Boston Radio Tea Party (Players Magazine)
Boston waterfront image via Wikipedia(I used to write a bi-weekly column, RadioRadio, for Players magazine in the Tampa Bay area. The following story appeared in 1990.) Spent four days last week in Boston for the National Association of Broadcaster's (NAB) "Radio '90" convention, individually schmoozing (at least it seemed that way) with over 7,000 of the industry's top execs, managers, consultants and pitchmen.
The annual radio convention is a love and spit fest where broadcasters profess their love for one another and all for one spirit in the defense of radio against competing media and still find time and energy to spit on their regional competitors.
I love radio: it's so schizo.
Under the category of spitting, Randy Michaels had a few choice things to say about Tampa's Q105. Michaels, in case you've been living under a mushroom, is chief operating officer and executive vice president of Jacor Communications, owner of WFLZ (93.3 FM) - the Power Pig - and WFLA (970 AM).
Here's what Michaels said in a seminar titled "How to Use Programming Tactics to Get Good Ratings":
o "You've gotta think guerrilla marketing," said Michaels. He claimed that just after going on the air, Power Pig staffers went store to store in Bay area malls offering retailers $1 to switch their radios from Q105 to Power 93.
o "I also do easy listening stations," he said. "We hardly ever yell 'Eat me!' on the easy listening stations."
o When another member of the panel attempted to play a tape and the audience of program directors was treated to silence, Michaels cracked, "This tape is for sale after the session - 'Recent Great Moments in WRBQ History.'"
Perhaps justice was served on Michaels. His seminar ended prematurely when the fire alarm sounded midway through the session.
The Kids Are Coming! Top execs at the Imagination Station in Orlando, which became available via satellite last week to stations around the country, had an exhibit at Radio '90. They all but confirmed rumors first reported here that all-kids radio will soon be on WHBO (1040 AM) in Clearwater.
More on the Imagination Station in two weeks.
Retro Radio! One of the most interesting aspects of Radio '90 was all the former Tampa Bay radio hotshots I ran into. Here's a sampling of what old friends are up to:
Dave Macejko! The former general manager of the Power Pig and WFLA (970 AM) was in Boston looking for a job. Still living in South Tampa, he's trying to find a situation where he can earn sweat equity toward ownership of a station. "The Pig was a good experience," he told me.
Martha Wheeler! Anybody remember the Wheeler Family, which put WFTS TV-28 on the air almost a decade ago? Martha and her son Sean were attendees at Radio '90. They now own an AOR FM radio station, WVGN, on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.
Jack Ellery! A short stint as a talk host at WFLA led to a national run on the Sun Network (WEND 760 AM) for Ellery, who is now back in New Brunswick, N.J. at his old WCTC stomping grounds.
Yeah, Right! "This format has achieved the respectability we never thought it would. There are now people who, five years ago, never thought classic rock would last six months. They're now making their living off of it."
That's a comment made by Andy Bloom, program director of WYSP in Philadelphia, during the "Classic Rock Format Forum."
I sat through half of this format as the participants played airchecks from classic rock stations around the country. A few bits were fresh, most weren't, such as a promo from Bloom's YSP. It was a direct ripoff of our own Power Pig: "The fact is, WMMR (a competitor of WYSP) plays more commercials. Don't believe it? Check it out ... We'll wait."
Tom Marshall, P.D. at WYNF (95 FM) in Tampa, sat two rows in front of me. I sent him a note when I left, bored. It told him I hadn't really appreciated YNF until I heard how awful classic rock was around the rest of the country.
Carey Curelop! Outside the door of the Classic Rock seminar, I ran into Marshall's predecessor at YNF, Carey Curelop. He, too, was unimpressed with the presentation.
For anyone else who remembers Curelop, I must tell you above all else that he looked almost unrecognizably dapper. It was like seeing Charlie Logan with a crewcut. The denim pants and jacket have been replaced by a snazzy black suit, bolo tie and feathered haircut. Curelop says he's happy at KLOS in Los Angeles, where his new station is number one in morning drive and pulling its best ratings ever. No plans to ever come back to Tampa Bay.
