Some Genuine Radio Wisdom from Toronto

Radio News from Ontario

Some Genuine Radio Wisdom from Toronto

Postby jon » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:05 pm

To put some perspective into what follows, the BBM 2+ SHARE Ratings for Toronto were:
  1. CHFI 18.0
  2. CBC 10.5
  3. CHUM-FM 9.5
  4. CFTR (All News) 7.2
  5. CKFM 5.5
What caught my eye the most was Lee's argument that consistency in Air Staff is everything in Radio.

Posted by Lee Marshall on March 7, 2014, 10:36 am (sowny.ca)

I'm sure that MOST of us have worked at stations which sifted through the numbers in order to find a positive spin...book after book after book after book. Hey! Look! We're number 1...with left-handed males born during the first 4 months of leap-years...between the ages of 47 and 48...who's names start with a vowel...not including A or E...and we rule this time frame exclusively on Sunday afternoons...especially in the summer.

When you're really # 1 it's a little easier. CHFI towers above everyone else. 680 pounds the info/yack stations. The Fan blows TSN radio into mist.

CHFI seems to have figured it out. Don't mess with your audience. Be consistent. Deliver what's expected and try not to serve up too much drivel and poop. From the moment Rogers landed Don Daynard they were golden. Long established at CKFM...the timing was perfect. Don pretty much maintained the FI audience he inherited and brought along the 'FM audience in droves. Add the 2 together and presto!!!

Erin was introduced into the mix and the trasition was smooth. The only blip is when they boned-headedly let her go. But give them credit. Unlike almost all of the other twits who play musical-chairs with their morning shows FI accepted that they had screwed up and corrected their error by bringing Erin back. She and Mike must be doing MUCH right. To a lesser extent Roger at CHUM FM shifted over from 1050 and has been on mornings in T.O. for what?...about 35 years?

Yes there are other less-successful but still viable stations which have left their morning shows intact for a relatively LONG time...and although there is sometimes an exception...generally those who change up the morning line-up basically auditioning whomever, and then their replacement, followed by the next guess and then some other re-tread...are doomed to wallow and fail. Screwing with the rest of the line-up isn't going to cause as much disruption but it's still not a positive or a smart thing to do. The loyal listeners HATE IT.

Long term...it isn't really the people on-air. If they were good enough to hire...they're even more important to keep. The longer they're there...the greater value they are to the radio station. The thing that makes the difference, other than tenure and talent?... The tools you provide for them to work with...the vehicle they use to deliver the goods. To shove some poor disposable soul out the door and off of your airwaves in order to save 15, 20, even 50 grand a year is just plain stupid. They AREN'T disposable, the audience gets pissed off, the numbers suffer, the bottom line takes a dump and you end up losing more than you saved by being so 'brilliant' at your management job.

No matter how it's spun...the blame for crappy numbers rests in the ivory tower. And no matter what you tell your staff, your salespeople or the clients who advertise with you the reason YOU'RE getting your ass either slapped or kicked is because YOU'RE not very good at what you do. Wanna save some money and not hurt the station/audience/numbers you currently have? Step down. The problem is YOU.


Posted by Lee Marshall on March 6, 2014, 5:29 pm

Just a quick look suggests that Q 107 is in trouble and that CFNY needs to entirely re-think whatever it is that they're doing. 'RB ain't exactly a shadow of a shadow of its former self either.

But CHFI and 680 News are kickin' names and takin' asses.

With the tiny numbers for TSN and Sportsnet radio one wonders if they're really delivering ANYTHING at all that's meaningful or valuable for their TV counterparts. I mean if virtually NO ONE is listening...who is going to be promoted, encouraged, cajoled or talked into watching? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

And now there'll be another station soon in where?...Scarborough?...Further fragmenting the fragments.

Looks to me like the GTA is ripe for some entirely new, never before considered or presented, directions in radio programming. Certain formats are either somewhat successfully or merely just entirely covered...almost to death. Others are doin' some business for niche audiences but ain't "runnin' things" in ANY way, shape of form.

There's just way too much stagnation here. The fact that 'FI is SO far ahead of the entire pack speaks volumes and not much of it is complimentary. And no one can claim to be "number 2 ... but we try harder".

Heads should roll...but only at the very top.

Once again it seems, according to these numbers, that the only thing missing in the ivory towers of the radio broadcasting industry are qualified radio broadcasters. Looks like some might find that shareholders are going to go missing too.

It must be a great time to be at Rogers. The rest? You should be embarrassed AND embarressed.
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