The LoJ Apologia: Kinda Smart and Kinda Dumb

In my last post, I wrote about my disappointment that Kevyn Burger is no longer at FM107. Since that happened there’s been quite a bit of outcry from the listeners on the FM107 Facebook fan page and on the Gabster site on FM107s website. Besides the comments about Kevyn, the other theme from people seems to be why Lori and Julia still have a show.

I have listened to FM107 from shortly after it went on the air. I won’t say day one, because it wasn’t probably a few weeks or maybe even a couple months after they went on the air before I started listening. I’ve listened to Lori and Julia consistently during this time.

There’s one thing I can say with confidence, their show has shown the most improvement of all the shows on the station. All of the other on-air personnel at the station have backgrounds in broadcast journalism or some other sort of public performance experience. Neither Lori nor Julia had that background before they started their program. And, the last I knew, they have the highest rated program on the station.

I think that says a lot about two women who started doing a radio program with very little experience.

Have they made mistakes doing their show? Yes. I challenge you to find me one person who has never made a mistake on their job. And, if you do find that someone, you will find someone who has never stepped out on the proverbial limb in their job. At the same time Lori and Julia have done many things right – or they wouldn’t be the top rated show on the station.

One of the big complaints about them is their voices, but I think that’s one of the good things about them. Neither of them has spent time working on creating a “media” voice. One of my college roommates has a brother who works in broadcast media. When he started out, he worked in radio. One day my roommate asked him to use his “old” voice. He gave her this funny look and she said, “You know that voice you used before you worked in radio.” He’d spent time working on developing a different voice for his work on radio. It’s obvious Lori and Julia have not done this. I kind of like this about them.

Is the majority of what Lori and Julia discuss on their show relevant or important? Probably not – but it’s entertaining. Everything in life doesn’t need to be serious and important. Levity is fun and good for the soul. In fact, it’s obvious they listen to their audience and have learned when it’s important to respond the criticism and when to let it roll of their backs. And, much of the recent commentary has made me see that they have very strong backs.

I saw posts complaining about Lori pouncing on Julia – especially if she was telling a story about her kids. Even I was getting a bit annoyed by this. A few days later, something like that happens and Julia’s says this is how they communicate – it doesn’t really bother her. I would be willing to suggest that this is part of the show. The focus of their show is not parenting and Lori’s job is to keep Julia from taking the show too far down the parenthood road.

In fact, I think there are many things to admire about Lori and Julia.

It’s obvious that Julia cares deeply about being a mom and raising good sons. We always hear her telling us about how she’s spent the weekend doing things with her kids and supporting their activities. And, although her husband seems to give her gifts that he likes, such as the kayak, she doesn’t piss and moan (at least not in the traditional sense) about it. She knows he isn’t going to give her jewelry, flowers and chocolates, but things that allow them to share activities and time with each other. The message she’s gets from him is “I want to spend time with you.” I don’t know about you, but this single chic would love a husband who wants to be with me over one who gives me diamonds and flowers and is never around. She also respects her family member’s wishes to not be constant fodder for the show.

Does she screw up words on a regular basis? Yes. She knows she does and handles all the feedback very well. I don’t know anyone who could handle the constant, public corrections of their malapropisms in the manner that Julia does. She knows she does this and she’s able to laugh at herself. I think more of us would be happier if we could laugh more easily at ourselves.

Although, Lori projects this party-girl image, it’s obvious to me that she loves her husband deeply. I remember when her husband was laid up from a motorcycle accident and had to sleep in a hospital bed in the living room and her name for the brace that he wore that she called his “Frankenhips.” I think this is something that would have broken up many marriages these days – especially since I’m sure that sexual relations were made very difficult and challenging by the medical issues. And, if you’ve ever listened to the show, it’s obvious that Lori understands the importance of a sex life in a marriage. She admits she hasn’t been the best person she could have been in the past and has made some bad choices. She’s learned from her mistakes and is striving not to make the same mistakes again.

Is she opinionated? Yes. But, she’s also respectful (well most of the time.) Perhaps I like this about her because I feel that I’m opinionated as well – and my opinion does tend to lean that same direction as hers. Too many times, we sit back and don’t share our opinion because of what someone else might think. But I think we need to be willing to express our opinions (appropriately) and be open to realizing that not everyone shares our opinion.

Another complaint I hear is how superficial so much of what they talk about is. Well, it does play into what many of their advertisers do – botox, designer glasses, upscale salons, etc. Plus, it’s obvious to me that people are doing these things – or the businesses wouldn’t exist. And, I think they both have very good points on looks and fashion: just because you’re getting older does not mean you should stop caring about how you look and looking your best. (Ladies – your husbands agree with this one.)

