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Radio Talk
With Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 10, 2001; 1 p.m. EDT
Frank Ahrens covers radio for The Washington Post. His column -- "The Listener" -- appears every other Tuesday in the Style section. Frank is also a general assignment feature writer, and his reporting subjects have included everything from minivans to murders, from baseball to bandwidth.
If you're wondering about the inner workings of radio in Washington, around the country and on the Web, or want to know what Frank really thinks of minivans, then don't touch that dial . . . um, mouse! Please join us for this discussion!
Submit your questions ahead of time or during the discussion.
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Frank Ahrens: Greetings all, and welcome to our "off-week" discussion.
Phew! Lots of happenings last week in Washington radio, which we'll recap briefly here:
-- Music of Your Life WGAY 1260 dies, thanks to low ratings and the fact that its owner, Clear Channel, did not sell the station or promote it.
-- Business radio 570 moves to the 1260 frequency and becomes WRC.
-- 570 becomes WTNT "Dynamite Talk", a Clear Channel new talk station featuring syndicated talkers such as Phil Hendrie, Michael Savage and Michael Graham. Morning man is Don Imus, who moves over from WTEM.
-- Orioles debut on WTEM--sort of. Unitl Caps/Wizards seasons over, you'll find O's games more likly on 570 or 1260. Imus replaced by ESPN talkers Mike and Mike, about whom I know nothing.
-- Jamn Oldies dies and is replaced by Hot 99.5, also a Clear Channel product. It aims right at Z104 for the Top 40 audience, playing Destiny's Child, Matchbox 20, etc. Heavy on the beat.
Think that's it...anyway, it's a good launching point for our discussion.
Have you guys listened to Hot 99.5 and/or Dynamite Talk yet?
What do you think of the new stations?
Let's go.
Satradio Query:
Your paper reported this week on the race to bring satellite radio to the masses. Among the many interesting tidbits in the article was this tidbit from one of the XM higher-up, who the writer describes as saying XM Satellite radios will be "an option" in 2002 Cadillac's Seville and Deville models.
An option? I thought these radios were going to be standard equipment in cars, and that was the biggest element in the companies' favor: forced implementation, so to speak. I know drivers would still have to pay for the service, but I didn't think they'd have a choice about whether their automobiles included the receivers. Is it different with Sirius' contracts?
Frank Ahrens: More like an "option out." The plan that both Sirius and XM have, and both have confirmed to me, is that in several 2002 models, more upscale models, the satellite radios will come with the car, like a CD player, and you'll have to ask to NOT get it. Further, a one-year subscription to the service will be included in the price of your car.
Fairfax, Va.:
Saw your Shatner story this morning. I really enjoyed reading it. How in the world did you get such a plum assignment? Also, which was more fun: being around the Miss USA contestants or Captain Kirk?
Frank Ahrens: That wasn't an assignment...as soon as I saw that Shatner was hosting the Miss USA pageant in Gary, Ind., I FORCED my editor to let me go: You could never find such a cosmic convergence of absurdity--it could not go uncovered.
Further, inasumch as I've been wanting to write about Shatner for a long time, this gave me the opportunity.
I actually didn't talk to the Miss USA contestants too much--they were very busy. I chatted with Miss D.C.--Liane Angus, who went on to finish second, and Miss Idaho--Elizabeth Barchas, who--bless her soul--wants to be a PRINT reporter.
Shatner, however, was much fun.
Jim in Richmond:
Frank -- I really enjoyed both the Stargell and Shatner pieces today -- well done. =I thought I'd give you another quick update on Clear Channel's moves in Richmond. Last week they fired the morning guy on the Sports Talk station -- he had been there almost ten years, and almost single-handedly brought the format to what had been a talk station. (Two months ago they fired the afternoon guy, who was also program director). Even worse, they dropped their ESPN programming, meaning no Tony K, but left Jim Rome on, which just adds insult to injury (I can usually pick up WTEM in my car, but my boss probably wouldn't like me driving aimlessly for three hours every day -- maybe I can get a sound card for my PC). They're using Fox Sports Network for most of the programming, and bringing in a 25-year-old from Buffalo next week to do the only local show which will remain. AAAARGH!!!
