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No more "KYW News Time"?

M

MikeM2011

Anyone noticed in the last week how KYW anchors no longer predate the reading of the time with "KYW News Time"? The daytime anchors started omitting this initially about a month ago, however this week it seems all the full-time anchors started doing this, with mentioning of KYW only once few and far in between -- mostly at the top/bottom of the hour. To be honest this what was what gave KYW its individuality and now they're losing it, among other factors.
 
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I would think the thing that gave the station its individuality was the fact that they are the only 24/7 news station in town. Maybe that doesn't matter.
 
TheBigA said:
I would think the thing that gave the station its individuality was the fact that they are the only 24/7 news station in town. Maybe that doesn't matter.
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Maybe "news" equals "old folks listening" in the eyes of Madison Avenue and radio beancounters. Kind of like WWE prohibiting its announcers from calling its product "wrestling," which is what its intended viewers' parents and grandparents used to watch in grimy arenas. Keep airing news, just don't call it that.
 
... or like the younger folks with the boomboxes ten years ago thinking 'Lemme turn on Power 105 and listen to some Urban'

... or Dad in the car 25 years ago, telling Mom, 'This Beautiful Music stuff doesn't have any singing. See if you can find one of those middle-of-the-road stations.'

With evolution always evolving, there must be a method to the madness, especially in PPM markets. Perhaps, as MikeM suggests, the words 'KYW' and 'news' are indeed synonymous to the majority of the listeners. That would also make the phrase somewhat redundant, no?
Maybe they went to fit in another spot per hour, :)

Anyone know if 1010 WINS is doing different things ? I'm out of range here.
 
They're obviously doing this purposely and on somebody's orders. But...what could really be the point? Ad buyers here know what they're getting. KYW is not new. Folks who are buying time know what the audience is. Plus, they're seeing the data so calling it something else isn't going to make a difference. And why would anyone want their station to ID itself less? And saying "It is eleven-oh-six" sounds really odd--and not only because I'm so used to hearing them say it differently. Who would say that? "It is eleven-oh-six" isn't the way people speak. Not only does it sound odd, but they're saying it a ton! I've only been listening for a few minutes and these time checks are now super awkwardly noticeable. "It is eleven-oh-six." "It is eleven-oh-eight." "It is eleven-oh-nine."
 
Miguelito said:
They're obviously doing this purposely and on somebody's orders. But...what could really be the point? Ad buyers here know what they're getting. KYW is not new. Folks who are buying time know what the audience is. Plus, they're seeing the data so calling it something else isn't going to make a difference. And why would anyone want their station to ID itself less? And saying "It is eleven-oh-six" sounds really odd--and not only because I'm so used to hearing them say it differently. Who would say that? "It is eleven-oh-six" isn't the way people speak. Not only does it sound odd, but they're saying it a ton! I've only been listening for a few minutes and these time checks are now super awkwardly noticeable. "It is eleven-oh-six." "It is eleven-oh-eight." "It is eleven-oh-nine."
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They got a new programming director last month...something tells me he might have something to do with it.
 
And "business reports" are no longer "business reports" they're "money news." And the classic phrases such as "all news all the time" and "you give us 22 minutes" and "newswatch never stops" are either gone or heavily de-emphasized from the top, bottom and quarter hour marks.
New PD is putting his stamp on the station.
Remember where he comes from: WCBS-AM in NYC.
Here are the first sentences from his bio on the KYW website:
Alex Silverman joined KYW Newsradio as Program Director in September 2018. He previously served as Assistant Director of News and Programming at WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York City, where he guided KYW's sister station through a modern refresh and re-image of its iconic news radio brand.
https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/authors/alex-silverman

I'd expect more changes to KYW's sound, too.
 
"Money news?" I can understand wanting to sound like they're appealing to a younger audience but that sounds like they're trying to appeal to morons. Kinda like a college changing their History courses to "Shit That Happened Once."
 
Entercom runs four of the top eight (8) rated Philadelphia stations. Three of those went up, according to last month's scorecard while a fourth (WIP) stayed the same.

Seems to me that the company is feeling that they're dealing with confidence, from strength, tweaking and perhaps tuning up things as matters head into Christmas season, Black Friday and election time.

Whichever season radio destines to arrive first, :)

PD Silverman may or may not've assumed the reins of a hot streak. But with winter weather soon to become a reality, there's little mystery why he wouldn't want to get a foot in the door via a station that's known to do well during *scheduled* bad weather, as opposed to random, catastrophic weather.
 
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radiophiler said:
And the classic phrases such as "all news all the time" and "you give us 22 minutes" and "newswatch never stops" are either gone or heavily de-emphasized from the top, bottom and quarter hour marks.
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Those phrases have been taken out of regular usage a few years ago. Some of the fill-ins still use them though, presumably only because they're not on enough to understand the format.
 
