A different approach to the Jim Price situation?

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Hello all,
I emailed the station manager Diane Boslet at Q94 about Jim's situation and she says that the problem is a lack of support from the listening audience of Jim's afternoon show and the backyard rocker. She says advertisers don't want to spend money during those time slots and he needs sponsored by someone for him to be reinstated. Here are the emails that I received:

"Just to let you know, you can pass it on, it has nothing to do with the audience dropping off, it has to do with the clients dropping off, Local business like the station, and JP but don't feel they want to spend any money with us. Little support for the afternoon shift or any for the BackYard Rocker, along with your pettition, maybe you could have any of those who would sponsor the shift. I assure you, and jp will also agree, that I am his biggest supporter, i am doing what i can.

thanks
d"

"Thanks again Clint, I read Rockpage, i think it is great that you are all supporting JP, but telling people to NOT spend advertising dollars makes it worse, thats already what they are doing. Please...reconsider how you are going about helping him, any one can call me at anytime and I will do what I can. JP himself will tell you that this is not what he would want."

"I would love to reconsider, buy i need help from all of you, send me anyone willing to sponsor him, his show or the backyard rocker, thats the problem.

thanks again
d"

Any thoughts or ideas on how this can be handled and we can help Jim?

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I guess any local business owners or bands that can contribute X amount of dollars to Q94 to be a sponsor of the show (Backyard rocker) or Jim's afternoon show may work. Some bands could group together to be sponsors to make the financial burden easier to bear. It would be a great way to advertise your band, I just don't know how to make it a long term fix unless we kept doing that.

It also sounds like Q94 has a marketing problem with JP's time slots. Is there a way to make those times more attractive to advertisers? Contests? Remotes?

I'm just thinking out loud here...anyone have any ideas?

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Clint,

It's a BS line. They want money, pure and simple.

Trust me, the higher-ups at the station are making money hand over fist. Maybe have them improve their sound, format, and commercial production, and lower their ad rates. Then clients will come. It's a financial glut right now, with gas prices out of control and money being tight all over. But trickle-down economics don't rule radio. The rich get richer and we all suffer.

If clients don't want to advertise at WBXQ, there's usually a reason for that. More often than not, the clients don't have the advertising dollars. Also, the Q may not reach their target demographic. Or, it's their crappy production values. As much as it pains me to say it, being a former Forever employee, while BXQ had the ratings over Rocky, our production smoked them right out of the building. We did tons of advertising dollars, because we had the best production team in the area.

Bottom line is, Q-94's lack of advertising dollars is not our responsibility as listeners. It's theirs as an advertising medium. How does the old adage go? If there's a problem in your house, clean it up, don't blame outsiders.

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

ToonaRockGuy wrote:Clint,

It's a BS line. They want money, pure and simple.

Trust me, the higher-ups at the station are making money hand over fist. Maybe have them improve their sound, format, and commercial production, and lower their ad rates. Then clients will come. It's a financial glut right now, with gas prices out of control and money being tight all over. But trickle-down economics don't rule radio. The rich get richer and we all suffer.

If clients don't want to advertise at WBXQ, there's usually a reason for that. More often than not, the clients don't have the advertising dollars. Also, the Q may not reach their target demographic. Or, it's their crappy production values. As much as it pains me to say it, being a former Forever employee, while BXQ had the ratings over Rocky, our production smoked them right out of the building. We did tons of advertising dollars, because we had the best production team in the area.

Bottom line is, Q-94's lack of advertising dollars is not our responsibility as listeners. It's theirs as an advertising medium. How does the old adage go? If there's a problem in your house, clean it up, don't blame outsiders.

You bring up some valid points. I just feel handcuffed about this whole thing and I wish that there was something I/we could do. If I had the $$$ I would sponsor Jim's show every week, I wouldn't care...he's that big of an asset to the local scene. This really sucks.....

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Agreed, it does suck. I'm not saying boycott, but I'm not saying support, either. All we can do is support Jim as much as possible, and bombard the station with letters and emails.

jbphotos · Post by **jbphotos** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

More than the production or anything, I think one of the biggest reasons for the lose of ad dollars could be traced to when they did the stupid change of format on 94.7. This really limits the area to even draw from advertisers. I know out in the cove could always get 94.7, then they did the format change and I cant most times even pick up 94.3. Smaller broadcast area = small pool of ad dollors I am sure.

