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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.
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.
WKTI-FM 94.5 Milwaukee became the latest Milwaukee station to change formats, with an all-of-a-sudden switch at high Noon today (Thurs. Nov. 6). The "hot contemporary" format they had been doing as recently as this morning disappeared, and on came "Lake 94.5" with an "all music no air personality" approach. It looks as though the air staff is being let go. Word is the station will not have air personalities until 2009 at the earliest. So those are the facts. Thus far, the playlist is 60's to today with no live announcers. They don't say "Jack-FM", but I would say it's only because they can't. But they might as well. After all, that is the best excuse to not have any air personalities and cut back on payroll. Once upon a time when AM + FM radio actually made a difference, Milwaukee radio had some degree of innovation and was a breeding ground for young talent headed to Chicago and points beyond. Now, this market recycles everybody else's ideas that are killing the radio we once knew, enjoyed, and cared about.Last week's Milwaukee format change was 95.7 FM suspending their classic hits (yep, remembering you can't say "oldies" anymore) format to begin playing holiday music during the warmest start to a November in many years. In September, it was WOKY-AM dumping their retro 60's rock and jock format - not for talk - to change to country music with a weak night signal on the AM dial.I could go on about WKTI-FM and its place in Milwaukee radio over the years, the long time personalities, and the effort made toward its morning drive presentation. But that won't bring it back. Yes, Milwaukee radio truly got "Jacked" today. Again.
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......................