He hasn't entirely left Tampa Bay behind, however. Former YNF morning man Nick Van Cleve is doing utility work at KLOS, just as his ex-partner Jeff Jensen is filling in at YNF. Former YNF overnight hostess J.J. Lee is doing overnights on KLOS. And one-time 98 Rock morning man Ted Pritchard is a board op/producer/part-time air personality. "Sort of the Ed ("Fast Eddie") Yarb of KLOS," according to Curelop.
The format of KLOS, he said, "is straight AOR. We probably sound like YNF, though probably taking a few more chances because we're in Los Angeles. We can play the Talking Heads and get away with it. You couldn't do that in Tampa."
Now You Know! Satellite Music Network (SMN), which provides programming to a number of Bay area stations, had an enormous exhibit at the convention. One element of it was Prizm Research, which asked for your zip code and provided instant demographic analysis. My zip code, 33704, is 36% "Gray Power"; 35% "Smalltown Downtown"; 8% "Middle America"; 7% "Money & Brains"; 4% "Single City Blues"; and 3% "Pools & Patios."
With this info in hand, research assistants then suggest the appropriate SMN format for your zip code.
What's right for 33704 in St. Petersburg?
"My recommendation would be 'Stardust,'" said Greg Raab. "It's 35 and older, MOR. It features familiar vocals by Streisand, Diamond, Sinatra and Vangelis."
Sorry I asked.
Unheard Of! That's the name of a weekly, one-hour syndicated program that debuted at Radio '90. Leo Clark is attempting to sell radio stations around the country on this collection of unsigned regional artists.
"Stations get bugged all the time to play tapes by local artists," said Clark, 32, who was once product manager at Cherry Lane Technologies, manufacturer of MIDI products. "We made all these great tools for people to make music but they couldn't get it played anywhere. Now (the radio show) will take care of it."
"Unheard Of" provides bio information and plays demo tapes. The show hasn't been picked up in Tampa Bay yet, but that shouldn't stop area bands from contacting Clark about sending in tapes. The address: Leo Clark, Unheard Of, 12007 Red Oak Ct. N., Burnsville, Mn. 55337. Or call him at (612) 894-8792.
Beeeeeeeeeep! There were a few serious moments at the convention.
It's a shame more Tampa Bay are broadcasters weren't in attendance at a disquieting seminar titled "How to React to a Disaster." News and program directors from Hilton Head, S.C. and San Francisco played audio tapes from their respective encounters with Hurricane Hugo and the September '89 earthquake.
o "If you get in a disaster situation," said Ralph Wimmer, program director of WHTK in Hilton Head, "there's one one rule: there are no rules."
o Referring to San Francisco's brush with a 7.1 earthquake, KGO News Director John McConnell said, "As bad as this was, I can only believe it's a dress rehearsal for the Big One. We learned, as a result of the quake, you cannot be prepared, that government may not work, that '911' may not work. We were very disappointed in what happened with the EBS (Emergency Broadcast System). We didn't feel it was to be depended upon."
McConnell reversed himself and said stations can be prepared in terms of equipment and supplies in the event of disaster. "We were amazed at how many stations did not have back-up generators," he said. "As a result of this, we now have each reported required to carry several recorders, a two-way radio and cellular telephone.
"The biggest thing we learned," said McConnell, "is that no matter how talented your people are, if they're not there in a crisis, you're going to fall flat on your face."
o Jack Swanson, operations director of KGO at the time of the quake and now an exec with King Broadcasting, said the emergency demonstrated the limited value to radio of cellular technology, particularly its inability to address multiple parties simultaneously as two-way radios can. He urged radio stations to take their two-ways out of cobwebs and keep them serviceable and on the road.
"The best preparation for disaster is to make money and be a successful station," said Swanson. "We made no money for seven days and didn't run commercials. That made me feel good about radio. Safeway didn't give away any food. Sears didn't give away power tools. Making money ahead of time and having it in the bank takes the pressure off when it comes to serving the community in an emergency. In my judgement, over half the radio stations in our market let the community down. I believe they were opportunistic bottom-feeders." He said this of stations that went about business as usual, running commercials and regular programming in lieu of public service information and disaster coverage."
Swanson joined in the general condemnation of the EBS system.
