FROM: DATE: RE:	Fred Jacobs August 3, 2005 JACK OBSERVATIONS >>EMAIL COMMENTS<<	Email This Page
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At the R&R Convention in June, there was a great panel all about Jack, hosted by Saga's Steve Goldstein.  Recovering from the Jacobs Media Summit, I enjoyed my role as a quiet member of the audience, but after thinking about this panel, I devoted four blog entries to discussing and addressing some of the points that were made. This advisory summarizes those blogs, and hopefully, continues to dialogue about how this "variety" format will impact radio over time.

Participants were Mike Henry (Paragon), Bob Sinclair (who has a couple of successful BOB stations), Mike McVay, Kurt Johnson (Infinity's "Captain Jack"), and Federated Media's Tony Richards.

There was a great deal of understandable euphoria among some of the panelists. I remember sitting on Classic Rock panels exactly 20 years ago where the feeling was the same.  The format was buzzworthy, the ratings were rising, and the vibe was very positive.  People were asking many of the same questions.  Will it last?  Should there be morning shows?  How high can it go?  Isn't it interesting how many different formats are impacted?

To me, this felt like a case of deja vu all over again.   Classic Rock has survived 20 years because operators took risks, built infrastructure, added knowledgeable and entertaining personalities, and elevated stations from jukeboxes to stations that had hearts and souls.

However, as is often the case with new formats that are on the rise, Act One is the easiest.

During the session, panelists talked about one of the key benefits of these formats (financially as well as in the ratings) - being able to go jockless for an undetermined amount of time. This "no DJs" policy is interesting...and probably shortsighted.  While there's no question that creative liner-writing is important, there's going to be a point reached where the lack of a morning magnet, as well as personalities throughout the day, is going to take its toll. 

It's hard to imagine that marketing and musical novelty alone are going to sustain killer ratings much beyond a year or two.  And it's not going to be easy to simply add personality at that point.  While Jack breaks a lot of radio rules, being local and providing warmth and personality are radio staples.

Otherwise, I can dump 1,000 songs into my iPod, set it to "shuffle," and make something just like Jack.  And it'll be commercial-free.  Note that AOL Radio is starting its "Shuffle" format. 

If Jack doesn't develop interesting, connected personalities, it will go the way of Arrow - another format that focused on variety/hits.  If the "innovation" behind Jack is simply another code word for satisfying ownerships' proclivity to default to cheap, quick ratings hits with low overheads, this craze will become just that.

It was great to hear from Bob Sinclair who has launched successful "Bob" stations in both Norfolk and Austin with the programming help of Joel Folger.  Bob was self-effacing, honest, and very compelling in his assessment of what's working and what isn't.

But one of his comments took me back to the Little Steven session we presented the day before at Summit X.  Bob noted that the DJs on his stations talk just twice an hour, and their main function is to be brief and fulfill sales commitments and promotions.  Fortunately, Little Steven was back on the set of "The Sopranos" during this panel, because he would have gone ballistic had he been there.

Radio has dumbed down DJs to this type of role at many stations, but imagine how much more fun and compelling Jack stations could be with jocks who are engaged, enthusiastic, and local.  While Jack is truly a phenomenon, is an automated, virtually jock-less presentation the "secret sauce" that will jumpstart radio?  Given all that new competition - from iPods to satellite to Internet - isn't a great music station hosted by fun, hometown, and entertaining DJs part of what's missing?

While the panel circled around the issue of a second act for Jack, no one was willing (or able) to say anything succinct about what's next.

Infinity's Kurt Johnson ("Captain Jack") provided a great moment.  In Little Steven's keynote, he said that WCBS-FM and the Jack format are like comparing the Statue of Liberty to a blow-up doll.  Kurt's answer to Steven's shot was to drag a blow-up doll on stage, much to the amusement of attendees.

Kurt noted that in research that's been conducted, the audience isn't interested yet in hearing live DJs.  No kidding.  And that's not likely to change.  Can you imagine ever asking listeners whether they want DJs (especially at a station that hasn't had any), and hearing anything else?   But when the ratings sag, what's going to be the next step?  And the longer these stations wait, the harder it's going to be to add live jocks.

One of the ongoing themes from the Summit was a consistent cry that we not put so much weight on numbers and surveys.  I own a part of that, as a guy who enjoys and conducts research.  But there's no question that science has greatly overtaken art (or "gut").  And waiting for listeners to tell you they want DJs is like waiting for Americans to ask for higher taxes.  Sometimes you have to trust your gut and make it happen.

Kurt, Mike Henry, Bob Sinclair, Rogers, and many others involved in the Jack movement deserve loads of credit for breaking new ground, and creating a Purple Cow.  But as Steve Goldstein noted, even Purple Cows get brown after a while.