Atlanta Radio:  "Concerned" About Ratings?

by: B.J.

Posted: January 11, 2006

As many of my supporters know, I pay attention to the AJC Radio Blog very often, and for those of you outside of Atlanta, I need to inform you that another station changed formats (again)--97.1 FM, which used to be an Urban Contemporary station, and now it is an Oldies rock station.  It has stirred a very interesting racial debate here, and while the "usual chip-shouldered" blacks are firmly in place with their proverbial "race-card pulling", the white fans aren't having any of it.  Although I do realize that blacks pull the race card far too much, there are some racial components that we must explore.  I will begin with a couple of posts from that blog:

Here's one:

By Marc | on 1/1: New format at 97.1:

Everything in radio is about ratings these days. Obviously 97.1 as jamz wasnt cutting it. You want to know if a station is in danger of getting flipped to a different format? Go to google, then type in the words RADIOONLINE Atlanta,see which stations are doing well and which ones are not. I feel for those of you that liked Urban Contemporary and are at a loss, but where have the people been that like oldies/classic hits been for the past several years? They have been without a radio station. The river has solved that problem.

Here's Another:

By Joe | on 1/1: New format at 97.1:

There is no need to bring race or anything else into this discussion. What a radio station plays is simply a business decision. Any station owner/manager with any sense is trying find a demographic where they can get the best ratings. The ratings translate into how much they can charge for their ad time. Obviously, Jamz 97.1 was not meeting the expectations of the owners (Cox) so a change was made. These drastic changes are always done instantly. I cannot even imagine a station coming on and saying, “Oh by the way, you listeners out there are really going to like our new totally different music format.” Suffice to say, the on-air personalities do not know about the change so they cannot go on the air and editorialze or ‘bash’ the management over the change. For those of you trying to play the race card….Get a Life!

Now of course after reading Joe's comments, I just had to respond.  There's no way I can let him turn a blind eye to the outrageously OBVIOUS racial compnents here.  I started my response in the AJC Blog, and finished it here.  Here it is below:

I want to respond to Joe & Marc regarding 97.1.  I’ve previously commented on the format change for this station, however, after reading the comments from those two, I felt compelled to try to educate them on the problems with this market when it comes to radio.  Although it is true that radio is supposed to be all about ratings, it is NOT the case in this (the Atlanta) market.  If it were “simply” about ratings, then there is NO justification for Denny Shaffer (WGST) to be on the air, ANY “personalities” (used very loosely) on WAOK, or some of the personalities” on the Salem station WGKA (920 AM) for example.  Furthermore, if it were about ratings, and if this alleged-“new” format” for 97.1 was intended to “boost” ratings, then why did they change from Fox 97?  Isn’t the music on “The River” the same that was on 97.1 when it was Fox 97—the format 97.1 JAMZ changed from initially?

I will admit that blacks pull the proverbial race card so much that it’s hard to determine when it’s legitimately pulled or not.  I will explain how it is necessary to pull the race card here.  There’s NO doubt that there are racial components at work here in this case, the 97.1 case, the WAOK case, and the other stations in this market.  I’ll start with the WAOK case, where despite the ratings steady holding between a 0.5 and a 0.9 rating, they continue to remain steadfast in their outdated, irrelevant, boring and depressing civil-rights obsession.  The blacks in this market, for the most part, are highly educated, and very successful here.  Furthermore, did you also know that the Atlanta market is 27.4% black?  Do you believe that out of that number you are going to find blacks that are dumb enough to follow W-stupid-as-hell AM?  Of course not, and the ratings show it.  So now you might ask, “Why is WAOK continuing to air that garbage?”  Simple answer:  the management of that station is benefiting (for the most part, financially) by REFUSING to allow intelligent discussion to permeate the airwaves from that station.  If it weren’t for their sister station, WVEE (V-103), then they wouldn’t be able to even pay their overhead.  There’s no way in hell that WAOK could earn nearly enough revenue to be profitable with the current programming on that station.  So it’s not about ratings, or profitability, sir. 

The same argument could be made about WGST in reference to Denny Shaffer.  This guy is downright boring.  He has NO identity, and knows NOTHING about the “south” or Georgia.  Not saying that those are necessary requirements in order to be a successful talk show host in this market, however, you should have the ability to entertain the listening public—and Denny Shaffer clearly does NOT.  However, he has the right skin color (white), the right gender (male) and is in the perfect age range (upper 40s) to qualify to be afforded the opportunity to broadcast his show in this market.  However, a black counterpart wouldn’t be afforded the same opportunity in their wildest dreams under the same circumstances.  The same things can be said about the Salem Communications Atlanta affiliate, WGKA (am 920)—a litany of boring shows by the same race (white), gender (male) and age range (upper 40s and up), resulting in ratings from either not rating at all, to poultry 0.4 rating.  So, back to the original allegation, “Everything in radio is about ratings”, I must ask:

Why are shows that are OBVIOUS failures still on the air?

Your guess is as good as mine; however, this fact clearly thwarts your assertion that “everything in radio is about ratings”.  Rather, what should be said is that “everything in radio is about:”

Like I said before, I have no problem with the decision 97.1 made with the format change.  I hope it makes the station a more profitable one, however, I must wonder how successful 97.1 JAMZ would have been if it: 

1.  Had Live Personalities, instead of that automated crap

2.  Advertised the station on the TV, like they are doing now with “The River”

3.  Expanded their playlist, or simply gave the personalities freedom to play music that they felt the listeners wanted.

4.  Actually hired staff that was VERSED in the genre of music they were trying to promote during the time.

5.  Had staff that were more approachable, and would actually answer the phone, or at the very least, return a message left for them. 

In summation, 97.1 JAMZ was doomed to fail, and I predicted this long ago.  What’s even more hysterical is how the station is being marketed now that it is virtually what it was BEFORE they became 97.1 JAMZ in the first place.  I can only hope that you don’t get me wrong—I am of the belief that a private company can make whatever hiring decisions they want to make, and in no way do I believe in any diversity crap or any Affirmative Action program for radio stations.  However, I can’t sit back and remain silent when someone erroneously claims that the stations in Atlanta are most concerned about ratings.  There isn’t a statement further from the truth—especially in the Atlanta market.  

 

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