Miguelito said:
"Money news?" I can understand wanting to sound like they're appealing to a younger audience but that sounds like they're trying to appeal to morons. Kinda like a college changing their History courses to "Shit That Happened Once."
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Compare headlines on internet-based news services (young readers) to those found on stories in newspapers and on websites fed by newspapers.(old readers). Internet headlines are full of stupid stuff like "You'll never believe how many pounds Celebrity X lost!" and "Celebrity Y said this about Celebrity Z ... and broke the internet!" or "Cleveland loses again .... because Browns!" (That idiotic "because" thing is the MOST irritating.) Newspaper headlines? "Celebrity X thanks 'miracle' diet for 50-pound weight loss." "West interrupts Swift at Grammys, boosts Beyonce." "Missed field goals cost Browns in loss to Bengals."

Apparently, people over 55 (in age, not IQ, although I wish that were the case) don't click on these "too cool for the room" headlines, and millennials don't click on headlines that offer only the basics of the story without the hipness or snark.
 
CTListener said:
Compare headlines on internet-based news services (young readers) to those found on stories in newspapers and on websites fed by newspapers.(old readers). Internet headlines are full of stupid stuff like "You'll never believe how many pounds Celebrity X lost!" and "Celebrity Y said this about Celebrity Z ... and broke the internet!" or "Cleveland loses again .... because Browns!" (That idiotic "because" thing is the MOST irritating.) Newspaper headlines? "Celebrity X thanks 'miracle' diet for 50-pound weight loss." "West interrupts Swift at Grammys, boosts Beyonce." "Missed field goals cost Browns in loss to Bengals."

Apparently, people over 55 (in age, not IQ, although I wish that were the case) don't click on these "too cool for the room" headlines, and millennials don't click on headlines that offer only the basics of the story without the hipness or snark.
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As if I weren't already worried enough about the future of humanity. haha. It's true that as a business, radio has to appeal to the largest possible audience. I was just hoping that would apply to CHR more than it would news. At least for a few more years. Also, I suppose I was in denial that the "largest possible audience" now matches up pretty closely with the "lowest common denominators." #sad
 
MikeM2011 said:
Those phrases have been taken out of regular usage a few years ago. Some of the fill-ins still use them though, presumably only because they're not on enough to understand the format.
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Yeah, I haven't heard "the newswatch never stops" in forever. And the last time I heard the old "you give us 22 minutes," I was probably waiting to hear if my school closing number was going to be announced!
 
Miguelito said:
As if I weren't already worried enough about the future of humanity. haha. It's true that as a business, radio has to appeal to the largest possible audience. I was just hoping that would apply to CHR more than it would news. At least for a few more years. Also, I suppose I was in denial that the "largest possible audience" now matches up pretty closely with the "lowest common denominators." #sad
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The thing is, language changes and evolves. That's not the downfall of society. There were most likely people several generations prior who cringed at things like "give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world" et al. Heck, we know full well there were people who scoffed at the idea of getting legitimate news from...a...gasp....radio. (There probably still are, but that's somewhat beside the point.)

I don't think that makes it lowest common denominator, or a harbinger of the apocalypse. I think it's simply the inevitability of time marching on. People who want something in a different package doesn't make them lazy/less intellectual/choose-your-derogatory-description-here.

KYW was getting on the musty side. If doing away with some phrases is part of the freshening up, more power to 'em. Because...progress. (Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.) :)
 
Miguelito said:
And the whole staff rolled their eyes when they heard him give this instruction.
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Except Michelle Durham...still her happy-go-lucky, unnatural self. :rolleyes: Don't know if you guys heard her today, but it sounded like she really jacked up on the caffeine. Usually you can barely hear her talking because she turns the music up so loud!

Some more changes I noticed is Steve no longer "thanks" people on Reporters Roundup, and Matt Leon doesn't conclude his sports reports with his name anymore and instead just tosses it over to the anchor. Wondering how the WIP reports on the weekend will be affected.

Also, Bloomberg's anchors now say something along the lines of "For Money News on KYW, I'm [anchor name]," though the pre-recorded segments (which is really just the Bloomberg Market Minute with the intro removed and KYW's branding slapped on the end) still say "Bloomberg Business." For now, at least.
 
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MikeM2011 said:
Except Michelle Durham...still her happy-go-lucky, unnatural self. :rolleyes:
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God bless her, I'm sure she's a lovely person. But I literally can't even with her. She's the volcanic opposite of that woman who was on years ago... Oh geez, why can't I think of her name? She was there for centuries. She read the news like she couldn't possibly have cared less. She sounded like she just couldn't wait to go back home and get into bed. You all know who I'm talking about. Oh, it's driving me crazy that I can't think of her name. Regardless, being a radio freak, I couldn't turn her off. Even though she sounded LITERALLY HORRIBLE, I would listen until I arrived at my destination because I just couldn't believe she was on the air, just sort of heaving and sighing her way through the news as if to say "Oh, I guess you want to hear the news? Fine, then I'll read it to you. But that's it!"
 
Miguelito said:
God bless her, I'm sure she's a lovely person. But I literally can't even with her. She's the volcanic opposite of that woman who was on years ago... Oh geez, why can't I think of her name? She was there for centuries. She read the news like she couldn't possibly have cared less. She sounded like she just couldn't wait to go back home and get into bed. You all know who I'm talking about. Oh, it's driving me crazy that I can't think of her name.
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Cheryl Elias.


And now I hear a distant "DAMN IT! THAT'S HER NAME!"
 
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