All News 106.7 is Here…Finally [last song, audio, first impressions]

[BarryATL]

US 29 is Lawrenceville Hwy at 285...

You are absolutely right.  The announcer was not clear on which side of I-285 he was talking about.  Hwy 29 goes across both sides of I-285.  He said exit 44 or something like that.  Let me go look it up.

Yep... he was referring to Lawrenceville Hwy.  Sheese.  Not having anyone answering the phone for an hour is a no-no for a 24/7 traffic center.

[BarryATL]

Uh oh... I called the station line to remind them about temps and Drew (the guy who answered the phone) knew my name without me offering it.  I am sure it was caller id and he probably put the name together with my posts here.   

Drew and all of All News 106.7 please know that I want you guys to be successful in the long term, so I am trying to offer suggestions and not bust your chops.  Today I have been a bit frustrated and I have probably been a bit too aggressive in my posts... please know, I really do like you guys.

[jabba17]

Looking on the bright side...regarding weekend sloppiness, is this a case of not having to outrun the bear, but just having to outrun WSB?

[BarryATL]

Okay... it has been a very rough weekend for All News 106.7.  Here are my observations:

--The weekend folks need some guidance from management.  They need someone there to help them along until they are comfortable.  And by guidance, I mean in the control room with them.

--There has to be a way for weather temps, radar, and current conditions to be available to the anchors.  Weather radar should be on a screen that the anchors can see.  Temps need to be available (and communicated over the air) for different parts of the metro area.  When they do give a temp, it is just generically "Atlanta".  Where is that?  Temps at the airport can be much different than Roswell.

--The voice overs for each segment make the station sound automated instead of live and local.  There is no interaction (banter) between anybody as there was the first couple of days.  The traffic person and the anchor should talk to each other as they segue from news to traffic.  The anchor should introduce the weather locally.  Right now it really sounds pre-recorded.  Adding the live voice before and after Fox 5 would help a lot.  Sports, traffic, business, weather all sound automated and pre-recorded.... there is no feel for live and local.

--What is causing all of the tentativeness when the anchors are on the air?  Lots of hesitating and pregnant pauses.  These guys know how to read on the air.  Operationally, something is causing this and needs to be addressed quickly.

--Traffic over the weekend was pretty much a loss except for Sunday afternoon/evening.  Saturday during the day was terrible.  The person was just reading Hwy numbers and not looking up street numbers.  Also, nobody was answering the "traffic trooper" phone for over an hour Saturday.

Out of all of this, the live and local feel is lost when there is only one anchor on the air.  It is possible to have it feel live and local, but not when the one anchor and all of the segments have a segmented "network" feel to it.

[BarryATL]

One very positive thing was the traffic guy I head Sunday between 3:30 and 4:00 PM.  The was all over the concert and downtown traffic problems.  He seemed to have a grasp of the local roads and their names.  Good job!

[ctryboy]

That was Matt Hoffberg, he is the KICKS 101.5 morning show producer.

[RunnerDude]

I agree with the posts saying AN106.7 needs distinctive traffic sounders to get attention rather than the VO announcements and soft jazzy music. I personally love the KNX L.A. traffic sounder that mimics car horns with a catchy rhythm. Always gets my attention when I'm zoned out.

[nightmanager]

The KFI traffic sound would be one to grab.  Sound of squealing brakes, a crash, and bam right into the music.  It works amazingly well for them. 

(If Clear Channel had A clue, and they don't, they'd make WGST sound exactly like KFI and be done with it.  But they won't do it.) 

[BarryATL]

As usual, John Lisk is doing a great job today.  He added at the 11:56 weather break, "Fox 5 Storm Team Radar shows scattered showers around the metro and the Atlanta temp is XX."  That is a great step in the right direction.

The sounder beds playing all through a segment sounds like we are joining the 680 The Fan Sports Network... then we join the Atlanta Business Chronicle Network... then we join the traffic network... Then the join the weather network.  These news sounder beds a just bad are very distracting.  News sounder beds should be for headlines.  If you are going to do it for half of the segments each half hour they lose their effectiveness.

I agree with the above about the VO... but, you already know that.   

[BarryATL]

"this is John Lisk on All News 106.7.  All News 106.7 news time is 12:33."

The above is the reason some of us suggested changing the call letters so there is a secondary identity.  When I talk to my friends I do not say "Have you heard the new news station All News 106.7?"  I say "Have you heard the new 24 hr news station?"  I would add a set of call letters to that if they were advertised.  All News 106.7 is too long.  It would be a little better if it was All News 1067.

The above is not that important, but it is something that jumps out every once in awhile.