and caught the attention of the 12 – 34 audience around the country wondering what would be the next number 1 song. In the early 70’s, Casey managed to get a countdown show broadcast around the country, usually on a weekend shift such as Saturday night or Sunday morning.

American Top 40 was recorded early in the week and literally mailed to all of the participating radio stations on vinyl records throughout the 70’s. Each segment would be separated by grooves, just like album tracks used to be. As a result, stations could program as few or as many commercials as they could sell. Designed to be a 3 hour program, the show might end in under that time, or run 10 or 15 minutes “over”, depending on how local stations would handle it.

Somehow, the records themselves were of high enough quality not to skip or stick, as so many of our consumer LP’s would when we would play them at home. As a result, there are probably some people who just read the previous paragraph and had no idea that the show was not some sort of a live feed every weekend at the same time.

That’s the way to remember Casey. The simple idea, and making it seem dramatic as “we count down the hits until we reach the top” as if even he wasn’t sure what was coming. Add in his extras, and an occasional oldie or dedication and you had the radio show for all time. Taken from the most simple idea anyone has come up with.

I’ll admit that I probably haven’t heard a fresh “Casey’s Top 40” in at least 2 years, and didn’t even know which station aired it locally. But upon learning that he has finished doing the show, I can tell you that now there is still another void on AM/FM radio as we knew it. Thanks, Casey, and keep reaching for the stars………………

PPM ratings are the talk of the music stations

As the latest set of monthly radio ratings come out for the larger markets being measured by the PPM system, the reaction to the changes in trends across the country is becoming more widespread. Many within and outside of the industry are putting blame on the new audience measurement system (devices worn by participants which automatically detect signals and length of time listened compared with writing down stations listened to in a diary). The other school of thought is that this method is “righting a wrong” and the differences may have been the real case all along.

Having been a broadcaster, radio advertiser, and radio ad salesman over the years, along with having worked for a radio research service for a couple years, I’m going to weigh in somewhere in the middle on this one.

Music stations are way up across the country, while talk and news/talk stations have generally dropped. Based on observation, my feeling is that talk (including news and sports) stations may no longer be getting the ratings status they used to enjoy, but probably remain the better buy for advertisers seeking that audience. Even if or as talk stations show a reduced audience in comparison, they remain more aggressively listened to than music stations.

If you are listening for news headlines, an interview, or a live report, chances are that station will have your full attention more often than when music is playing. It is human nature. Talk is less likely to be a background. On the other hand, music stations are often playing while people are talking with each other, working, doing household chores, walking, driving, or some form of activity requiring at least a portion of their attention.

My theory on this goes as follows. When people (participating in the ratings via whichever method) are listening to news, talk, or sports, they are paying close attention, even if for 5 to 15 minutes. The commercials they hear stand a better chance of reaching an attentive listener. But when those same people switch back to a music station, they stop listening as attentively (or aggressively, as I call it) and may sing along to a good song while doing the task at hand.

With a ratings diary, they are/were more apt to remember listening to 15 minutes of news. But they may have written down they listened to ½ hour of music when in fact a radio station playing music within their range might have been on around them for 2 hours. With the PPM measurement, that 15 minutes of aggressive listening to the news counts as a negative toward the news station compared with the 2 hours of the music station on nearby showing up on the PPM measurements.

Los Angeles provides the best example of this point. AMP 97.1 FM dropped its talk format (after its ratings had doubled since the first of THIS year) and went to a Contemporary Top 40 format a few weeks ago to compete with KIIS-FM among others. The just announced May ratings for Los Angeles, using the PPM measurement, show the new AMP 97.1 as 4th overall in the market with ratings well above anything the previous KLSX got in years. KIIS-FM came in at number 1 in the market.

The same ratings report shows all-news (for more than 35 years) KNX-AM at 17th overall, and it easily beat out sister news station KFWB overall. KNX used to be a regular in the top 10 in its target audience during most dayparts. Struggling sports radio KLAC has now doubled its ratings from 1 year ago – when it was still diary measurement.

