Washington premiere of movie about what consolidation did to radio 3/8

[radiokmac]

The Washington DC independent film festival (DCIFF) will present: CORPORATE FM Friday March 8th, 7PM at the Naval Heritage Center, 701 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington DC.  

The film reveals how commercial radio was dismantled from the inside by high finance (and what can be done about it).

You can see a trailer here: http://youtu.be/v40kadobrWo

Ticket information can be found at: http://dciff-indie.org/2013-festival/2013-film-selection/documentaries/corporatefm/
The filmmakers will be in attendance.

Kevin McKinney
http://fmfilm.com

[anatharadiorefugee]

I was listing to Morning Joe this morning while getting dressed. He was lamenting the impact that big biz has had on local newspapers. His argument is that local news papers are quite profitable and big business keep demanding more from them. they have to essentially cut bone in order to serve the fat cats needs for profits. As I continued to dress for the mondane job I had to accept in order to live after wall street and bain capital killed my career,  I thought sounds familiar. My radio station was number 2 in the market, my morning show was number 2 18-34 and 25 - 54. There was not reason why my show had to be replaced by syndication other than to save the six figure salaries they paid my partner and me. This biz has gone to the dogs. I wish I could get downtown for that documentary I am sure it will be interesting. 

[radiokmac]

You are right about Bain/THL.  Clear channel by contract HAS to pay Bain & Co 15 million in "management fees" every year till 2018.  How many staff could they hire back for that?  Not many because Bain/THL lobbed 20 Billion in longterm debt on to CC that Bain itself has no responsibility for paying off.  The onus is only on CC and the employees that are squeezed to death.

anatharadiorefugee if you come to the screening, email me at kev @ fmfilm dot com and I'll get you 2 free tickets.

Best,

Kevin McKinney
http://fmfilm.com

[radiokmac]

Heading to tonight's screening where we will be joined by former FCC man Mark Lloyd and internet fusebox radio DJ Mary Nichols.  Come join us for a night of radio insiders.

Location just across from Archives Metro station.

Kevin McKinney
http://fmfilm.com

[jfrancispastirchak]

Fascinating subject.  Hope one of you attendees offers an R/D review ASAP.

[DavidEduardo]

I was listing to Morning Joe this morning while getting dressed. He was lamenting the impact that big biz has had on local newspapers. His argument is that local news papers are quite profitable and big business keep demanding more from them. they have to essentially cut bone in order to serve the fat cats needs for profits.

Newspapers are not "quite profitable" because circulation has fallen dramatically and ad rates are based on circulation.

Venerable papers like the New Orleans Times Picayune have cut to 3 day a week publishing. Companies like the New York Times are losing money on their print journals.

"Big business" is not the problem... it is the loss of almost all classified advertising and the loss of nearly all automotive, too. And very few people in the younger generations even buy a paper any more...

Printed papers are an anachronism for those under 50.

[DavidEduardo]

The film reveals how commercial radio was dismantled from the inside by high finance (and what can be done about it).

That's an absurdly generalized and totally disingenuous statement.

Half of all radio stations had been losing money since the 50's. As entertainment options such as cable and gaming consoles and DVDs expanded, and the FCC added thousands of new stations via Docket 80-90, the industry approached crisis state.

Rewriting history via a fact-challenged movie will not change reality. 

[jfrancispastirchak]

I was listing to Morning Joe this morning while getting dressed. He was lamenting the impact that big biz has had on local newspapers. His argument is that local news papers are quite profitable and big business keep demanding more from them. they have to essentially cut bone in order to serve the fat cats needs for profits. As I continued to dress for the mondane job I had to accept in order to live after wall street and bain capital killed my career,  I thought sounds familiar. My radio station was number 2 in the market, my morning show was number 2 18-34 and 25 - 54. There was not reason why my show had to be replaced by syndication other than to save the six figure salaries they paid my partner and me. This biz has gone to the dogs. I wish I could get downtown for that documentary I am sure it will be interesting. 

[jfrancispastirchak]

(SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE POST.  DON'T KNOW HOW THAT HAPPENED!)

I was listing to Morning Joe this morning while getting dressed. He was lamenting the impact that big biz has had on local newspapers. His argument is that local news papers are quite profitable and big business keep demanding more from them. they have to essentially cut bone in order to serve the fat cats needs for profits. As I continued to dress for the mondane job I had to accept in order to live after wall street and bain capital killed my career,  I thought sounds familiar. My radio station was number 2 in the market, my morning show was number 2 18-34 and 25 - 54. There was not reason why my show had to be replaced by syndication other than to save the six figure salaries they paid my partner and me. This biz has gone to the dogs. I wish I could get downtown for that documentary I am sure it will be interesting. 

I'll leave the disecting of reasons for replacing your show to Dave E.  But I will respond to Morning Joe's jive on the newspaper trade.  To add to Dave's argument, I would say that newspapers have taken a back seat to the internet.  Every major News network is now accessible on-line and on-demand, any time of the day.  News coverage was difficult enough of a challenge when newspapers only competed  against TV & Radio.  The onset of user friendly news websites only compounded that challenge.  Circulation has been dropping for years, save for a handful of locally published free newspapers sprouting up around the country, whose operational costs are covered by advertisers, though just barely.