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11/18: Star 94 raises $825K for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; unhappy people watch more TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is probably the toughest period in decades to raise money (much less make money). Star 94 pulled in $825,284 in pledges over the weekend for Chlidren’s Healthcare.
That’s down about 30 percent from a year ago, when the station drew $1,212,437. In 2006, the figure was $1,215,834. In 2005, it was $1.2 million. In 2004, 1.167 million. The station has raised $6.6 million in total so far.
Cynics might say the absence of Steve & Vikki and subsequent lower ratings for the pair’s replacement the Morning Mess may have contributed to the dropoff but it probably is more the economy than anything else.
Shawnessy Rennegar, Star’s marketing gal, said Ne-Yo (below) stopped by on Friday, passed out some stuffed animals, sang to a young girl with Leukemia, and donated $5,000. Plus, more than 340 people volunteered to answer phones and help out.
-Obama’s appearance on “60 Minutes” Sunday drew almost 25 million viewers, the most for the venerable CBS show in almost a decade.
-Here’s good fodder for Leno jokes: happier people watch less TV (and socialize and read more) while unhappy people spend more time in front of the boob tube. Here’s the study.
“TV doesn’t really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,” says University of Maryland sociologist John P. Robinson, the study co-author and a pioneer in time use studies. “It’s more passive and may provide escape - especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise.”
What do you think? Does this make sense?
-As a radio market, we are now ranked #7, based on Arbitron population estimates, overtaking Philadelphia. Over the past decade, fast-growing Atlanta has swept past Boston, D.C. and Detroit. We are now only behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas and Houston. As a radio revenue market, Atlanta has been top 5 for awhile, exceeding its population size.
Comments
By Ynit
November 17, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this
The morning Mess did a horrible job with the Radiothon. I remember listening last year. Steve and Vikki were gone. I believe it was Shannon Holly who hosted in the morning and she did awesome. She’s still with the station. They should have used her. Hope the Mess is gone soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By MaryD
November 18, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this
How could anyone say anything negative about raising all that money for such a good cause? I listened on and off all 3 days and was moved to tears on more then one ocassion. And yes I became a miracle maker as a result of listening. Cynisism is one thing being mean is entirely different.
By Pete
November 18, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
I didn’t see anyone saying anything negative about raising all that money for such a good cause. I give credit to STAR 94 for doing this every year, they have raised a lot of money for these truly deserving children.
The only negativity is based on the station itself because it sucks. They started going downhill years ago when they started to play rap and then they ran Steve and Vicki off because they were too “old” for their new target audience. Isn’t it funny that Steve and Vicki are doing well in the Atlanta radio ratings on B98.5 and STAR 94’s Morning Mess isn’t even in the top 10?
But even if STAR 94 still played decent music, and Steve and Vicki were still there, and they still had good ratings, they probably wouldn’t have been able to match the donations from previous years because of the state of the economy.
By Ynit
November 18, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this
Star 94 should be praised for helping the children in the ATL. I have been a fan of Star for years and still listen to Cindy and Ray but with my little girl in the car in the morning I can’t listen to the mess with all their rude humor. God bless Star for helping the kids.
By Rusty Pecker
November 19, 2008 7:34 AM | Link to this
I bet Rodney Homo cried while watching the Obama interview. Cynthia Tucker watches it 50 times a day.
By who cares
November 19, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
star 94-don’t matter at all.