[BC] Selective advertising

[Steve]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rich Wood" <richwood at pobox.com>
To: "Broadcast Radio Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: [BC] Selective advertising

Hi Rich:

> I did some unofficial consulting (I worked for food. Mario bought me
> lunch) for WNCN, New York. I was PD of WPIX-FM at the time. They
> wanted to break away from the stuffy "He composed it for the greater
> glory of God" approach. Most composers composed for filthy lucre.
> They hired some AC jocks and taught them pronunciation. Sometimes it
> didn't work, though they often beat the WQXR-AM/FM combo. WQXR
> countered by hiring Mike Joseph (Hot Hits) as a consultant. Mike did
> a great job of humanizing WQXR without making it amateurish. Warren
> Bodow was the GM. I thought it was a brilliant move. Mike simply
> knows programming.

Rich, I remember this as if it were yesterday. I began with KYTE in Portland
in May of 1987.
And guess who called me in Portland around mid 1988? Yep. Mike Joseph. From
my work for 6 years at KING-FM in Seattle and (at that point) the 2 years at
KYTE, the word got out I did Classical music with an AC approach. The reason
was because, as you note above, NCN was starting to erode if not, at times,
beat  QXR's in the numbers department. They wanted me to do mornings. I
didn't answer. I didn't send a tape. Eventually the P.D. called me. He knew
my work from San Francisco. I told him "I don't do New York" but having Mike
Joseph call me was a real honor. After all that the P.D. (forget his name)
said he'd rather be back home as well. For many a West to East Coast
transition is tough. Guess he got his chance as he either left or was let go
at some point in time. If a rookie had been sitting by my side when he heard
me turning down a gig in the Big Apple he probably would have dropped dead
on the spot.

> I used to have some heated conversations with Robert J. Lurtsema
> after he took over Morning Pro Musica at WGBH, Boston, when I went
> back to WJIB (I still did WGBH-TV Booth). He believed Classical music
> was so exalted that a Classical listener would listen to anything at
> any time. He couldn't comprehend that the Wagner Ring was longer than
> most commutes. Even a single work in the cycle was too long for
> morning drive. It only gave you time to hear the skinny lady sing.

Well Mr. Lurtsema is wrong. Then again that's public radio so you can do
anything you want, eh? He would play vocal music in the mornings? And Wagner
no less? Suicide and bad programming. (commercially speaking) You were
correct to have had those heated conversations. I played up movements from
Classical Period Symphonies, Baroque Concertos. Had a March of the Day
(their still doing that one on WRR in Dallas) Lots of overtures. Pieces were
no longer than 10 minutes. Now, what we're doing on WorldSpace breaks all
those rules. You know why we do it? Because we can. We're not mobile yet and
serve so many time zones how could you possibly do "Drive Time"? It's a
different audience. We'll play Barber or Copland and get email asking: "What
was that and who is this Barber/Copland?" I'm not kidding. Some (probably
quite a few) have never heard some of these American composers. Amazing to
me but then again I haven't heard about many Indian or Asian composers. So
it's all relative.
Hmmm...Wagner in the morning. The only thing I'd play is the Prelude to Act
III of Lohengrin. That'll blow ya outta bed!

> Fortunately for WFMT most of their advertisers were stuffy banks and
> financial institutions. Their music selection and audio quality were
> among the best ever, though I was more comfortable with the more
> natural approach of WNIB when I visited Chicago. I always found it
> funny that Studs Terkel, hardly stuffy, found a home there.

I'm brain-dead today. I forget the name of the long-time P.D. at WFMT. I'll
bet Studs arrived after this guy left his post. Talk about Mr.
Stick-Up-The-Butt! I never even thought of sending them an aircheck/resume.
Then again, I don't do Chicago either. :)

Steve