The reception is a bit spotty here in most areas of eastern Canada but I'd say that if i was around there I'd probably be a regular listener of Fuel. I've listened online a bit and it's quite a good selection of music.
However, the cynic (realist?) in me doesn't think it will work. AAAish stations have a hard enough time in markets where it would theoretically work well. But Calgary? Yeah, more cosmopolitan every year...jut not there yet.
I think the music on Energy, however, is just about perfect. Jack has been getting away with being the market's default Hot AC, and Energy is playing enough of their best music to make them seem stale and pointless. And with Rob Mise's attention getting skills, that station could be a success in its first book.
X sounds good and the ratings were encouraging, but it's going to be a heck of a challenge to make that audience profitable. Are they LSAing with anyone else?
I think the afternoon/evening announcers at X are terrible. If there's no music, I tune out. I'm female and the playlist at Energy leaves much to be desired. VIBE keeps my attention longer.
They all sound like plastic prizes that fell out of the same box of Rice Crispies (vitamins, riboflavin, niacinamide and some artificial colours added).
Now, there are 4 more bodies farting in the same bathtub. Less room, more bubbles - stronger odiferous emanations.
They all sound like plastic prizes that fell out of the same box of Rice Crispies (vitamins, riboflavin, niacinamide and some artificial colours added).
Now, there are 4 more bodies farting in the same bathtub. Less room, more bubbles - stronger odiferous emanations.
Do you ever say anything positive? Oh what am I doing... I forgot, his soapbox is far to high for him to hear me.
However, in this case, I think this is what you meant to say....
"I'm POSITIVE They all sound like plastic prizes that fell out of the same box of Rice Crispies (vitamins, riboflavin, niacinamide and some artificial colours added).
Now, there are 4 more bodies farting in the same bathtub. Less room, more bubbles - stronger odiferous emanations"
I enjoy listening to X but, then again, that's my style of music. Morning show is a little dull but it takes a while to build chemistry so the jury is still out. Their balancing act of support for independant Calgary bands while still playing the big hits from the major label artists will pay dividends in credibility. If Sonic can do it in Edmonton, X can do it in Calgary.
Energy is a solid station...CHUM has made their sister station one of the tops in the ultra-competative Toronto market so if anyone can push the Hot AC format to the top of the pile in Calgary, it's this company. Music mix is bang-on and production is slick. Freeway and Meg need to develop chemistry but they're both pros so I'm sure it'll happen. Of the three stations, these guys are my pick to be the most successful.
I'm not as impressed with Fuel. Music is too unfamiliar, which I suppose is the hallmark of AAA but, my God, play a HIT SONG every once in a while! And maybe a female artist here and there. And what's with all the oldies? AAA is supposed to be hip, fairly relaxed, on the cutting-edge of new music trends...Fuel so far has missed the mark on all these counts. I really think the AAA format is fantastic and it makes me sad to see Fuel not doing it properly.
I was kind shocked by this Pave's comments because I thought I had figured out who he is and was under the impression he still relied on the local Calgary market to earn a portion of his living.
Fuel's programming is weak, and could certainly benefit from more females artists. The format is a great idea, but their announcers, particularly middays and evenings seem to be falling short. Energy is sounding tight, but I had assumed they would, considering their track record. I could care less about the music, but they are definately a contender.
As for X, it's a niche. Their 18-34 numbers last time around were pretty damn impressive. It was laughable at times watching CJAY program to compete. Kim Mitchell, Arcade Fire and Default didn't seem to mesh so well in the same stop set.
Calgary is just another pissant market run by pissant corporations that have no interest in Radio as a communicative medium - only as another way to generate revenue (not that there's anything wrong with that).
I'd be proud to wear the "Negative Nancy"-hat as these well-meaning, but hardly well-versed managers succumbed to the influence of consultants and corporately-acceptable trends a long time ago. I am, after all - a critic.
None of these people either impress or intimidate me as I've already made my bones - and more. Plus, I have met very few executives who are even willing to discuss the nuances of broadcast communications. Some, because they really don't care and some because they can't handle the intricacies that such a conversation would entail. Others have difficulty because any change-in-course would represent a negation of their past positions and experiences and, Lord Gawd, we just couldn't have that!
