Boston Radio Ad Revenues Falling Like A Rock

Radio advertising revenue is sinking fast in Boston, according to The Globies and All Access.

Ominously, the $14m drop occurred well before the overall economy slowed to a crawl. So one can imagine the situation has only deteriorated since then.

WEEI took the biggest hit, according to the Globe, but WRKO and WTKK figures aren’t disclosed:

Even the usual big earners are down this year. Sports talk WEEI-AM (850) earned $31 million, down from $36.5 million in 2006. News talk WBZ-AM (1030) billed $34.5 million, down from $35.1 million the year before. On the FM side, “Magic” WMJX-FM (106.7) dipped to $23.8 million from $24 million; “Mix” WBMX-FM (98.5) sank to $17.9 million from $18.3 million; WBCN-FM (104.1) fell to $17.55 million from $18 million; “Oldies” WODS-FM (103.3) slipped to $17 million from $17.25 million; classic rock WZLX-FM (100.7) ticked down to $16.7 million from $16.8 million; and WROR-FM (105.7) dropped to $11.65 million from $13.7 million.

The Boston Crime Show

It’s been a common theme here: how some Boston talk hosts struggle because they lack a basic understanding of the medium and audience.

Here’s an interesting discussion on Michele McPhee’s attempt to do a daily one-topic, one-town program on Boston and crime.

Nearly everywhere, talk radio builds its audience in the suburbs and rural areas, not the largest cities. Boston is definitely no exception to the rule.

Where I live, few give a rip about the place and even fewer visit except to catch a plane, baseball game, or if forced into a heart attack-inducing mega-commute. Many try to avoid even that by flying out of Providence or seeing the PawSox instead.

If something nutty is going on in Boston that is entertaining to suburbanites, such as the latest stupid Menino comment, then sure, it’s a topic. But nobody cares about City Hall and BPD inside baseball.

Single-topic shows also fail almost universally. The few exceptions have been during temporary, high-interest events, such as the OJ trial, which carried a few shows in California during the 1990s.

Police blotter crime talk doesn’t have a prayer, especially when it fails to relate to talk radio’s average listener. Occasionally, a crime wave in Boston joined with the mayor’s weak response might be of interest for an hour or so, but that’s about it.

Frankly, I’m curious: between McPhee and the station, who thought this concept would work and why? Did McPhee make any attempt to learn about talk radio and what makes it succeed elsewhere? Did she bother to talk to anyone in the field (especially outside of provincial Boston), or merely jump in head-first?

Does she have any interests outside of crime reporting? That would be the first step toward broadening the show.

Would you move into any new profession without first doing your homework? Why would talk radio be any different?

Globies Not Gripping Reality

How does Deval Patrick’s story provide a “gripping narrative“? At best, he’ll provide a watered-down version of a tale we’ve already heard- Obama’s.

Again, exactly where is the market for this book?

UPDATE: Globie readers are ripping Deval’s deal to shreds, I like this title best: Audacity of Hope 2: Electric Boogaloo

One Penny Above

Entercom shares closed today just one penny above their all-time closing low.

At $9.70 a share, the company’s market capitalization is now just a hair above a mere $300m and previous support at $10 appears broken.

At this level, ETM’s dividend yield is at an unrealistic 14.55%, usually a sign payouts will soon be slashed to pieces.

Worse, Standard & Poors has indicated it may downgrade ETM over concerns about its debt load and deteriorating earnings picture.

Entercom shareholders have now lost 78% of their investment over the last five years, 65% in the past year alone. Meanwhile, the clouds just seem to grow darker over the company.

Keller’s Big Scoop

While his casino bill was going down in flames, Deval Patrick was apparently shopping his autobiography to the highest bidder.

That’s quite a scoop by WBZ’s Jon Keller, who is soliciting potential book titles from readers.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

UPDATE:The Globies are all over this one, as is the Herald.

UPDATE: Patrick has reached a deal, according to The Globies. But what kind of market is there for this book? Deval’s local popularity couldn’t possibly be lower and he is still relatively unknown outside of the Bay State. Sounds like the publishing house didn’t do its homework.

NPR Suit Defends Mike Barnicle

A warning here: it might take a strong stomach to tolerate WBUR GM Paul La Camera’s defense of shameless hack Mike Barnicle.