On a happier note, I also want to thank you for bringing WRNR to my attention -- we get up to Annapolis frequently, and it's good to know it's there (and I can listen at home on the 'net). Keep up the good work.
Frank Ahrens: Thanks for the nice words, Jim, and thanks for the Richmond update.
The Airless Cubicle:
Hey ... Frank! Your ... Shatner ... ARTICLE ... was ... GREAT! If you... If you continue... you may get... a PULITZER!
Radio Hint of the Week:
If there is a thunderstorm in the area, disconnect all antennas leading to the outside and make sure that any good radios you have are on surge protectors. I've had lightning fry a receiver when I was a boy, and last year a tree falling on our power lines caused a power surge which the supressor caught. The supressor was fried, but I didn't have to buy all sorts of new gear I couldn't afford.
If you listen to AM radio, you will hear popping noises as the lighting strikes. They get louder as the storm gets closer. Sometimes a good thing to do is to find an empty spot on the AM band, towards the higher frequencies, and leave a receiver on it. On occasion, on both AM and FM radio, you'll hear a quick half-second of silence on a station as lightning hits its towers, triggering a safety mechanism.
On the other hand, if there IS a power blackout in your area and you have a light source and batteries in your radio, that is the time to hit the AM bands and see what signals you can pick up. Much of the degeneration in AM quality over the last ten years have come from the ubitiquous computer, microwave, and some heaters, which despite FCC Part 15 rules, leak radio energy of some sort or another. When they are silent, the local noise level drops considerably.
It's always a good idea to have a good radio in the house that can get the National Weather Service broadcasts as well. They can be picked up at most department stores and Radio Shack. The NWS stations will broadcast up-to-date emergency information. In this area, that includes tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
Let us remind people that WUST-1120 broadcasts China Radio International's one-hour English program aimed specifically at Washington at 9 am local time. Would someone at CRI kindly, in words of one syllabe, please explain to us what a "hegemonist" is?
This situation with China is going to get worse; the situation with Russia may approach Cold War levels, as President Putin is studying reviving the great Soviet propaganda machine. We may see Radio Moscow -- oops, the Voice of Russia -- open up a relay on the AM band in Cuba, as they had many years ago.
O Dubya
Ducking and covering!
Frank Ahrens: You can't just listen to the thunderstorm like a normal person, can you? Oh, no. You have to listen to the thunderstorm on the AM radio.
For some reason, I'm getting a picture of Christopher Lloyd in "Back To the Future" or maybe Dr. Frankenstein: "IT'S ALIIIIIIVE!!!"
And, as always, we appreciate the opportunity to crank back up our Cold War anxiety. Pretty soon, we'll have first-graders fingerpainting mushroom clouds again.
Dulles Dame:
Just wanted to thank you and all the clicksters for turning me on to bluegrass on WAMU. During the prolonged presidential election fiasco, everyone was complaining because WAMU was pre-empting their afternoon bluegrass for coverage of the election. This made me curious, "What's so great about it?" Well, I've been listening regularly for the last few weeks and I have become a fan of WAMU and bluegrass. Whoda thunk it? Thanks!
Frank Ahrens: Another convert to a truly American music form. Good for you. To me, it's about the last place I can hear really terrific, tight harmonies, sometimes with ancient and unexpected chord progressions.
Oldie Townie, Va.:
Hi Frank. In your report on the WWRC/WTNT/WGAY switcheroo, you referred to WGAY as the lowest rated station in town. I've seen that claim several times in recent weeks. Of course, it's not true. As bad as WGAY's rating were, they were ahead of WDCT, WZHF, WKDL, WFAX, WMET and the raft of bad, bizarro AM-ers calling Washington's radio dial home. 'GAY even regularly outpolled WWRC, which, of course, was given a second lease on life. Sucky ratings, sure; disappointing revenues, you betcha. But lowest ratings of anyone... 'fraid not. So, my question to you is... where does oft-repeated "lowest-rated station" claim come from? Clear Channel? (It reminds one of their unchallenged claim that the poor economy had driven them to kill the wretched "Jam'n Oldies" format, instead of lousy ratings.) And, why do you and others insist that 1260 has changed its calls to "WRC," when it is still called "WWRC"? Not only will the FCC not allow new 3-letter calls, but Channel 4 owns the WRC calls.
