[IainJohnstonMember]

Little story tonight on the New York Radio Message Board saying that
WABC seem to have dropped sung jingles. No confirmation as yet.

Would be the “end of an era” (another one!) for 77 if this is the case.

[mjb1124Member]

That post also said that they dropped Johnny Donovan in favor of an announcer with more “attitude”

I actually have mixed feelings about this if it's true. It's definitely not good to have JAM lose another station and for Johnny Donovan to be out of work. But I can't help but feel that WABC hasn't deserved such good imaging in recent years, particularly since Citadel took over. It's really the only thing the station has had going for it aside from the Saturday Night Oldies show (hopefully they'll leave that alone). If anything, judging from the description, the new imaging probably is a better fit for the station's current hype-over-substance approach. Maybe Donovan's services could be put to better use on a station like WCBS-FM, which of course already has great JAM jingles including WABC resings.

[GlennaMember]

They did drop the Top News toh this week.
They had only been using it between 3pm-6pm est, and the oldies show.
I hope they don't drop JAM because their ” new” non-jingle toh sounds like crap.
My gut feeling they { JAM] will back on WABC.

[RobinBlamires]

Oh dear. Over 30 years of great jingle heritage disposed.

Once again, that's my two cents.

[mjb1124Member]

Yes, looking at it from that perspective, it's very sad. I guess I just feel like they've already tarnished the station's legacy enough as it is, and this is just icing on the cake. And I wouldn't count on the jingles coming back, because there is a new PD and he clearly wants to change the sound of the station. So much for Phil Boyce and Johnny Donovan extolling the virtues of jingles on talk radio…

[GlennaMember]

They could really ruin it by putting using RW.

[mjb1124Member]

Here's the new TOH. It sounds like it belongs on a rock station. And it really clashes with the ABC news sounder that follows it. The Top News TOH was such a perfect way to lead into the newscast, but alas, Citadel has been set on fixing what wasn't broken.

[mbMember]

Not really produced is it just, just typical commercial radio imaging thrown together on the cheap without much thought or care.

[scotronMember]

Know idea who Citadel are (obviously a huge firm of faceless non-radio people), but to everyone who knows and loves the jingles from WABC the music and talk versions, past and present, will be wincing at that perfect example of how NOT to do it. If this story is true, it's a sad day for all of us.

[mumoss]

Absolutely sodding useless.

[GlennaMember]

Takes all the fun of listening to them.
Unless they have decided not to mess up Saturday nights too.

[Barras]

Isn`t that TOH bloody awful…………when you think of all the “time” and “care” Jon Wolfert put into the WABC #121 TOH cut as in the DVD from JAM called “Jingles With Vision” – it honestly, really pisses me off the state of radio imaging with liners/sweepers (whatever you want to call them) which are unfortunately spreading across the USA & UK/Europe VERSUS the true radio ID “sung” jingle.

When will these people in suits realize that liners/sweepers don`t work…

Barras

[rsimpkins]

and before long they'll wonder why their audience has buggered off when all they did was strip the station of its identity and heritage. Still, you just know some suit somewhere will get a huge bonus for it.

[GlennaMember]

By the way;[ I ask this only to simmer myself DOWN]
is there any other stations that use or did use Top News.

[mumoss]

Beaver205 wrote:
By the way;[ I ask this only to simmer myself DOWN]
is there any other stations that use or did use Top News.

I've often wondered this, actually.

It's one of my favourite JAM packages, and it'd be a shame if it'd never been resung for any other stations.

[radio_blokeMember]

Not really WABC or JAM related…
The attached file came into the station the other day, Kinda sums it all up

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1229541392_11954_FT67926_localradio.mp3 filename:localradio.mp3

[mbMember]

The most honest and accurate appraisal of Global I've heard.

[GlennaMember]

Ratings don't mean a thing but this what they were in the spring 08 book.
1.WRKS 4.9
2.WHTZ
6.WINS NEWSTALK 3.9

9.WABC NEWSTALK 3.6
10.WCBS FM 3.5

The ratings for WABC have basically stayed the same for a year.
WCBS FM went from 2.5 to 3.5 after the fantastic idea to dump Jack.