The stations truely do suck. And suck large.
Their approach is sophomoric, predictable, mundane and utterly unappealing on any human, intellectual, emotional or communicative level.
However, the point can still be made that these comments are about an industry that must make comparisions and compete on a comparitive basis to do well. I appreciate how that is legitmate - just not very appealing.
My name is Ronald T. Robinson. And I know what it is.... to Kill! Over and over again.
What does sadden me, however, are the lost opportunities.
Radio has become a medium of marketing - not communications. Unfortunately, audiences have picked up on this distinction, albeit: intuitively... and Radio remains the "weakest sister" of all advertising medium. Odd, perhaps, for a medium that enjoys the greatest penetration.
When posters can only speak to music mixes, it demonstrates to me how much of a once-great, communicative medium has been lost.
Hahaha all of you make me laugh. I can't wait until you can solve the on-going mystery of what a good station is!!!! Now I guess I can't say all of you, just all the bitter people on here that have been fired at one time or another. Please share your answers with all of us when you get the formula and figure it all out. "pissant market" and "Pissant corporations," now what have each one of these self proclaimed "pissant corporations" done to you before Pave?? Turn that from upside down buttercup, it'll be okay, if you stress so much you're going to give yourself a heart attack, now you don't want that do you???? Pave, you seem to have all the answers, as do many people on here, but you in particular. So let's hear them so maybe one of the consultants that are helping program the stations happen to read this and they can take your advice.
This thread is not about Me - any more than a discussion of Classic Rock is.
My intentions were to establish that: a.) I have a legitimate set of Radio experiences and b.) corporate Radio is stuck in the glue. (That corporate Radio is stuck has hardly ever been challenged.)
As to my philosophy: Beyond some commercially-viable premises, I keep almost all of those discussions out of our commercial-production enterprise. That enterprise is targeted at small and medium-market retailers - users of Radio.
Meanwhile, the archives of PSR are replete with discussions on the methodologies and nuances of broadcast communications.
Hahaha all of you make me laugh. I can't wait until you can solve the on-going mystery of what a good station is!!!! Now I guess I can't say all of you, just all the bitter people on here that have been fired at one time or another. Please share your answers with all of us when you get the formula and figure it all out. "pissant market" and "Pissant corporations," now what have each one of these self proclaimed "pissant corporations" done to you before Pave?? Turn that from upside down buttercup, it'll be okay, if you stress so much you're going to give yourself a heart attack, now you don't want that do you???? Pave, you seem to have all the answers, as do many people on here, but you in particular. So let's hear them so maybe one of the consultants that are helping program the stations happen to read this and they can take your advice.
The Dude Abides
I'm just a (former) listener and even I laugh at the suggestion that any consultant would lower themselves to take advice from someone with 30 or more years experience. One of the few industries it seems that the more experience you have the closer to the rocking chair they push you.
The attitude is more than prevalent in your condescending post.
So with every graduating class of snotnosed consultants who know everything, this industry starts from scratch, repeating the fukcup$ of every class before it and ignoring the experience sitting in the booth or in a sales chair. Or maybe even in that rocking chair!!!
And they wonder why listeners are tuning out by the thousands
Wow... and I mean... WOW!! I've enjoyed reading the posts of many of the authors on this thread for quite a while now and I've often found them informative and educational, perspectives from a wide range of experience. But the attitude towards these new stations seems to be a bit harsh.
Pave, Paddyboy et al - wouldn't a radio station be deemed successful if it generates loyalty, affection and passion from its target audience? Seems that very quickly both Energy and X have done that. Energy catering to the portion of society that embraces American Idol, Survivor and Let's make a deal. Pretty big percentage.
X... yeah, from an old-school radio purist point of view... doesn't sound nearly as polished, the jocks are way less structured etc. But, if the first book was any indication, their listeners sure have seemed to embraced them. And isn't that what it's really about? Modern rock, gentlemen... built for a generation most of us have little hope of understanding anymore. Except you flamethrower.
Call out the corporations all you want, of course they're in it to make a buck. But really, how is that different from the indies of a generation ago? Because last I checked, no one who has sold out in the last few years split their sale proceeds with the staff who helped them build it.
