WQMA 1520 AM RADIO 8-TRACK LIVE SHOW- TODAY- 1-4 PM !

I disagree. The numbers I saw while still in the business showed
listenership of all types dropping faster than gas prices are rising.
This included all formats, both bands, at all locations and from all
demos. It was one of the reasons I got out of the biz. Internal memos
at Clear Channel predicted radio as we know it being gone by 2020 at
the current rate of listener loss. CC is already looking into ways of
divesting and diversifying. Sure, radio is still OK for the car, but
with more stations people are tuning out commercials, and advertisers
know it--Arbitron notes those trends--and advertisers are wising up to
radio. It's just not a good advertising medium. Now that CD players are
cheaper people are buying them for the workplace and listening to them
as opposed to radio. And with CD changers and satellite music channels
COMMERCIAL FREE, listening to radio at home is just plain nutty. Add to
this less tangible aspects, such as the fact that there's no talent
left in the industry because people like Clear Channel chased them all
out (I am not one of them...I never had talent) so there is nobody
worth listening to.

That is, unless they give you something worth hearing, like Jason is
trying to do. Or like college radio offers. I think it will be a good
thing. Much like the 8-Track, once radio becomes "worthless" it will
become TRULY great.

As an aside, I have seen King Biscuit Flower Hour LPs for sale. later,
ron


wrote:
You are talking about top 40, of course. AOR stations almost ALWAYS
used LPs. But then, little of what they played would have been on 45s
in the first place...

You are right about the Gates machines. They were tanks, and with
normal care would outlast a Chevy truck...but they ate records alive.
Especially the ones with the wood tonearms. I always preferred the
Technics turntables, based solely on ease of use.

Another reason smaller stations preferred spinning vinyl as opposed to
carts was that it took more work for an engineer to fine tune a cart
machine and a collection of carts (most engineers would get you FIRED
if they found out you somehow brought in "outside carts" and played
them on the station's machines) than it was for them to do the same on
a turntable. Since many stations employ contract engineers who were not
there all the time that was the way they preferred it.

FLASHBACK was the only show I ever saw on LP. I wish I had kept
them...I am sure some butthead I'm-the-next-howard-stern teenager has
come along since I left the station and stolen them or thrown them out
by now...same goes for all of my old jingle reels...

And yes, radio sucks now. In every respect. Jason and Jennifer sound
like they have a good thing going at WQMA...but I can assure you that
is the exception rather than the norm. Radio is going to slowly fade
into the sunset over the next few years, and not really so much because
the medium itself is obsolete (which it is in some ways and is not in
others), but because those in charge of it are "changing with the
times" in ALL THE WRONG WAYS. It is stations like WQMA, who do
something interesting, that might actually have a chance. I won't be
sorry to see corporate radio go, because quite honestly there are a lot
of guys at the top who will be put out of work when it finally dies who
really don't deserve to have jobs in the first place.

I'm not bitter. Honestly.

8-Track, on the other hand, will no more die than Elvis or Buddy Holly
died.

On 21 Aug 2005 16:44:10 -0700, wrote:

I disagree. The numbers I saw while still in the business showed
listenership of all types dropping faster than gas prices are rising. snip

That is correct, and the prices on ad cards are dropping just to keep
ad volume high in the "craporate" owned stations, just to keep the
clueless corporate assholes happy. The little 500 watter AMs that
"craporate" radio tossed out and forgot about are doing some
interesting, if limited, things. But FM? Queer Channel and Infoolity
have totally ruined the medium.

Sure, radio is still OK for the car, but
with more stations people are tuning out commercials, and advertisers
know it--Arbitron notes those trends--and advertisers are wising up to
radio. It's just not a good advertising medium. snip

Not anymore, except in very few, distinct formats. All news formats
have a higher listener retention and listener response than any other
format. "Talk" radio, despite all the bluster, is notoriously weak.
Since they're both non-musical formats, I'll leave it to the reader to
figure it out.