BTW, for what it's worth WTNT sounds terrible to these AM-loving ears. I listened for about 20 minutes yesterday to the 10-noon shift. The guy spent 20 minutes ranting about how golf was a competition, not a sport (Well, maybe. So what?) and how Tiger Woods had won only four tournaments in a row, NOT four in the same year. Whew! That is dynamite!!
Frank Ahrens: As for the ratings, I get my information from the quarterly Arbitron ratings books, which show that WGAY is typically among--if not the, which it is sometimes--lowest-rated AM in town. I don't count stations like WZHF, which broadcast "brokered programming," or shows that the host pays for, and they don't even show up in the Arbitron ratings.
And as for Jamn Oldies, the ratings were there--the station was right in the middle of the pack for its demographic, which was listeners 25-54. But Clear Channel is right: it's a niche format that does nto have the bust-out, Top 10 appeal (or listeners) of a Top 40 station.
Finally, it was Clear Channel who told me that they're dusting off the old three-letter WRC call letters for the 1260 bizradio.
Bethesda, Md.:
"Hello, 911?"
"Mybeautifulwife....isatthebottom....
OFTHEPOOL!"
I know, that's cold. But I've heard the tape and, so help me, that's what he sounds like!
One of the funniest movies in recent times, "GalaxyQuest", played off the old 'Shatner is too arrogant at conventions' theme you mentioned in your article, with Tim Allen playing the Kirk-like commander. I wonder what The Great Bill's opinion of that movie is.
'Starfleet Technical Manual', eh? My God, you ARE a dweeb.
Frank Ahrens: Yes, yes, I know...I thought the same thing when Shatner's wife died. Awful, I know...but you couldn't help but think that.
What are you gonna do?
I asked Shatner's opinion of "Galaxy Quest" and he proclaimed it a "funny" movie without elborating. I decided not to pursue.
Scared on 95:
I was driving home with my brother and sister from N.J. yesterday. As we were passing through Delaware on 95 we heard the Emergency Broadcast System break in on the station we were listening to (99.5 actually), right in the middle of a song. Man I was scared! I thought it might have something to do with the goings on with China. Turns out it was just a warning for thunderstorms in Pa. They used the EBS for rain! They shouldn't be allowed to scare people like that.
Frank Ahrens: Wow. Another Cold War baby.
You know what else...I heard on WTOP the other day the host break for the Emergency Broadcast System test but, instead of saying it was alerting us to a nuclear war, it was alerting us to an abudcted child! Same language, same tone, same signal! "In the event a child had acutally been abducted, etc..." I might do a story about this.
Washington, D.C.:
Is Imus gone?
Frank Ahrens: Don Imus has moved from WTEM 980 to WTNT 570, as part of the new talk station. Same time.
Washington, D.C.:
I have a question regarding playlists...
Can a station just play any song they want off any album they choose or is there some sort of governing body or rules they play by? My girlfriend thinks they can play whatever they want but stick to the popular songs on any given album and that's why we don't hear 90% of the tracks on popular records. I say there are very specific rules and critiria for what a station can play but, then again, DC101 does that 7 sides at 7 thing...
Can you shed any light on this?
Frank Ahrens: A station can play anything it wants...there is no governing body. HOWEVER: stations do not play anything they want. Their playlists are purposefully narrow, aiming at "superserving" the target audience that station has selected to aim at. Further, their playlists are governed by what type of station they want to be. For instance, Classic Rock 94.7 is not a COMPLETE classic rock station; it is a classic rock HITS station. Further, their playlists are trimmed and added to based on exhaustive audience testing of the songs: staitons have auditorim testing, wherein they gather listeners and play bits fo songs for them, asking if they like them or recognize them, and the stations do frequent fon research, wherein they'll call you at home and play songs for you ask you to rate them. The days of the deejay playing what they want are over. The songs are carefully selected and scientifically selected to achieve maximum ratings.
As for DC101's Seven Sides at Seven on Sunday nights...station ratings on weekends are so low that station management allows programmers and deejays to play music and program in a way that they would not allow during the high-listening weekdays, which is why its some of the more creative radio you'll hear (weekends, that is.).
