Mega Corps and Radio

[Small Market Guy]

I've been doing this a long time, and I never had a show budget. I was taught that you don't need money to do a great show. You need imagination, creativity, and the willingness to put the time in. Maybe that's what's missing.

I can agree with this. But it has nothing to do with the FCC or mega corporations. It has to do with radio people being lazier than they used to be.

As far as budgets, a good company will sell everything. For example, I did a live broadcast from our state capital last week. That's a 5 hour drive from me, hotel rooms, meals, the whole deal. So the sales department sold the crap out of it. We made money and the show was great.

 

[TheBigA]

But it has nothing to do with the FCC or mega corporations. It has to do with radio people being lazier than they used to be.

I think that's the real story. Mega corporations have owned radio since 1922. Westinghouse and AT&T were far bigger companies than Clear Channel. So this complaining about big radio companies as though it's something new is a fake problem.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I can agree with this. But it has nothing to do with the FCC or mega corporations. It has to do with radio people being lazier than they used to be.

How would we go about poving or disproving this observation about "being lazier"?

Radio people use to be able to have a dream, and look around and seeing "the dream come true" for other radio people. So they buckled down and said: "If he did it... I can do it too!"

Maybe today's radio people aren't all lazy. Maybe they are realists! They look around and see nobody in the business at their level going anywhere on a dream, so they shrug their shoulders and say: "I'll do this as long as I find enjoyment in it. When that dies.... I'm OUT OF HERE!"

So. Is that being lazy, or is that being realistic?

 

[TheBigA]

I don't think that view is restricted to radio people. Few people see specific jobs as long-term things any more. That's the difference between the current generation and their parents. And it's a difference between employers and employees. Owners are in the business for the long term. They take out long term debt. You see Clear Channel continually extending the term on their credit. Meanwhile, their employees don't operate the same way. I remember one young guy in the company complaining about the money. I told him to buy stock in the company. You have a different perspective about work when you're an owner. The dream today is about owning and building, not slaving in someone else's coal mine.

 

[Shredder]

How would we go about poving or disproving this observation about "being lazier"?

Radio people use to be able to have a dream, and look around and seeing "the dream come true" for other radio people. So they buckled down and said: "If he did it... I can do it too!"

Maybe today's radio people aren't all lazy. Maybe they are realists! They look around and see nobody in the business at their level going anywhere on a dream, so they shrug their shoulders and say: "I'll do this as long as I find enjoyment in it. When that dies.... I'm OUT OF HERE!"

So. Is that being lazy, or is that being realistic?

that's an interesting way to look at it. I'd buy that option.

 

[Shredder]

The dream today is about owning and building, not slaving in someone else's coal mine.

true, but i kind of miss the days when it was 'do the best you can while you where there'. someone higher up might notice ;o). When people, companies or otherwise, only look out for themselves, and you never know if you are going to get un ceremoniously canned during your next vacation break, where is the motive to do a good and entertaining job better than the next guy?

 

[TheBigA]

true, but i kind of miss the days when it was 'do the best you can while you where there'. someone higher up might notice ;o).

There is no shortage of management overseeing employees. I think the mistake people make is thinking the Chairman is going to call them up. That never happened at Westinghouse or NBC back in the day, and it doesn't happen now. Clear Channel, Cumulus, CBS, and all the big radio companies have multiple levels of managers and supervisors whose job it is to "take notice" of employees. And a lot of people get promoted from within. But being on-air is typically an end in itself. If the on-air person seeks other things, it's really up to him to go out and make things happen. That's what Dick Clark, Alan Freed, and Rick Dees did.

Having said all that, there are still thousands of mom & pop stations all over the country. They don't have a lot of employees, so the owner will take notice of anything you do. However, it's my experience that it's not always a great thing.

As far as motivation, that HAS to come from within. If you need affirmation or positive reinforcement from others to get motivation to do a good job, it's going to be tough no matter what you do. The applause comes from the audience. That's who you do it for. Don't forget it.

 

[Art Landing]

Actually I think we're comparing apples to oranges here. When Westinghouse, General Electric and AT&T built radio stations in the early twenties, then went on to co-found RCA, the initial goal was to promote the sale of their consumer products. Networks and advertising quickly develooped as concepts, but it was the latter half of the century that saw General Electric buy RCA/NBC, Westinghouse transform itself into CBS, Disney acquire ABC. and the News Corp meld 20th Century Fox and the Metromerdia stations assembled by John Kluge (some of which had connections with the old DuMont Network).

In the early days radio stations were largely local businesses with network affiliations run in connection with their founder's products, frequently newspapers (KHJ, WSB), auto dealerships (KFI, KFAC), etc. Station ownership was capped andthere were guidelines as to the amount of news and public service that had to be saired. For a brief time in the late twenties several leading broadcasters even tried to voluntarily ban commercials in the evening!