Flamethrower... let's see... for fun... 100 or so staff gone through over the last 10/15 years out there in Vic... 12 million sale... split 50/50... that's about 60K for each staff. What did you do with your cheque? OK, totally made up numbers there, just having some fun.
And if I think back many years ago to my early days in the business, I'm pretty sure I remember my owner driving off in his Mercedes while the evening jocks were trying to pool together money for a package of noodles and some sauce.
Not complaining, just sayin' is all.
Oh... I forgot Fuel in my rant... hmmm... go figure.
However, I'm sure you can appreciate how the comments of some senior, Radio-people here have a basis in some history - a history where station management revelled in the communicative/performance/entertainment factors which Radio used to represent. Plus, there was usually enough staff around to attempt to deliver.
No doubting of the sincerity or enthusiasms of the Talents being shown at the newer sticks - just the execution and the lost opportunities.
And the responsibility for those factors are shared by both Talent and Management.
X... yeah, from an old-school radio purist point of view... doesn't sound nearly as polished, the jocks are way less structured etc. But, if the first book was any indication, their listeners sure have seemed to embraced them.
Yeah, the alt-rock fans have sampled the station, but how many will stick around? Keep in mind that the number of returned BBM ballots is notoriously low, and that a suprisingly small number of ballots can swing your share wildly in one direction or the other. For a station to launch with little or no street buzz, they did very well, but they'll see that share remain static (like their signal ;p) or drop now that the initial curiosity tuning will have passed. Key to any sustained success for X92 is to fix the signal; a clean, static-free signal that can be tuned anywhere in the metro area is a must. Then they need to work on the product being pumped through that static-free signal. The couple times I've listened will driving through Calgary in the past few months, it really sounds like they're using somebody's MP3 collection as a source for a large percentage of their library, the sonic quality between tracks can be shocking. I'll refrain from commenting on the air staff, they were having technical issues with equipment, trying to deal with some mic problems.
Lite 96 (and Jack) better be scared, as Energy will be taking a large chunk of the soccer-mom's. Good signal, and the music works for the most part; the MD just needs to work on placement of some of the 80's gold so the programming flows better. And inside the next two years, once there's the complete turn-over of the air-staff, the jocks should sound really, really good.
I'd love to comment on Fuel, but didn't have time on the last trip to tune in. The concept of a AAA is quite appealing, I just wonder how much Bruce Cockburn is used to fill their quota???
I really like Energy myself. I agree with Willy that there 80's should be placed better, that will come in time. X92 everytime i listen to them I always hear the same song, must be my bad timing I guess. Fuel is alright, I really like BJ Shannon hes pretty cool.
However, I'm sure you can appreciate how the comments of some senior, Radio-people here have a basis in some history - a history where station management revelled in the communicative/performance/entertainment factors which Radio used to represent. Plus, there was usually enough staff around to attempt to deliver.
No doubting of the sincerity or enthusiasms of the Talents being shown at the newer sticks - just the execution and the lost opportunities.
And the responsibility for those factors are shared by both Talent and Management.
Radio has become painfully formulaic and, as an industry, has taken overt steps to diminish "live" Talent. What Talent that remains performing "live" has also been restricted in terms of content and time-on-mic.
Attention to commercial-production has been sublimated to, essentially, a price/item mentality.
These step all represent the "lost opportunities" to which I refer - opportunities to attract, hold and more effectively influence an audience through other than the programming of Music.
Managent has no clue as how to respond to these challenges and I believe this is not an overstatement.
They really don't know.
Hell, it doesn't even occur to them there might be alternatives to the templates they have created and by which they so stalwartly stand.
This is the case particularly with the most recent generation of station managers and programmers.
They attempt to "tweak" when what is required are extraordinarily bold, broad strokes.
This, unless they are satisfied with their (comparitively) piddly, little ratings-knudges.
Is there ANYTHING that gets your stamp of approval ?
I swear if Jesus walked across the water of the BOW River, you would post a thread entitled "Why Can't Christ Swim"?
