Money Money Money
Paul Demko at Babelogue reviews a David Foster Wallace piece in the Atlantic about political talk radio.
Most of the piece touches on the way talk radio advertising exploits the relative intimacy of the host-audience relationship. It's true - advertisers use that through a hierarchy of deliveries, each using more of the capital from that relationship, and each costing a bit more than the other. Live reads - where a host reads a spot live, or even works it into the program content - are more effective than recorded spots. Endorsements - "Hi, I'm Mitch Berg for Gibson Guitars..." - are the most effective (or at least exploitive of the relationship, assuming it's a good one) and expensive of all, and especially treasured by the hosts (who get a direct fee payment for each live read).
Demko wonders about something he heard on KSTP.
Demko:
Now what caught my attention about this excerpt is a recurring segment I've noticed locally on the Ron Rosenbaum & Mark O'Connell Show (of which I'm generally a huge fan). They seem to have taken this corporate whoring to a whole new extreme. Every Wednesday morning during the show they devote an entire segment to speaking with the proprietor of Abbot Travel. The hosts simply ask Mr. Abbot Travel (I can't recall his name right now) to reveal all the incredible deals that his company's currently offering to snow-suffering Minnesotans. There's no attempt at editorial justification. Just a roughly-ten-minute Q & A in which the guy gets to unapologetically shill for his company. It's nothing but a very lengthy commercial segment masquerading as user-friendly news.
I'm not pretending that talk-radio is anything but a money-making venture designed to generate profits for the corporations that own stations. But this strikes me as a particularly shameless manifestation of the phenomenon.
Shameless? Nah. There've been variations on this since radio was a novelty. Every so often, some salesman convinces some program director and/or host that a segment of "infomercial" would be both good programming and a nice moneymaker (including probably a fee to the hosts). If the audience is prone to spending money on travel, it can be worthwhile for everyone. If not, it'll cause tune-out, hurting both the show and the advertiser.
They could try it on the NARN as a test control...
Exactly how much does Abbot Travel pay for this privilege? And why would anyone (other than talk-radio obsessed losers like me) listen?
I wonder about that, too. The search for money is endless in radio, and sometimes it warps executives' perceptions. After KSTP fired me and most of my colleagues in the late '80s, the station put on an on-air auction - basically two hours of advertising combined with the non-stop thrill of listening to people call in to ask quesitons about products. It was pure moneymaking for the station - although it helped send the station into a ratings spiral that only Limbaugh saved it from.
How's Rosenbaum and O'Connor's numbers been lately?
Posted by Mitch at
March 24, 2005 06:59 AM
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I think people who write articles about radio should have to have a working history and understanding of the subject. Anyone familiar with "Jello Again, Jack Benny" as the entertainer's open to his show? Lucy and Ricky--or the Flintstones-- selling cigarettes? Amos and Andy selling detergent? WCCO (and numerous small-town stations) taking a few minutes out of the morning show to talk with a local car dealer about the new shipments? Heck, Paul Harvey? It's bread and butter, people. It's just the cool thing to do to claim talk radio (read: right-wingers) is evil.
That being said, the copy on those ads, today or 60 years ago, it almost always forced and cheap. No, Bob Davis (who I like), I don't know Cortislim people at work bragging about buying new clothes. Besides, I didn't notice the teeth on the reality show people (unless you count the imports from the UK).
Posted by: Jerry Leigh at March 24, 2005 08:24 AMBoortz did or has done this for at least a decade with Bennie of Bennie's Shoes in Atlanta. It's an obvious shill session with Bennie careful to mention his address several times and talking about his special sizes and the fact that NBA players get their supersize shoes there.*
It's also a frequently amusing feature because Bennie is a radio natural, a real character. The only reason I would tune out on it is if I have a chip on my shoulder about the marketing lubricant in the media machine.
*A very effective shill session, obviously, because I know all the talking points.
Posted by: Brian Jones at March 24, 2005 09:50 AMAnybody who listens to the Mischke Broadcast on AM1500 has heard his live ads for R.F. Moeller, Summit Brewery, Fabulous Ferns, etc. Tommy can get pretty mischievous with these spots. One night, years ago, he was in an especially capricious mood.
"And one more reason for going with Homestead Mortgage..."
Tommy pauses for effect. His voice dropping to a whisper, "Are you ready? Are you ready? If you don't go with Homestead Mortgage..."
Bellowing: "I'LL KILL YOU!"
Posted by: Ernst Stavro Blofeld at March 24, 2005 09:58 AMMitch,
Posted by: paddy at March 24, 2005 10:04 AMDid you get a chance to read the article? I thought it was really good. Parts of it actually echoed your description of why Nick's show stinks.
The Wallace piece? It's not online AFAIK, and I haven't gotten a look yet.
But I'll try.
Posted by: mitch at March 24, 2005 10:08 AMIf our household is any measure I'm sure the Patriot has done some damage to KSTP's ratings.
Bob Davis is good.
I'll usually tune out Rosenbaum.
Prager or Rush? Depends on whose topic is more interesting. (Prager can often deliver content I won't hear elsewhere. I heard Chrenkoff on his show a couple weeks ago.)
I still like Joe and Garage Logic, but it has to be a decent subject. Medved usually wins, especially on disagreement day or conspiracy day.
Hugh wins, of course.
Krok is just awful. Don't even get me started. The worst host KSTP has had in a long time. Krok or Savage? I'll usually choose tunes, thank you.
Usually one day a week is spent in the car. I'm lucky if it's Saturday and I get to hear NARN! But, I have to tell you it was disconcerting the first time, listening to Medved or something, when all of a sudden, "Hi, this is Mitch Berg....." Disconcerting, but cool.
Posted by: Sandy at March 24, 2005 11:19 AMI'll email it too you if pass along an email or drop off the hard copy if you were so inclined.
Posted by: paddy at March 24, 2005 11:55 AMAin’t sponsor-supported radio great? No tax dollars at work, in fact, tax-generating activities happen.
There’s a two-way street with advertising. Hosts take some care in selecting for whom they’ll pimp. The higher their ratings, the greater care they’ll take. The big guys/gals generally can’t be associated with shoddy products, homeopathic advertisers notwithstanding.
And if Soucheray advertised men’s pantyhose, I’d buy ‘em.
Posted by: The Kid at March 24, 2005 10:27 PMWhy did they fire you, Mitch? What did you do? Fess up.
Posted by: Eva Young at March 27, 2005 01:03 AMNew General Manager wanted to cut costs. He fired all but one of the producers, sports and news people.
One very rarely "quits" a job in radio. I worked at 8 stations between 1979 and 2002; I quit one of them, had two go off the air, and got whacked from the rest. Never for cause.
Posted by: mitch at March 27, 2005 07:07 AM