Bring back WRG? Commercial versus Public Radio

Posted by masterwriter on November 20th, 2007

The World Radio Switzerland Team

 A friend of mine called me this morning on his way to work.

“Jules I need you to write a blog.  Bring back WRG.  It’s so dull…I miss Mark Butcher’s banter… I miss the pathé movie quiz starting my day… It is not local anymore, I don’t care about beavers in Lucerne or wherever…”

Then the bombshell hit.

“ I feel as if I’ve moved to Basel.”

The move away from Commercial radio (WRG) to Public radio (WRS) at the beginning of this month has not been without its detractors amongst the expatriate community. 

The Radio Audience Trends Report of 2006 says the following about public and commercial radio audiences: “Public Radio listeners skew to the economically elite and more highly educated.  Commercial news/talk listeners are more blue-collar and more male” (sic!) .  My friend, who called me this morning, is admittedly very male, and also one of the world’s leading IT specialists on his way to Rio to give a conference.  So what is happening here?  Geneva’s expats don’t appear to want to integrate or be educated?  Or is Geneva and its radio audience, as I have always suspected, bucking the norm?

The old WRG went beyond the role of a radio station it was a life-line for many expats here who for one reason or another found themselves in the City of Calvin.  Geneva, and I would say the area up to and comprising Nyon, are the least Swiss of towns. You can live in this area, with all the benefits of a Swiss lifestyle: safety, beauty, winter sports, decent food etc. and remain in your own little cultural bubble speaking very little French.

I know for some this non-integration by the expat community  would be the very argument in favour of a change to public radio, but let’s be realistic here, WRG played a vital role in the life of many expat familes who make up the majority of their target audience.  I would even go so far as say it saved marriages, averted depression and generally kept people happy with its companionship, jokes, competitions and English humour.  

Another argument in favour of more local news/information instead of beaver stories from Lucerne, is that when it comes to national and international news it appears only a minority look to radio as a prime source. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center indicated that less than a quarter of survey participants got this kind of information from their radios — just 22%, compared to 74% for television, 44% for newspapers and 24% for the Internet.

I actually much prefer talk i.e., public radio, if I want to listen to music I will play my own CDs.  I think the aim of the new station is to provide a 60/40 news,talk/music ratio and I am looking forward to the changes – the recent interview with the EXIT representative on assisted suicide was gutsy and topical.

In order for WRS to win over its listeners it will be a tough battle, a death or glory charge but for starters they should change that jingle. The WRG 88.4 was a singable, jolly ditty, the WRS jingle is dour and as singable as the Swiss national anthem.  Let’s hope not an indication of things to come.

Unfortunately the age of WRG is over. As a commercial radio station it struggled over many loss-making years so there is only one way forward.

Once the teething problems of the first few weeks have passed I think WRS will settle down to be a great radio station with the best of both commercial and public radio worlds, more Swiss certainly and with a little more gravitas that perhaps will be good for all of us.

   

Living in Switzerland, Most Popular Posts 20 Comments

Marina Marangos said,

November 20, 2007 @ 1:28 pm

I couldnt agree more about the new WRS jingle it it dire and all the names dont rhyme or sit together at all well. WRG and Pete on the Beat were great including the very non pc jokes at 8.30 am and the wild Comedy nights. Having said so I am actually enjoying listening to the talk shows in the car, Exit was a great example. Questions can be better but they are getting there and i think Tony J has a great smooth show and voice so I am getting used to the change and overall liking it -I loved the idea however that WRG were our local celebs and now that has been taken away from us which is sad

Jules said,

November 20, 2007 @ 1:58 pm

I’m interviewing Tony Johnston tomorrow for Geneva Times so will let you know if he is as smooth as he sounds Marina. j

Jules said,

November 20, 2007 @ 2:20 pm

Hi Jules.

Now there’s a coincidence. Here’s what I wrote to the boy Butcher this morning.

Dear Mark et al.
You’ve been up and running with the new format WRS for a few weeks now, and I must say I now find my mornings depressing, suicidal almost. I used to enjoy my 09:00 to 10:00 coffee hour of music, banter, silly stories and witty repartee.
For years, WRG joked about the Swiss being dull and a nation that frowned on pleasure. But over the past few weeks I have learned more about assisted suicide, begging, cancer, Afghanistan, gender equality, illegal adoption and environmental problems due to conflict than I ever wanted to know. All important issues, granted, but there is a time and place.
But I must admit that the flat voices or theatrical gravitas of some speakers area bit of a giggle.
Can we have something a bit more up-beat to get us through the morning?

Sent to me from Graham, of course, he knows how to say it like it is.