If clicking here induces vomiting, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Next Sucker, Please

The Globies have sent a new contributor to replace Steve “I’m Gettin’ Outta Dodge” Bailey on The Felon’s program.

NYT On Our Powerless Governor

What a difference a year makes: even the left is no longer interested in propping up wimpy Deval Patrick. Now, his totally ineffective tenure is the subject of a New York Times profile:

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick has lately addressed doting crowds around the country as a surrogate for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, his friend and fellow gifted orator. Last month, Mr. Obama even acknowledged borrowing language from Mr. Patrick’s stump speeches, casting a flattering light on a novice politician barely known outside Massachusetts.

But there is no such glow at home for Mr. Patrick, the first Democrat to lead his state in 16 years and the nation’s second elected black governor.

Mr. Patrick, who easily won office in 2006 after dazzling voters with a message of hope and change, suffered a nasty defeat last week at the hands of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, which quashed his proposal to increase revenues by allowing three resort casinos in the state. None of the governor’s major policy proposals have cleared the Legislature, in fact, and he and Salvatore DiMasi, the speaker of the House, have taken to trading barbs publicly.

Mr. Patrick is faring better than a year ago, when he was under siege for spending more than $10,000 on drapes for his State House office and upgrading his state car from a Ford Crown Victoria to a Cadillac. (He later agreed to reimburse the state for the drapes and part of the car lease.) By his third month in office, Mr. Patrick had announced that his wife was being treated for depression, and by his fourth, he had overhauled his staff.

But even now, governing is not coming easily for Mr. Patrick, 51, a former civil rights lawyer and corporate executive who came to Massachusetts on a prep school scholarship in the ’70s.

Howie’s Naughty Language

Yes, I know we’re late to the party here, but Howie’s “naughty” language flap is taking on a life of its own. It’s not just the Internet attention this has received, I’m also getting a number of emails.

I’m fighting off a nasty bug and behind on everything at the moment, by the way.

As you may have read, Carr was given the bleep treatment for daring to utter words as vile and filthy as “XM” and “Sirius” during his show.

Two thoughts:

1) Why is anyone surprised to hear Entercom censors its hosts? Perhaps if you’re new to SaveWRKO, we can cut you some slack, but to regular readers, there’s little new here.

2) I suppose this incident didn’t ring alarm bells here because Entercom’s had a stated policy for at least five years that XM and Sirius cannot be mentioned on any of its stations, ever. I recall a memo to this effect circa 2003.

In fact, for some time, the company took the highly unusual step of stripping out satellite radio spots from network news feeds. CBS was running XM ads after its hourly updates and board ops were under strict orders to make sure all were blocked.

‘We Go Way Back’

Look, it’s no secret that WTKK is on some kind of quest to sign up every local hack politician for monthly guest-hosting segments.

And now, that trend continues with news that Michele “I Gave Up My Day Job” McPhee is now having Mayor-For-Life Tommy Menino-Duvalier in for regular visits.

What is stunning, however, is a comment she made to Boston magazine about the arrangement. Take a look:

Mayor Tom Menino has a face for radio. He doesn’t really have the voice for it, but Hizzoner won’t let his heavy accent hold him back. The Herald reports that he has a new part-time radio gig with our pal Michele McPhee.

While the Herald says that Menino will appear once a week, McPhee told us that he’ll appear once a month on a segment adorably titled “Menino and McPhee.”

“We go way back,” McPhee told Boston Daily, “so this show will be an extension of that relationship.”

Wow, Michele, what a downright bizarre statement to make. You’re co-hosting with Menino because you are old friends?

Here’s a reality check: talk radio’s popularity is fueled by challenging authority, not sucking up to it. That point has been made here many times in the past. Your approach might please management in the short run, but ultimately, you need to find an audience. This reveals a misunderstanding of what drives the format.

Far more significantly, however, it ought to alarm her former Boston Herald colleagues, where cozying up to politicians is at odds with the basics of journalism and certainly that paper’s mission.

Did “going way back” with Menino ever affect McPhee’s reporting? Even The Globies would frown upon this, at least admitting to it in public, that is.

If McPhee is positioning herself for her next gig at the chamber of commerce, that’s one thing, but otherwise, this is a major misstep.