This is actually a really cool thread. I love radio and I have worked in local Columbia radio for 20+ years. I still work in media sales for one of the big players in the market. It is a very different business from when I began my career. The Radio companies aren't just radio anymore... digital, connected TV, Podcasts, direct mail, you name it and we are now providing for our clients. Radio advertising in this market is actually growing and has been growing the past several years. Radio has evolved and survived the major technological changes for two primary reasons (1) Most major radio owners now have their stations "brands" on the iHeartRadio app - the largest streaming app in the US today and (2) radio is still far and away the top choice for in-car entertainment - 85% tune in routinely when in the car. While cable and satellite TV are hemorrhaging viewers every quarter and the ship already sailed for newspaper and most print options, radio still reaches 93% of US adults weekly (same as it has been for 4 decades). As for WVOC, from what I heard the listeners strongly demanded Levin back and station management gave them what they wanted. Like most Gamecock fans, I thought the new sports show was awful. As for all the personality endorsements you hear on stations like WVOC or 107.5, you hear them b/c they work. It's simple supply and demand... businesses want to use the endorsements b/c they get results especially on talk stations. Regarding WCOS and WNOK... WNOK has always been some variation of Top 40 since it's inception in 1947. WCOS was Top 40 until I believe 1974 and then switched to country at that time. Finally, it is true that syndication has grown in radio and there are a lot less local personalities then there were 10 and 20 years ago. It makes good sense on WVOC, but syndication on sports stations or music stations I'm not such a fan of. Hope this info was helpful.
Another radio question....
- Thread starter PC31
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Yes, it was very interesting. Thank you @LakeMurrayUSCFan.
I think a local news station like WVOC should have a certain amount of local political discussion like Cohen does. Folks need a way to Express their voice over political happenings, government issues, and need to be aware of local disasters when they may occur.
Cohen, 96.3 FM, and small town stations like WKDK or WPUB still give us that type of local content.
WVOC was always a favorite. They gave us the news talk, Gamecock Sports, and some shows that focused on things like the outdoors or finance back in the day.
Radio will always have its place, but local talent must find ways to adapt. Many of the older guys in sports radio are struggling to work outside their shows. They need to be podcasting, having a YouTube channel, a Facebook page, and be strong on twitter
I don't disagree. Personally, I wish they'd drop Glen Beck and relaunch Jonathan and Kelly or find another good local duo.
Maybe midday, but it does seem like they've completely torn that station apart. I can defend many changes in the market but not what they've done to B106. Makes no sense to me.
Well that’s fine. I get sick of hearing 4 different radio hosts give the same opinion over and over again. My dog reacts the same way every day. I don’t need 4 predictable radio hosts to listen to.
I listen to WPUB in Camden more than any other local radio station because they are local. They still have that small town feel.
Wvoc use to be that way but no more. I still remember back in about 2000 when that afternoon snow storm dumped 6-7 inches in one late afternoon unexpectedly. Cohen stayed on the air straight from around 4pm until way past midnight giving updates, traffic warnings, even helping people that called in stuck in the weather. That would not happen today.
Andy Thomas stayed on the air all night when Hugo came through. That was a truly great radio station at one time.
As an avid WVOC listener, I am aware (and you may not be) that their morning show guy (Gary David) does stay on-air late at night during the type of local events that require it (like the flood in 2015), Hurricane coverage and election night coverage. So WVOC does still provide that type of local coverage when it's warranted. At one point during the Oct 2015 flood, WVOC lost it's signal since their tower is located next to the Saluda River near Lexington, and they actually broadcast the WVOC morning show on 96.7 (Steve-FM) a couple of mornings until they got the WVOC signal back on-air. They do run local news breaks twice an hour during the national shows on weekdays and Gary does break-in with urgent headlines like an amber alert or something else similar. I personally love Rush and Levin (not much of a Beck or Hannity fan - but many are) so I'm glad they carry the national shows; but as I said before if it were up to me I would get rid of Beck and put in a local show. They will never drop Hannity b/c that's the #2 show behind Rush - it gets ratings and generates $. It would be bad business not to air both Rush and Hannity.
