"Steve Stone" wrote in message
...
I'm a database analyst by day and I know statistics can be made to say
anything you want them to say, especially if you ask the wrong questions
that reflect what the reviewer wants to hear and not what the public wants
to tell them.

In most radio station testing, you do not even use questions. You have
people score songs and program content, using a dial.

In any case, why, for gosh sakes, would a radio station do testing or
perceptual research which yields wrong results? I have never heard of a
staiton or statrion staff that wanted ratings to go down. So weeks and weeks
are spent working with professional researchers and statisticians to make
sure that there is no question wording bias, no interviewer bias and that
the qustions are clear. Further time is spent in setting a recruit
specification that reflects the core audience or an audience segment that
you wish to bring into the project.

There are several dozen very professional companies that do research for
radio stations. A couple of companies have hired very good people and do
projects in house with thier own research divsion. Some even operate
permanent call centers with 20 to 40 seats, rotating projects and markets
where the company operates.

All this is beyond Arbitron, which is a sales tool and excruciatingly well
audited by researchers and statisticions in a committee appointed by
advertisers, not radio, to make sure rating reflect the real size and
composition of audience that stations are charging for.

As a typical listener with the typical radio found in Wal-Mart I could get
a single AM station with local sourced programming and as you can tell I
am not fond of that daytimers programming. There are currently no local FM
outlets in my immediate area that are not lights out satellite or
microwave feeds from remote studios.

That sounds like a small market. Very small. The FCC in its infinite wisdom
, allowed a t0ousand or so new staitons, mostly in small markets, about 15
years ago. It made profitability nearly impossible in some places.

To discuss this intelligently, it would be nice if you revealed the name of
the city.

Just FYI, nearly no FMs today broadcast from their transmitter. They use
microwave or T1s to send the signal form the studios to the transmitter.
What you call "microwave feeds" are the usual way of linking studios and
transmitter for the last 30 years or more. T1s are replacing them, as they
are more robust and have two way data capabilities. But, having the
transmitter remote fromt he studio is nothing odd, and does nothing for or
against the quality of programming.

When I moved to this area 25 years ago there were multiple AM and FM
stations with local sourced programming that served the public interest
with decent local news programs, local interest call in talk shows, lots
of different types of music programming and they alerted the public to
local emergencies and disasters that might impact their listeners. I did
not like all of what I heard but at least I had a choice.

What city, please. Otherwise, it souds like you are making a straw market
(the city equivalent of a straw man) to support your argument with no real
facts.

Today the programming in my area is stale. The programming is repetitive
and redundant. The programming does not serve the public interest.

How do you know? Have you surveyed th epublic? I would bet the statins have,
and I would bet they are doing exactly what the listeners want.

The numbers you throw up do not reflect my areas reality.

For all I know, you are talking about Durban, South Africa. Until you
"reveal" the city, your points are without value.

So what is my solution ?
For AM I throw up a 150 foot wire antenna attached to my Kenwood TS-430S
to catch a few stations with programming I appreciate.
For FM its a deep fringe VHF/UHF roof antenna, mast mount preamp and rotor
to pull worthwhile stations out of the mud, or the XM radio feed provided
with my DirecTV subscription, or if I wish to go back in history I have
converted my entire record and tape collection to CD-R and MP3. This gives
me a collection of popular music that includes my Great Grandfathers Jazz
78's from the 1920's (lateral and vertical cut), my Grandfathers Swing
record collection, my Fathers 1950's record collection and early reel to
reel tapes of variety TV shows of the late 1950s and early 60s, tapes of
early FM Stereo programming, and my own 60's thru 80's record and tape
collection. So I have other choices. Probably more than most of the
general public.

This proves you have broad and very eclectic tastes. That is nice. Most
people don't.

A few years ago, a station went on in San Antonio, playing 57 hip hop songs.
In 90 days, it was #1 in the market. It had only changed about 12 of the
songs in the 90 days. Today, it is in its 5th year at #1 and stronger now
than before. It plays about 100 songs in total. It changes a couple in and
out each week. It beats the #2 station by about 30%. Its listeners, when
interviewed, love the station and think it has the absolute best variety of
music on the planet. that is because the 100 songs are what the listeners
say they want to hear. that is how it works.