On Feb 21, 5:22�pm, "David Eduardo" wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in ...



* *Actually, when I was at CBS, the GM had the AOL Radio boards up on a
machine in the conference room, so staff could receive and respond to
questions from listeners in a public forum. He cruised all the radio
boards and some newsgroups every day, as a manner of getting street level
input. This went on for more than a year.

Not only is the contnt on boards interesting, it comes at times from so far
in left field that it forces a person actually in radio to verify their
thinking. I have actually changed my perspectives on a number of areas,
based on having "we have always done it this way" theories questioned or
even destroyed by active listeners on boards.

Not only is that often the case, but it forces one to research data to rebut
an argument. At no time have I become so aware of the problems facing AM as
afer looking at a dozen or so major markets in Arbitron over the last decade
to document a point. Normally, I would have simply had an "impression"
based on experience, but not real hard facts... which were far worse than my
impression.



* *It was a good idea in theory but wasn't very effective as a tool
because the boards quickly became overrun by sockpuppets for a handful of
gripers, a few of whom were staff at the competition. *And there was a lot
of the usual flame war bickering.

Flame wars? Here?



* *But what came out of the experiment, especially early on, was a clear
object lesson to the staff at how little the most vocal listeners really
knew or understood how the radio business worked. And how little they
cared about knowing.

And that teaches everyone that the random request or comment or complaint
has to be taken in the context of the entirity of a station's listenership.



* *So, it's not inconceivable that he may, indeed, have it up on a machine
in house.

I had it on a big screen last night in Houston at a hotel where we were
going to do a research project later in the day; I used it as an example of
the "reliabilty" of a single listener's opinion vs. that of the universe of
listeners.



* *And it's likely that some of his associates are participating.

Nearly my entire research staff was there. It was very educational in that
it showed that single opinions can cover a very great range from one side of
an issue to another, but the vast majority, around 90%, are concentrated in
a very narrow and relatively similar range. Knowing how to distinguish the
fringe from the core is one of the essential skills of a radio programmer or
manager.

Separating wheat from the chaff is an old concept, often forgotten. The
internet is a great leveler, but does not make a distinction between the
well reasoned and documented and the blindly opinionated.


Looks like you need to change your perspective, on how HD Radio is
being marketed to the public, because this baby is dead - too-little-
too-late.