I'll also add that Andy Thomas is a big-time lib (that is accurate). WVOC would not air him b/c it's a conservative talk station. Liberal talk radio does not produce ratings (even in places you'd think it would like San Francisco or New York), so it would make zero business since for WVOC to put Andy Thomas on. 95% of the WVOC audience would be livid if Andy Thomas were on the station.
When Andy Thomas was on in the 80's it was more of a community call-in show rather than a political standoff.
Andy wasn’t a staunch liberal. He was against the state lottery for example when most conservatives were against it. He would put Mark Sanford on the air when he was just starting when no one else would listen to him. From what I have read, Andy also had some personality issues that rubbed radio stations the wrong way.
plus, Andy wasn’t a typical political radio host. As Kitchen said, he did community radio. He had a teen show where teens would talk issues and debate topics of interest to them like curfews and such. He’d then interview the mayor about some project. He’d talk charitable causes, etc...
No doubt the wvoc audience wants to hear Rush, Beck, Hannity, etc all day long. No disagreement there.
I don’t listen to WVOC though. I listen to Sirius radio (mainly 60s) and I’ll tune into The POTUS channel for a bit each day to hear balanced news. I don’t listen to Fox, MSNBC. ( I don’t care for Rush, Hannity, Beck blood pressure increasing radio. Life is too short).
One more Q for @mattbarber and @LakeMurrayUSCFan ......
@heathcline said 1320am will now be 24 hour ESPN sports.
When a station uses ESPN or FOXSports or whatever network, do they pay for that or is it just 1320 sells local adds and ESPN gets the national adds... no fee exchanged between the two?
@heathcline said 1320am will now be 24 hour ESPN sports.
When a station uses ESPN or FOXSports or whatever network, do they pay for that or is it just 1320 sells local adds and ESPN gets the national adds... no fee exchanged between the two?
Give Rick Perry a 9th grade civics test. That will stump him.
I switched to satellite as some have mentioned above. But when I do listen to the AM over the air radio it’s the ads that fascinates me. If it’s not gold, survival foods or “safe investment” schemes it isn’t an ad. What’s next bomb shelters?
This depends on the specific deal. However, generally large broadcasters like iHeart or Cumulus have a national deal with ESPN, Fox Sports, etc. There is likely a small fee paid but for most part the local station sells local inventory to make their $ and ESPN sells network ads to make their $.
It all started when Cumulus Media bought them. They broke up Brent & George in the morning by running George Kerns off, and everything went on downhill from there. After having 106.7 on a preset for 25yrs, I've replaced it now with 93.1 The Lake (which is where Brent Johnson is now).
Beck started this it seems with his countless ads for apocalypse meal kits and gold ads because of the coming economic collapse. He spread that garbage and scared his audience to death with that crap. The guy sounds like he’s absolutely scared to death. I guess his listeners were just as scared.
Talk radio, especially right wing talk radio (which is most of it since it’s so successful) is a smorgasbord of fear based products - meal kits, guns, safes, gold so you can buy food when the world blows up. Everybody is scared and scared people spend money. They are scared of the economy, scared of people that talk different or have a different religion, and scared of different opinions.
I use to work with a guy that bought into that stuff and he had enough meal kits for a public high school stored in his shed. The guy didn’t have enough possessions to be a target for anyone but some local middle school pranksters but he was convinced that a lot of people would be coming for him at his home should the world economy collapse. He listened to Beck every day. I guess he still does.
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Just remember @Rollerdude123...... it's not paranoia if people are really out to get you......... BOO!
I listened to Brent and Jodi Paige. Great show. I don't remember George Kerns.
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Jodi was in the mid-morning time slot prior to being teamed with Brent. I like Jodi a lot, and she was good with Brent, but Brent and George were really good together. Their show ran for many years; 10-15??
Wow..... didn't realize they'd axed her too. That got me to wondering, so I did some quick searching. It appears they got rid of Tony Clyburn as well; ALL of the good personalities - gone.
Cumulus has ruined B106. Idiots.