No, it is not just Los Angeles. Chicago’s WGN Radio, which has ranked no lower than 3rd for something like 25 years under the diary system, now fails to make the Top 10 in some dayparts and is in the process of shuffling its entire morning and midday lineup. It’s afternoon shift changed earlier this year.

I may be one of the few who does understand how the change to PPM measurements are impacting the radio marketplace. But what I don’t understand is how the radio stations that play music continue to focus on “the same 500 songs” and 5 minute and longer commercial clusters all day and all week long. They should be focused on getting the listeners to listen more closely. THAT is when the PPM measurement will make a difference for advertisers.

Talk stations go to FM - what a waste

I don't even like hip-hop, but I'm all for it in this instance. It is becoming more commonplace within the past few weeks for "non-music" formats to move to or start up on the FM side.

Now comes word from San Antonio that KPWT 106.7 FM has let go of its air personalities and is abandoning its hip-hop format. And for what, you ask?

KPWT just became that city's only FM talk station. And with mostly syndicated shows. And this serves the local market how????

It's all about money. Syndicated shows don't cost nearly as much as local personalities. Pretty soon, not playing music will likely save stations money by not having to pay performance royalties.

My http://MajorLeaguePrograms.blogspot.com blog gives a few more examples of sports stations going to FM.

Sure, save a few bucks here and there. But what about the audience?

Here are station executives sitting there getting paid to wonder why their audience isn't as large as it once was, so they change to a cheaper method.

I've been saying this for months, but it bears saying again. During the course of my day I listen to satellite radio and to my MP3 player. In both cases, it is to hear something that I USED TO easily get, and "free" on my AM/FM Radio. (That being Howard Stern and my favorite music, respectively.)

Now, I pay a monthly fee for satellite radio, and have spent over a hundred dollars on an MP3 player plus the time involved with getting my favorite music on there.

The music stations I used to love hour after hour have narrowed their playlists down to a few hundred songs. I own more songs that I like than they play, including the ones they program that I don't like. So why bother listening to their music programming?

Now some AM/FM stations respond by taking away music.

The audience and the advertisers suffer because of it.

As if the Zune would make people notice HD Radio?

This morning I saw the articles about how Microsoft is planning to come out with an upgraded version of the Zune player this fall, which will include an HD Radio.

Later on I saw a story about how some broadcasters are pleased about this. Say what?

Let me get this straight. I could have my entire music collection with hundreds of my favorite songs in the palm of my hand, and could choose the specific songs I want to hear immediately in any order. Yet, there are people with Microsoft and at radio stations that think I would CHOOSE to listen to a radio station instead?

I have been saying this regularly for the past 3 years, and this is occasion to say it again. If the radio broadcasters had not gone to limited playlists, clusters of commercials after commercials, recorded and syndicated programming, and fewer promotions, then MP3 players and all of the other technical "distractions" from radio would not have made such a major dent in the consumer marketplace.

Here I am paying a monthly fee for satellite radio and carrying an MP3 player in my pocket which cost me over $150. Once upon a time, I didn't need these things, since my radio brought me all of the music I enjoyed along with news and sports. In other words, I'm basically paying to avoid AM and FM radio as it is now, and I live in a large market with more radio choices than a lot of other people have.

Why would the Zune make the effort to have an HD Radio, and why would people pay more to get it? Give me a break.

Remembering Beaker Street show

Isn't amazing how you can go for years without remembering something, and then once you hear a name, it all comes back to you?

This seems to be happening with our Radio Recordings Series when people find out that we have added a few airchecks of " Beaker Street " from KAAY Little Rock from nearly 40 years ago. During the 60's and early 70's, KAAY was a powerhouse station covering a wide area of the country at night.

Their late night program, called " Beaker Street " (and I still don't know where that name came from) and its host Clyde Clifford helped to pioneer the 'underground radio' sound of the day. Actually, some FM stations were doing this at night, taking advantage of the stereo sound that FM had to offer. But KAAY was perhaps the first station of any significance to air this on the AM dial.