Robert said,

November 21, 2007 @ 8:33 pm

Hear, Hear, Graham. Seconded and all of that. Taking my daughter to school this morning we had a bulletin (I kid you not) from the Swiss meat packers convention from somewhere across the rosti border, an earnest discussion about the problems of pan-european sausage exports and, oh I forget, at that point I think I drove the car into a field just for some light relief. Where’s the wicked humour of Mark in the morning? Where’s the hopeless Pathé movie quiz answers? Bring back Hansine’s perennial shortness of breath at the end of the day. quirky they might have been but they were great characters and we loved them. WRS is dull. dull. dull. and dull again. all the spark is gone – replaced by people who sound like they learned their english somewhere behind the iron curtain. My six year old daughter said it all: “daddy, why have they got rid of WRG? This is so boring.” amen… Mark, you should have told me. Start up a subscription service to bring back WRG. I’m the first to sign up at 30 francs a month. I calculate that to be only a few centimes for everytime I’ve laughed…

Angela Bryson said,

November 23, 2007 @ 5:27 pm

Nooo! Can’t believe WRG is dead and buried, Mark Butcher was like a ray of sunshine each morning on the school run (mind you, I always turned off when dreadful Pete whats-his-name came on, couldn’t STAND his voice). But you are very up-beat about the replacement (WRS?) so all the best that it fulfills your generous prediction. Viva gravitas! but oh, that funny Mark Butcher…

Sally Webster said,

December 4, 2007 @ 10:39 am

I listened with great interest to your interview with Philippe and Michelle this morning on WRS though I have to say that I didn’t realise the time as I no longer listen in between 9 and 10 as I find nothing appealing about Your Space. The team at WRS do not have the experience, gravitas nor level of proffesionalism to carry off such a show. And five times a week?! They would do much better if they concentrated on having one really good show once a week and advertised it in advance, to give people the chance to think about the topic before they expect the audience to call in.
If I want serious discussion then I will listen to radio 4 who have the intelligence to ask pertinent questions of guests (unlike Michelle who handled you really badly this morning I thought) and the resourses to be able to invite the great, good and bad into the studio or on the other end of a phoneline.
And why on earth does Mark stay in the studio for an hour and barely say a word?! What a waste of his talents!
WRS should stick to what they have up until now done so well, i.e entertain. Bring back relevant shows such as PG and Get Fresh and the style file which seems to have been cut to half an hour and only airs once on a week day. These shows are so much more useful to the daytime audience instead of focusing on overly serious topics at a time when most people are at work.
And bring back the 7.00am BBC half hour world news, now there’s a station that knows how to do it. WRS should check out the times and styles of their programming, and learn from it. Philippe did not come over as someone aproachable nor in the least bit interested in the opinion of others.
Best regards, Sally

masterwriter said,

December 4, 2007 @ 11:12 am

Thank you Sally and welcome to the site. I did hesitate before going on the WRS this morning as it was a difficult position to play but if I am going to write provacative blogs then I shall have to learn how to defend them. I don’t think Michelle treated me badly although I did feel that I could have been let in on the déroulement of the interview. It was very much thinking on your feet hence I was flummoxed by Michele’s first question and started badly – you could tell I was a radio virgin. I wanted it to be more upbeat and fun but it is their radio station and I was their guest. I am proud that I had the guts to do it.

Graham said,

December 5, 2007 @ 11:06 am

Sally’s comments hit the nail right on the head. Excellent.

Carolyne said,

December 12, 2007 @ 9:01 am

Thank you Jules for having the courage to go on WRS; I was able to catch the first few minutes of the programme and heard about your blog.

My husband and I have been listeners of WRG for almost 6 years, ever since we moved to the Geneva area. After giving the new WRS programming a chance, I took the bold move to switch radio stations. At first I was excited as there was some hype about the changes; however, I became quickly disappointed for many of the reasons mentioned by the others on this page (especially with loss of Style File timeslots). Now my car radio is tuned to NRJ – they’re upbeat in the mornings, great music selections, and a great way to improve my French! I suppose I should thank WRS for encouraging me look at what else is on the market . . . I wish WRS success with their new target market.

Nadia said,

February 13, 2008 @ 3:16 pm

Here we are a couple of months later, things have improved marginally with some shows being re-introduced, but Tony Johnston seems to have disappeared into thin air – does anyone know what happened to him?
Morning news is still insanely boring, way too long, too preachy and Jordan’s voice grates on my nerves so much I automatically zap to Couleur 3 (excellent music, commentators very Swiss but still funny) whenever he comes on (way too often!).
Why oh why did they change??? Thank goodness Hansine and Laura light up the soundwaves over lunch at least, otherwise I might just take the automatic programming off my car radio…

horsesmouth said,

February 28, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

Tony upped and left after a row with ‘charismatic’ station boss Philippe Mottaz. As a previous poster perceptively noted, Mottaz is not really a people person. The Berne rumour mill has it that in recruiting his team last year, Mottaz turned down many experienced journalists, including a former BBC Geneva correspondent. One seasoned and award-winning reporter, formerly employed by the SRG in Berne and with a decade of journalistic experience in Northern Ireland under her belt, was called for interview and then left dangling without even the courtesy of a letter from Mottaz. Perhaps there’s a Swiss finishing school somewhere that could teach the man some manners….

