John Higdon wrote:

It was explained to me by the owners of some very successful stations
that music is simply the glue that holds what a station really does
together and keeps the audience from tuning away. The station interacts
with listeners, in person and on the air. The station keeps listeners
informed about important local events. The station provides news and
timely information to help listeners plan their days and get about
smoothly.

In your 1977 world, yes, but people simply don't listen that way any longer.
Yes, there are your stations, which do that sort of thing, but the majority of
big stations are jukeboxes.

Take news for instance. Most stations have ONE news person for a cluster of 4
or 5, and they usually do the mornings and record some drop-ins for other
hours if they offer them at all. In our day, say 1977, KIOI had one news
person and KFRC had at least 5.

For someone so close to broadcasting you don't seem to be seeing what's been
going on. First, you didn't even know that stations, even your suburban ones,
tested music before they played it. You thought that it was purely seat of
the pants decisions! And you're right up there in it every day and you didn't
know this.

I suggest that if you want to learn a little more about the
production side of broadcasting you talk with people in the business as I do,
and find out what's going on.


The station helps its fellow community businesses succeed and
prosper, not just by selling spots but by working with them individually
to devise and execute a plan which maximizes their success.


Again, that's not how most of the big stations work. Sure, they'll join the
local chamber of commerce and donate money to the Little League, but gone are
the days when KKSF used to bankroll ambient music CDs to benefit AIDS
charities. Today, KGO stands out as one of the few big stations anywhere that
does anything for its community. But look at the other Citadel stations -- I
don't even think KABC or WABC have any live local talent at all anymore,
except maybe a weekend gardener infomercial talkshow.


How can I get it across to you that radio broadcasting is so much more
than playing records into the airwaves?

In your world it is, but step outside your world and it's jukeboxes. Hell,
listen to KOIT, the most successful music station in town for over a decade
and what is it? It's a jukebox that sounds automated even when it's live.
The extent of community service they do is reading 2 PSAs an hour and giving
the weather forecast, something that could be done from Albuquerque.