Dr. Demento (was Re: Early Xmas)

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

I think Dr Demento now charges affiliates straight out cash for the show.

Paul Walker


On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 4:49 PM, SteveOrdinetz <hykker@wildblue.net> wrote:

>
>
>   Garrett Wollman <wollman@bimajority.org> wrote:
>>
>> > This is apparently a result of him leaving The House
>> > That Norm Built
>> > and switching to a different syndicator who is hated
>> > by nearly
>> > everyone in the business near as I can tell.
>>
>>
>
> Wasn't it the other way around...WW1 dropping the good Doctor?  ISTR that a
> few years back many of the syndicators "cleaned house", dropping shows that
> had fairly low affiliate counts.  He's bounced between syndicators for many
> years, presumably for this very reason.  For a while I think he even
> syndicated the show himself.
>
>
>
> At 05:54 PM 11/9/2008, Matthew Osborne wrote:
>
>
>  However in the last 2 years they, as well as just
>> about every other station I knew of that carried the
>> show, dropped it.  The story I got was that it had
>> switched syndicators again to this company called
>> Thelonian Productions.  They came up with this
>> "brilliant" idea that people would rather pay each
>> week to hear the show streamed over the internet
>> instead of hearing it on the radio.  So they
>> eliminated the barter option for the radio show, and
>> issued a directive to all remaining affiliates that
>> the show was not to be streamed over the internet
>> whatsoever (unless it was through their pay-by-week
>> website).  Needless to say, most remaining affiliates
>> dropped it because of these new terms.
>>    In addition to WPYX dropping the show during this
>> time, I also believe WKIT (100.3) Bangor ME dropped it
>> for the same reason after carrying it for many years.
>>
>
>
> I'm wondering if a good part of Dr. Demento's declining affiliate count has
> as much to do with the show's content as anything.  Even in the early
> 2000's, the show was really starting to get stale.  Add to that the fact
> that his original audience (that discovered the show in the 70s/80s) is of
> an age now that's not likely to be listening to the radio at 11pm on a
> Sunday, and those who are probably aren't really into Spike Jones or some
> increasingly lame Weird Al parody song.
>
>