This is not the Richie-Greggo post I promised last time out. It'll be up soon, I promise.
FIRST INTERIM RaGE THOUGHT:
Commenter Anon D posted a comparison of the Hardline and RaGE ratings for the last little while. I'm cutting and pasting his stuff:
They haven't made ANY dent in the Hardline's ratings. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Here's the monthlies, Men 25-54, 3-7p.
July Ticket 7.7 #1, Fan 1.8, 27th
Aug Ticket 7.9 #1, Fan 2.3 18th
Sep Ticket 8.9,#1, Fan 2.6,17th
Oct Ticket 9.7 #1, Fan 3.3, 12th
Nov Ticket 9.2 #1, Fan 4.3 6th
Dec Ticket 7.7 #1, fan 2.9 13th
Jan Ticket 8.4 #1, Fan 1.8, 27th
Feb Ticket 7.7 #1, Fan 1.7 22nd
As you can see, even the Fan's increase due to the playoffs and WS didn't hurt KTCK, due to the overall increase in sports listening (in other words, to paraphrase Rhyner, even the marginal p-3 found themselves listening to more sportsradio at that time)
And if you want a fun game- name 21 other stations that appeal more to men 25-54 than the Fan. Ticket and ESPN, 4 rock stations, a couple of country stations, a couple urban, 4 hispanic stations, you're still only at 14. Couple of news or talk, couple odds and ends (KERA? KEOM?), you're still only at 18. That's because stations like KISS and i93 (that appeal to teens) and KVIL (that appears to soccer moms) are more popular with men aged 25-54 than KRLD-FM.
The Fan thought they'd come in and take some of that big Ticket audience. And all they've managned to do is erode ESPN's numbers. (Down from a 4.1 Tie for 8th in July to a 2.6 and 17th in Feb for 3-7p. Down from a 3.7 to a 3.0 in M-F 6a-Mid.
Thanks once again to Anon D, this was absolutely terrific information, nicely digested. Amazing stuff, astounding that RaGE, for all its publicity and presence of Greg Williams, has done absolutely nothing in almost a year. (I have no idea whether it's doing better than what it replaced, which would at least be something -- I'm sure Anon D or some other hip commenter can enlighten us.)
Several readers have suggested that RaGE can't last long in its current configuration.
Here's my view -- it will last at least until February 2012, when,, we have surmised and Mike Rhyner has hinted, his Ticket future will be set. If he departs (I think this unlikely, but the possibility has been floated), RaGE will soldier on, because the calculus of drive competition would have pretty drastically changed. 105.3 knows that Corby has a love/hate relationship with the P1 and might well have the RaGE hang on to see if Mike R's absence might shake loose some listeners.
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SECOND INTERIM RaGE THOUGHT
Since we're on a RaGE roll here, I've tried to tune in. Today wasn't a bad day to do so, as I'd already heard the Cubs fan thing on Gordon's segment on The Musers and there was too much hockey talk. When I spent some time on RaGE, I listened closely to see if I could identifiy what it was that was so frackin' weird about it.
I found it.
Whenever anyone other than Greggo is talking -- usually Richie -- that person uses the word "Greggo" constantly in his or her own remarks. This gives the impression that the speaker is (1) calling for Greggo to pay attention and (2)to respond to the speaker.
I never noticed it before. I invite you to tune into RaGE and listen to it for 10 minutes and count the number of times you heard the word "Greggo." Compare that to normal human conversation, including conversations you hear on The Ticket; listen to how often (seldom) a speaker uses the names of the other people in the conversation.
It's disconcerting. It's uncomfortable to listen to. It has to be some program regulation that is designed to remind us all that good old Greggo is present -- which would be helpful for flyby listeners, of which there are probably a lot -- and will be heard from soon.
It absolutely has to be intentional. Otherwise, it's just goofy. Or pathological Actually, it's goofy and pathological anyway.
Showing posts with label Armen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armen. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
RaGE -- One Year In (Almost)
I’m jumping the gun a little here, but after the last article, had RaGE on my mind. The article you’re reading now started out in an entirely different direction, so I’ve hacked that out and will run it as the next article in a few days, also RaGE-related.
It seems impossible that RaGE has been on the air for almost a year, but it began its assault on The Hardline (and the last hour of BaD, not to mention WTDS) in May 2010. The consensus among correspondents to this site seems to be that it has not been a success, at least by comparison to our heroes on The Hardline. I have not checked the ratings, but I gather it has not made a significant dent in The Hard One's popularity.
(Can anyone give us a report on whether RaGE and The Hardline are up or down? I gather that The Hardline is still number one by a mile in the target demo in PM drive, but is there any evidence of even slight RaGE impact?)
I have heard some good things on RaGE and noted them from time to time, but on the whole I would have to agree with most Confessors that it's just not a very good presentation. Confessors have suggested numerous issues, and I've got a few more:
(1) Richie Whitt just isn't a compelling radio voice or personality. He’s knowledgeable, but his voice is flat and dry and he is not particularly droll. I don’t find him an offensive radio presence, just a colorless one.
(2) The show spends too much time jabbing Greg, and not enough talking sports, which means that the only reason for Whitt to be on the show -- his sports knowledge -- goes to waste. I don’t listen enough to know if there’s much in the way of interesting guy talk or pop-culture talk. Whenever I turn in, there seems to be a sports theme, but it develops the Ben-and-Skin Disease of self-referring asides and conversational loops. By at least attempting to talk sports, perhaps they’re trying to address a criticism one hears (but not from me) about The Ticket from time to time -- not enough sports. Fine -- but get on with it.
