OMG!!! Can they do this??

[mrtexmex2007]

Is this legal???  Today I heard 95.7 with a commercial that said something like this!
Welcome to the music hotline!  To listen to boring KRBE press one, to listen to hot 95.7 press the hot button!  Can stations talk bad about other stations?  I remember back in the days when KROI was La Mera Mera the commercials would say, ( Well in spanish of course)  In KLOVE you listen to Los Temerarios around one time every 5 hours but we play them every hour!!  But they would not metion Estereo Latino, all they would say is, In Estereo they have super thursday but not us we have super everyday!!  But they would leave out the Latino part they would only call it Estereo!

[CW]

Is this legal???  Today I heard 95.7 with a commercial that said something like this!
Welcome to the music hotline!  To listen to boring KRBE press one, to listen to hot 95.7 press the hot button!  Can stations talk bad about other stations?  I remember back in the days when KROI was La Mera Mera the commercials would say, ( Well in spanish of course)  In KLOVE you listen to Los Temerarios around one time every 5 hours but we play them every hour!!  But they would not metion Estereo Latino, all they would say is, In Estereo they have super thursday but not us we have super everyday!!  But they would leave out the Latino part they would only call it Estereo!

Where have you been the last 5-10 years?? You never heard the 93Q commercials blasting KILT FM?? Geesh.....time to roam the FM band a little more.....Yes, they can do it......nothing illegal on that promo (wasnt a commercial since it was not a revenue maker...just a promotion on their own station...)

[snoman]

CW's right.  It's not illegal, it's just stupid.  Mentioning the competition directly, whether it is good or bad, is just another plug for them.  No matter if it is good or bad, you don't give free publicity.  Also, you don't make yourself look better, by making your competition look worse. 

And, 93Q is still mentioning KILT.   

[DavidEduardo]

Is this legal???  Today I heard 95.7 with a commercial that said something like this!
Welcome to the music hotline!  To listen to boring KRBE press one, to listen to hot 95.7 press the hot button!  Can stations talk bad about other stations?  I remember back in the days when KROI was La Mera Mera the commercials would say, ( Well in spanish of course)  In KLOVE you listen to Los Temerarios around one time every 5 hours but we play them every hour!!  But they would not metion Estereo Latino, all they would say is, In Estereo they have super thursday but not us we have super everyday!!  But they would leave out the Latino part they would only call it Estereo!

A challenger can point out weaknesses in an established competitor... it makes the  competitor spend more time worrying about the new station than their own. And it tells the listeners about supposed defects so they will sample the new station more. It is a fine tactic when you have nothing to lose.

[rocknrollisdead]

Is this legal???  Today I heard 95.7 with a commercial that said something like this!
Welcome to the music hotline!  To listen to boring KRBE press one, to listen to hot 95.7 press the hot button!  Can stations talk bad about other stations?  I remember back in the days when KROI was La Mera Mera the commercials would say, ( Well in spanish of course)  In KLOVE you listen to Los Temerarios around one time every 5 hours but we play them every hour!!  But they would not metion Estereo Latino, all they would say is, In Estereo they have super thursday but not us we have super everyday!!  But they would leave out the Latino part they would only call it Estereo!

I've always thought of it as a double-edged sword.  On one hand you're exposing your competitor to your audience which keeps them top-of-mind.  On the other, you could come off as a better alternative to the competitor. 

Personally, I wouldn't do it. 

[Kendromedia]

As a listener, I thought it was stupid. Just like the "less is more" BS.

[Theo_Huxtable]

What's that saying? "When you've got nothing at all, you've got nothing to lose" . 95.7 has nothing to lose by calling out their competition. That's typically a move a station makes when they aren't on top, or anywhere near the top. You don't see a lot of top end stations doing that. Personally I think it's dumb, but if I had to make a list of all of the dumb things some people in radio do I'd kill off half of the rain forests in the world.

[FilioScotia]

I agree with whomever said it's legal but it's profoundly stupid. I came up in radio under managers and PD's who had the attitude that those other stations don't even exist. 

We focused our time, money and energies on our own programs, promotions and projects, and ignored anything and everything our competitors did. I still believe that any radio station that resorts to comparing itself to the competitors needs a new manager. One with some imagination.

I once saw a PD chew a newsman's ass down to his shoe-tops for mentioning another station's call-letters in a news story about an event at the zoo that was sponsored by that other station.

I'll never forget how he put it. "THOSE OTHER STATIONS ARE CHASING THE SAME AD DOLLARS WE'RE CHASING AND WE DON'T GIVE THEM FREE PROMOTIONS BY EVEN MENTIONING THEM ON OUR AIR !!"

I think that sums up how I feel about it.

[ShaneofTexas]

CW's right.  It's not illegal, it's just stupid.  Mentioning the competition directly, whether it is good or bad, is just another plug for them.  No matter if it is good or bad, you don't give free publicity.  Also, you don't make yourself look better, by making your competition look worse. 

And, 93Q is still mentioning KILT.   

Notice that KILT don't bash 93Q in return?  Because they are "above" them. Why stoop to 93q's level and respond back.

[aunti-terrestrial]

I agree with whomever said it's legal but it's profoundly stupid. I came up in radio under managers and PD's who had the attitude that those other stations don't even exist. 

We focused our time, money and energies on our own programs, promotions and projects, and ignored anything and everything our competitors did. I still believe that any radio station that resorts to comparing itself to the competitors needs a new manager. One with some imagination.

I once saw a PD chew a newsman's ass down to his shoe-tops for mentioning another station's call-letters in a news story about an event at the zoo that was sponsored by that other station.

I'll never forget how he put it. "THOSE OTHER STATIONS ARE CHASING THE SAME AD DOLLARS WE'RE CHASING AND WE DON'T GIVE THEM FREE PROMOTIONS BY EVEN MENTIONING THEM ON OUR AIR !!"

I think that sums up how I feel about it.

Yeah, that's pretty much the school of thought upon which I was raised. "Other guys? What other guys?" In fact, I've worked for stations where we actually had to change the temperature (at least, what we reported) if it was going to land on a competitor's dial number. I recall the PD of that station telling us, "It's 102 or  almost 104 degrees, but it's never 103." That may have been going a bit overboard, but I can appreciate his reasoning.