While the Lori and Julia Show is not my favorite show on FM107, I do enjoy it and listen to it pretty much every day. I look forward to Friday’s at 5:58 and being rocked gently and slowly.

No More Burger for Me

This past week, Hubbard Broadcasting fired Kevyn Burger from FM107.1. I am extremely sad that she is gone. What is surprising me is that I'm upset enough to not want to listen to the station anymore. I mean really, this isn't life or death (at least it's not for me.) The problem is that I really like many of the other programs. The Lori and Julia show (LoJ) is my least favorite and I don't care if I miss it -- but that's hard to do since they rerun it constantly.

FM107.1 announced it to the fans of the station via a posting on their Facebook Fanpage – the quotes below are taken from that announcement.

So now the focus of the station I’ve enjoyed listening to for the past five or six years is going to be focused on frivolity:

“In the early evolution of FM107.1 she reflected perfectly - who we were and who we tried to be. It was Real. Life. Conversation. During the past two years FM107.1’s ‘flavor’ has changed – or more precisely – evolved. FM107.1 has and will continue to evolve toward a radio station that is defined by words like ‘pop culture’, ‘celebrity news’ and ‘gossip.’ . . .”

I feel insulted by the dumbing down of the station. I am smart and intelligent woman and I don't care what new face-lift, botox or boy-banging is going on in Hollywood. Especially not so much that I want another two hours of my radio listening time to go to that. And I, personally, enjoyed having Sheletta on Kevyn's show. She lightened things up a bit and she has a great outlook on life. I thought the two of them worked very well together.

I read an article in the StarTribune written by Neal Justin, which states that Kevyn’s contract went through the end of this year and that the station won’t actually replace Kevyn but expand the existing programs. So the station will still be paying Kevyn (I assume that’s part of the contract) but won’t be playing Kevyn. I’ll be interested to see how they do this as Jason Matheson can’t go on-air at 9:00. Perhaps Colleen and the Boys will move to 9:00.

I really like Jason and Alexis’ show (although it is called the “Jason Matheson” show – it’s really the two of them.) Yes, it's a Hollywood focus -- but they spend a lot of time poking fun at Hollywood and don't seem to be too much into the drooling over Hollywood. Colleen and the Boys just ignore the Hollywood and gossip nonsense and come up with their own stuff. The Balanced Breakfast has a good focus on news events and weird news. Ian does a good job of putting a new spin on the news. Lori and Julia are OK -- but they are a bit too obsessed with outer beauty and not enough on inner beauty and character. (At least that's the schtick they present.)

I get that this is about ratings.

I’ve read a lot of comments on-line about how people can’t believe they’re getting rid of Kevyn and keeping Lori and Julia. (Many commenting that the two of them can barely talk in complete sentences. Which isn’t 100% accurate – but I would make it at least 25% accurate.) FM107 is not going to get rid of Lori and Julia. The last I knew, it's their best rated program. Meaning, it's probably the one show that actually makes money. Part of that could extend from the fact that the show is on during drive time and people are more likely to be able to actually listen. The reason they replay it all the time is because it's the best rated show.

This could be changing now that they've introduced Jason Matheson. I wouldn't be surprised if Jason's show isn't garnering ratings the same or better than LoJ. This would also make station management see doing a Hollywood gossip and pop culture format as being more profitable. They added a Hollywood gossip and pop culture program and it's garnering good ratings.

The thing that is kind of strange in all this is that FM107 ratings really just suck. I don’t know the ratings for the individual shows – I couldn’t find them on-line. I did find the overall Arbitron station ratings for the station. The September 2009 (the most recent one available) ratings put Fm107 (WFMP) tied at 19 with The Current (KCMP.) They have a 2% market share and that’s an increase from each of the past two months (1.7 in July and 1.9 in August.) It’s hasn’t changed their over ranking in the market – they were 20th in July and August.

“This decision is not about professionalism. It’s not about hard work, or attitude. Kevyn performed in all those areas, and more. This decision is simply about fit. We do think you deserve an explanation. We don’t expect you to be happy about the change – we sure aren’t.”

This paragraph kind of blows my mind, but not really. They don’t expect us to be happy – they sure aren’t. Really? It’s my experience that people don’t do things that don’t make them happy.

And, based on the snarky little intro to the Perez Hilton clips -- “Love him or hate him -- it’s Perez Hilton exclusively on FM107.1. You’re welcome and we’re sorry.“ -- station management really doesn’t care about what their listeners think. They are listening to what we say – which I take must be pretty much a lot of negative feedback – but the message to the listeners is we really don’t care that you don’t want to hear this spot. We want to play it so we will. Apologies from station management are not sincere.

I'm anxious to learn where Kevyn lands. Perhaps WCCO830 could start punching up their female listening audience by giving Kevyn Burger and Jeanette Trompeter a show from, oh say, 9-11 Monday-Friday.