P.S. Also; it also doesn't help that you get beat out by a hispanic station.

[jlehmann]

Those were the numbers using the old paper diary system. With the new portable people meter ratings, WABC, and especially CBS-FM are doing much better.

[GlennaMember]

These are Arbitron numbers.

[jlehmann]

The PPM numbers are also Arbitron numbers. They are no longer doing the traditional method in NY, that ended with the Spring 08 book. Here's the PPM numbers, which are month by month:

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/PPM_newyork.aspx

[LenGroat]

WABC : I think the package Jon produced was SUPERB, but the people who run radio stations now (particularly in huge markets like NY) only hear survey results and read advertising income sheets. The jingles are TOO GOOD for these people.

The 'soft days' of radio have gone in both Britain and America, and I do not think Australian radio EVER had any 'heart' (to coin a pun). The presentation was always too hard and the consultants there were some of the ones who invaded British 'local radio' and made it the syndicated mess it is today.

Radio Bloke: your contribution does fit in this thread as it demonstrates well how digital studios have made it possible to do ANYTHING, and this possibilty, in the hands of 'the suits' has been taken to an extreme, allowing 'localness' to be faked.

I remember back in 1983 when Centre Radio went bust, Radio Trent put in a 'rescue package' suggestion to the IBA which would have allowed the station to continue as 'Leicester Sound'.

It was all so quick that I produced a re-sing of Trent jingles for it, but arrived back from Manchester to hear that the IBA had rejected the rescue plan. They felt it would not have been good to have Nottingham own and run the Leicester station, as they were against multi-ownership in the same area!

(In the end the Leicester station was off air for a year, seriously damaging ILR's credibility and that of the IBA, and in any case a year later we got it, and still called it 'Leicester Sound'!)

But the point is, HOW can what was so 'wrong' then, be 'right now?

[rsimpkins]

Rose tinted spectacles I think Len – there was a lot wrong with ILR 30 years ago, mainly due to the IBA and then the radio authority restrictions, M.U. restrictions on content (needletime) and some of the outrageous fees that had to be paid. Some stations were better than others, Trent always had a good reputation, but many produced the worst bland programming you can imagine. You should have worked at Hereward in the early days, you'd probably have gone to work in a factory instead. Never having any competition really didn't help, they didn't have to be good. Infact it compounded the problem by allowing stations in big markets, like Capital to name just one, to become far too wealthy for anyones good and lobby government and the IBA / Radio Authority for changes to ownership laws, and money talks.

I think it always has been about the money, and with hindsight you can see it happening from the days when stations like Capital floated on the stock exchange and stopped caring about the mechanics of making money, as long as they made it. Within 12 months of them becoming a PLC they were shedding jobs like they were going out of fashion even though revenues were up.

As far as consultants go, when LBC was Australian owned they hired a “crack” team of consultants who wandered round the building asking who you were and what you did, and one morning one of them was overheard walking from the newsroom saying to another “well there's obviously too many people employed in there, they're just sitting around reading the papers”… I've never seen a good outcome from any company that employed consultants. Or trusted their “focus groups” – precisely the last people you want to ask what you should be doing!

I don't agree with groups owning more than one station in a market, I don't agree with widescale “networking” of radio programming, and I don't agree with the current format restrictions stations are licensed under, and forced to stick to. But those are the rules and we'll have to live with them, because we don't have enough money to lobby to have them changed.

Lets see how quickly Global ditch LBC when they realise they can't make money out of it…

OOh – did I sound really bitter there?

[RobinBlamires]

Just out of interest Radio Bloke where does that audio originate from?
Very good though.

[radio_blokeMember]

RobinBlamires wrote:
Just out of interest Radio Bloke where does that audio originate from?
Very good though.

Hello Robin,
I'm sorry to say I have no Idea who produced the audio.
One thing is for sure, I bet it's somewhere on every uk commercial radio station mail server by now!

[Author]

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