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Here's the most recent reply from Diane Boslet after I emailed her to clarify her statements concerning reinstating Jim and sponsorship:

"Yes, it was a money thing, no one was willing to pay for time and effort that JP would put into his shows and especially into the backyard rocker. The station has supported the show for the last 10 + years, sales are bad everywhere, we know that, so we along with many other small businesses in the area have to make cutbacks. We are not Forever, I don't have 50 stations to pull together and collect revenue, we stand on our own. No one was willing to sponsor (yes in $) the backyard rockers, i personally talked to many bands and businesses about buying advertising and sponsorships on the show, but i understand, money is tight everywhere. Q94 is the little guy, we brought it up to be the best station in Altoona, it is very dear to my heart, Adam, JP and myself have put in many personal hours at the station. Our personal hours just didn't pay the bills.
Businesses are looking at the specials and freebees that the other company has to offer and gone their with their advertising dollars, even though they are saying that their hearts were with JP. We can't through in freebees, we don't have the stations to do it. Someone commented on the "Trade" revenue, we don't do much, we can't, i have spent the last few months personally, on trying to get revenue up, hitting the streets myself, i didn't find many of you supporters then...thats what we need, you can make a difference for Jim, but not by banding and bad mouthing the thing he loves most, Q94. Ask jim, what does he want, does he want to hear and read all these terrible things about the station he helped build? I don't thing it is. Again, i will stand behind jim through anything, ask him, he knows where my heart is. Please let me know what I can do to help, instead of sending me trashy emails and voice mails saying horrible things about the station that you all say you loved.

diane"

If you're being nasty with her, that's not helping. Having a benefit concert and donating the proceeds to Q94 to help him be reinstated would only be a temporary fix. I don't know man......any ideas?

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I dunno, Clint. I'm still of the mind that as a listener, it's not my responsibility to bail out a radio station. If advertisers are not coming, you have to give them a reason to spend their dollars.

jbphotos brought up a very valid point, the format change on 94.7FM. That had a huge impact on the area, and it's really not smart to go head to head with Hot100. Radio is about competition, but you can't go toe-to-toe with a giant and expect to win consistently. Diane was right, the Q usually beat Rocky in the ratings, but we won the advertising wars hands down. And that was what mattered. And contrary to Diane's quote, "We are not Forever, I don't have 50 stations to pull together and collect revenue, we stand on our own.", every station at Forever runs independently. Rocky's ad $$$ is their ad $$$, Froggy's is Froggy's, and so on. We knew that with the high rates that Forever set for Rocky advertising, we damn well needed to make sure that the advertiser got the most for their buck, and we did that. Absolute top-notch commercial production that sounded national instead of local, good placement, and attention to detail was something that we took an enormous amount of pride in.

If you have the right people, more than anything else, you can achieve greatness. It's not about being bigger or having more disposable cash. It's about having people in place that give a damn about their jobs, and will go the extra mile to make something sound amazing. Jim Price is one of those people, and it was a horrible mistake for Q-94 to let him go.

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

The reality of this is, JP will probably not be employed by Q94 anymore or ever again, and even if people get together to sponsor the show and bring him back, it will more than likely only be a "stop gap." Local radio has been dying for years and it's inevitable that small stations like Q94 get consumed by the "big guys" who are eating up every little station they can plow over. The irony of this is, eventually, satellite radio will consume "the beast" that is killing places like Q94 — congolomorates like Forever.

I think the focus should be put on getting him back on "the air" but maybe not necessarily in radio (see related "Backyard Rocker Online" thread). The Internet is the medium of the future obviously. I think JP has been watching for this to happen and has a game plan as far as his "day job" is concerned. Let's focus on finding the show a 21st century home that will not only survive the death of local radio, but will also reach farther than the former "double power" station could ever reach.

r:>)

Eldorado · Post by **Eldorado** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Holy shit, that's what I was thinking.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

BadDazeRob wrote:The reality of this is, JP will probably not be employed by Q94 anymore or ever again, and even if people get together to sponsor the show and bring him back, it will more than likely only be a "stop gap." Local radio has been dying for years and it's inevitable that small stations like Q94 get consumed by the "big guys" who are eating up every little station they can plow over. The irony of this is, eventually, satellite radio will consume "the beast" that is killing places like Q94 — congolomorates like Forever.

I think the focus should be put on getting him back on "the air" but maybe not necessarily in radio (see related "Backyard Rocker Online" thread). The Internet is the medium of the future obviously. I think JP has been watching for this to happen and has a game plan as far as his "day job" is concerned. Let's focus on finding the show a 21st century home that will not only survive the death of local radio, but will also reach farther than the former "double power" station could ever reach.

r:>)

Word.

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Of course it's not our responsibility ! We are not RESPONSIBLE for Q94 or JP.

BUT

How does that have ANYTHING to do with wanting to help JP in this situation ?

The question is - What kind of money are we talking about ? Without knowing what said sponsorships cost, we have no way of knowing if we can do anything about it.

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Hawk wrote:Of course it's not our responsibility ! We are not RESPONSIBLE for Q94 or JP.

BUT

How does that have ANYTHING to do with wanting to help JP in this situation ?

The question is - What kind of money are we talking about ? Without knowing what said sponsorships cost, we have no way of knowing if we can do anything about it.

