Morning Radio
Currently I'm emailing with several radio and marketing agencies over morning radio programming in Gainesville. I find that local audiences are being shortchanged by the Lex & Terry Show, a program that I consider to be overly-sexist, sophomoric, and quite frankly comparable to dead-air as far as learning value goes. The listener takes nothing away by hearing a college co-ed say words like 'panties' on the air or repeat words like mindless parakeet. The show's producer speaks in 100% street-slang, showing an utterly poor grasp of the English language -- using the one African American on the program to sound uneducated and childish -- I don't feel this coincidence serves a positive purpose on local society -- namely with largely white audience. So it's not really just a matter that the Lex & Terry Show is intellectually-lacking, but there are also other concerns that have led me to study this type of programming. I think that Rock 104 should re-evaluate their program schedule; they can do much better.
A few stations down the dial, you'll hit 97.3 WSKY, a radio station dubbed by some in the local anti-war movement as hate radio. I don't find The Sky to be hate-anything, though I will openly admit that the vast majority of the talent on this station is either republican or conservative. A few of the programs are brought in from national syndication (e.g. Michael Savage & Rush Limbaugh), but the station also showcases some very good local talent in programs like The Drive Time Happy Hour. The program's hosts Chip Morris & Dr. PC (two computer-based entrepreneurs) lead the program through various stages of comedic delight to intellectual debate to moral reflection to almost variety-show type features like Whackjob Thursdays. While both Morris and PC are right-wingers, they aren't of the loud species of Bill O'Reilly or the arrogant school of Sean Hannity. In fact, both radio hosts while strong in their beliefs, give ample opportunities to any and all dissenters to voice concerns. The show, its regulars, and its format make it a very viable rival for a program such as Lex & Terry.
While cities differ on peak radio times, there is little question in my mind that morning rush hour is king and that if pinned against each other on opposing stations during the same time-block, that The Drive Time Happy Hour would utterly annihilate The Lex & Terry Show. Comments?
7 comments:
Christian it's Mr. PC not Dr. (though I'm sure he'd appreciate the honorary degree). I completely agree with you these guys are entertaining and even thought provoking. I find a lot of their arguments to be fairly simplistic, but I do agree with them from time to time and find their program to be my favorite in terms of local radio in these parts.
Lex and Terry is the highest rated show. And its Rock 104, its supposed to be cheesy stuff. If you want to hear political rambling, tune in the AM band.
Yeah if you think anything intelligent would beat out Lex and Terry then you're dumber then they pretend to be on that show.
There's a reason 104 puts it on, and that's because it is pretty much guaranteed to get the best ratings in today's society.
Listen to whatever you want - but it won't ever beat their ratings.
I think you might be surprised. If you take the popularity of the O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Combs, and/or Politically Incorrect, the Daily Show, or the Colbert Report -- you will notice the popularity of programs that engage audiences with often satirical, but very much intellectually-challenging types of programs.
The sophomoric antics of the Lex & Terry Show might not bode so well against a program like the Drive Time Happy Hour if rivaled at the same time, from an equally powerful signal as is 97.3 WSKY FM.
Last, but not least, most talk radio in Gainesville shares the FM dial with the music stations. The only strong AM signal to my knowledge is WUFT. Get your facts straight, but please keep commenting.
Most stations are migrating away from the AM band (maybe that will stop or reverse in the future). It started in Orlando a couple years ago and now it is really heating up as the big companies realize they can stream multiple channels with HD.
Here in Gainesville is a different market because there are not many clean stations to send a signal out on. You have the Orlando market, the Jacksonville market, and the Tallie market all still having weak signals on the AM band. That makes it tough to have an AM station here. Plus it is a smaller market so if you want to make money you need to be on FM. Even AM850, which is likely the most successful AM station in the market, is only really on the air because of the university.
There are many more stations they can try to get on in the morning. Why don't you try putting them in one of them and ask them to go head to head with Lex and Terry? Losing Drunk Bitch Friday was bad enough, at least let me spill my coffee hearing some cheating stories than some 23 year old conservative-liberal argument.
O'Reily, Hannity or Comedy Central shows are nationwide success, not two random dude from Gainesville, talking about same stuff as everyone else. O'Reily can start some movement with his following. People actually take Colbert's run for presidency seriously. And above all, Howard Stern can beat them in Radio Show Rating anyday. That should tell you the value of immature, shock, sexist commentary. There are people who make a living out of marketing, you should know.
Why did you compare Chip and PC to Lex and Terry instead of the guy who actually occupies the morning slot on WSKY - Bob Rose? Your post made absolutely no mention of Bob Rose who I find to be much more informative than Chip and PC.
Post a Comment