What is the point of having a voictracked mid-day woman on MOVIN that comes on every few songs on says "songs that make you feel good"?? It sounds so ridiculous. If Movin is too cheap to hire air talent, then forget the talent and just play music. How in the heck are you relating to you're audience when you voice track a daypart and it is nothing but dry liner cards???? Come on Movin PUT SOME EFFORT INTO THAT STATION!!! Some personality would go a long way!

Here is where we cue Roger to potificate on why stations don't hire live jocks, and why that is bad...

Then the next post should be from DJfresh:

moving sucks why do they have a woman on who doesn't say nuthin' how about z100 they suck too why isn't there any good radio in portland

Then comes Randy threadjacking to Eugene stations, or Movin's tower height.

Then a random comment from that guy who voice tracks a morning show with his wife...

Sheesh.

Jaded this Friday are we?

Have a good weekend everyone.

Movin sounds about as Stale as they come. A bunch of old crappy dance songs that nobody likes and poorly voice tracked station with Zero personality!

Nice thread. Almost like poetry!

I was having lunch today at Arby's and they were playing Movin'. Stacey Lynn appeared to be live. I believe she took a call.

Sem...oh how easily that can be done on tracks...
if you can get past the assumption the call is live...

I wasn't really paying attention but was surprised to hear something other than automation or even to hear the station in the restaurant!

I hear 'ya...but there are all kind of tricks to make VT sound live...believe me I've come to learn 'em all!

Stacey Lynne sounds voice tracked to me. She has very few talk breaks and they just don't sound live. And Don't even get me started on the woman that is on before her......Painfully brutal liner card jock! That station has no energy. Stacey is a great talent but she is on a poorly programed and poorly executed station.
Just my 2 cents. A station like Movin SHOULD have LIVE jocks that are uptempo and interaractive with the audience. I just don't see how a station that relies on Extremely Cheesy Dance songs will have any longevity. The music they play is like a really rich dessert, its ok in small amounts but too much will make you sick. Seriously how much Brittney Spears and Paula Abduel can a person take in one day?

Heres an idea! How about they Spend some money and put a decent product on the air with all live jocks and they just might see some numbers! It amazes me how large companies can expect to put on a station as cheap as possible and expect to get numbers.
Voicetracking a station like Movin is stupid, especiually when you are up against Jammin and Z100 who have live jocks, except for Z100 who has the voicetracked Chick.

Dex, must be some other Roger.......

Seattle MOOOVIN has been seeking talent for a year.... ad after ad, and Portland MOOOOOVIN has run ads also. My guess is that after hundreds of demos to both, there just isn't any entertaining radio people available to fill those stations. Probably all the club DJS are booked too. I guess you get all they can deliver.

Just enjoy the music.... It's timeless.

My Congrats to both stations for keeping costs in line...... Do the tighten up.....

Seattle's Movin' has had all dayparts filled for quite some time except mornings and are actively seeking a team now.

Love this thread... here's an inspirational quote from Inside Music Media that seems to fit!

" The two biggest consolidators -- Clear Channel and CBS have failed in their mission to build shareholder value and in their ability to grow the radio segment for their investors even with a virtual monopoly in place. Forget the audience, it seems like they have.

All the major radio groups are deficient in planning for the digital future. You can't come up with great ideas until you understand the generation you're missing.

Most post-consolidation radio executives have had to put up with budget cuts, slashed staffing, lower standards, less research, antiquated diary ratings, an empty minor league for future talent, failed policies on commercial loads, needless litigiousness, lack of leadership, lack of vision, a bunker mentality -- and I'm just getting warmed up."

What is that joke about the lawn chairs on the deck of the Titanic?

Well there you go..... No need to pontificate.

Every single word in that statement is true. Nice choice of quotes, Egor.

Forgive me for saying so, but I think the "they should have live jocks" argument is moot these days. I agree that live talent is the best way to go, but the audience is so diluted these days. There are so many stations, and so many other digital sources for obtaining music. We are really close to having major cities have widespread wifi coverage (parts of Portland already have it), making it possible to walk or drive around and listen to any internet station you'd like, given the right tuner.

So the broad question, from a guy who jumped off of the radio ship a few years ago: Does live, terrestrial commercial radio have a real future?

With the way they are cutting costs and making most stations UNLISTENABLE,NO radio does not have a future!

CBS HAS FAILED IN REMEMBERING THE LISTENING AUDIECE!
And now they wonder why their ratings SUCK!!
Put some effort into movin 1075 and you might actually get ratings. The station sounds Really DEAD the way it is currently!

They just don't have the money

Really guys the title of this thread makes the most sense.
"What's the Point"
What's the point in keep complaining about a dead station. That frequency when it was "Rock Hits" at least had a pulse but since the flip it has been a steady flatline. Why keep complaining about it? Didn't a top exec with CBS radio who had radio background just leave the corporation? I know I read a post on that somewhere so don't expect CBS to get any better anytime soon. They will probably put some young tie in there and centrally voice track the entire country from New York and add more syndicated talk show's.

They just don't have the money...

Yes they do. It's that they are using it poorly, and they bought into a set of expectations that was not in line with reality.

"Blinded by the Light" ay!

CBS obviously has more money than they know what to do with. It's funny though, how a mom and pop operation in the middle of nowhere can somehow afford things that CBS swears IT can't.

In theory, wasn't the consolidation of radio supposed to IMPROVE the product? Isn't that how the corporate lawyers and lobbyists sold the idea?

More money=better radio.

BULLSHIT!

Cbs needs a management enema. Time to get some new blood in that company! Seriously. KUFO is sucking and MOOOOOVIN is an absolute mess of a station. Kufo sounds like a top 40 station to me that plays rock music. They have completely ignored their demo and sounds like they are targeting female listeners. If they are not, it sure sounds like they are. I have never heard so much talk about Anna Nicole Smith and American Idol in my life than I have on KUFO. What ever happend to SEX Drugs and Rock N Roll????

