Pet Peeves
Lately I’ve been focussing on some of the positives of radio, including some of the shows that help make our days go by easier. In spite of budget cuts at pretty much every station and company, we still have some great morning and afternoon shows; in fact, what we have actually lost on many stations is nights and overnights when syndicated fare or repeats of earlier shows are gaining traction. Some of that is due to fewer radio listeners during those hours, though it could be a chicken and egg situation.
We also have some excellent talk programming, with KFI (640 AM) still dominating the field. One of my favorite newer programs is Monks and Merrill, airing weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. One of the things I like about it is a more balanced approach to issues, and not just the typical one-sided politics.
Hidden among the positives, however, are some things that really bug me … pet peeves that detract from the very shows I like. Let’s get right to them.
My biggest pet-peeve? Interrupting audio clips played during a program while talking about an issue on a talk show, especially when the host has nothing important to say. This used to be a sign of bad programming – you are supposed to let a clip play through and then talk about it at the end. Somehow it became common to interrupt, and as a listener it is absolutely annoying, especially when the host keeps repeating the same second or two of audio, only to try to say something funny that isn’t.
The whole clip may be 30 seconds long, but it takes 20 minutes to get through the multiple repeats of only part of the segment, intertwined with quips that only the host thinks is clever.
I wonder sometimes if talk program directors actually listen to their own stations, because it hurts the flow, is tremendously annoying, and adds nothing to the discussion. Suffice to say, you would never have heard that when Michael Jackson was one of the leading hosts on KABC (790 AM). Even Rush Limbaugh refrained from doing so. It seems almost every show does this now and it needs to stop.
My next? Repeated hours of programs. I need to be careful here because I honestly don’t know the dynamics involved. Does the host want to do this? Does the company want to cut costs? So I want to be clear that this is not an indictment of the hosts who do that. but it still is annoying as a listener.
As an example, sometimes I will take someone to the airport in the early morning. I tune in to The Woody Show on Alt 98.7 FM. and hear the first hour of the show at 5 a.m. I get back in the car later to drive to work … and hear the Exact. Same. Hour. Not repeated bits, the entire hour. As it turns out, the show is live from 5:00 to 8:00 a.m., then from 8:00 to 10:00 they repeat two of the hours that aired that day previously.
The other night I was listening to Tim Conway, Jr. on KFI during the 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. hour, where he mentioned he was “live on KFI.” Except that he wasn’t – I heard the same hour while driving earlier. It seems the first three hours are indeed live from 6:00 to 9:00, but an hour gets repeated at 10:00.
Keeping in mind the reality of radio today from financials to syndication to listening habits, it may be a new normal. However, I recall back in the 1980s when Rick Dees supposedly recorded his first hour of the morning show on KIIS (102.7 FM) and Robert W. Morgan made fun of him for doing so on Magic 106 (now KPWR, 105.9 FM). I also seem remember a team like Kevin and Bean on KROQ (106.7 FM) sending someone to Dees’ house to prove what time he left in the morning.
At the time, long before my column, I never did confirm the accusations! But it did make for some good light-hearted fun.
I do not know how common it is, but somehow it just doesn’t sit well with me. On the other hand, I probably listen to the radio more than the typical person, who may not have ever noticed.
I also want to make clear – it does not take away from what I believe are some great shows!
No News is Good News?
As printed in the November, 2015 edition if Readers Digest in a segment called “The Slowest News Day:”
“Listeners who tuned in to the BBC on April 18, 1930 heard a once-in-a-lifetime bulletin: ‘There is no news today,’ the host announced. Piano music followed.”
I could use a day like that!