"EBS is an important pipeline for Armageddon," he said. "But I don't consider it to be their job to cover my community as long as I've got reporters and talk hosts. We didn't take anything from EBS. The information was repetitive, it was late."
Zoom Me! Next week, we'll wrap up reporting from Radio '90 in Boston with comments from former Q105 P.D. Steve Rivers, an update on former WYNF G.M. George Sosson, a conversation with the president of the National Black Network, excerpts from a speech by FCC Chairman Al Sykes and ... an exclusive interview with Paul Harvey.
In the meantime, keep your cards and letters coming. The address: RadioRadio, c/o Players, PO Box 1867, Pinellas Park, Fl. 34664. Or, as always, operators are standing by to take your faxes at (813) 578-1414.
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(This week we conclude coverage of the National Association of Broadcasters "Radio 1990" convention held in Boston, Sept. 12-15.)
In an exclusive interview with RadioRadio prior to his general address to the convention, veteran newscaster Paul Harvey discussed his work.
His trademark program, "The Rest of the Story," began when Harvey and his son Paul Jr. came to feel there was something missing in the modern view of history. "We thought history was cheating the history student by teaching the end by the beginning," said Harvey in his unique manner.
During a convention marked by many broadcasters crying wolf over the prospect of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) - essentially, satellite radio - becoming a reality in the next decade, Harvey was asked to reflect on how much the industry had changed during his 72 years.
"I can remember some of our broadcasters chewing their knuckles over television, saying it would destroy radio. And I can remember the same broadcasters chewing their knuckles about FM, that it would destroy AM," he said. "Competition is the best thing that could happen to us. I'm not alarmed by the new technologies. We're going to come out of this heat-tempered and better than ever."
Harvey, looking remarkably fit for his age (sort of like a red-haired Rudy Vallee), said that no matter how long he has done his unique newscasts, the stories never get old or repetitive.
"I try to convince our little (research) group that we're prospectors," he said. "It's easier to go to work in the morning if you know you might find gold." As for the irony voiced in many of his items, "I love to look for those," said Harvey. "The things that shouldn't happen that did, the things that shouldn't happen that didn't. I find those fascinating."
On his way out the door, the interview over, Harvey turned back and waved. "See you in a few miles," he said.
Profit Thrust! A seminar called "Retail Selling: Your Profit in the '90s" was split between the importance of motivating sales staff toward new business and the opportunities that exist for commercializing program elements.
Sue Scallon of WGN in Chicago said the salesperson who invests time in new business is investing in their career. "Developing new business challenges creative thinking," she said. "Perhaps the biggest payoff in developing new business is it's more fun. It's like running your own business. You decide which companies to call on, which industries to try."
Luring new business to a station could be as simple as creating opportunities, according to panel member Nancy Benech, general sales manager of WYNF (95 FM).
"Think about your radio station and use your special programming features to bring promotional ideas to your client," said Benech. "Think of the things that make you different. We fuel demand from clients to sponsor the things we're doing. Look for ways to make your radio station more exciting to clients. You say to yourself, 'We think we've done the best we can.' But have we really?"
Benech made a slide presentation to a packed room, displaying numerous YNF air personalities participating in community activities such as blood drives, environmental projects and neighborhood marches. It reflected well on the station and Tampa Bay.
Touch This! In an interview with RadioRadio, National Black Network (NBN) President Jack Bryant talked about the news and information source's philosophy.
"We believe that certain news and information pertains to the population at large. Often there are certain programs that are most appropriate to blacks that don't get enough exposure through the general media. We highlight those stories that are of particular interest and will have particular affects on the black population of America. Quite often we're the first media to break a major story with impact on the black community," he said.
Bryant said that after the Challenger disaster, the mass media didn't focus on the black member of the space shuttle crew for several days. NBN was on the story immediately; in fact, he noted, NBN reported on the black crewman prominently before liftoff.
"We try to highlight the positive achievements of blacks while at the same time delivering the hard news," he said. "If the typical newscast contains seven stories, three or four on NBN are what you'd hear on the major networks. But two or three would be different, of interest only to blacks. Front page news is front page news. It's subjective what would be second or third page news."