(3) Greg too often sounds pretty unhealthy.
(4) RaGE tries to make Greg bear the weight of the presentation, and he just doesn't have the chops for it. PS: Could it be that his voice troubles are a result of doing a five hour show where he's expected to do quite a bit of the talking?
(5) The other hosts patronize Greg, and it shows.
(6) Attempts to copy The Hardline are doomed to failure, and the hosts know it, so the attempts are without conviction and fall flat.
(7) Three persons with not-terribly-distinctive radio characters (Richie, Armen, Sybil) plus one distinctive radio character (Greg) does not add up to two distinctive characters. Instead, they try to generate interest by frenetic talking and patently artificial jollity. A Confessor or two mentioned this in comments to the last article, and I think this is the show’s biggest problem.
Having said all this, I personally don't find RaGE all that horrible to listen to, and I've noted segments that I thought were very good. But since there's a choice to listen to something much more interesting from start to finish, RaGE barely gets any of my listening minutes. I don't doubt that should The Hardline disappear tomorrow (and not replaced by something good), I'd probably tune in to RaGE, or maybe 88.1 The One KNTU-FM, Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius-XM 25, or maybe road noise.
If I had to offer one piece of advice to RaGE -- and you know how much my advice is treasured in the DFW radio community -- it would be: calm down and speak to one another like normal human beings having an ordinary conversation. You don’t challenge The Hardline by doing the same things that The Hardline does. That would be easy, and, as we have seen, it hasn’t worked in the past. The Hardline succeeds (in addition to the innate talent and personalities of its hosts) because the shows present themselves as conversations between guys – not as shows that are scared to death of dead air and unplanned content. That takes a special kind of talent and experience. Greg might have had the knack at one time and I suspect he still does, but until they stop treating the poor guy like a Chatty Kathy doll who must be constantly goosed to keep the whole thing afloat, they’ll continue to sound ordinary, and The Hardline will steamroll them in every book.
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As always, no limits on the subject matter of comments. However, the next article will focus solely on the Richie-Greggo relationship, so if you want to remark on that, why don’t you hold those thoughts for a couple of days. Focus on the show overall – if you can’t wait, no problem. Blast away.
And, as always, contrary views appropriately expressed are welcome. I’d love to hear from some RaGE fans.
It seems impossible that RaGE has been on the air for almost a year, but it began its assault on The Hardline (and the last hour of BaD, not to mention WTDS) in May 2010. The consensus among correspondents to this site seems to be that it has not been a success, at least by comparison to our heroes on The Hardline. I have not checked the ratings, but I gather it has not made a significant dent in The Hard One's popularity.
(Can anyone give us a report on whether RaGE and The Hardline are up or down? I gather that The Hardline is still number one by a mile in the target demo in PM drive, but is there any evidence of even slight RaGE impact?)
I have heard some good things on RaGE and noted them from time to time, but on the whole I would have to agree with most Confessors that it's just not a very good presentation. Confessors have suggested numerous issues, and I've got a few more:
(1) Richie Whitt just isn't a compelling radio voice or personality. He’s knowledgeable, but his voice is flat and dry and he is not particularly droll. I don’t find him an offensive radio presence, just a colorless one.
(2) The show spends too much time jabbing Greg, and not enough talking sports, which means that the only reason for Whitt to be on the show -- his sports knowledge -- goes to waste. I don’t listen enough to know if there’s much in the way of interesting guy talk or pop-culture talk. Whenever I turn in, there seems to be a sports theme, but it develops the Ben-and-Skin Disease of self-referring asides and conversational loops. By at least attempting to talk sports, perhaps they’re trying to address a criticism one hears (but not from me) about The Ticket from time to time -- not enough sports. Fine -- but get on with it.
(3) Greg too often sounds pretty unhealthy.
(4) RaGE tries to make Greg bear the weight of the presentation, and he just doesn't have the chops for it. PS: Could it be that his voice troubles are a result of doing a five hour show where he's expected to do quite a bit of the talking?
(5) The other hosts patronize Greg, and it shows.
(6) Attempts to copy The Hardline are doomed to failure, and the hosts know it, so the attempts are without conviction and fall flat.
(7) Three persons with not-terribly-distinctive radio characters (Richie, Armen, Sybil) plus one distinctive radio character (Greg) does not add up to two distinctive characters. Instead, they try to generate interest by frenetic talking and patently artificial jollity. A Confessor or two mentioned this in comments to the last article, and I think this is the show’s biggest problem.
 |
| Sybil Summers. Hey, why not? |
If I had to offer one piece of advice to RaGE -- and you know how much my advice is treasured in the DFW radio community -- it would be: calm down and speak to one another like normal human beings having an ordinary conversation. You don’t challenge The Hardline by doing the same things that The Hardline does. That would be easy, and, as we have seen, it hasn’t worked in the past. The Hardline succeeds (in addition to the innate talent and personalities of its hosts) because the shows present themselves as conversations between guys – not as shows that are scared to death of dead air and unplanned content. That takes a special kind of talent and experience. Greg might have had the knack at one time and I suspect he still does, but until they stop treating the poor guy like a Chatty Kathy doll who must be constantly goosed to keep the whole thing afloat, they’ll continue to sound ordinary, and The Hardline will steamroll them in every book.
========
As always, no limits on the subject matter of comments. However, the next article will focus solely on the Richie-Greggo relationship, so if you want to remark on that, why don’t you hold those thoughts for a couple of days. Focus on the show overall – if you can’t wait, no problem. Blast away.
And, as always, contrary views appropriately expressed are welcome. I’d love to hear from some RaGE fans.
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