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Time to Talk Strategy! Talk Station Blitz with new XDS Satellite Feed

Started by Dyna-X, September 21, 2015, 05:09:43 PM

Dyna-X

OK, here's my situation: In my city there are 3 long form Talk stations that are very saturated.  One is iHeart, one is Clear Channel (that carries C2C - no matter what you feel about that, LOL) and and the Salem Media flagship station that carries Mike Medved syndicated in the desired time slot.

Should we in this instance:
1) Contact all 3 talk stations
2) Contact all stations AM & FM regardless of format (so-called "shotgun marketing" approach)
3) Other

Is there an expert radio person on site that can diplomatically spell out the best strategy or pm me with a quick primer? Do we have an offsite group where such things are discussed (ie on Skype?)


chefist

Quote from: bateman on September 21, 2015, 05:33:39 PM
Contact non-iheart stations.

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?format=tal&s=R&sr=Y

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/stations

An ad in Talkers would probably help a lot too.

You also want to hit bigger markets before smaller ones.

http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb_menu_001

Remember that http://www.cities929.com/  dropped C2C, added MITD, and kept all their other PremRat programs...if it was done once, it can be done again!  :D

bateman

Quote from: chefist on September 21, 2015, 05:38:43 PM
Remember that http://www.cities929.com/  dropped C2C, added MITD, and kept all their other PremRat programs...if it was done once, it can be done again!  :D

They're not OWNED by iheart though, they just carry some of their programming. They're owned by some company called Great Plains Media. I'm 99% sure iheart-owned stations will not be allowed to carry MITD.

Dyna-X

Thanks, Bateman and chefist! That makes sense why my first letter fell on deaf ears, as it was iHeart. It's kinda odd then that C2C is on the Clear Channel here, I wonder what kind of deal they are running with that. Anyhow, thanks :)

chefist

Quote from: bateman on September 21, 2015, 05:44:07 PM
They're not OWNED by iheart though, they just carry some of their programming. I'm 99% sure iheart-owned stations will not be allowed to carry MITD.

Gotcha...but how many of those like them are out there? I don't know...If an obscure station like that can pick up Art, so can any Indie in a big market! Actually, funny that a midwest corn fed hick station is on the same level as the hipster KXL Portland! I love the new radio era!  8)

bateman

Quote from: Dyna-X on September 21, 2015, 05:46:22 PM
Thanks, Bateman and chefist! That makes sense why my first letter fell on deaf ears, as it was iHeart. It's kinda odd then that C2C is on the Clear Channel here, I wonder what kind of deal they are running with that. Anyhow, thanks :)

ClearChannel is the same thing as iheart. And Premiere is the syndication arm of that company. So iheart (previously called ClearChannel) stations will have to carry Premiere programming. 

bateman

Quote from: chefist on September 21, 2015, 05:48:37 PM
Gotcha...but how many of those like them are out there? I don't know...If an obscure station like that can pick up Art, so can any Indie in a big market! Actually, funny that a midwest corn fed hick station is on the same level as the hipster KXL Portland! I love the new radio era!  8)

Absolutely.

Dyna-X

Wow, that Radio locator is an awesome tool/site... There are all kinds of little stations to try as well that are still in reception range. This has possibilities.

norland2424

lets say this station , is it owned by iheart or the school, since it can be streamed thru iheart

http://radio-locator.com/info/KCSN-FM

Uncle Duke

Steve:

I'm more than willing to hook Art up locally, but I do not speak radio.  Could/would you put together an email we could cut/paste to send to PDs explaining what Art has to offer, and what's in it for the stations?  Thanks.


bateman

Quote from: norland2424 on September 21, 2015, 07:00:34 PM
lets say this station , is it owned by iheart or the school, since it can be streamed thru iheart

http://radio-locator.com/info/KCSN-FM

Owned by the school, they just have a stream through iheart. They'd be fair game.

Quote from: Uncle Duke on September 21, 2015, 07:00:48 PM
Steve:

I'm more than willing to hook Art up locally, but I do not speak radio.  Could/would you put together an email we could cut/paste to send to PDs explaining what Art has to offer, and what's in it for the stations?  Thanks.

I would just say that Art's show will be available via XDS feed starting October 1st. Press release: http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,8722.msg518234.html#msg518234

and this is the link you should throw in: http://nexusbroadcast.com/affiliate-terms-and-sign-up/

Quote from: trostol on September 21, 2015, 07:02:22 PM
wonder if college radio stations would run him

Quite possibly. Seth Shostak's Big Picture Science show runs on a ton of public stations: http://www.bigpicturescience.org/listening_options

coaster

I'll try to contact a couple stations tomorrow.
Scratch that. One of those stations is iheart..






ProfessorLoco

Well, as long as I'm paying (and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon), I'm not interested in promoting the station on terrestrial AM stations.  Dollars to doughnuts that the quality of the sound won't be nearly as good as what I get online.  'Nuff said.

Uncle Duke

So if I'm a PD, how impressed would I be with a potential show host I'm considering who readily admits he's won't announce scheduled guests until the day of the guests' appearance because he's afraid of his competetion?

bateman

Quote from: Uncle Duke on September 21, 2015, 10:49:10 PM
So if I'm a PD, how impressed would I be with a potential show host I'm considering who readily admits he's won't announce scheduled guests until the day of the guests' appearance because he's afraid of his competetion?

Wouldn't care a bit. None of the right wing talkers have a weekly guest list posted.

Uncle Duke

Quote from: bateman on September 21, 2015, 10:55:06 PM
Wouldn't care a bit. None of the right wing talkers have a weekly guest list posted.

Not sure that's an apples to apples comparison, but I'll take your word for it.