You might be a decent producer, Ad Agency or whatever. But your constant, negative cracking here is unsulting to many who love it and made it a career. Can things be better, sure. I think, in fact I know, the future of Radio is in good hands with the thousands of people who make it happen everyday in markets large and small.
Canadians still LOVE radio. It might not be "like it used to be" but very little is. Radio formats are driven by listener needs and wants. If they want Classic Hits, Mainstream Rock, AC, Country or whatever...there will be a station trying to fill that need. Local Radio stations and their staffs still bust their behinds to be part of the communities they serve. Food drives, lending a hand where its needed, getting behind worthy social issues....Radio does it everyday and does it with pride.
Potshots from the anonymous cheap seats that it's all some sort of Corporate money grab are A. Untrue and B. Revealing
Your right Flamethrower, not very dudely of me at all, but on the other hand eevn the Dude can get Fired up from time to time. Now as for X, a buddy I went to school with works there and he said the signal is weak because they are using a temporay tower for now. AS for the talent on the station, anytime I have tuned in I have enjoyed what I have heard. Not the typical ronny radio coming across as you would hear on say CJAY. Rather than complain about the new stations, I think everyone should be thankful this market FINALLY has something new to listen too. Great having X, Energy and Fuel in the city. THis market has lacked radio for many years and now that it's hear, most seem to complain. I really don't get that.
So far as I can tell, Jesus didn't do anything but get a cult named after him. But, that's a rant for another time... and, no doubt, another place. Woo-Hoo!
As to Radio: Sure, some people still enjoy it and some even can make a living out of it. Not my concern.
For what it's worth, I absolutely loved my decades in Radio - made a hell of a buck in it, too and I cherish the experiences and friends that also came along.
My eyes are set on the potential of the medium!
Further, there is nothing "anonymous" about my postings as I have identified myself a number of times.
Nor do I long for Radio to be "like it used to be". Actually, I do, but only in the part that sustained "live" personalities.
My rants have an Outcome in mind: making Radio a profession... that attracts professionals. That is, people with actual skills and attributes.
I have little time for "posers".
Why, I'd crap myself silly if I ever heard a couple of cogent sentences being uttered with some alacrity - back-to-back on the radio - that contained a couple of adjectives, adverbs or tense-changes.
Imagine, for a moment, a jock who came into some 'disposable' income and decided he would use said income on say, neuro linguistic programming. Let's assume for the sake of this excercise, he went quite a distance with it. Then, got an opportunity to deliver his new talents on air. He gets A GOOD BOOK (Singular). Only to have his boss inquire how a talent did so well after such a short time. After refusing to bow to such an indignant power, the student is abruptly dismissed from position and begins his tirade and belittling of the very industry he claims he has a passion for. Most of the time, corporate radio and jocks who don't overthink 'WHY' they're on between songs, if they're on a music intensive station. (Different for talk radio, obviously). Anyone who knows Pave realizes he had, or, still has access to some excellent tools the average radio personality will NEVER be able to afford because of the simple fact, the big dollars and thus, disposable incomes, have gone the way of the dinosaur. As for endlessly perusing the internet for free Neuro linguistic training? Try finding the time to study effectively while telling your boss you can't 'volunteer' your only available time because you're trying to be the best communicator the station has. Guess where you'll end up? Dismissed as well. Oh, and it's highly unlikely the average listener of terrestrial radio has even the slightest understanding of this Pave guy's learnings. Basically, the average listener will choose something pleasing to his/her life, personality, character, etc and they will never be thinking about which adjective the jock used or the John Deere :30 second advertisement touched on. The only true way to 'grab' someone's attention these days is to give 'em something that is truly shocking. That word again, is, shocking. Not romantic. Not Sad. And definately not another friggin' sales pitch done on the radio after they had to go home and hang up on ten different telemarketers (which is exactly what a radio ad has become, in a brilliant disguise). The listener will choose a talk radio station if they want to hear.....ready for it?.....TALK. If a listener wants to hear rock, they will turn to.....ready for it?.....a rock station. This is unbelievably obvious in a market where all these genres are accessible. Please get off your pedestals. This is radio. The average listener has no idea of the sinister workings behind that radio dial. Talk radio is TALK RADIO. A Rock station is a ROCK STATION. And a country fan will FIND A COUNTRY STATION and no doubt will turn it off if a big headed jock tries to push his/her ego on their already busy life. I wonder if Pave is on Psychology Boards, too. I would take a look, but I have to flip fries at Mcdonald's because my boss told me to volunteer on McHappy Day. Ringing Salvation Army Kettles, Spaying my neighbor's cat, and working on the MS Walk wasn't good enough for her.
