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Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 05, 2007, 12:38:20 pm To follow up on a point I made earlier concerning Media Consolidation as broadening a prior discussion on radio, I came across an article on the net about how radio is run these days, the monopolies, the then vs. now. And perhaps the trends spoken of in the article may shed some light upon why other areas of media leave much to be desired.
The following was written by a former WTIX DJ out of New Orleans, and should you think this is a regional issue, think again. http://www.walkerpub.com/radio_consultants.html#anchor5187099 My take on this is that before the companies like Entercom or Clear Channel took it over, there was a certain degree of autonomy, uniqueness and local feel to radio and media in general. Bring in consultants and monopolies, and watch it go downhill. Discuss. Title: Radio and Media Post by: Ed W on July 05, 2007, 02:13:48 pm Tulsa's radio spectrum is boring. Your choices are limited to rock, classic rock, top forty, hip hop, and both country AND western. The same playlists scroll endlessly, year after year. The Rogers State station is one exception. I don't always like what they play, but it's refreshing to encounter a station that's nearly public access.
Satellite radio may offer more diversity. I don't know because I don't have one - yet. Also, the FCC proposed micro FM stations some time ago. I don't know if that idea met formal approval. The plan would allow very low power FM broadcasting that could cover a neighborhood. The big broadcasters opposed it, citing interference issues, but I suspect part of it was they were afraid of losing market share. Regardless, even a micro station would be a hungry, content monster. Title: Radio and Media Post by: sgrizzle on July 05, 2007, 02:19:42 pm Internet Radio in the car is an upcoming ability that will change the radio market. Unlimited radio stations.
Of course, The label big wigs are trying to shut down internet radio right now and may succeed this month. Title: Radio and Media Post by: BKDotCom on July 05, 2007, 02:26:24 pm quote:Internet radio's future is a bit uncertain. http://www.savenetradio.org/ Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 05, 2007, 03:03:46 pm My mind goes back to my childhood and teen years in the Tulsa area, and of the radio stations KELI (that's 1430AM as well as its 1980s sister station 92K), KMOD, KAYI (K107) and KMYZ.
KELI in the 1970s played just the right mix of rock, top 40 and disco in just the right amounts; 92K played the right mix of rock and top 40. KMOD was always rock, but often unpredictable; it would play the rock hits, but sometimes go off the beaten path and try a few obscurities. KMYZ had a good mix of classic rock, rock and top 40, while K107 played only the current rock and pop hits-of which there was much variety. Radio had something for everyone. And this seemed to be the pattern in many markets, not just in Tulsa or even in New Orleans. The radio stations were very much a product of their locality, refvlecting and catering to local tastes. There was obviously some autonomy with these stations that allwoed for some exploration and experimentation; they apparently assembled their own playlists and built their audiences over time. I'm not slamming free enterprise, but once the big corporations and consultants got into the act, the local feel and the variety went out the window. Go ahead, click on the link-it'll make the point even better. Title: Radio and Media Post by: AMP on July 05, 2007, 09:00:36 pm Radio used to be a good buy for advertising our events. But today with over 30 stations in every market, you cannot own the media like back when there was KELI, KAKC, KVOO and KRMG.
Takes around $50K in Tulsa and over $90K in OKC for a 6 day run just to be heard today. Newspaper is even worse for us. Best I have found is direct mail, and Internet forums and direct email. Plus I use a service that broadcasts mass text messages to specific cell numbers of our participants and those interested in knowing of events, cancelations and changes. Title: Radio and Media Post by: TheArtist on July 06, 2007, 07:43:15 am Seems to be the direction of everything these days. Large, broad and generalized, or small, targeted and specialized.
