WBZ Florida

[Pete Ferrand]

> Friday, January 16, 2004 12:06 AM Scott Fybush wrote:
> 

> >broken, it just gives the listener the image that the station and 
> >LaPierre and radio in general just doesn't give a damn. And 
> > that will 
> >be reciprocated by the listener.
> 
> But the question then becomes, where do you draw the line? 

This is a different issue, you're asking if other people's locations
should be disclosed.  It's a marketing issue. When you create a product
you establish how that product is to be perceived in the marketplace.
You want to burnish and further that image, not produce dissonance. 

My take is that the audience associates LaPierre with doing a show in
Boston, and being in Boston, and it would think he was trying to put one
over on them by doing the show from "an undisclosed location". 

Inherently it doesn't matter where one does a show, and for other
performers the audience won't give a damn, because the audience
perception for them isn't associated with doing a show in Boston. 

People have a very strong allegiance to places, second only to their
allegiance to people, so places are an effective way of marketing...but
if a station doesn't want to use it, and most don't, that is a
reasonable decision, so there's no strong expectation in the audience so
finding out where someone is of no interest whatever.


> segments) between him and the anchors to give at least a plausible 
> impression that he's in the studio. Should that be disclosed?

I've no interest in weather forecasts and have no recollection of what
this sounds like, but it's probably a good example where's there's no
image of him being in Boston being created. I have heard other station's
meteorologists talk about being in Pennsylvania, or whatever.

People do naturally want to know about people they listen to, so it
makes sense to talk about all this stuff if it can be done in an
entertaining way relevant to the listener, but again, if they don't then
there's no dissonance created when/if people find out.


> 
> Or what of the Sinclair News Central operation, where every 

Again, a different issue and one probably none of us thinks is a
particularly good way of doing news. But I would think they're not
marketing their remote anchors as born and raised in town, and you see
'em on the street.

I'd think if a viewer were told these people are someplace else, the
question would be along the lines of "how do they do that?", and "how do
they know the news?", not "how sleazy of them".

So it's not an issue with them. And not an issue with Jay Severin, doing
his show from Long Island, the location isn't part of the persona.



> twenties, and WOW 
> was it a cold walk from the parking garage to the 
> Sabres-Bruins game in 
> Buffalo tonight - but at least the B's won) 

This starts to sound deceptive. Over the last year or two the Wall St.
Journal did a front page story on DJ's doing out of market shows,
focusing on someone calling himself "Big Rig", who does two or maybe
three shows a day from someplace down south. 

What they found with him and a few others were the jocks making comments
about visiting clubs and making comments about what they saw there the
previous night, when in fact they were hundreds of miles away. When this
was brought to Clear Channel management, the response was, "Oh no, we
would never allow this, and the jocks must have been too enthusiastic
and carried away," etc.

It's not the same as doing the show from a purple grotto or a
make-believe ballroom :)

> to not have Gary's whereabouts mentioned. To those who feel 
> it's a vital 
> fact 

It's not a vital fact by any means, but it's not enhancing to audience
loyalty. As I've said before, I think most people would understand and
be happy he has a chance to work from FL, and certainly believe he can
do as good a job. 

I also wonder if keeping a secret like this has a negative effect on his
performance somehow. Being on guard about anything if you're ad-libbing
can be problematic. 


> to have mentioned: where in the broadcast do you 
> disclose that, and how?

Lots of ways, including the way Brudnoy disclosed he was working from
home. 

Like anything one mentions on the air, it should be put forth as a
positive asset for the listener and the station. Mention it a couple of
times a week, informally and in context, at different times, depending
on his schedule. Certainly not billboard it at the top or bottom of a
newscast/commentary.

-Pete
Enfield, NH