NBN has 125 affiliates, all black-formatted. Bryant said that although the number is insignificant besides that of the major nets, he claims greater reach in the black community than any single, larger mass media competitor.
If you've never experienced NBN, check it out on the hour at WRXB (1590 AM).
Most over-used phrase of Radio 1990! "Theater of the mind."
Boston Herald Report! Dean Johnson, radio columnist for the Boston Herald, knew where the nighttime action was in his town during Radio '90. For instance, he found Paul Simon previewing his new album The Rhythm of the Saints for radio execs at Syncro Sound, a Beantown recording studio. Simon said he will start a year-long tour in November. According to Johnson, when the last cut ended Simon told the gathering, "So, that's my latest problem for radio."
Johnson also spotted Bruce Hornsby, Dick Clark and Wolfman Jack individually making the rounds.
Hey, Dude! TV and radio talk show host Larry King - heard locally on WTKN (570 AM) - will be heard in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. He'll provide the voice of God.
Emergency Checklist! A number of readers on the professional side of radio expressed interest in comments from the Radio 1990 seminar on dealing with emergencies. Here's a list of supplies - reprinted from Radio & Records - that the experts in Boston recommend stations have on hand at all times: non-perishable foods; water; flashlights and batteries; extra blankets and bedding; remote broadcast equipment; backup generator for studio and transmitter; detailed local and statewide maps; cellular phones.
Also suggested is a list of phone and fax numbers for the following: local emergency preparedness organizations; Red Cross; police; fire and paramedics; hospitals; governor's office; mayor's office; state and county planning offices; chambers of commerce; local ham radio operators; other local radio and TV stations; churches, schools and shelters; network news bureaus; Salvation Army and Goodwill.
It was also suggested that stations keep a master printed list of this information as well as a copy on computer in case the electronics crash or aren't readily available.
Report from the Chief! FCC Chairman Al Sikes told a breakfast meeting that there are now 9,230 commercial radio stations in the United States. (And still nothing to listen to, I can hear some of you snickering.)
Other highlights of his speech included word of the Commission's intentions to expand the AM band soon instead of continuing to shoehorn new stations into the existing spectrum, which is increasing interference. ... Sikes also said the FCC will soon take up the allocation of possible satellite frequency allocations for digital audio broadcasting (DAB). DAB was the talk of the convention, from engineering to programming questions. FM broadcasters feel particularly threatened by the new technology, which may capable of delivering digital-quality sound via satellite.
Flashback! Remember the good old days of the Q Morning Zoo? Cleveland Wheeler and Terence McKeever? Okay, maybe those weren't the best days, but they had their moments. I saw the station's program director of that era, Steve Rivers, in Boston.
Rivers is now PD of WZOU-FM in Boston, where he won a local achievement award from Billboard. During the NAB convention, Rivers sat on a panel titled "How to Be a Better Programming Manager." Among his seminar comments:
o "The general manager has to be the person who sees the big picture. ... The GM has to back the PD. There are times you're not going to agree on things and that's okay, that's healthy."
o "One station I was at, (one) person had a serious drinking problem and we sent him to rehab. To his credit he came out (publicly) about where he'd been. He became a celebrity. ... But three or four months later he turned up on the evening news as a DUI.
"We decided to keep the guy. I don't know if that was right or wrong. But he embarrassed the station."
The unnamed person in question was clearly Q105's former morning man, Terence McKeever, whose much-publicized bout with alcoholism was as difficult for the public - which wanted to be supportive - as it was for the station. Maybe the Q should have let him go, but it was an ugly situation no matter which way the station turned.
After the seminar, I asked Rivers what he thought of what has happened at Q105 in the past year.
"I just know what I read in the trades," he said. "It's too bad it happened. Time just caught up with the station. There were some things that went unchecked for a long time. There was a tremendous void in the market that was waiting to be filled. The problem of being number one is you have to constantly attack yourself."
George Splits! WYNF lost a powerful ally in top management at CBS in New York a few weeks ago when George Sosson resigned as president of the corporation's FM radio division. Sosson was GM at YNF in the mid-'80s, ahead of Shawn Portmann. He's now president of Win Communications, which owns six medium-market stations around the country.