Check out your local magazine rack. You used to not have the selection you can find today. Now you have the large general magazines like "Time" and all kinds of niche ones like "skateboarders with big hair" or whatever lol. Same thing with local newspapers. We now have one large rag and lots of small niche ones. Same with many types of products. You can try to sell to everyone and compete with the big companies or you can make things that are custom and specific to each customer. General every day merchandise or high quality and handmade. Title: Radio and Media Post by: billintulsa on July 06, 2007, 09:08:22 am quote: I read that report non-stop (save for a few breaks I took to turn cartwheels in delight of what I was reading). I spent more than 25 years in radio and am very proud to say that my first job was at KAKC AM 970 "back in the day." I remember visiting friends of mine who were working shifts at the flying saucer on the fairgrounds (KELI) and occasionally riding the elevator to the top of Liberty Towers to visit with some buds at KRMG. But this was back when radio was still mostly locally owned and operated. We knew who the broadcasters were because they were neighbors, not people recording their bits in their bedrooms using a computer. Local radio was just that: local. Now it's as local as WalMart; a large corporation with a sterile sound and even more antiseptic appearance. I encourage everyone to read the comments made on the link Mr. Jaynes provided and, if you feel so inclined, follow the advice at the end of the post. Remaining inactive will only result in the same. Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 06, 2007, 01:32:24 pm The other point to make is when a station changes its format, or merely rearranges its programming. Again, this has less to do with community tastes and more to do with corporate fiat and dictate.
Title: Radio and Media Post by: sauerkraut on July 06, 2007, 01:43:25 pm I'm too old for music anymore. I like Tulsa's talk radio stations, KRMG 740 and 1170 am. I like Gwen Freeman's morn radio show. The music stations are just the same old songs over & over, I switched to something new talk radio.[:)]
Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 06, 2007, 03:16:35 pm 1170, isn't that KVOO?
Title: Radio and Media Post by: swake on July 06, 2007, 03:27:42 pm quote: Not anymore. They changed formats. The new format is pretty ground breaking. It’s all Anti-Immigration, all the time. Riveting stuff. I have been having a little fun with 1170 driving to work in the mornings. I’ll tune there when I get in my car and stay on 1170 until I hear the words Illegal or Immigrant and then switch the station to something else. My over/under is about 15 seconds. Title: Radio and Media Post by: Conan71 on July 06, 2007, 03:30:49 pm Whoulda thought that getting rid of Michael Del Whacko wouldn't be an improvement for KFAQ?
Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 07, 2007, 12:30:35 am quote: So they are not Big Country Radio anymore? Title: Radio and Media Post by: sauerkraut on July 07, 2007, 10:35:59 am quote:It's something else now,(1170)- I forgot the call letters. it's a radio talk show station. I'm a big fan of Gwen Freeman I got to see her in person this spring when I was in Tulsa, she's a sweet little thing and stands 5'3" or something like that. She was at a shopping center in BA by the Wal-Mart on 71st street. I agree with much of Gwen's point of view. She has a very intresting local radio talk show. She took over that radio show form some guy who moved to Nashville, TN. I think Gwen is a better host than he was.[:)] Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 07, 2007, 02:11:29 pm So 1170 is talk radio now and not KVOO? What is its overall political bent?
Title: Radio and Media Post by: marc on July 08, 2007, 12:18:45 am quote: It's very conservative politically. The previous morning show host spent a lot of time condemning gambling, but had his own troubles while visiting a couple of area casinos. He has moved on to Nashville, and his former sidekick Gwen Freeman is now the principal host, along with Chris Medlock, a former member of the city council who recently ran for mayor and lost. And swake is right, they spend a whole lot of time on illegal immigration. 1170 KFAQ also carries a number of national programs, all conservative, including Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson. Local talk radio is too conservative for my taste, but the conservatives pretty much dominate talk radio nationally as well. Title: Radio and Media Post by: sauerkraut on July 08, 2007, 12:11:35 pm I really enjoy Tulsa's talk radio format. Color me a bit old fashioned, but I like to listen to Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Neal Bortz and Rush L. and even Mike Savage. I like Gwen Freeman's morn. show, she seems to be right on the level and telling it like it is. Immigration is a big issue in "T" Town and so that is why she talks about it alot. I listen to many of those radio shows back home in Ohio, since they are all on nation~wide. Mike Savage is very popular and he has something like 400 radio station nation wide that carry his show. On the weekends I like to listen to Kim Komando, she's on in Tulsa Sunday Afternoons on KRMF radio 740. Monica Crowley is also intresting to listen to on the weekends.
Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 08, 2007, 03:32:39 pm As I tell everyone, it's nice to listen to Talk Radio of any ideological stripe, but it is no substitute to watching the news or going to the library to research the issues for yourself. I may be liberal, but my opinions aren't dictated by Al Franken (whom I've long enjoyed): they are strictly my own.
Title: Radio and Media Post by: rwarn17588 on July 08, 2007, 04:02:08 pm About the only KFAQ show that doesn't insult my intelligence is the "Brian and the Judge" in the afternoons, and thats only because Napolitano is there to correct that airhead Kilmeade.
O'Reilly indeed has become more independent, but his noise-to-signal ratio is still way too high. The rest are immature, poorly informed gasbags. Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 08, 2007, 04:50:36 pm quote: Though I'm not in a locale that can get this KFAQ, I am indeed familiar with Andrew Napolitano and Brian Kilmeade, and have occasionally heard their show on the Net. I am baffled as to how an erudite and accomplished man such as Napolitano, even in a political context, could even condescend to team up with a troglodyte like Brian Kilmeade. And I'm further baffled as to how Brian Kilmeade (whose forte is obviously sports, though even here, he couldn't hold a candle to Bob Costas or Stuart Scott), should be taken seriously as a credible voice on geopolitics and the Washington scene. Bill O'Reilly is a genre unto himself, in my humble opinion. One never really knows which way he'll go on an issue. I've only heard his radio show a few times, but it does seem to have a different feel in terms of style and substance than his TV show (and not because of the fact it's radio either). As for the pantheon of "gasbags" taking up space on conservative talk radio (And, for this individual post, I'm not even gonna mention Sean Hannity-we all know what I think about him), I'd say that Laura Ingraham definitely has a seat at that table. I've heard her a few times too, and I'm wondering, is she a radio talk show host, a pundit, a crazywoman, what? Has she had her rabies shot yet? Yes, we get talk radio down here too. Title: Radio and Media Post by: rwarn17588 on July 08, 2007, 07:14:54 pm True story: The first time I heard Ingraham, I thought she was a he.
I guess she IS female, although she gives off a tranny vibe. And yes, Mr. Jaynes, your assessment of her show is spot-on. Title: Radio and Media Post by: sabre1067 on July 08, 2007, 07:38:54 pm this is just crazy.
don't get me wrong consultants are the root of all evil. but these companies goal is to turn profit for shareholders, so why wouldn't they do which is most likely to make that happen. i hear you, "that's exactly the problem". do you say that about Albertson's? AMC?, Cinemark?, Walgreens?, or any of these other companies. Of any of these huge multi-billion corporations, at least radio, or media companies, care about the local angle. you don't see alberstons with a 'Oklahoma grown section'. The media company that i work for is constantly poll radio listeners to create the best product possible. What should be addressed even more is the amount of money these multi-billion evil empires pour into the communities, and provide local jobs and pay them, respectfully, with the certainty of the check clearing, which isn't the way it was when i worked for a 'family owned' company. Trickle that down, that money those EVIL companies pay their local people goes into local grocery stores, local events, doctors offices and malls (which are also run by multi billion dollar corporations). What i am getting at is 1) we are surround by corporations only wanting to turn a profit and 2) it's just not like that article says. The company i work for has NEVER EVER told me what to play or how to play or what to say. It's exactly the same as it was when i worked for a mom and pop organization. Actually i remember the owner of the company telling me to not play a hit song because he didn't like it. At least now i know paycheck will clear, i have good benefits and job security. AND they aren't going to move me to Houston, like a Phillips or Williams. My job is here. Internet radio will be great, just like it was great when TV, Cable TV, Cassettes, CDs, iPods and satellite radio were introduced and 'crush' radio. It will make all the products better. Ever company, mom or pop, only care about making money too, not you or if they are local. I don't know a very successful business that would lose money in the spirit of customers or localism. And the attitude of "DON"T LISTEN DON'T REPORT" is just plain silly. There is only one reason a radio station flips format, and that is no one buys advertising on the station. and please tell me the people on this forum don't take blog's with teal background and yellow damasks seriously. Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 09, 2007, 02:21:13 am quote: Ya know, now that you mention it, I checked through some media files (video and audio) on various sites that would have some of Miss Thingraham's appearances on Fox News etc, listened to her spiel, and you're absolutely right. There does seem to be something in her voice that may tend to indicate that. But, hey, I'm a big-tent kinda guy, and so in passing, sometimes socially, and even in my work, I've known a few female impersonators in my day (both full fledged divas and mere pretenders to the throne); I doubt that any of them would claim her. Seriously though. I've listened to some of her diatribes, and she comes off as only slightly more rational than Ann Coulter or Michelle Malkin. Her arguments, as best as I can figure them out to be, are obviously based less on clear unbiased facts, and more on spin, innuendo, and immature, viciously petulant partisanship. quote: Ya had me there for a moment, then ya lost me; so many arguments in your post and in so many directions. OK, let's tackle this one thing at a time. First, to compare these large media concerns to companies such as Walgreens is completely out of context. Each serve a particular national need or want. Media is a business, but different in its scope and purpose. The topic was corporate radio and the near monopoly companies such as Clear Channel and others have on the media as we know it. It would seem that radio today is less autonomous and more micromanaged by the bigger companies, basing its programming less on what the community's preferences are at any given time, and more on the dubious demographical research the consultants trot out. With it, the quality of such programming decreases somewhat. Radio once reflected the tastes of the communities the stations once served. One only has to look at KELI in the 1970s, or even KRAV FM 96 in the 1980s to bear witness to this. An aside, I don't know what KRAV's current format is these days, but back in the day (the 1980s, the good old days of music), they'd play the hits of the day, but it also wasn't unheard of for them to play "Stairway to Heaven" every now and then, or "Classical Gas." Today, depending on the station's ownership, the music is already determined by higher management (sometimes a corporate official in another city), and it's the same throughout the country of stations of a similar format that the company owns, with few if any variations. I am not against corporations. Indeed, I am a true believer in free enterprise-and I happen to work for a large corporation with concerns throughout the US; I know where my bread is buttered, so to speak. And I realize that these huge media companies are a part of the free enterprise system, and have no problem with that either. But I do have a problem with how radio and TV is currently run by them. As for the website's decor, what would you prefer? Does teal and yellow detract from the message somewhat? Title: Radio and Media Post by: sauerkraut on July 09, 2007, 08:31:31 am quote:I really enjoy Gewn Freeman's show, but I do not like her side kick Chris Medlock, he seems to keep interupting her when she's talking or making a point, -or if he's not doing that he's making goofy comments or silly noises & trying to be funny. I find Chris Medlock plum anoying, he can't keep quiet for 10 seconds. As for comments about Laura Ingraham, check out her web site. She has a good radio talk show, she really pushed hard against that immigration amnesty bill we owe her alot of credit for that along with the other talk show hosts. Without them we could very well of had that amnesty bill pass and given 20 million illegals the right to stay here & take jobs, drive down wages, draw SS and socal services and bring their families over here. The cost of that illegal alien amnesty would of been around $2.4 Trillion dollars and would bankrupt our nation.[xx(] Title: Radio and Media Post by: cannon_fodder on July 09, 2007, 08:34:53 am I spend 45% of my radio listening on KRMG, 45% on NPR, and the other 10% on random scanning looking for something that doesn't suck.
In Iowa, it was pretty much the same thing. 50/50 with NPR and the big AM, and a little scanning. Lately I've been trying to learn Spanish by picking out every other word on 103.3 (I think thats the station). OK, not learning. But on occasion I listen to try and figure out what they are talking about. Title: Radio and Media Post by: mr.jaynes on July 09, 2007, 07:13:50 pm quote: Best way to learn Spanish is to get the genuine and clear Spanish spoken in Spain. Go to the source. |