Complete with background sounds and a playlist which was extremely varied, Clyde would feature album tracks not generally played on any radio station, let alone a Top 40 style one. He would play some tracks which were more than 7 minutes in length all the way through. Heck, there are stations today that still won't do that. One of the airchecks we feature has Clyde playing a 14 minute track all the way through.

Yet, all these years later, fans of the radio stations and the music of the late 60's and early 70's, including many who listened to KAAY, had completely forgotten about this landmark radio show. Until they hear the name " Beaker Street " and then Clyde Clifford.

This has quickly become among the more popular airchecks available through MajorLeaguePrograms.com.

But the point is how it is forgotten one minute, and an "oh yeah! I remember that!" within a matter of seconds - every time.

What ever happened to Saturdays on the radio?

Even as radio stations continue to eliminate the high priced talent and scale back local programming like there is no tomorrow (and in some cases there may not be), I was reminded of times years ago when the leading personalities worked a 6 day week on the air with no questions asked. But you wouldn't know that today, even with all of the cutbacks.

What reminded me is some feedback we received from one of our RadioRecordings.com airchecks which has been a good seller. Houston area residents over the age of 35 most certainly remember the morning team of Hudson & Harrigan and their (then) unique blend of humor and how well they blended together on the air.

A compilaton of 2 of the airchecks from the 1970's has been very well received. What makes this more interesting is that one of the segments was from a Saturday morning. Yet, the Hudson & Harrigan are on doing some "bits" and entertaining like any other morning. The only difference is more music and less news and traffic. Most personalities, including morning drive, worked a 6 day week back then.

Now, the morning personalities are the highest paid on most stations and have gone on over the years to be on air the least. Sure, I can understand how bringing in the audience and consequently the ad revenue deserves some reward. But those were different econonmic times.

Yet, these days, stations are paying weekend "fill-in" talent to do the same shifts the high powered drive-time talent used to as part of their deal. Radio executives now use the argument that "the Saturday morning audience isn't as large as the weekday audience". While they have a point, there is also a listener "argument".

"The talent level isn't there on the weekends like it is during the week." If these stations are going to throw us a bone on the weekends, then us listeners have fewer reasons to get excited about our favorite stations. In a time when there are generally fewer reasons for us to get excited about our favorite stations as it is.

At this rate, the great rememberances of Hudson & Harrigan are as much to enjoy what Saturday radio USED TO BE as they are to recall what a great morning team they were.

It's what you do with a radio that counts.........

Typical radio industry attempt at publicity these days. There was a story earlier this week that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed that he doesn't own a radio.

Then a story about how the HD Radio Alliance and Clearance Channel in D.C. "sprung into action". The story is that WIHT Washington had one of their air personalities deliver a new HD Radio and FM adapter to the White House for Gibbs use.

I guess they consider this a publicity stunt. I don't. They would have been better off to let the story get buried. Face it. If the guy is on the White House staff he is probably too busy to know what HD Radio is. He sees the AM and FM stations and networks all the time. HD Radio doesn't offer separate or original news. My hunch is that Gibbs is like a lot of others these days. Maybe he got tired of the clusters of endless commercials, lack of competition in radio newsrooms to actually investigate and break a story, and music playlists limited to a few hundred songs. I'm sure if he really "wanted" a radio, he would have one.

The fact that Gibbs appearantly was getting along without one speaks more volume than the "on/off" button.

Some people just don't get it.

Remembering Paul Harvey

The death of Paul Harvey on Saturday truly marks the end of an era in radio. Like many baby boomers, this sad news took me back to being a child and my parents making it a point to listen to Paul Harvey News & Comment when we were in the car or all together.

Yet, as much as I tried not to like something that my parents wanted to listen to, I couldn't help but develop an early fascination for the style and delivery of this great announcer. It was as though these news stories happened only because Paul Harvey said they did.

A style that never will be matched for capturing and holding the listeners' attention. Anything from political to the offbeat, and all points in between. One could think that the "man bites dog" story he delivered happened because the dog couldn't listen to Paul.

I never admitted it at the time, but there were a few times that I changed my radio dial over to the "old people's station" to hear Paul Harvey on my own.

