10 years later...and amazingly still going!
Musings From Eric:It was October 21, 1998 when I received an email from Dave Hughes asking me to send him articles on local radio stations. Oddly enough that was three weeks to the day after I asked him if I could do the same thing - he said no. Even though I was excited to participate in providing information for his site, I never dreamed it would last very long - let alone becoming my own. But 10 years later (a mere 120 months) here we are a blog. A blog that existed before blogs existed, or something like that.
I'm not going to take a walk down memory lane. Unfortunately, our only true archives date back to March 2007 when we went to a blog format. (Let's face it, the appearance here was scary at one time!) However, I would like to take this moment to thank those who have helped to make this site what it has been over the years. If I leave anyone out, forgive me. First thanks to Dave Hughes who let me "steal" his idea. To Tom Lavery, Ken Hawk, Chris Lash and Ed Weigle for their past (and present) contributions as regional correspondents and column writers. Of course to Jason Togyer without whom this site probably wouldn't have made it past 2001! He's the one we must credit for making this site a "dot com". Without him, we'd still be pbrtv.tripod.com and I might have forgotten about it by now. (Incidentally he did an incredibly good job at keeping things going during my technological crises!) And of course, our webhost is Skymagik.
And what would this website be without you readers? POINTLESS! So thank you so very much for all that YOU do - your emails, comments and contributions are appreciated.
I know there are a lot of things to update on the other pages, please be patient with us.
Now down to business!
XM's Woes
Let's start with the XM Radio bloodbath...and yes I mean XM, not "Sirius-XM". Many people (me included) stated from the beginning that this merger couldn't be a good thing. Looks like we are being proven right. An XM subscriber since 2004, I've come to enjoy not only the beautiful music channel but several other channels. It looks as though, even though it wasn't supposed to happen, the majority of creative minds at DC's XM are out. This unfortunate circumstance is supposedly a money-saving tactic, although to me it sounds more like a hostile take-over of XM than anything. Someone should warn Mel Karmazin to be a little more careful. A combination of the wrong moves - reformatting and perhaps removing channels; adding commercials - combined with the poor economy will make it easy for XM subscribers to ditch their service. (I understand that's not an easy task.)
Let's not forget to mention the lousy way most of the now ex-employees found out about their last day - by checking into the payroll system and seeing "final paycheck." Oh yeah, that's class! Now there is talk that these folks may have to abide by a no-compete. NO COMPETE?! Didn't the competition soak them up? Give me a break. Give them a break! Hostile take-over I tell you - disguised as a merger.
Suing gets you a job?
I will be interested in the outcome of Gab Bonesso's case against B-94. I'll take particular interest in seeing whether or not she really does gain an on-air job after this lawsuit is over. Don't get me wrong, if there was wrong doing, I'm behind her 100%. I've just never heard of anyone suing to get a job.
It's too soon for Christmas Music
When this website started, stations were still pretty conservative when it came to playing Christmas music. Now there's a contest to see who can outdo the other by getting it on as early as possible. Sure, it makes a great format change stunt. It's better than a 30 second reel of people saying 'Wowee' or the chirping sounds of swamp creatures. But come on...Christmas Music in October for a ratings boost? Is that not a little nuts? The average listener isn't going to want to hear that stuff on a regular basis for two months. Sure, we might pop out a song or two on our own (ok, so it's just me...not 'we') but isn't that enough? Fortunately it was a short weekend thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it continues sooner rather than later.
In case you might have become confused, Christmas begins December 25 and ends 12 days later - January 5...and that happens every year.
Two more weeks...
Talk radio will go back to being normal...or as normal as can be after an election. This election year has proven good for both KDKA and WPGB. The summer book had them in 2nd and 3rd respectively. It will be interesting to see if the ratings are maintained after the election is over. I am guessing that both will still have a decent fall book, but may fall off a little in the winter trends. Then again, maybe it will depend on the result of the election.
In the meantime...
I look forward to see what will be going on in the local market over the next ten years. I hope you'll stick around!
Readers’ Forum
Thanks for all your hard work. I didn’t know you’ve been doing this for ten years. Congrats. Speaking of Jason Togyer, where has be been lately? I miss the Monday Morning Nostalgia he used to post on here.
Dave - October 21, 2008 at 05:12 am