Why'd he live CBS?
"It was a chance at some equity, a chance to grab the brass ring, a chance to be an entrepreneur," he told me in a chance meeting in the hallways of the Hynes Convention Center. "CBS is great, but you can't get rich working for a company."
Live or Memorex!?! Ever hear a disk jockey talking to a "celebrity" but the questions and answers sounded stiff? That may be because they're not really talking to each other.
I picked up literature in Boston for the Copley Radio Network's "Wireless Flash" service. Among its features are pre-recorded celebrity interview with the questions edited out so the local guys and gals can seem to be asking the celeb directly what their favorite color is.
Certainly, no Tampa Bay station would sink so low, right? We'll see. (Spies, get to work!)
Hermannnn! Butch Patrick - remember Eddie Munster from the old TV show? - is now part of the morning team at KWTX in Waco, Tx. In case you're ever passing through.
Second Most Over-Used Phrase! " ... out there in Radioland."
Attention, B. Eric Rhoads! The meter is running.
Tampa Bay Notes From All Over! Hey, Tramonte! You never call, you never write. RadioRadio hears you actually landed a job in Tampa Bay again. But who can be sure? ... Good luck, Charlie Ochs, wherever you are. ... Q105 is one of several stations around the country sending weekly tapes to the USO Morning Show Network in the Middle East. The 90-minute tapes contain listener dedications, news and entertainment from home. ... Lisa Logan, one of W101 (WUSA FM)'s on-air weekend warriors, wrote us a note wondering why this column never gives any news about her station. We will, we promise. ... By the way, are Homer and Jethro still the morning team? Haven't listened in a while. ... One-time WNLT (95.7 FM) air personality Audrey Lynn has turned up in Miami at WJQY-FM. ... WPSO-AM in New Port Richey has been sold by Lowery Communications to T.G.A. Communications for $229,000. It was the fourth try to sell that darn talk station for Lowery, which announced three separate, unsuccessful deals in 1988 alone, according to Broadcasting.
Hey, You! Got a gripe to get off your chest? Got a chest you'd like to show us? Seen some radio star hanging out at one of Joe Redner's bars? Talk to us. Keep your cards and letters coming to: RadioRadio, c/o Players, P.O. Box 1867, Pinellas Park, FL, 34664. Or fax it to us: (813) 577-1414.
Misguided! As we were going to press, 98 Rock VP/GM Dan DiLoreto and PD Greg Mull put out a press release announcing that 98 was behind the billboards around Tampa Bay proclaiming rock music is poisoning our youth and that we should ban T-back bathing suits, among other things. Unbelievable.
This was the stupidest idea associated with radio since Les Nessman dropped live turkeys out of a helicopter on "WKRP in Cincinnati." To quote an associate, rock music isn't poisoning our youth, marketing is.
So 98 Rock is the mysterious "Coalition for Universal Thought," huh? They must be out of their minds.
"The billboard messages were specifically designed to raise social consciousness on the issues of censorship and youth stereotypes," according to the station's press release. "The Coalition for Universal Thought name was also chosen to be absurd enough to create an atmosphere of 'parody.' Our mission was accomplished. When confronted with these narrow thinking messages our community was concerned that the 'Coalition for Universal Thought' could actually exist.
"Now anyone who actually thinks 'Rock 'n roll is the devil's chamber music' will think twice before sharing those thoughts."
Are they kidding? What pomposity! What a waste of money!
We're as anti-censorship as the next editorial type. Want to fight small minds that carry big sticks? Urge your listeners to vote. Register them. Sponsor debates between rockers and those who would silence them. Devote air time to education on relative issues "in a language everyone can understand" ("Cult of Personality," Living Color). But don't waste our time on bogus, transparent efforts to sell 98 Rock as our social or moral conscience. It doesn't wash. "Livestock I" was clever. This is pathetic.
The "Coalition for Universal Thought" may have seemed clever in a late-night brainstorming session over a few brews but it was nothing more than ill-conceived hype. It's the kind of thing that makes me embarrassed that I listen to 98 Rock as much as I do.
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Labels: Boston Massachusetts, Classic Rock, Jack Ellery, Randy Michaels, Tampa Bay area
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