1 of 1- NOTL-Wally
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Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
I listen to EZ-Rock (Niagara) most mornings. I like Lori and Curtis - they have good chemistry together, relate well to their audience and provide a good mix of music and local news.
This past week they were on vacation, and instead of providing a fill-in host, the station opted to provide “Best of” programming - repeats of some of Lori and Curtis best bits. There still were live news and traffic reports, but it was a little disappointing to spend a whole week without any updates on local happenings, especially during the morning prime time. To make matters worse, the same recorded bits were repeated several days at roughly the same time. There certainly wasn’t any encouragement to keep listening.
To top it off, the traffic reporter was also away at the end of the week, and the reports were obviously originating from Hamilton. As a Niagara resident, I really don’t care that traffic is slow on The Linc!
Is this what local radio has become?
- Kosmos Kagool
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
NOTL-Wally wrote:
Is this what local radio has become?
Are they married or simply cohabiting? It is 2020 after all. At what are you suggesting?
K.K.
- RadioActive
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
This sounds like an ill-advised cost saving measure to me. There is simply no reason for them not to have a live presence on their morning show, the most important shift in all of radio, even if it is the summer.
You have the pandemic, racial unrest, turmoil in Ottawa and the U.S., back to school panic, and lots of other things going on in a summer like none I've ever seen.
Even if it's just a music show, someone should be there to give updates or comment on what's going on. A morning show reroll during weekdays is just crazy. It seems highly unlikely to me they can't find a warm body to take that seat for a week.
But that's the state of radio for now. Let's just hope that post-pandemic, whenever that is, things will get better. Sadly, there's no vaccine coming for cheapness in management. That, I'm afraid, is an incurable disease!
- Dale Patterson
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
Is this what local radio has become?
Are they married or simply cohabiting? It is 2020 after all. At what are you suggesting?
K.K.
Geo: You miss the point completely. It's about providing recorded programming instead of live programming during the all-important morning show, thus not being completely up-to-date on local, national and international happenings.
Last edited by Dale Patterson (August 30, 2020 11:23 am)
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- RadioAaron
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
It depends on what a show's focus is.
Roz and Mocha on Kiss, for example, have used best-ofs to cover vacations for years. In fact, I believe they use them daily between 5-6am.
The show has a singular focus: "entertain me on my way to work". With so many stations, it doesn't make sense for every show to be "full service." Nobody's looking for updates on "International Happenings" from a guy named "Damnit Maurie." For those types of shows, re-rolls make far more sense than disrupting whole lineup for vacations.
"Be known for one thing; and always be doing that thing" is only going to become for normal in a world on infinite choice.
- paterson1
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
It's not ideal but EZ Rock Niagara is not a news station and the morning hosts likely wouldn't be commenting that much or at all on riots in the streets or the new conservative leader etc. That's what the news is for and the station still has live news updates. EZ Rock is the station that gets you away from the daily rigmarole and as mentioned above "entertains me on my way to work." However they shouldn't repeat the same "best of segments" more than once.
Any on air cutbacks right now shouldn't be a big surprise. If in fact radio revenues were down 70-80% over the spring, explains any on air changes. If any of us had a cut of income that steep, our households would be operating differently really quick.
Apparently revenues have been coming back fairly well for some stations, but still not where they were, so hopefully programming will get back to something closer to normal soon. Of course all of this hinges on whatever happens if there is a second COVID wave this fall/winter.
- mace
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
I rarely listen to 105.7, but didn't Rick Hodge end up on the morning show there after his short stint at NT1010? Admittedly, that may have been a few years ago. He may be retired now.
- ig
- Iain Grant
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
Maurie aside, who I think is great, I agree 
.
For many traffic is more of an interruption because 'it's never about where I am anyway' nor in the GTHA can it be.
You nailed it, 'entertain me' and if re-rolls are better than option #2 then so be it. If people don't know where to go for traffic & weather by now, they never will.
When it comes to re-rolls I'm a fan. Years ago, one of my jobs I suggested we just re-roll the 6:00 to 8:00 2 hours again from 8 to 10 minus the news, traffic etc. The second half just seemed like 'make work' when the first half was excellent. Listenership is different, and there's a good chance they missed out on some of the best stuff, rather than the 'get me to the end of the show' stuff . (Not that anyone would do that..)
Anyway, among a multitude of other reasons, that's why it _was_ a job
It depends on what a show's focus is.
Roz and Mocha on Kiss, for example, have used best-ofs to cover vacations for years. In fact, I believe they use them daily between 5-6am.
The show has a singular focus: "entertain me on my way to work". With so many stations, it doesn't make sense for every show to be "full service." Nobody's looking for updates on "International Happenings" from a guy named "Damnit Maurie." For those types of shows, re-rolls make far more sense than disrupting whole lineup for vacations.
"Be known for one thing; and always be doing that thing" is only going to become for normal in a world on infinite choice.
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
- NOTL-Wally
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
I would agree that re-rolls work some times, but not for the morning drive, and not when they repeat the same stuff every day. EZ Rock seems to find alternate hosts for all other shifts, it just seems odd that they don't do it in the morning and that was my point. Not looking for hard hitting news, but just some fresh commentary on what is happening in the area.
I am still baffled by the traffic reports. If you can't report local traffic, why have information on a different city that is 45 minutes away? If there is construction delays on 406, I want to know about it, but Mud Street in Hamilton - who down here cares?
BTW - NewsTalk 610 (CKTB) uses the same news and traffic reporters, so it is not a viable alternative in this case.
As far as Rick Hodge, yes he did share the morning show with Lori Love for several years, but he retired over a year ago.
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
I would agree that re-rolls work some times, but not for the morning drive, and not when they repeat the same stuff every day. EZ Rock seems to find alternate hosts for all other shifts, it just seems odd that they don't do it in the morning and that was my point. Not looking for hard hitting news, but just some fresh commentary on what is happening in the area.
For how many music station morning shows is "fresh commentary on what is happening in the area" a primary content type? You're missing something from the re-rolls that wasn't there in the first place.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Radio Morning Show Goes on Vacation
Maurie aside, who I think is great, I agree
Oh, I agree. Just saying his content is a little more....timeless.