Philly, Pa.:
Frank,
Great columns and chats even tho I can never really participate fully because I can't hear the radio. With the advent of satellite/digital radio, are you aware of any attempts to provide captions for all broadcasts a la television captions? Maybe the original Dubya can give us some tech info related to this.
Thanks.
Frank Ahrens: Wow. That's a really interesting question. I assume from your statement you are hearing-impaired. I have never heard of an effort or a technology aimed at somehow making radio available to the hearing-impaired; i.e., turning it essentially into a reading service for radio. But your intuition is correct: The digital signal can carry not only audio but also video and text, so, in theory, every word of a radio broadcast could come out of the speaker of a digital radio while the words could appear in print, streaming accros the video screen of the digital radio, like a stock ticker.
This is a really interesting point, and I'm posting it to see what it stirs up.
Thanks.
20121:
Will Hot 99.5 have any distinct radio personalities or will it just play music and commercials? Have you talked to the folks at both The Z and Hot 99.5? I think your statement of "going right for" Z's listeners is an understatement. Have you heard Hot 99.5's parodies of The Z's promos?
Frank Ahrens: I'm told by the folks at Clear Channel that Hot 99.5 will eventually have deejays but wouldn't say when. Their idea, I believe, is to establish the foothold as an identity--we're the new Top 40 station in town. Here's the music; get used to that first. Remember, when Jam'n Oldies rolled out, which Hot 99.5 replaced, it had deejays piped in from other Jamming Oldies stations around the country, which Clear Channel did not tell the Washington listeners. (It was up to your humble servent, The Listener.) Radio stations these days can be imported "in a box", and don't even need deejays to launch.
And yes, you're right...Hot 99.5 is going hard at Z104. We'll see how Z responds...
The Airless Cubicle:
The Emergency Action System and its predecessor, the Emergency Broadcast System, were never meant solely for nuclear alerts. They are meant to tell people about emergencies -- including nasty thunderstorms, toxic spills, and civil disturbances. (I remember the EBS coming on in 1968 and Mayor Washington alerting people about the riots in DC).
This area is one of the worst in the U.S. for thunderstorms, thanks to its unique combination of the Bay winds and the mountains to the west and north forming thunderheads. When I mentioned tuning in to hear the static... well, often that storm is coming faster than you can see or hear it on the horizon, and it gives you time to get out of the pool, get inside, and not play Thunderbolt Dodgeball.
If there IS an actual war emergency, the first clue is TV sets and FM radios should go off the air. (This presupposes an engineer at the station; I suspect Clear Channel will be pumping out the bland until they are incinerated, which would show there is a silver lining in that mushroom cloud).
Each region has designated EAS stations. WTOP and WMAL, I believe, cover this area. The EAS systems are only tested once a month now. EBS was tested weekly, and I remember when the local sirens were tested at the same time. Spooky...
O Dubya
Frank Ahrens: That's why you're The Man.
I'm still under my desk, tho.
Arlington, Va.:
Hi Frank -
Just wondering what you think the effect will be of the new FCC policy statement regarding what you can and can't say on the radio. Do you think this has the potential to cripple shows like D&M and Stern?
Frank Ahrens: I need to really pore over the new FCC ruling...the initial reads make it read fairly stern (no pun intended). Yet, at the same time, this FCC Chairman (Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell) has made it clear he prefers keeping the FCC's hands off of content.
Windowless Box, Baltimore:
Frank, posting early to beat the rush. Great piece today on William Shatner. Truly, a man for our time! A life so large cannot be compressed into a few inches of newsprint, of course, but for me the defining Shatner Moment isn't "The Transformed Man" -- as amazing as that album is -- but the mid-80s SNL sketch in which he played himself attending a Star Trek convention. "Get a life, people!" I've read somewhere that this is one of the earliest known uses of the phrase (perhaps even THE earliest).
General Public or Fine Young Cannibals?
Frank Ahrens: Looks like you have a competitor in the nomenklatura game, O Dubya (just to bring out a little more Cold War-era lingo).
Yes, I well remember the SNL skit. Shatner to John Lovitz, dressed in a Star Fleet uniform: "You there, how old are you? Have you ever kissed a girl? I didn't think so!"
Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, said she was "furious with Bill" following the SNL skit.
