...I worked at a radio station that was cool (and cheap) enough to realize the whole April Fools day phenomenon could be exploited as a means of promotion.
The radio station was WEBN and the means of exploitation was a huge creative undertaking called THE FOOLS DAY PARADE.
It was the aural embodiment of the April Fools joke. Day long, completely strait faced coverage of a completely fake parade.
People were genuinely deceived into thinking there was a parade*, the ones that weren't had a lot of laughs and it was incredible publicity. But it was also something else. It was among the things that created a kind of whimsical brand identity that was unique to WEBN, and not easily co-opted by a competitor.
It's that unique, not easily co-opted brand identity that has made it possible for WEBN to stay on top of this market for decades, in spite of the fact there is almost no evidence of whimsey left on WEBN.
Think about that, then think about how you're going to brand your radio station.
*There was a real baseball opening day parade going on downtown, and some people watching the real parade were confused because they were listening to our coverage.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Baby if you've ever wondered,
Wondered whatever became of me,
I'm living on the air in Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, WKRP.
Got kind of tired packing and unpacking,
Town to town and up and down the dial
Maybe you and me were never meant to be,
But baby think of me once in awhile.
I'm at WKRP in Cincinnati...
We in Cincinnati love ourselves better then anyone! That's why we love this classic tv show.
I recall one episode in which Johnny Fever (I think it was Fever) dreams of the future of WKRP. A future where the only thing left of the radio station is a desk, Herb Tarlek and an automation machine.
It is now the future and this is no longer a a dream. It has happened and on a scale that you may not know.
I had no idea how "human free" radio station operations had become, until the day a hurricane blew through Cincinnati and was never mentioned on any local radio station until hours after the event! Of course the only reason I know this is because after the hurricane took away our power and dropped a tree on our house, I still had a functional radio and all of the stations were cranking out the same old crap like nothing different was going on!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming technology. The villains in this piece are the upper management types who apply it to replace personnel rather then augment their productivity. When you fire everybody and automate everything the result (as noted above) is tragic. Oh and by the way, there are a disturbingly large number of examples of this same tragic outcome in other markets.
So how many tragedies will it take before the situation is fixed? It doesn't matter! Because the same technology that makes it possible to automate away salaries is rapidly making radio as we know it completely obsolete. With the advent of wireless internet everywhere (remember it's all technology), radio is no longer needed.
Radio is like someone in a persistent vegetative coma, only alive on a machine.
I'm living on the air in Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, WKRP.
Got kind of tired packing and unpacking,
Town to town and up and down the dial
Maybe you and me were never meant to be,
But baby think of me once in awhile.
I'm at WKRP in Cincinnati...
We in Cincinnati love ourselves better then anyone! That's why we love this classic tv show.
I recall one episode in which Johnny Fever (I think it was Fever) dreams of the future of WKRP. A future where the only thing left of the radio station is a desk, Herb Tarlek and an automation machine.
It is now the future and this is no longer a a dream. It has happened and on a scale that you may not know.
I had no idea how "human free" radio station operations had become, until the day a hurricane blew through Cincinnati and was never mentioned on any local radio station until hours after the event! Of course the only reason I know this is because after the hurricane took away our power and dropped a tree on our house, I still had a functional radio and all of the stations were cranking out the same old crap like nothing different was going on!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming technology. The villains in this piece are the upper management types who apply it to replace personnel rather then augment their productivity. When you fire everybody and automate everything the result (as noted above) is tragic. Oh and by the way, there are a disturbingly large number of examples of this same tragic outcome in other markets.
So how many tragedies will it take before the situation is fixed? It doesn't matter! Because the same technology that makes it possible to automate away salaries is rapidly making radio as we know it completely obsolete. With the advent of wireless internet everywhere (remember it's all technology), radio is no longer needed.
Radio is like someone in a persistent vegetative coma, only alive on a machine.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
"Mommy, if there REALLY is a God...
...then why are animals tortured for medical research and babies born with brain tumors?"
I want to meet the child who thinks like this!
All digressions aside, the point is there ain't no God. At least none you an I can possibly conceive of. The idea is absurd and childish. To believe one can conceive beyond their intellectual capacity is madness.
Which I guess is why WQRT, a radio station owned by a company full of people who believe in God, is filled with people who are genuinely mad! In this case my definition of mad equates to a constant stream of lies, venom and hatred.
The most charitable description of WQRT is that it is a short stick (that means crappy signal) am radio station buried in the wilderness of Kentucky, that is owned by a group that professes Christian values and speaks just the opposite. Sure, we can debate the meaning of "Christian values" but mostly their gonna come don't on the side of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", not bearing false witness 24 hours a day.
One might actually defend WQRT in spite of this apparent contradiction by simply pointing out that hate sells. WQRT is merely doing what makes business sense. But it wouldn't wash because in this case their whole point is specious. Bottom line is hate isn't doing very well for them. They are at the bottom of the ratings in spite of their programming and the fact that God himself is on their side! As a matter of fact their nearest "hate radio" competitor is light years ahead of them and owned by Clear Channel (my code for Satan).