Yeah KUFO does sound like they are starting to target females which is ridiculous! How many Female targeted stations in portland do we need???
A picture of a "vagina" on the KUFO hummer would be more appropriate since thats who KUFO is now targeting.

bwah!!! Agreed!

A bunch of old crappy dance songs that nobody likes and poorly voice tracked station with Zero personality! = The next big thing!

CBS The Crappy Broadcasting System.

A picture of a "vagina"..kinda crude. Let's call it a Va-J.J.

In theory, wasn't the consolidation of radio supposed to IMPROVE the product? Isn't that how the corporate lawyers and lobbyists sold the idea?

Yes, and that is how they will pitch the Sat Rad merger too.....

Ever see things get better through dereg? Phone? more choices, but the big boys are buying up all the little ones, and the cost is higher.

Gasoline? The days of the independents are long gone and merger after merger leaves us with just a couple of companies who charge what they want...

(not true really. Futures traders have something to say, but the companies don't build new capacity, and conviently close refineries for cleaning and maintenence, which causes the spot shotages and higher prices. Funny, if it makes the news, the price jumps. Hey, when my local station runs out, and gets no more.....That will be news.

Natural Gas? Electric? Banking?

Yep consolidation and deregulation proves time and again it is a sure way to drain a few more dollars while only giving the illusion of more choice and better service...........

Damn there I go pontificating again, Aw hell, Movin would sound much better if they would throw an interesting, LIVE airstaff that adds support to the format. Movin projects an image of fun The air staff needs to embrace that......

(actually I don't believe the format will be around long enough to build anything, so keep it as it is until you are ready to put something else there... probably with the same effort.)

Dj Fwerrrsh wat u think bout dat

Test patterns would sound better than what comes out on that frequency currently!

Whether jocks are live or voice tracked is irrelevant. The questions remain, is the product compelling? Does it create an emotional connection with the target listener? If the answer is yes, you still have to make sure the ROI is acceptable to "the man". Many large publicly traded companies have been put into a position to increase shareholder value every quarter without the funds needed to properly research and develop new products.

In answer to "is traditional radio dead", IMHO, both yes and no. Companies that believe they are in the AM and FM business will continue to see declining audience share and eventually, revenue. But strategic thinking organizations who understand they are in the "audio entertainment" delivery business will create a diverse set of brands and delivery methods that actually gain share. At the end of the day I don't care how people find my brand, as long as they find it compelling and emotionally connective.

Jon Spoelstra has written a fantastic book that addresses this topic, among others, called "Marketing Outrageously". If you understand the concept in the book the world of "radio" will suddenly seem much bigger.

To paraphrase Dick Smothers, "You can't hear test patterns, Tommy; they're silent."

EXACTLTY!!!!!!!

...Whether jocks are live or voice tracked is irrelevant. The questions remain, is the product compelling? Does it create an emotional connection with the target listener....


EXACTLY! (most vts aren't. And that's usually because it's a management decision in and out FAST)

Movin is finished, put a fork through it! CBS obviously has no plans to keep that station around much longer! That is OBVIOUS! My question is why spend the time, money and effort in changing a format when 6 months later you are changing it again? CBS= Clueless about radio! Man,and I thought Cheap channel put an awful product on the air!

Finished before it got started? How could that be? These are perfesshinals........

I agree Roger, although I don't think any manager decides to put a bad product on the air. Sadly, most of them are good people who just don't have the resources needed to properly create a well executed station.

However, when it comes to bad talent who only read liner cards it has more to do with a lack of talent than lack of money. It is a rare PD I meet that isn't looking for staff who can connect. The fact of the matter is there just isn't that many GREAT jocks around anymore; but there will always be people ready to read the next liner card.

I could be wrong, but I blame the death of the overnight position for this lack of young stars in our industry.

"I could be wrong, but I blame the death of the overnight position for this lack of young stars in our industry."

ABSOLUTELY! Radio's been investing ZERO in the next generation of talent for decades. Now we're reaping what we've sown. Gone are weekend positions to hone your skills as well as the overnight shift under the mentorship of a visionary program director with an eye (and ears) to the future. The rest of the fulltime jocks (for the most part) have been discouraged from pushing the edges. PDs want people to conform to a preconcieved, consultant advised
and researched to death "style."

Don't get me started on this issue. Oh. Too late.

Still there were vets who relished the overnights. I for one loved them, and can think of a few others who would love to do that shift. Handling the third shifters, the bar closers and the unusual people who look to the radio for companionship during the lonely time. Unfortunate because the time slot is not a moneymaker, Stations tend to throw it away......

Weekends too for that matter....

There's really no place to get started anymore so you CAN move up! Most of the people who are really great got started in some small town, doing just about everything, honing their craft and worked their way up through the medium markets to the large markets.

I can think of a few exceptions -- but, on-air ability, production-room prowess, and radio knowledge are not so important in medium/big markets anymore. If you have aspirations of being on air here, simply consider the following:

Are you a woman or minority? Great, we need more of you in this white male dominated industry.

Are you willing to work less than 25 hours a week, without benefits, for $9 an hour? Even better!

What's that? You don't sound very good on air? Your radio experience is limited to a few internships? No problem! Welcome aboard. We're changing the face of big market radio!

Out with the egos, they cost too much. We're going to make you a major star on a minimum wage! Just stay humble, and don't ask for a raise.

I flipped by KBOO in the middle of a pledge drive and the woman talking sounded like a pretty good "Baba Wawa" impression! Every "R" or "L" was a solid "W". I was surprised that someone like that would want to go on the radio for people to hear.