(Maybe that's because, unlike Shatner, who has diverse interests and business ventures, Nicholls chief lunchticket was her appearances at Star Trek conventions and so on, and she was afriad Bill upset the applecart.)
For me, it's FYC.
The Estates of Riverdale Parke:
Hello Frank,
On my last visit to Britain, I listened quite a bit to BBC Radio 4. It's a bit like our NPR, but there's a crucial difference. On NPR, every single program is made up of small chunks or is designed so that a listener can tune in at any time and not be lost. By contrast, Radio 4 includes programs that have beginnings, middles and ends -- radio plays, for example, or drama series.
By restricting itself to the magazine or talk-show format, NPR is failing to exploit the radio medium.
Frank Ahrens: A good posting, thanks much. (And I feel like I'm missing some allusion in your address...)
I wonder if this doens't have to do with the ways that Americans and Europeans (oh, the British DO hate to be called Europeans) consume media. I wonder if it's because of the U.S. pressed-for-time, give-me-the-info-now, don't-have-time-to-waste U.S. personality and the languid, oh-well-there-goes-the-Empire-I-say-anyone-for-tea? British inclination?
Just a little jingoistic speculation here...
Bring in the Funk:
Frankster:
While scanning the other night, I stopped on... I think 98.3... for Stevie Wonder's funkadelic "Livin for the City." Since then, I've heard them play everything from disco to British Invasion to Southern Fried Rock, but never any station ID. Does that sound like 98.3? If so, is it new?
Frank Ahrens: Our friend Dave Hughes (www.dcrtv.com) lists 98.3 as two possibilities: WXVA country, from Charles Town, W.Va. And WSMD classic hits, from Mechanicsville, Md., which he says can be heard in D.C.'s southeastern suburbs. Maybe this was it.
Buzzard Point, D.C.:
Frank,
Here's the info from the FCC's website about the "Emergency Alert System". I guess its more "open-ended" now.
"Beginning January 1, 1997, the new Emergency Alert System (EAS) will replace the old EBS for all broadcast stations--AM, FM, and TV. This new system will replace the weekly "only a test" message with less obtrusive weekly tests and shorter, monthly on-air tests for television and radio stations. There are other important changes as well.
The EAS uses digital technology to distribute messages and this allows for a lot of improvements in providing emergency information to the public. The new system has a less obtrusive testing system--broadcast stations are only required to transmit the digital codes, test script, attention signal, and, for TV stations a visual message, once a month. The required weekly test only consists of the digital codes and should be less than 8 seconds in duration. The new EAS should be less likely to cause broadcast audiences to tune out the EBS because they assume it is "just a test". The new system allows state and local officials to quickly send out important area specific state and local emergency information and it also recognizes the need to provide emergency information to people whose first language is not English. "
Frank Ahrens: Thanks for the posting. This is helpful....thanks.
The Airless Cubicle:
Philly -- I haven't read about plans to provide captioning for radio stations yet. The CIA has a software package, "Carnivore", that "reads" sound waves and converts them to transcript, and can even identify voices, but it still needs a human to supervise tricky transcriptions. Carnivore is a long way from being put onto computers, but perhaps if you have a favorite announcer, you can train something like Dragon Naturally Speaking to transcribe the voice.
I would think that major news organizations can put scripts on the air as they are read.
Of course, can you imagine what effect Carinvore would have on decency standard enforcement? Time-stamped transcripts of dirty words? The FCC new guidelines for stations is out on Adobe Acrobat now.
O Dubya
Frank Ahrens: Thank you again, sir. A regular clearinghouse, that's what we've got here.
Washington, DC:
The Diane Rehm show is promoting The Newseum in Rosslyn, Va. Her show now origininates there on Fridays. Do you know how much The Newseum is paying for this advertising?
This is yet another step in NPR's ascention to complete commercial status.
Frank Ahrens: You know, I don't know if Rehm's show gets paid for the mention...perhaps she gets to broadcast from there in exchange for mentioning it on-air. But your point touches on a sentiment that a lot of increasingly frustrated public radio listeners have.
Alexandria, Va.:
Frank -- Please, please, please get the Post to fix its style manual on this point: There is no such thing as an "Indianan". The proper nickname for someone from Indiana is "Hoosier". Thank you!!!
Transplanted Hoosier
Frank Ahrens: Hoosier daddy?