If this doesn't make you say, "OMG", then you have no appreciation of irony!
I want to meet the child who thinks like this!
All digressions aside, the point is there ain't no God. At least none you an I can possibly conceive of. The idea is absurd and childish. To believe one can conceive beyond their intellectual capacity is madness.
Which I guess is why WQRT, a radio station owned by a company full of people who believe in God, is filled with people who are genuinely mad! In this case my definition of mad equates to a constant stream of lies, venom and hatred.
The most charitable description of WQRT is that it is a short stick (that means crappy signal) am radio station buried in the wilderness of Kentucky, that is owned by a group that professes Christian values and speaks just the opposite. Sure, we can debate the meaning of "Christian values" but mostly their gonna come don't on the side of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", not bearing false witness 24 hours a day.
One might actually defend WQRT in spite of this apparent contradiction by simply pointing out that hate sells. WQRT is merely doing what makes business sense. But it wouldn't wash because in this case their whole point is specious. Bottom line is hate isn't doing very well for them. They are at the bottom of the ratings in spite of their programming and the fact that God himself is on their side! As a matter of fact their nearest "hate radio" competitor is light years ahead of them and owned by Clear Channel (my code for Satan).
If this doesn't make you say, "OMG", then you have no appreciation of irony!
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
To be more accurate, I harbor a great deal of hostility and I'm choosing not to repress it any longer. The hostility in question being focused on the media. I'm admitting this upfront so no one can use my bitterness against me later. I own it already bitch!
I'm not ordinarily someone who thinks the world needs to know his opinion. I find people like that boorish and (generally speaking) of low intelligence. I personally know a blogger who is of certifiably low intellectual capacity (other then myself of course). If you don't want to take my word for it, then why are there so many morons on am radio? If that ain't proof the opinionated are idiots I don't know what is!
That said, yes I'm now an idiot blogger. Which (for the record) is better then being an idiot media a-hole, and brings me to the reason for all this.
I got banned from commenting on the Cincinnati Enquirer media blog. Which is to say I was banned by Cincinnati media a-hole John Kiesewetter. It's kind of cool and tricky the way they ban you without you actually knowing you've been banned (at least for a while), so we have to give the devil his due. Not the Ol' Kieseter (he doesn't rate devil), the person who wrote the code. But, back to rattling Kiester's cage...
I'm not trying to set myself up as some kind of expert on the subject of "media". However I do have a media education and have been working in various types of media for years. So I have earned some credibility. Whereas media a-hole (our personal code for journalist) John Kieswetter has no media education. He admits it in whole cloth. Read the blog (I'm not linking it. Go there yourself.) So it seems to me there may be a true market opening for an (at least slightly) educated media reporter.
FROM NOW ON THAT WOULD BE ME BITCHES...sorry about screaming, but you have to reach over the din.
To be fair to the Ol' Kiester, it's pretty clear I have no education in "a-hole-ism". My command of the language is colloquial at best. But my journalism skills are legion compared to his media savvy. Moreover this guy who claims to be a credible media reporter, works for a local radio station along with the newspaper, and doesn't seem to understand this constitutes a conflict of interest. This guy isn't just feigning stupidity, HE REALLY IS STUPID.
So you can plainly see, when it comes to curious and critical analysis of the media this blog is your only hope!
GOD HELP US ALL!
I'm not ordinarily someone who thinks the world needs to know his opinion. I find people like that boorish and (generally speaking) of low intelligence. I personally know a blogger who is of certifiably low intellectual capacity (other then myself of course). If you don't want to take my word for it, then why are there so many morons on am radio? If that ain't proof the opinionated are idiots I don't know what is!
That said, yes I'm now an idiot blogger. Which (for the record) is better then being an idiot media a-hole, and brings me to the reason for all this.
I got banned from commenting on the Cincinnati Enquirer media blog. Which is to say I was banned by Cincinnati media a-hole John Kiesewetter. It's kind of cool and tricky the way they ban you without you actually knowing you've been banned (at least for a while), so we have to give the devil his due. Not the Ol' Kieseter (he doesn't rate devil), the person who wrote the code. But, back to rattling Kiester's cage...
I'm not trying to set myself up as some kind of expert on the subject of "media". However I do have a media education and have been working in various types of media for years. So I have earned some credibility. Whereas media a-hole (our personal code for journalist) John Kieswetter has no media education. He admits it in whole cloth. Read the blog (I'm not linking it. Go there yourself.) So it seems to me there may be a true market opening for an (at least slightly) educated media reporter.
FROM NOW ON THAT WOULD BE ME BITCHES...sorry about screaming, but you have to reach over the din.
To be fair to the Ol' Kiester, it's pretty clear I have no education in "a-hole-ism". My command of the language is colloquial at best. But my journalism skills are legion compared to his media savvy. Moreover this guy who claims to be a credible media reporter, works for a local radio station along with the newspaper, and doesn't seem to understand this constitutes a conflict of interest. This guy isn't just feigning stupidity, HE REALLY IS STUPID.
So you can plainly see, when it comes to curious and critical analysis of the media this blog is your only hope!
GOD HELP US ALL!
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