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Cumulus Consolidates Music Decisions

Not long ago major programming changes made Cuimulus' WEBE 108 pretty much unlistenable and word was all programming decisions were moved to Atlanta and out of the local PD's hands. The damage has already been done.

I thought it was just me until I noticed in several retailers who had that station on had tuned to the local competitor, Star 99.
 
musiconradio.com said:
From all access

Cumulus Consolidates Music Decisions For Top 40/Mainstream, Top 40/Rhythmic, AC, Hot AC

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...sic-decisions-for-top-40-ma?ref=mail_bulletin

Let the comments roll...
Click to expand...
No surprise. Individual programmers are the bottom of "the food chain".

McVay: The greatest thing that worries me is individual programmers and individual air talent who are going through the motions, who don’t share the passion that we at the top of the food chain at Cumulus share.

http://larrygifford.wordpress.com/tag/lew-dickey/
 
Salty Dog said:
musiconradio.com said:
From all access

Cumulus Consolidates Music Decisions For Top 40/Mainstream, Top 40/Rhythmic, AC, Hot AC

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...sic-decisions-for-top-40-ma?ref=mail_bulletin

Let the comments roll...
Click to expand...
No surprise. Individual programmers are the bottom of "the food chain".

McVay: The greatest thing that worries me is individual programmers and individual air talent who are going through the motions, who don’t share the passion that we at the top of the food chain at Cumulus share.

http://larrygifford.wordpress.com/tag/lew-dickey/
Click to expand...

Oh really? So, Mr. McVay, your company is made up of a "food chain"? I think I'll "eat" elsewhere.
 
In the article:

"Air talent that are live and local are fewer and fewer"
 
"Live and local" is less important than "Fun and entertaining."

In the old days, you listened to Murray The K because he had inside information on The Beatles. Today's local DJs really have no personal connection with the stars. The public hungers for that information, and the local DJs are talking about their vacations, their dogs, and their lives. Why? Because they have nothing else to talk about. The fans can find out more personal information about their favorite stars on Twitter than they can by listening to a live & local DJ.

The advatage a big national guy like Ryan Seacrest has is he HAS those personal relationships with the stars that Murray The K had. He doesn't live in East Bumbutt. He lives in LA. That's where the news is. Thats where the stars are. For radio to compete with Twitter, it needs to have hosts who are connected, and unfortuately most aren't.
 
TheBigA said:
"Live and local" is less important than "Fun and entertaining."

In the old days, you listened to Murray The K because he had inside information on The Beatles. Today's local DJs really have no personal connection with the stars. The public hungers for that information, and the local DJs are talking about their vacations, their dogs, and their lives. Why? Because they have nothing else to talk about. The fans can find out more personal information about their favorite stars on Twitter than they can by listening to a live & local DJ.

The advatage a big national guy like Ryan Seacrest has is he HAS those personal relationships with the stars that Murray The K had. He doesn't live in East Bumbutt. He lives in LA. That's where the news is. Thats where the stars are. For radio to compete with Twitter, it needs to have hosts who are connected, and unfortuately most aren't.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The move to more national branding is long overdue. If there are national branded FM's and I'm in Seattle, I'd know that I'm going to get what I get in Washington DC. That means I get to hear the same Jock at the same time. Imagine that concept? Something we could learn from SirusXM. The advantage? We can put local weather, traffic, news and promotions in regular spots that SiriusXM can't do. AND let's get rid of individual station magic, no more mis-inflected station liners before Seacrest comes on...just have imaging that is consistent through markets. KISS, NASH, etc.

This isn't a new concept, national radio networks began in the early 1920's! It was a necessity for cost cutting and programming options...hmm, sounds familiar.

This then opens the door to some stations going the opposite direction. Completely live and local to compete. I like the direction Cumulus is going.
 
TheBigA said:
"Live and local" is less important than "Fun and entertaining."

In the old days, you listened to Murray The K because he had inside information on The Beatles. Today's local DJs really have no personal connection with the stars. The public hungers for that information, and the local DJs are talking about their vacations, their dogs, and their lives.
Click to expand...

And when they aren't talking about that, they are talking about "celebritiy" news... which could be better done by someone who actually has access to celebrities.
 
I think the big thing that radio has lost is the connection to the listener. It didn't matter about whether or not they had the inside skinny on celebs, it was the fact that the radio personalities related to the audience.

Now with syndicated morning shows or when a group airs one of their morning shows across a bunch of stations it's a no-brainer that some are going to get lost in the shuffle.

Cumulus has done a great job in running their stations into the ground. I've removed their local FM off my radios and I listen to one syndicated program on their AM (i.e., Clark Howard). Between their Atlanta-dictated music mixes and other programming decisions it won't be long before their audiences die off. The kids are already leaving radio behind for niche streaming that caters to their tastes.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
The kids are already leaving radio behind for niche streaming that caters to their tastes.
Click to expand...

Some are. Some use that in combination with streams from OTA stations, if they fit their taste. Kids may not like the radio device, but they haven't tired of the approach. To have a pre-programmed music player with all the hits that also incorporates new songs and a bit of information is a hard combination to match. None of the strictly online streams offer anything like it.
 
TheBigA said:
Kids may not like the radio device, but they haven't tired of the approach. To have a pre-programmed music player with all the hits that also incorporates new songs and a bit of information is a hard combination to match. None of the strictly online streams offer anything like it.
Click to expand...
I note some radio stations are taking their product and putting it online without modification. So a person can get all that terrestrial radio has to offer without a terrestrial radio. I'm bearish on terrestrial transmitters but not on the radio product itself.
 
People who stalk "celebrities" are a very niche audience. Most people don't care. People want to know and talk about important events going on in the world or their community. If there's nothing going on, they want u to shut up and play the music.

People want to know and talk about things going on in their community. People like being able to go to local events and interact with local jocks. People like having local events. People like listening to jocks who they know and have a relationship with. That's not possible with syndication.

Last time I checked, Cumulus' ratings were down across the board. I'm a liberal, but even Sean Hannity left Cumulus because they were running his stations into the ground. CBS Radio (less stations, believes in local radio) on the other hand consistently outranks and out-bills Cumulus.
 
Black Radio QC said:
Last time I checked, Cumulus' ratings were down across the board. I'm a liberal, but even Sean Hannity left Cumulus because they were running his stations into the ground. CBS Radio (less stations, believes in local radio) on the other hand consistently outranks and out-bills Cumulus.
Click to expand...

But Hannity isn't leaving Cumulus for CBS. He's leaving Cumulus for Clear Channel. How is that different?
 
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