Rocketville, Md. 20851:
Hi Frank,
Very intersting article on Shatner... never much a Star Trek fan, but I've always found Shatner to be a fascinating person.
My question: How is WTEM able to carry both ESPN Radio and FOX Radio programming. I know they carry much more ESPN material, but even just a few hours of FOX radio programming must be causing some conflict within. Has WTEM ever had their arm twisted by ESPN to go full-time with their product? I certainly wouldn't object to them dumping the travesty that is the Jim Rome Show, but now they also have Tony Bruno for an hour. Makes little sense. THanks for your thoughts here.
Frank Ahrens: I think that WTEM, like any station, can carry anyone they want to buy. ESPN can't tell WTEM, "If you carry our programming, you can't carry FOX," and so on.
Burke, Va.:
Frank,
Is WTEM owned by one of those big, multi-station companies? If so, why don't they move the signal to FM? With 99.5 moving to a format that already has an established station to compete against, why not put WTEM there so radio sports fans who live more than 10 miles from D.C. can listen to the Caps/O's/Wizards with decent reception? Reception on 980 or 570 AM is lousy west of Alexandria!
Frank Ahrens: Hi, Burke. Yes, WTEM is owned by Clear Channel, the nation's largest radio company with more than 1,200 stations and eight here in D.C., including the new WTNT talk on 570 and Biz Radio 1260, WRC. I think Clear Channel had toyed with moving their sports property to FM and/or making Jamn Oldies into a "hot talk" staiton to compete with WJFK, but frankly, I think the bigger money on FM, if you don't have Howard Stern and/or a Don and Mike-type show, is in music: You don't have to pay big talk-show host salaries, which keeps your cost down, and you play hit music, which your company already owns the rights to.
Charlotesville:
For Airless Cubicle:
"Hegemonist" is a favorite term of the post-1949 Chinese press. Just think of what we mean when we say "Superpower". Now add a good dose of what 'schoolyard bully' connotes.
Reading Chinese press can be a blast. I used to subscribe to FBIS when I was in graduate school --- 80 pages a day of translations of Chinese press and radio broadcasts.
Frank Ahrens: I am always amazed by the electicity (is THAT a word?) of the participants of this discussion.
Thanks, C'ville, you imperialist running dog.
Chicago, Ill.:
Re Arlington's question on FCC standards -- word came from the Sun-Times this morning that Mancow Muller got fined 14K for indecent content. For those who haven't had the displeasure of hearing him, think a perverted Rush Limbaugh, with less class. He was supposed to be a young Stern, but his ratings are way down, and there's a strong hint his contract won't be renewed come July, despite being syndicated.
Frank Ahrens: Yes, I saw that item. I've heard Mancow a few times, and frankly, I'm not a fan. That's the problem with the whole legion of Stern knockoffs: If you don't have his talent, which is prodigious, then you come across as coarse, base, vulgar and just plain mean. That's my problem with Mancow.
Windowless Box, Baltimore:
While I do admit to being inspired by the Original Dubya (and who among us hasn't been?), the handle is, an accurate description of my work environment (and I use the term loosely) here in Charm City. Not that I'm bitter.
Frank, your pick of FYC clinched it - - as Nathan said to King David, Thou art the man!
Radio: Can't pick up the Greaseman this far north. Any sign that he's catching on, or is he yesterday's news?
Frank Ahrens: I'd heard he was trying to ink a pact with a Bawlmer station...hang on. Let me check...yes, try 1570, I think that's in Towson. He's on from 6 to 10 p.m. WNST.
Washington, D.C.:
Frank -
Is something wrong with Jim Rome? Right before the Final Four, guests were almost to a man wishing Jim "good luck at home," or something like that. Now he's out for two weeks. Is he, or a member of his family sick?
Frank Ahrens: Romey is on paternity leave for a couple of weeks. How about that? The Jungle Man has a soft side.
NOW GET OUT OF HIS GRILLE!
G'burg, Md.:
Hiya Frank,
I've listened a bit to the new 99.5. It's...OK, and you're right -- they're making direct hits against Z104. I heard an ad yesterday referring to Z104's low frequency.
I hear enough of 99.5's playlist on Z104 and 102.7 from Baltimore(?), so the new station isn't anything new or exciting. I miss the Jamn Oldies -- it's a shame that didn't work out.
