The lessons of Live 100.5: a Mobilian’s perspective
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Live 100.5 is no more.
On Monday, Citadel Broadcasting switched the format for Birmingham’s WWMM from alternative to talk radio. More than 20,000 fans rallied on Facebook.
Mobile culture blog Mod Mobilian published an essay Thursday about the lessons from Live’s demise and corporate media. It is reprinted in full below with permission.
• • •
The radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools …
by Mod Vowel
“Tryin’ to anesthetize the way that you feel.”
Wow. Are we to keep learning from Birmingham’s mistakes?
This mistake can’t fully be attributed to the city though. This atrocity lies at the feet of Citadel Broadcasting, which feels that talk radio is more important than keeping Live 100.5, a Triple-A format station similar to Mobile’s 92 ZEW, on the air. The big difference between Mobile’s and Birmingham’s Triple-A stations is that 92 ZEW is locally owned and operated, the way radio should be. Before we get any further, let’s define the Triple-A format: Adult Album Alternative.
From Wikipedia:
A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established sometime during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive. The radio format has a broader, more diverse playlist than most other formats and tends to appeal more to adults than to teenagers. Less-played tracks are also common.
Musical selection tends to be on the fringe of mainstream pop and rock as well as many other music genres, such as indie rock, alternative rock, jazz, folk and blues. The musical selections tend to shy away from hard rock and rap music. Some Triple-A stations bill themselves under such slogans as “World Class Rock,” “Quality Rock” or “Finest Rock.” Music selection also includes tracks from albums that are not singles, which leads to the enhanced and larger playlist.”
Basically, Triple-A is radio for educated music lovers. The music lover that cannot stand Creed or Nickelback (or as I hear some people call it, 3 Puddles of Creedleback). This includes music snobs as well. The demographic generally encompasses 25- to 54-year-old listeners with a median annual income of $50,000. And if you didn’t know, radio runs on advertising sales. This is a highly coveted demographic, since these are the people that can afford to be patrons of a variety of businesses.
‘What is happening in Birmingham is tragic.
They have no other outlet
for good music in that city.’
What is happening in Birmingham is tragic. They have no other outlet for good music in that city. Live 100.5 will be flipped to a talk radio format. Outrageous, huh? Well, about 15,000 people agree this is outrageous.
The “Save Live 100.5” Facebook group, which was started by a fella who advertises on Live’s station, has more than 15,000 members as Mod Vowel types this column. With such an impressive show of support for something they all love, you think the suits at Citadel would think differently about their decision. No, no, my friends. Talk is cheap. Birmingham will get more talk radio on the FM dial.
“I don’t know if I’ll be back,” host Scott Register said near the end of his show. “I do know that I’ll probably be the last human voice you’ll hear on Live 100.5.”
Live 100.5 going away means more than just a high quality radio station disappearing from the airwaves. It means high quality programs like “Reg’s Coffee House” leaving as well.
Reg is one of the last tastemakers in the country. And he has his finger on the pulse. Many times, he has featured some of Mobile’s finest musicians on his program over the past 13 years: El Cantador, Eliot Morris and Will Kimbrough, just to name a few. The only other place you can hear those artists getting airplay? The last Triple-A station in the state, 92 Zew.
Live did what 92 Zew does which is what radio should do: Reflect the community. Zew has survived two “funerals.” But Mobile’s overwhelming support of the station was the CPR it needed to come “back to life,” if you will. Also, a big part of Zew coming back to life is because it has been locally owned and operated since its inception.
Live has not been so fortunate. When you have heads of a corporation in an office in New York calling the shots, they could care less about community support. Live was not given ample time to establish a listening base some might say. But then again, 15,000-plus people are very sore it is going away. These 15,000 people support the concerts that Live brings to town, support the advertisers whether it be a independent clothing store, record store or bar/music venue.
Mod Vowel got in touch with someone who grew up listening to Birmingham radio and is now a part of Mobile’s radio scene, Emily Hayes of 92 Zew. Emily is a self-professed music snob. She has used her Facebook to help spread the word about what is happening to Live 100.5 and offered up this bit on the subject:
“I grew up listening to Birmingham radio. We had some good stations when I was a kid like 107.7 the X, which was the alternative station. Many of the folks involved with the X came back to be involved with Live, like Dave Rossi. He was program director at the X. That station broke so many bands and did great things for the community like “Live in the X Lounge,” live performances in its studios that sold a limited amount of CD’s: The proceeds went to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham.
“With people like Dave and Scott Register of ‘Reg’s Coffee House,’ there is no reason why this station would have not succeeded. People like Reg and Dave inspired me to get into radio. They shaped my musical landscape if you will. Birmingham is suffering a huge loss in my opinion. But it’s times like these that make me even more grateful to work for a mom-and-pop station vs. a company that has no idea what is happening in that market.”
Living in this digital age, it’s easier for folks in the newspaper industry to pick up on the hot topics in town. Folks over at AL.com have been following what’s happening with the demise of Live and got in touch with the group’s creator, who also is an advertiser with the station.
Jeff Tenner, who owns Soca Clothing in Homewood and advertises on the station, launched the Facebook group “Save Live 100.5!” Thursday morning.
“I’m an upset advertiser, and I’m also just an upset music fan,” Tenner told the Birmingham News. “Basically, I put my money where my mouth is.”
As far as music goes, because after all this is blog is supposed to be music oriented, we’ve learned to tough lessons from Birmingham.
- How to not screw up a citywide music festival (think City Stages).
- How to appreciate and support local radio.
After all, to quote that lovable power ballad by Cinderella: “Don’t know what you got, till it’s gone.”
Mod Vowel is the self-described crabby Mobile music blogger teetering on the brink of elitism. Or whatever.
• • •
What are the lessons for Birmingham from this radio format change, if any? Leave a comment below.
The pipe maker had been convicted in 2005 and fined $8 million, but that case was overturned. McWane pleaded guilty Friday in Huntsville federal court to nine felony violations and agreed to pay $4 million in fines and for the construction of a city park.
The 
Here are our favorites to help you save time, money and stress during the post-Thanksgiving madness …