Audiences don't "think". They respond. This, btw, is the reason Radio and Television commercials work at all.
As to "ONE GOOD BOOK (singular)": Let's not forget the dozens of books previous and what followed. In fairness, though, it was that experience that reinforced for me where Radio was going and how there was no place in it for the likes of me. (I'm fairly tall and bending over that often would have been quite painful.)
As to NLP. That came much later. I wasn't certified to do training or work with people until 1994.
What I was studying during my broadcast years was Transformational Grammar and The Milton-Model of linguistics. That was the extra skill-set that brought those multiple, great books and that process started in 1980.
Meanwhile, if one were to accept the "way it is" as proposed by NoMonotony, one might as well close up shop and just... go with the flow. And please appreciate: this is not a knock against NoMonotony as he/she has, indeed, aptly described the status-quo.
Nevertheless, "shock" is only one possible element; is not used by any adult-oriented station anywhere; wears thin after awhile; is a dangerous gamble in these more recent PC times; has limited appeal for almost all but can be profitable for one and is a last attempt at an audience-grab by the truley desperate.
What an amazing business this is! So much passion, feeling and deep down love for that unique opportunity to reach out and touch someone out there...and no other medium can quite do it.
I had my moments...and even though they're now many years old, I remember them with a fondness I fear too many people in the business now don't get a chance to experience. One human, privileged to control a channel in the spectrum, in touch with another, playing all of the elements through the board like a musical instrument...a score intended to entertain, inform, enrage, engage and create a relationship that is unmatched by any other medium.
Damned hard to distill something like that into a science or a formula...and a waste of energy and opportunity to try in my opinion. So, Pave, Flamethower, Ronrob, Scotty, and others, keep those posts coming. You are all pretty damned smart, but I don't like your changes of figuring everything out...and, strange as it seems your sage attempts to try and the inability to nail it are precisely one of the three things I continue to love about the business.
The third thing is that relationship with the person on the other end of the wave...one that I know I was so incredibly lucky to have.
We and radio will survive the corporations and the beancounters.
Call out the corporations all you want, of course they're in it to make a buck. But really, how is that different from the indies of a generation ago? Because last I checked, no one who has sold out in the last few years split their sale proceeds with the staff who helped them build it.
This was an interesting comment and really made me wonder why I feel the way I do about yesterday vs. today when you make this accurate observation that the business of radio has always been .... a business!!
As I thought about it, I think it was the loss of participation and involvement that, for me, made today's corporations more evil than those of yesterday! Yesterday, we didn't have as much influence from the "chain" suits laying out the ludicrous guidelines of what bland, sterile entertainment should be. A program director got the exercise the director in his (rarely her) title ... by giving the team some guidelines but also some freedom to move a little bit. We felt like we were contributing to a cool operation that literally made an impact on each community. No one freaked (or spent that much time worrying) about the "bottom line" because we had enough other stuff on our plate to keep us pleasantly distracted!
But take away our chance to be creative ... to (pardon the over-dramatization) push our "art" in between (and on top of!) records; and MAKE us focus on the bottom line (if through no other means than to keep cutting expenses) and suddenly the "business" is all that's left! And along the way, the audience lost the "art" and the "connection" that made it all work so well in the first place. And it seems to be we lost all that because the people who jumped in these intervening years to make the rules and run the asylum are scared to death to actually LET the creative types have any part of that.
It might, after all, screw up the whole thing for everyone!
Guess that's why I think folks like pave and myself (at the risk of putting the wrong words in his mouth on his behalf) maybe recognize the business is still there; but in a very self-destructive way from an era when things were fun AND kept the owners and audiences happy all at the same time....
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I'll back it up even a bit more with: For the most part, I'm pretty certain they sound like..... 
Male
