Re: Morning Shows.

["Aaron [Bishop] Read" <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 12:03 PM 7/8/2002, Peter Murray wrote:
>Diverting for a moment from the Lydon conversation....
>
>Why doesn't WFNX just do what they do best? Stop trying to compete with
>the multitude of morning shows, and go with less morning show and more
>music? I haven't listened to their show recently, but with all the talk on
>the former local Concert Network affiliate, they stand a chance of taking
>the 'modern rock' ball and running with it... Perhaps some notes from the
>Y100 (WPLY-Media, PA) Morning Show are in order... That's a successful,
>funny, non-tasteless humor-based morning show, and they still manage to
>focus on the music - and sell a good amount of ad time.
>
>-Peter Murray (N3IXY)
>Pittsburgh, PA

You hit the nail on the head, Peter.   FNX used to be really cutting-edge 
back in the 1980's.  Granted their audience was smaller but they're a Class 
A station, they ain't gonna reach as many people no matter what they 
do.  Then in the late 80's/early 90's they shifted to more modern rock, and 
then WBCN became the modern rock juggernaut and FNX made the unexplainable 
move in 1995 or so to change their format to be "at war" with WBCN.  So now 
both stations play the same music, but WBCN has three times the signal 
range & power....and FNX wondered why they were losing?

It's my understanding FNX was always a money-losing (or break-even at best) 
play area for Steve Mindich, and the station was largely subsidized by the 
Phoenix.    Their expansion into a network (and the unforgivable sin of 
taking out WWRX, arguably the best classic rock station in southern New 
England) has probably made FNX profitable, although I doubt it's terribly so.

I also know for a fact that the pay at FNX is usually minimum wage or one 
step above....I saw an ad for "full time chief engineer" and rattled off a 
list of job requirements that any normal station would pay $60k for at 
least with the network FNX is running, and they were offering $25-$33k 
DOE   Gimme a break.


____________________________________________
Aaron "Bishop" Read     aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels.com Technical Consulting
www.friedbagels.com   AOL-IM: ReadAaron
"I'm weird, but around here it's barely noticeable."