Now that CD players are cheaper people are buying them for the workplace and listening to them
as opposed to radio. And with CD changers and satellite music channels
COMMERCIAL FREE, listening to radio at home is just plain nutty. snip

I listen to radio at home to keep an ear on the medium, and it's
completely sad. First, and something no one's really talking about,
is that the cable operators, the #1 way for MOST listeners with home
tuners to get signal, have DUMPED all but TWO stations per market, and
that's mandated by local ordinance in many cases. The FCC, under the
industry boot licker Powell, refused to enforce provisions that forced
the cable operators to carry local programming in the 100 MHz slot,
and so, they just gave it the heave ho, since they feel (rightly so)
that it provides competition for their own "digital" music and
entertainment offerings. I have to run a half wave rhombic antenna
just to get the lower power LA stations now, since cable no longer
carries them. When you query Adolfia and Comcrash about it, their
response is, "So what? Sue us...the FCC doesn't care." There is a
LOT of your home FM radio listener loss, right there, since in many
rural locales, cable was the only way to get anything but the local
10KW pud knocker FM in the local cow pasture.

Add to
this less tangible aspects, such as the fact that there's no talent
left in the industry because people like Clear Channel chased them all
out (I am not one of them...I never had talent) so there is nobody
worth listening to. snip

Another example of corporate mentality...get rid of anyone with
"talent" or who has a following...they have too much leverage against
us. The Stern deal with Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone is just the tip of
the iceburg, trust me.

That is, unless they give you something worth hearing, like Jason is
trying to do. Or like college radio offers. I think it will be a good
thing. Much like the 8-Track, once radio becomes "worthless" it will
become TRULY great. snip

The LPs are taking over FM, even though Viacom is trying hard to
dishonestly get rid of them. We have now two LPs in our market, both
of which are kicking Infoolity's and Queer Channels' respective asses.
Both are non-profit, no commercial load, run on listener support and
have worthwhile, if ecclectic at times, programming...sort of what a
lot of the better NPR affiliates had before NPR got "republicanized."
The thing about LP is the low cost of pulling a construction permit
and low cost of operation. An engineer with a talent for getting a
good, "downtown" antenna site can use 10 watts to compete with the big
boys of 50KW and more, if he's smart. Smaller is the trend now, with
non-profit ownership. Watch for Viacom and Queer Channel to increase
their drives to wreck LPs' chances while they still have the moron
from Texas to demand favors from. The FCC now, like most regulatory
agencies founded to protect the public's interest, are now simply
goverment owned lobbying organizations, and the voters let it happen.
Nice job, assholes!

dB

maybe at your show or station, but guys like Rush Limbaugh, Sean
Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Mike Savage, et. al. are doing very, very well
right now. Most people catch them while commuting on the radio.

Our local rock stations on FM are doing quite well too. On the AM dial,
the biggest stations are doing solid talk radio or sports coverage.
WARM 590 here, one of the oldest AM radios in our area, does nothing
but talk radio all day long.

I believe what you experienced was a local phenomenon for your area and
show or station- i.e. guys like Rush Limbaugh, Sean
Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Mike Savage, et. al. are doing very, very well
right now. Most people catch them while commuting. Being 2 of those
guys also have TV shows later in the day, it must be worth something
that they continue to hold onto the radio spots.

Our local rock stations on FM are doing quite well too. ROCK 107 just
celebrated 20 years in the biz. On the AM dial, the biggest stations
are doing solid talk radio or sports coverage.
WILK 980 AM here, one of the oldest AM radio sations in our area, does
nothing
but talk radio all day long 6 days a week. Then usually one day of
sports.

Satellite radio is over-rated, it often cuts out and reception is not
good.

I have a CD changer and found it not listenable for long periods of
time. Maybe one day for a few hours but that will be it. CD sound it
brittle and thin and harsh, and I believe it's the major reason people
don't listen to music as much as they used to. It seemed that people
spent much more time listening to 8-tracks and vinyl in the 1970's,
than they listen to CD's today.

Not all parts of the country follow trends as quickly as others. There
are trends that may be popular in the big city- that never take root in
the suburbs or rural areas.