Frank Ahrens: Thanks for the posting...there is a sense of loss from many listeners over Jamn Oldies, if only because for folks closer to my age, it was a station that they felt was aimed at them. My complaint about Jamn Oldies was not the idea...that I liked. My complaint was that it felt like a deejay at a wedding reception...playing the same songs every night, and the station's personalities never popped for me...there was never one deejay I tuned in especially to listen to. So I'd say my complaint was not in the idea but the execution.
Arlington, Va.:
What we need is narrow cast single artist stations: All Britney 104, Total Christina 96, Madonna Magic FM 93.
With more and more niche stations, how long until we get even more specific and individualized where perhaps every listener decides on his individual play list?
LJ
Frank Ahrens: Well, I guess that's Napster, right? And MP3. As the Smiths presciently said 15 years ago (albeit about a club deejay):
"Hang the blessed deejay/because the music that they constantly play/says nothing to me about my life."
Woodbridge,22193:
Frank,
First an opinion: Hot 99.5 might be attempting to rival Z104, but their music is so aimed at WPGC's crowd that methinks, unless Hot 99.5 were to get some DJ's real soon, Z104 will continue to kick 99.5's butt. Z104 just debuted a new morning guy, Dylan, and just who did he interview this morning: why none other than Brittany Spears. Okay so we'll award Z104 1,000 points for that and hot 99.5 gets only 59 points for their debut.
secondly, the AM band is just as good as the FM for capturing far away stations during solar flares and T'storms. A guy who lives in NYC posted on a BBS that from where he lives, yesterday he picked up a 100.7 from Tampa and several midwestern 95.1's. Me, I only picked up 94.5 out of Richmond
Frank Ahrens: Good posting. Thanks for logging in about Dylan on Z104...Britney is a good "get" for his first week.
Cleveland, Ohio:
You said you don't count WZHF because it only offers brokered programming. It seems, these days, the only way to introduce truly creative radio programming, especially if it's a show that will only run once a week, is to broker it. Would you cover a show if you thought it was good even if it was brokered? For instance, I know he's a stripped show but don't you cover/count Greaseman and isnt' he brokered?
Frank Ahrens: Oh, sure. I'm not disparaging those programs, because you're absolutely right...it jsut about IS the only way to get something risky, unique or chance-taking on the air: pay for it yourself. And I'm not saying I wouldn't cover it; I do, a la Greaseman. What I was saying is that I dont' count those stations when I'm talking about Arbitron ratings because they're so low-rated. Not at all disparaging their content.
255.255.255.0:
What is your opinion of MLB charging to listen to baseball over the internet? I think that is another attempt by the "powers that be" to take the game away from the general public.
Frank Ahrens: I couldn't agree more and, next Tuesday, with the help of O Dubya, I'm going to print a little box that shows which Major League teams you can still get for free over the air on AM at night, when AM travels farther.
Washington, D.C.:
I take metro, I don't have a car. Does that mean I will have no way to get satellite radio? Will we be able to get a reciever for home or even a walk-man type thing?
Frank Ahrens: Yes, home sets will be available soon, the companies say, and eventually even a boombox satellite radio.
McLean, Va.:
Frank,
During your interviews with Shatner, did you ever raise the subject of his old Trek costars' disdain for him? I was particularly crushed when I read of Jimmy "Scotty" Doohan's loathing for him, soon followed by a similar account from George "Sulu" Takei. I'll never be able to watch the cheerful banter on those old reruns in the same way again.
Frank Ahrens: Actually, yes. I couldn't get all that in. George "sulu" Takei really unloaded on Shatner in his (Sulu's) biography. I asked Shatner about this and, he said said he'd interviewed Nichelle Nichols for his book, "Get a Life!" At the end of the interview, Nichols told Shatner, he said, "Don't you want to know how we all hate you?" Shatner seemed shocked. Why, I asked? He said they felt he had given them the high hand at Star Trek conventions, which he acknowledged to me. But he also guessed they were "jealous." Terrific.
Frank Ahrens: That's going to do it for today, folks. Thanks for joining us and, as always, sorry we couldn't get to all the questions. See you next week.
Live long and prosper.
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