Jules Ritter said,

February 28, 2008 @ 2:45 pm

Thank you for bringing us up to date horsesmouth whoever you maybe. I have been in touch personally with Tony as I interviewed him for Geneva Times and had kept in touch, he will let us have his story when he is ready.
Where are Hansine and Butcher Boy? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Nadia said,

February 28, 2008 @ 3:54 pm

Dear Horsesmouth,

Thanks for the news! At last some light at the end of the tunnel, that isn’t an on-coming train… (sorry couldn’t resist)

Re: Hansine and Mark, maybe they’re “resting”? Like actors between jobs? I do miss Hansine dreadfully, I was so delighted to catch her occasionally at lunchtime I’d left the automatic programming on…

Connor Lennon seems to be hitting his stride at last in the morning (with the shorter news – yay!), maybe when (if?) Mark gets back to the Breakfast Show they’ll give him Drive Time – Pete Forster tries very hard, but honestly, Famine in South Africa at 6:15 when I’m on my way home wondering what to fix for dinner? After a day’s work I’ve got the 8:00 o’clock news to look forward to, I really don’t want global guilt trips during my “transition time” between my two worlds… and Pete used to be fine on “On the Beat”, but he’s somehow managed to turn the previously funny & silly 7 Questions into… can’t think of a parallel, it’s too dire. Wake up, Pete, please!

So please keep the news coming, Horsesmouth! And thanks, Jules, for allowing the Truth to Out!

horsesmouth said,

February 29, 2008 @ 9:56 am

I’m not a WRS insider so my info is limited – get most of my news from journalist and anglo sources East of the Rostigraben. But I understand Mark hasn’t left and nor has Hansine, she’s just gone part-time to spend more time with her small daughter (that’s the official line anyway!). There’s an interesting article by Michael Hedges on followthemedia.com about Hansine’s inimitable radio style and why it’s more valued by commercial than public radio… type ‘hansine johnston’ and ‘michael hedges’ into Google and have a read if you’re interested…

horsesmouth said,

March 4, 2008 @ 8:29 pm

Is it just me, or is it really odd that there’s been no media interest in Tony Johnston’s departure from WRS? He’s an extraordinarily accomplished radio practitioner with 20 years’ on-air experience with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Such is his expertise, he was brought to WRS as a consultant as well as a presenter. Does nobody in the press worry about what led a guy of his calibre to vanish from the airwaves? Has no journo thought to ask the Swiss journalists’ union what went wrong? After all, WRS is now publicly-owned, ergo paid for the taxpayer and so should be accountable and transparent in its dealings. I’m not a fan of British tabloid-style witch hunts, but surely someone in Switzerland’s Fourth Estate should be looking into a fiasco which has involved a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Back in the autumn, Johnston enthused on his website about the ‘joy and privilege’ of working alongside his new WRS colleagues – ‘the personal and professional satisfaction are immense’. That management at WRS drove this talented man to leave his job just a few months later speaks volumes about the folk at the top.

Wake up, Swiss journos – don’t you think there’s a story here?

Nadia said,

March 10, 2008 @ 9:12 pm

I still haven’t received a reply from WRS as to why Tony left – you’d think they’d have the courtesy to answer a fan of the station, right? Their attitude seems to be, “If we ignore it, it’ll go away…” I suggest we don’t let it. Any ideas on who we can write to, who we can complain to? I’d like to DO something but I don’t know where to start!

On the news front, apparently Mark really is recuperating from a foot thing in hospital (gout?) (oh, sorry, that was snide…) and will be back soon, but now Connor, who was supposed to be back on the Breakfast Show this week, has suddenly disappeared too… I called in to ask where he was, and was told he’s “on holiday.” Without warning. Yadda yadda yadda…

Except for Hansine and Laura, it seems that anyone with charm, brains and a great voice is getting the axe or quitting. Has it occurred to management that there are actually listeners out there getting more and more disgusted with the hemorrhage of talent?

Horsesmouth, any suggestions?

eartotheground said,

March 11, 2008 @ 9:08 am

The latest newsletter from the Swiss journalists union sheds some light on the turmoil at WRS

http://www.ssm-site.ch/fr/images/impulsions/Impulsions21.pdf

and Mr Mottaz’s disagreable management style.

horsesmouth said,

March 12, 2008 @ 10:49 pm

That made very interesting reading, eartotheground. I am disgusted but not surprised – it all seems entirely in character.

Journalism being the clubby little affair that it is, I guess we should also not be too shocked that the Swiss media aren’t picking up the story of Mottaz’ antics. How about writing to the Tribune de Geneve or contacting its media correspondent – and pointing them in the direction of the Swiss journalists’ union newsletter item?

Let’s hope that Radio Leman gets going and picks off all WRS’s talent…

David Rees said,

March 16, 2010 @ 2:32 pm

WRS, what a joke. The National! ha ha ha.

Let’s face it, WRS is rubbish.

Check out this Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=366117063970#!/group.php?gid=366117063970&ref=ts

David Rees said,

March 16, 2010 @ 2:32 pm

Radio Leman, lemon more like!

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