Red Sox TV and Radio ratings tanking

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

The "talent" on 1510 now pays for the time.

paul

On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 3:50 PM, <markwa1ion@aol.com> wrote:

> I think the station would have to pick up some listeners on either side of
> the target generation for the idea to "fly" on a higher-power (hence more
> expensive to run) station.
>
> When 1510 was WMRE (The Memory Station), 1430 was Music-of-Your-Life, and
> 1400 Lowell also featured the pre-rock era, I gave those stations some of my
> listening even though the WW-2 era of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, the
> Dorseys, Bing Crosby, etc. was well before "my time".  Despite pre-dating
> me, the high standards of that era's musicianship and often
> intellectually-clever lyrics still had value on their own merits as art,
> rather than merely being a "nostalgia wallow" for those in a specific age
> group.  Subjects such as war, love, work, travel, and money (and lack
> thereof) are largely timeless and songs can speak across generations
> including to young ones discovering the "ancient" tunes of dad and grand-dad
> for the first time.
>
> Bob Bittner can probably offer accounts of e-mails and letters from
> listeners much younger than most of what he's playing.  Entertainers such as
> Tony Bennett have found unexpected popularity on college campuses.  Swing
> dancing has periodic resurgences despite a vanishingly small amount of
> "original swingers" still being on the upper side of the lawn.
>
> The broadcast product has to be a good one, however, or even listeners of
> the ideal age group will soon lose interest.  If it's not going to sound
> like satellite-format-in-a-box, some "oh wow!" non-super-hits have to be
> thrown in from time to time, knowledge of metro Boston (then and now) should
> be more than what can be gleaned in 10 minutes of web surfing, and DJ pacing
> and delivery should be on par with the best '60s jocks - B. Marlowe, A.
> Ginsberg, B. Bradley, D. Summer, etc.
>
> If done right - meaning with a sense of fun coupled with knowledge and
> slick sophistication - rock oldies, big-band / standards, or even something
> totally "niche" (like polka or klezmer or Irish) can reach out to a wider
> demographic than some professional programmers may have envisioned.  Will
> kids give up hip-hop for oldies or standards?  Certainly not "en masse" but
> not too long ago I was in a card shop that primarily had girls under 30
> working there ... and WJIB was the background music.  Didn't expect that one
> at all and it was nice hearing the original Al Hibbler "Unchained Melody" as
> I went about my shopping.  Reminded me of being about 5 or 6 and hearing it
> for the first time at a similar store in Belmont Center when the song was
> high on the charts.  Nostalgia wallow, yes, but a song good enough to have
> been redone by countless others and used in more than one movie too.
>
> One thing that throws a wet rag over any music format making it are the
> increases in music licensing fees, even for small stations and webcasters,
> something that WJIB has been fighting.
>
> For music, most of us are going to have to rely on a handful of low-power
> stations when we can get them and our own MP3, CD, tape, and record
> collections the rest of the time.
>
> What an iPod won't necessarily replace for us is the personality and
> local-feel radio we used to enjoy.  It has largely departed even the most
> successful music format FM stations unfortunately and that facet of radio
> (the entertainment beyond the tunes) doesn't seem to be coming back too
> soon.
>
> To Garrett's comment, I'm surprised that what is on 1510 now is making
> enough to keep it on the air.  But I'd imagine that the "talent" doesn't get
> paid much compared to inflation-adjusted WMEX of the '60s.
>
> Mark Connelly
> Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA
>
> <<
>  On 7/27/2010 11:39 AM, revdoug1@myfairpoint.net wrote:
>
>  I wonder if Entercom's failed experiment with WWKB in Buffalo, which
>>
> I
>
>> liked --- an oldies format with a late '60s sound (jingles and all)
>> --- would work in Boston on WRKO?  People here have a lot of
>>
> nostalgia
>
>> for the "good old days" of WRKO, WMEX and WBZ as Top 40 rock
>> stations.  What do you think?   -Doug
>>
>>
> The only people who have a lot of nostalgia for those particular "good
> old days" are those of us who are old enough to remember them and were
> in the Boston area at the time.  And we're not the demographic most
> stations and advertisers are going for.  Even if we were, would we be
> enough to sustain a station?
>
> --
> A. Joseph Ross, J.D.             617.367.0468
> 92 State Street, Suite 700       Fax: 617.507.7856
> Boston, MA 02109-2004          http://www.attorneyross.com
>
>
>>>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Garrett Wollman <wollman@bimajority.org>
> To: markwa1ion@aol.com
> Cc: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> Sent: Tue, Jul 27, 2010 4:16 pm
> Subject: Red Sox TV and Radio ratings tanking
>
>
> <<On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:57:31 -0400, markwa1ion@aol.com said:
>
>  To me it almost makes more sense to test this oldies experiment on
>> 1510, a station that would seem to need any "Hail Mary pass" that
>>
> could
>
>> be thrown.  The dial position has the WMEX heritage behind it.  20 or
>> so years back Little Walter did an oldies stint there.  [...]
>> Yes, live personalities with a sense of humor and knowledge of music
>> history and the LOCAL area audience have to be part of the plan.
>>
>
> Not a chance.  What you're talking about would be *incredibly*
> expensive.  As I said before, it wouldn't pay the rent -- a format
> that might earn maybe a 1 share in the 55+ demo is not even going to
> make enough money to keep the transmitter running, never mind paying
> talent.  (And the relevant talent are all industry veterans who would
> know that it was a sucker's bet and stay away.)
>
> -GAWollman
>
>
>