let's be civil...

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

First, I love this list and everyone on it, but whenever it deteriorates
into name-calling (or wishing for people's demise), it strikes me as very
counter-productive.  Radio has enough problems-- if we can spend our time
addressing them and offering some solutions, that is a better use of the
bandwidth, it seems to me.

Mike Thomas wrote--

>Tell ya what Dan, If YOU think full service community radio can still work,
>why don't you BUY a little AM somewhere, upgrade the equipment, hire an
>airstaff, a news staff, an office staff, and put your quaint little format on
>the air. 

Umm, with all due respect, I think community oriented full-service radio CAN
still work, if done right.  I believe there IS a need for a station to be
competitive in the area of news and investigative reporting, some sports,
some older music that still sounds good (big band or swing are just two
genres that appeal to older people-- many of today's 50 year olds like rock
music... check out who is going to those classic rock concerts-- it's not
just teenagers...) 

I grant that full service is a tough format to do and it can be expensive.
But it can also be compelling and an essential part of a community, in which
case, advertisers WILL support it.  I clearly recall all the money the old
WHDH used to make doing full-service, and that was true right up through the
mid 1980s.

The big question for all of us as the population ages is:  what does TODAY'S
50 year old want?  We know what they used to want, but the boomers are quite
different from the older adults of generations past... program directors
will have to really do some serious thinking about that 50+ demographic as
more and more people move into it, and ad agencies too will be forced to
look at it.  What happens next could be very interesting...   

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