Wintermute

As someone stated above, the first thing to do is decide on a form-content that can be emailed or personally comunicated to station managers. It should have all necessary information about the show and steam connectivity / licencing. It may help to have a legit argument as to why the station should carry the program in question.

I say this because I have spoken to three local station managers (one iHeartMedia owned) and they all pretty much asked the same questions. One picked up the show after week 2-3. Remember that they are running a business. That most either have C2C going already or they have something else programmed thus a programming change would have to be made. Business-wise it is not as simple as just "flipping a switch" as Art likes to put it. It's a business decision and there is overhead in changing programming. There is a reason stations don't change programming and format often... it requires $$$ and time.

One station manager put it this way: It's like cooking a meal. Whether it's stellar or average, consistency is expected. So you'd have to argue why I should change ingredients. And have a realistic explanation why one is better than the other. Because it isn't always about quality. Especially in the midnight slot.

ProfessorLoco

Something else I failed to speak on is if this show goes out over the airwaves, it's bound to be recorded and distributed to folks at no cost.  C2C is recorded and distributed every day....for free!  So, if this happens, perhaps I should let slip my subscription.  Why's he doing this anyway?  Seems to me that he was talking about getting away from the terrestrial audience in the first place.  If this starts smelling like a money grab..........

Quote from: ProfessorLoco on September 22, 2015, 09:30:29 PM
Something else I failed to speak on is if this show goes out over the airwaves, it's bound to be recorded and distributed to folks at no cost.  C2C is recorded and distributed every day....for free!  So, if this happens, perhaps I should let slip my subscription.  Why's he doing this anyway?  Seems to me that he was talking about getting away from the terrestrial audience in the first place.  If this starts smelling like a money grab..........

So because he want to give the show to free to people on the radio you think it is a money grab?

Granted ads may become more expensive, but I don't think it is a money grab. Art has always wanted to compete with C2C and this is how he is doing it.

I am actually a little disappointed in Bellgab for not having a more coordinated effort in getting the news out to radio stations.

SaucyRossy

Quote from: Uncle Duke on September 21, 2015, 11:03:37 PM
Not sure that's an apples to apples comparison, but I'll take your word for it.


Go to any of the affiliates that carry a show similar to Art's and see if they post the shows guests name, bio, and topic for the day. I'd be shocked if you found an affiliate station website that did that.

Wintermute

Quote from: ProfessorLoco on September 22, 2015, 09:30:29 PM
Something else I failed to speak on is if this show goes out over the airwaves, it's bound to be recorded and distributed to folks at no cost.  C2C is recorded and distributed every day....for free!  So, if this happens, perhaps I should let slip my subscription.  Why's he doing this anyway?  Seems to me that he was talking about getting away from the terrestrial audience in the first place.  If this starts smelling like a money grab..........

It's already being done. And I do it for myself as well with StreamWriter (free software). If you want more info, you can PM me.

Uncle Duke

Quote from: SaucyRossy on September 23, 2015, 03:51:12 AM

Go to any of the affiliates that carry a show similar to Art's and see if they post the shows guests name, bio, and topic for the day. I'd be shocked if you found an affiliate station website that did that.

I think you missed the point of the discussion, on two levels.  First, I'm not talking about an affilate website carrying guest information for any of their syndicated talents' programs.   As far as I know, that is seldom if ever done, other than indirectly through a link to a show's website.    Most guest driven, syndicated programs do, however have a "scheduled/upcoming guests" feature on their site's menu somewhere.  As we know, Art's site does not announce his guests until the day of, and sometimes just hours before, that guest's appearance.

The issue I asked about is one of perception from point of view of the radio professional being asked to put Art on his/her station.  If I were that PD, I would not be impressed by a guy who admits he can't post a list of upcoming guests on his own website for his guest centric program because he's afraid of his competetion. An odd admission for a proven talent who's repeatedly said that competetion is vastly inferior to his own product, and even issued a preemeptive chest-thumping social media, shot-across-the-bow message to that competetion saying, in effect, "don't fuck with me or my guests or else".  The "or else" part of the message comes off as empty bravado considering Art apparently believes he has to hide the identity of those guest until shortly before the show for fear of that competetion.  Either that or he's sometimes scrambling late in the day to even get a guest.

OF course I'm not a PD, and as I alluded to earlier, I acknowledge I don't know enough about radio to even send what I would consider an effective message to a PD.  What I am, however, is an aggressive professional who would never have accepted a show/admission of weakness on the part of my people relative to an adversary.  Respect yes, but we know that's not the case with Art toward George/C2C.  Letting your competetion know they've gotten into your head means you're already playing from behind.  Maybe most PDs don't think as aggressively as I do, but even if I was running a 75 watt station in the cornfields of Nowhere, Neb, I'd want a guy who's willing to challenge inferior competetion.

Uncle Duke

Quote from: ProfessorLoco on September 22, 2015, 09:30:29 PM
Something else I failed to speak on is if this show goes out over the airwaves, it's bound to be recorded and distributed to folks at no cost.  C2C is recorded and distributed every day....for free!  So, if this happens, perhaps I should let slip my subscription.  Why's he doing this anyway?  Seems to me that he was talking about getting away from the terrestrial audience in the first place.  If this starts smelling like a money grab..........

I thought about this as well.  If Art does go terrestrial here locally, I'll use my trusty "C Crane CC Witness" Art talked me into buying some years back to record MITD.  I'd still support the show with my $5/month, however since I consider it a small price to pay to hear Art.  I'm sure Art has considered others may not feel the same way I do, in fact that's probably the "hate me" part of his silly cryptic messages late last week.  I'm sure he's factored such feelings into his decision process.

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