Another in a series of video interviews with one of the most successful program directors in radio history, Chuck Blore.
ONE SECRET OF CHUCK BLORE’S RADIO PROGRAMMING SUCCESS
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there are some awful ads on the radio , hate the screaming ones ,and the client voiced ones , do any stations actually say to clients they can’t voice their own ad ,and maybe lose the sale …its funny , we should say to the clients , would you re wire your house , yourself or would you get a qualifed electrician to do it , same should be for voiceovers , wanna a qualified guy to do it , or risk blowing your campaign and do it yourself …wonder what the client would say
Smart man.
I’m all for programming running things, as I’ve worked at a station where sales drove everything, even using hit songs in commericals where the sales manager and PD turned a blind eye for the $$$
Everything is so geared towards the “jerry springer” LCD mentality, and it so really shouldn’t be.
While most clients aren’t exactly the best choice for voicing, station on air talent can also be not the best choice eithier. As a production director and assistant at one point in my life, it can be a task to get the on air announcer to do his daily production chore. He doesn’t want to necessarily be there and won’t necessarily put his best read in, also given the fact that a lot of on air talent have only one way of doing reads, which maybe good for one spot but not for another. It helps to have a pool of on air talent to draw from, but sometime it would be very useful using a voice actor who can interpret and emote the copy to get the listener to the call of action. You can’t necessarily do that when you announce.
While the announcer is a key factor, more important as Chuck leans toward in this clip is the copy itself. I’ve produced so much cliched mediocre crap over the years, it got depressing and really got me down to do anything really creative. I think you can hit the line between LCD and insulting of intelligence. but does anyone really care once the $$$ is made.?
Pete’s wrong! No one is more qualified or passionate in talking about their business than the owner themselves. Sure there are instances where they need coaching or yes maybe even told they’d be better served letting announcers do it, but for Pete to make an accross the board statement making them sound foolish for doing their own ads only shows his arrogance and lack of common sense. Maybe he should stop and think about how tiring it gets for the audiance to hear his voice over and over on ad after ad.
Todd, i’ve heard some good client reads and i’ve heard some shockers , that should never have gotten to air , but they did , they wasted their money , all for wanting to hear themselves on the radio , why should they voice thier own adds , when they can’t even string 2 words together, its bad radio , and its bad for their business
And its even worse when they write their own add, tell me Todd , are you a client ????, cause i’m an announcer
A super summarization well worth noting from today’s stated desires of seeing radio thrive once again ! Succinct, nonmysterious.
The program director who knows the audience, the people, directly is a rare person. Just such a one is the legend, Mr. Chuck Blore.
An excellent post, Dan.
This reminds me of the WKRP episode when arthur carlson ran for city council…how many takes did he try to cut a spot? johnny fever spent a couple hours editing tape and evenutually only using “hi…i’m arthur carlson”
No client is perfect, and not every client should be reading and writing their own copy. It should be a case by case basis. same as using station talent. it really depends on what the client wants to target and achieve. A ad agency maybe more appropriate.
What really drives me nuts is the “yes man” mentality for local sales to have everything but the kitchen sink thrown in a spot so the talent has to read quick out of sheer need to get it all in in a 30 or 60. I’ve produced too many of those and you get to the point of wondering if these things are doing more harm then good, because even today I shake my head when one of those comes on in the car and say to myself, huh? what the hell was that. Sales really has to direct and coach the client on what really will work for their client.
There’s a great spot for a shoe store locally that commands your attention gets it message across without being hard on your ear and really stands out in a good way. it’s no music, and the it’s all in the talents read slow with a consistent cadence. The copy is great also, talking about those things that measure your feet…it’s not trying to cram cliches in. It’s my idea of a great spot.