Posted by Walt on July 21, 2007 at 08:09:38:
In Reply to: question for you posted by dan on July 21, 2007 at 01:20:19:
A few thoughts:
- People like to have a sense of "ownership" of what they listen to. Since they can't program radio themselves, they want the sense that someone is doing it on their behalf ... with them in mind. Howard Stern seemed to intuitively know this better than anyone when he "took on the suits" at WNBC and people loved it. Jack was lame attempt to make listeners think they were outsmarting the suits. It worked elsewhere but maybe NY listeners were too sophisticated to fall for it (besides the music not being right.)
- I don't know about your station but most Oldies formats I've heard on the Internet are repetitive and sound automated. I've never heard anything like the level of presentation of a Bob Shannon or a Bill Lee on an Internet stream. Top talent is critical! Don't let the bean counters tell you otherwise.
- You can't listen to the Internet in your car (yet) and Internet streams aren't likely to be heard in stores. The ubiquitous nature of CBS-FM adds to the excitement.
- The behavior you describe is *exactly* what the suits traditionally don't get ... the intangible connection listeners feel to a radio station. The new management at CBS appears to get it, and THAT is the BIG STORY.