…A Similar Story In Charlotte
by Brian Maloney, August 22nd, 2009 at 04:24pm
What is it about talk radio that is simply baffling to the suits (or suit) at Greater Media?
It isn’t just Boston’s WTKK-FM sinking like a rock, recently-acquired WBT-FM / Charlotte is now in the same position. Since Fall 2008’s Arbitron survey, WBT has steadily fallen from a 5.7 share of that market (listeners 12 and older) to the 4.9 figure released yesterday.
At one time, WBT dominated Charlotte, but now, it is tied for fifth place. One of the first moves Greater Media made was to water down the local programming’s conservative focus, accomplished primarily by firing Jeff Katz.
Charlotte is still using the paper diary system, but will eventually convert to the Portable People Meter (PPM) now utilized in major markets such as Boston. PPM has revealed a serious weakness in WTKK’s programming, marketing and imaging and this could easily be repeated at WBT.
Under PPM, news-talk stations without a clear sense of identity and featuring muddled programming lineups are finding their ratings demolished, with no clear way to dig out of the hole.
WTKK has failed to properly react to this change and has experienced severe consequences as a result.
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15 Comments Add your own
1. Chris | August 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
It’s sad when the iconic three-letter stations have troubles. These are the stations we grew up with, sometimes clear-channel ones. Even once-beloved WBZ has stumbled; that’s embarrassing when 38 states can sense it.
2. Jay-B | August 23rd, 2009 at 7:44 am
Liberalism is in all forms of media - it shouldn’t be any surprise why radio, newsprint and TV suffer in ratings.
It fits their templates and goals - the worse a station performs the greater the management’s justification for socialism to come save them.
Does anyone think NPR could stay on the air one month if it were funded under a capitalist model?
3. neggy | August 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
Yep GM made the decision to kick Jeff Katz to the beach and look what happened. Jeff has decent numbers and a following, some suit decided to roll the dice and BAM the numbers tank,
4. Cap'n Spackle | August 24th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
No commentary on the Triumphant Return of Vay Cay?
I only caught 20 seconds of the last 5 minutes - he was playing show tunes. Again.
5. cricket | August 25th, 2009 at 5:22 am
I heard a couple of minutes of Jay. He said he has been in the waiting room with his very sick child only to have to wait behind sick people who do not speak english and were criminals. I can’t remember the exact words but he did not call them criminaliens so I guess he is safe…for now.
And hey, he is still admitting he has a child…he seems to have dropped most of the ladies man schtick.
6. Jim from Boston | August 25th, 2009 at 8:37 am
This is off-topic of the current thread about WTKK, but in the spirit of savewrko.com, I wanted to mention that the Sunday 5:00 AM program “Talking Religion” is going off the air the week after next. This is notable because the show has been on the air for about 30 years. One has to wonder what the station can expect to wring out of that odd hour by replacing it with some infomercial or whatever. Are there any public service programs on it anymore at all?
The host of the show, the Reverend Yvonne Eschner, urged the listeners to try and write to the Station Program Director, named Jason (she couldn’t remember his last name). She also, as she does every week but especially praiseworthy this week, commended Bill Cooksey for his technical assistance. He never interrupts in her show, as he sardonically does on Finneran’s Forum. Rev. Eschner always introduces her show as “a talk show like no other in the Boston area.” I took that to mean it is a discussion show with a regular panel, has an especially liberal slant, and notably has no commercials. LOL. That may be why the station wants to remove this lingering vestige of community service.
7. raccoonradio | August 25th, 2009 at 9:35 am
That would be Jason Wolfe.
Howie has made references on air about certain mikes not working, etc., because the “sky pilots” (i.e., religious folks) were in that same studio before, taping their show.
8. Circlet Soft | August 25th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Who is Jason Wolfe?
9. Circlet Soft | August 25th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Stafer, Pat Lucci, et. al.
Can I bring this forum back to where it belongs (the gutter)?
Is cross-pollination common in Boston talk radio circles, whereby host(s) from one station have affairs with host(s) across the dial?
10. piratetoby | August 25th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Re: Jay back from vaca….. first day back, happens to mention his kid. Yeah, I can see how the one mention of his kid translates into his dropping the ladies man schtick.
I’ve heard nothing that leads me to the conclusion he’s dropping his ladies man schtick.
And relaying a story from an ER: “they” don’t speak English and “they” are criminals? Since when is it a crime to speak another language?
11. piratetoby | August 25th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Softy: Affairs and hosts? Across the dial? What about across the table? (or on/under the table?)
You just love to drag us down, dontcha, you little gutter-snipe.
12. Cap'n Spackle | August 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Jim, maybe they can give that slot to Bill Kelly and he can lull everybody into a coma 2 days in a row.
Pirate, the ‘criminal’ part is derived from the ‘illegal’ in the term ‘illegal aliens’, an, uh, alien concept to liberals, I know.
13. piratetoby | August 25th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Yeah, Cap’n, I understand the term. My point was how did our gal Jay determine they were “illegal aliens”? Because they weren’t speaking English?
So by Jay’s rationale, if someone is not speaking English, they are an “illegal alien”?
14. Jim from Boston | August 25th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
On August 25th, 2009 at 9:35 am, raccoonradio wrote |
“That would be Jason Wolfe.
“Howie has made references on air about certain mikes not working, etc., because the “sky pilots” (i.e., religious folks) were in that same studio before, taping their show.”
I knew that, but Rev Eschner did not. The TR crew did tape on Wednesdays and may have messed up the mikes, but I never heard Howie’s comment. One of the panelists on TR, Fr. Cuenin, did once make reference to one of Howie’s riffs about illegal aliens, but I think it escaped the notice of the group. He certainly would be tossed out if the Reverend knew Fr. Cuenin was listening to HC. Conversely, I did once hear a caller to Howie mention TR.
On August 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am Cap’n Spackle wrote:
|
“Jim, maybe they can give that slot to Bill Kelly and he can lull everybody into a coma 2 days in a row.”
Thanks for your sympathy; I’m also a BK fan. LOL. BTW, Howie’s making references to the Red Sox games no longer to be heard on WRKO; nothing on the website as of now, about 4:45 PM. I have no problem with that loss.
15. New York Pizza | August 25th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Today Severin claimed to have a friend who is an “Undercover FBI Agent.” If this is true, why would said agent disclose his undercover status to Jay? It was as believable as Jay claiming the radio audience in New York being “boring” was why his radio show (on WOR) failed there.
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