= Temporary stop gap. Say we raise enough to cover the show sponsorship. I'm sure we'll be given a "minimum needed" figure. That minimum will rise and that rise will probably happen within the first six months. The advertisers, even if they have a willingness to support the show, will eventually be priced out of doing it as the cost of operation at the station continues to increase, just as with any other business.

If we want to help JP, let's find him a job; something that will allow him to meet his household responsibilities. At the same time, lets figure out a way to return the "Rocker" to the public, but I'm telling ya, traditional radio is probably not where that will happen.

But I've been wrong before.

r:>)

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I know from past experience that "local spotlight" shows are a tough sell. They've come and gone over the years, (My band The Front was on a TV show on channel 23 in 1988 called Rock and Roll review which lasted for 2 episodes) but I thought that JP had a winner here considering the length of the run of the show. You're probably right in saying that he won't be employed by Q94 again. The economy and other factors probably won't allow it. The "Backyard Rocker" is such a cool show, I just hate to see it become extinct and I honestly can't think of any way to save it....

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

CCdrums wrote:The "Backyard Rocker" is such a cool show, I just hate to see it become extinct and I honestly can't think of any way to save it....

Here's how we save it.

r:>)

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

BadDazeRob wrote:
CCdrums wrote:The "Backyard Rocker" is such a cool show, I just hate to see it become extinct and I honestly can't think of any way to save it....
Here's how we save it.

r:>)

I hope that the BYR online is the answer. It makes sense...just hope it can be pulled off, if JP is into it. I guess we'll see. I have my fingers crossed....

bfoust · Post by **bfoust** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

It'd be neat if JP had his own show on TV like right before or after "The Underground" -- Then he could have bands play AND still have his normal BYR discussions!

Any way that could happen?

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

bfoust wrote:It'd be neat if JP had his own show on TV like right before or after "The Underground" -- Then he could have bands play AND still have his normal BYR discussions!

Any way that could happen?

TV=$$$. Ask the Underground folks. As I understand it, they struggle to keep their show on the air as it is. I think floating a TV show would be a much bigger financial mountain to climb than a radio show, honestly, although maybe to UGTV folks would consider making JP more of a part of their production — maybe his own segment — to complement any other avenues ventured to return BYR to the masses.

Plus, UGTV is kinda the TV version of BYR anyway. Having JP on before or after would be a bit redundant, wouldn't it?

Again, just thinking out loud.

r:>)

bfoust · Post by **bfoust** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I was just thinking aloud also

I agree that he needs his own broadcast that HE controls, so I think he firstly needs a benefit to pay for the equipment necessary to do his own broadcasts.

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

bfoust wrote:I was just thinking aloud also

I agree that he needs his own broadcast that HE controls, so I think he firstly needs a benefit to pay for the equipment necessary to do his own broadcasts.

Now we're barking up the right tree.

back atcha.

The purchase of the hardware to actually do podcasts will probably be one of the most immediate things that will need to be addresssed for sure.

Now, if we could only drum up some interest from area bands that would be willing to do a benefit show/some benefit shows to finance equipment purchases ... where in the world would we find these people?!?

r:>)

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I think you'll have more of a problem figuring out how to schedule everyone who wanted to play!

I'm sure there will be a looong line for that one!

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

CCdrums wrote:I think you'll have more of a problem figuring out how to schedule everyone who wanted to play! I'm sure there will be a looong line for that one!

That's why I see this as a multi-show effort. There's no way we could do what we want to do with one benefit show.

r:>)

CCdrums · Post by **CCdrums** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

I'm in....

DirtySanchez · Post by **DirtySanchez** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

BadDazeRob wrote:
CCdrums wrote:I think you'll have more of a problem figuring out how to schedule everyone who wanted to play! I'm sure there will be a looong line for that one!
That's why I see this as a multi-show effort. There's no way we could do what we want to do with one benefit show.

r:>)

I'm diggin this.

I'm avoiding jumping to any conclusions or doing anything (including emails/petitions) until I see how Jim wants things handled. I understand we all want to come to the aid of a great guy who we all owe a debt. However, I think it is arrogant to assume what his best interests are.

That being said- Jim, if you are looking for a job, even if it's temporary you can come work for me doing business to business marketing for a publishing company. The hours are great (no nights or weekends), you make your own schedule, we promote from within, and the potential to earn some good money. You def. have the voice for it. Plus 'm right here in greenwood close to home. If you're at all interested or just wanna stop by and get a tour, shoot me a pm.

BloodyFingers · Post by **BloodyFingers** » Tuesday Sep 23, 2008

Reading alot of posts on here, if people can't hear thier adds on the radio thier not going to do run adds. I live on 21st ave and 11th street and I barely get Q-94's signal here. For me to listen to The Backyard Rocker I had to get in the car and go for a ride. My boom box will not even pick it up. My friend owns a car repair garage in the Eldorado area and he can't get the signal either. I think this is alot to do with people running thier adds. If you do a benifit let me know i would like to get in on it to. Thanks GAry