The early network pioneers did deal directly with talent - the relatonship of William Paley with Ed Murrow and Walter Cronkite being one example, the relationship between Earle C Anthony and David Sarnoff another. The Reagan Library in California has a recreation of Reagan's audition with the owner of the ststion which first employed him (I believe it was WHO). But today its all about ratings and ROI (return on investment). It was probably ineviutable but to some of us sad.

 

[TheBigA]

Actually I think we're comparing apples to oranges here.

I'm just responding to the OP, who feels this corporate thing in radio is new. It's not. Yes there was a time when some radio stations were local businesses, but there were also a lot of big insurance companies, like Nationwide and National Life that owned radio as recently as the 80s. Major newspapers were allowed to own radio back in the day. That was banned in the 70s. The selling of radio from the founding companies is what led to the radio-only companies you see today.

I think there's also a big difference between top network talent and the local DJ at a station in Montana. Paley had a relationship with Murrow because they had farms near each other on Long Island. They were two very rich guys. Paley didn't have that kind of relationship with employees at CBS-owned radio or TV stations. Certainly Ryan Seacrest is friends with Bob Pittman. That's a very different thing.

The key thing is it's not the 1920s any more. It's not the 60s any more. Time marches on, radio changes with the time, and people in radio need to change with it, or they get left behind. And I've said several times that there are still lots of smaller radio stations where people can get that close relationship with the boss if that's what they need. It's a very different experience, like living in a city vs the country, or going to a big university vs a small local college. Those are decisions you have to make for yourself.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

On Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, there was a time in the show when he would introduce the word of the day.

Well... for this discussion here is our new word for the day, boys and girls: FUNGIBLE.

I learned the word years ago when I was not able to get my own radio station.... so I got one that said SHELL right across the front of the building. Wow! a station with FIVE characters in the call letters.

It was a rowdy time in our nations life. We had pretty well owned the drilling and production of petroleum around the world when the OPEC nations "yanked a knot in our collective tails".

The oil retailing business went into CHANGE MODE and there was a of talk about BRANDING and the value of branding. There were people who would come nearer running naked down the street than to put some other brand of gasoline in their car. And we who put on the strange uniform and called ourselves DEALERS knew that brand could make you or break you.

And then sometime in the 1970s it all fell apart. The dirty truth began to come out. GASOLINE IN FUNGIBLE. If you knew where the loading docks were, you could watch as trucks of various brands lined up for the same spigots for gasoline. The truck driver would climb up on the tanker-trailer, pour a little bottle of additive into the tank and now the gasoline was legally Shell or Sunoco or Amoco or whatever. (The bottle may have been no larger than the little bottle of liquor they server on an airplane.

People DON'T spend a career at one company today. But people with the right education are FUNGIBLE. An architect may work for 17 different firms in a lifetime, but once educated and certified, you OWN your reputation and career as an architect. Think of all the other jobs/careers that are that way. Engineers. Accountants.

Having a career with one corporation was trendy in the 1950s... but if your company's top management sucked, your career sucked. But today, you are FUNGIBLE if you can take your resume and credentials and walk down the street to the next hospoital, or the next university, or the next law firm, or the next solar energy company.

Here's one major reason why radio sucks today as a place to work. They don't even require a First Phone any more to be the stations technical guy. That has nothing to do with whether stations are locally owned or corporate owned. If you are going to build a government building, you either hire union bricklayers, or you pay the non-union bricklayers the union scale to lay bricks.

Radio has become a lousy playing field in a large number of stations because there are no longer any hurdles you have to be able to jump over to remain in the race.

Licensees have lobbied congress and the regulators for years to do away with credential for employees in the business. They got their wish. Now they sit around at the club and cry in their drink because "good help is hard to find". Yeah. The station owners and the car dealers cry together a lot.

 

[Small Market Guy]

If you prefer, you could say that radio people are so conditioned at this point to not "rock the boat" in any way. One slip of the tongue can lead to the special interest mob demanding your firing.

So radio people are either lazy or beaten into submission by the PC police. Take your pick.

 

[TheBigA]

Licensees have lobbied congress and the regulators for years to do away with credential for employees in the business. They got their wish.

Are you sure about this? My recollection is the FCC did away with the 3rd phone because of budget cuts at the agency, and their inability to keep up with all the applications. I think licensees would love to have on-air staff form a professional organization (other than a union) and establish criteria for hiring. I know my employer loved the fact that I had a license...that meant he got the work of two for the price of one.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Yeah, that's it. Government placing barriers in the way of getting help is the answer to improving radio. Why don't we just broadcast in Morse while we're at it?