A lot of people seem to remember Paul Harvey more for his "The Rest of the Story", and that certainly was an interesting show. To me, it was nowhere near what "News and Comment" was. I reasoned that Harvey had as much time as needed to write and produce "The Rest of the Story", especially as good as it was.

But "News and Comment" was 15 minutes every weekday. That meant coming up with fresh and timely stories, and putting them into his unique writing and delivery style on a deadline. Truly incredible.

He could read as fast or faster than anyone. Yet every word was clearly understood. He was able to put significant inflection in his voice. Whether it was sad and serious, funny, or any point in between, Paul Harvey could deliver the goods. Day after day, week after week, and year after year after year.

Paul Harvey WAS the rest of the story.

Is it really promoting the competition?

It seems that what's left of the CBS Radio empire has gone back to some level of cross-promotion among its cluster of stations. It has been going on in Chicago off and on over the past couple of years. The news station will run a spot for a music station, and occasionally cross promote sports broadcasts with the all-sports station in the cluster.

Yet, in New York, I saw the story that WFAN's Mike Francesa was "annoyed" to hear a promo air during this afternoon drive show for sister FM station WXRK's afternoon show, now hosted by Chris Booker.

Years ago, I felt the same way. There was always the "Why send any listener elsewhere at any time?" vibe felt throughout the station. I remember being stunned back in the 70's when a Chicago "beautiful music" station (oops - showing my age again) traded out with Newsradio 78. Each did a "When you want the news........." or "When you want to hear beautiful music...." type spot. I understood they were not competition, but was still opposed to it because it could send listeners in another direction. What if they can't find their way back? They could stop on another station before they get to yours on the return.

But just as my views on certain things have done a 180 over the years, I would have to say I have done that here. It has nothing to do with clusters doing what is now cross promotion. (The 70's incident I referred to was with different ownership, back in the day when one owner could only have a maximum of one AM and one FM in a single market.)

Now, it is radio competing against the alternatives which have come along. The playing field is way different. The idea is to keep people listening to the radio, moreso than one station vs. the next. I get it.

This is a way to try and combat my point that if radio had maintained a strong level of programming there wouldn't be this much "competition" for my ears.

So if one AM or FM station can point out a program that could be of interest and keep my attention on the radio, I see the purpose. It is no longer "which station?" but a matter of if I, or others, would be willing to turn on the "regular" radio.

Personally, I was born and bred on radio. Back to my days in grammar school of having a 20 foot transmitter kit in my bedroom and putting the microphone up against my turntable speakers to host "my" radio show every weekend. Coming home at lunch to listen to a few songs. The whole story, while knowing at the time I wanted to work in the industry.

But I fast forward 40 years. As I write this, it is mid-afternoon of a typical weekday to my ears.
I woke up this morning to a classic rock FM station, and listened for 15 minutes while I shaved, showered, and got dressed to start my day. I get the weather and a couple of headlines and a set of 3 or 4 songs every morning.

Since then, I listened to satellite radio for 45 minutes on my way in (Howard Stern, if you need to know what), and I have since listened to over 6 hours of an internet music channel online at my desk. When I went out for lunch and to run an errand, I heard about 45 minutes of tunes on my MP3 player.

Stern is gone from over-the-air and successfully taken his show to a better venue. He is the majority of the reason I pay for satellite radio. The songs I heard over the hours online and, of course, on my MP3 player, are mostly songs I don't hear anymore (if at all) on the radio, but did when they first came out.

Years ago those 7 hours of my day would have easily been spent on a couple of radio stations with no questions asked, and back the next day for more. No more. Yet, if radio had maintained the true local personality and more thorough playlists, along with shorter and more reasonable commercial breaks, I wouldn't have thought of spending money on satellite and an MP3 player and music I want to hear on it.

As a result, I understand completely that if I'm listening to WFAN for sports talk, maybe I'd want to hear Chris Booker and his knowledge on K-Rock (or whatever they are calling it with this week's format) when I'm done listening to sports talk. It would keep me away from the "competition", which is no longer AM and FM radio.