 

[bossbill]

After reading the lengthy posts, I have come to a conclusion. The real problem is technology, and we need to stop it! Yes, if it weren't for the likes of Bill Gates, in collusion with the hardware manufacturers, we could have "local" radio like we did in the 60's. You know, the AM stations in small towns with a staff of two, signing off at 10 pm, playing "canned" music from tape reels, with a teletype machine in the back providing everything but local news, and the highly interactive Ringo Bingo games.

And we could have the automation in the storage closet for the FM which had few listeners, with a minimum wage employee changing the reels.

Technology really did mess up this once-great business...

 

[TheBigA]

After reading the lengthy posts, I have come to a conclusion. The real problem is technology, and we need to stop it!

Technology really did mess up this once-great business...

Exactly. The other thing I'd add is all the consolidation that happened in other industries. Used to be that every town had a few local department stores. Now, they're all chains. Used to be every town had local hardware, drug, and pizza stores. Now it's all chains. Where did all the local advertisers go? You can't have local radio without local advertisers. The music industry consolidated before the radio business. And then, they were all sold to foreign conglomerates! Bob Dylan is now owned by the Japanese. Hank Williams is owned by the French. What's going on here? The music radio stations play is no longer owned by Americans. And yet, radio gets attacked because it's too consolidated. I think people ARE frustrated with the overall super-sizing of this country, and the loss if individual service. And they blame radio for it. But they ignore the context in which radio operates.

 

[Art Landing]

Big A is of course right on - the supersizing of radio into giant chains is only part of a much larger mega-trend where we export jobs overseas to allow domestic companies to compete with low cost foreign firms who then in time buy up the domestic companies. How many local water companies are owned by Nestles? Who owns Chrysler, Budweiser? The venerable "Bank of the West" is actually a subsidiary of a French parent. So is Motel 6., etc. etc. When I was a boy the merchant marine was going foreign flag, now its the entire clothing industry. Of course our companies do the same thing - GM sells more Buicks in China than we do domestically just as one example.

Big business, big labor, big education and big government all help inflate the rationale for one anotherr's growth - but in terms of the individual, is this wise? Many thinking people think not - but unfortunately thinkers aren't the majority; consumers and the moneied interests who manipulate them are. Beat up on Wal-Mart and the big box stores all you want - they replaced main street merchants because they were cheaper and could maintain larger inventories than individual mom and pop shops could dream of. Anything within reason not in stock they can frequently special order and have in a week - n they have coputrized catalogs to tell them if its available.

This is the context of today's social media world - and local radio and newspapers as we knew them no longer have the sae kind of advertiserr or audience base that existed seventy years ago. Fraternal and service groups and even local churches have suffered as well. The oppressive level of taxation mandates two earner societies and scarce population forces frequently long commutes for ever more scarce jobs. This is what those with some with a thinkers world view see but what is not seen is a general desire to downsize everything in the interest of the liong term.

 

[bossbill]

If I hear any more use of the term "canned feeds", I may throw up. When's the last time radio stations played live music? Music is always recorded, so I guess that makes it "canned". On a "totally-live" music station, about 46-minutes is "canned music", another 10 minutes is "canned commercials", and the other FOUR MINUTES is a live jock spewing from a liner card or a "canned" show prep sheet. On the other hand, a network can provide the same thing.

 

[Unregistered]

What apologists like BigA and DavidE seem to ignore is the value in localism.

There are markets in the US that are not pro-big box stores, and value their local identity and businesses highly. It's a mark of pride and community.

It's often a wise business plan to own a niche instead of scrapping with four other outlets for the same audience on a lower budget.

Look at places where educated people live and incomes are rising. Think about what they value and enjoy.

They're not buying pricey lofts because of proximity to a Walmart.

Tastes are a lot different in downtown Portland or Austin than they are in Medford or Lubbock. Not that radio's taken much note.

 

[Small Market Guy]

What apologists like BigA and DavidE seem to ignore is the value in localism.

There are markets in the US that are not pro-big box stores, and value their local identity and businesses highly. It's a mark of pride and community.

It's often a wise business plan to own a niche instead of scrapping with four other outlets for the same audience on a lower budget.

Look at places where educated people live and incomes are rising. Think about what they value and enjoy.

They're not buying pricey lofts because of proximity to a Walmart.

Tastes are a lot different in downtown Portland or Austin than they are in Medford or Lubbock. Not that radio's taken much note.

Then buy a station in one of those places and see if it works.

Hint: It won't.

Radio is an afterthought for most people today. Advertisers especially. Without the evil mega corps and automation, half the stations in this country would be dark.

 

[TheBigA]

What apologists like BigA and DavidE seem to ignore is the value in localism.

The value in most cases doesn't exceed the cost, and we're in a for-profit business.

The places where local identity are important don't have enough money to support a dozen or more live & local radio stations. It's too bad, because small market radio used to be a good business. Unfortunately, the FCC over-licensed the spectrum, and they're cramming even more stations into the band. All those stations drove down the station shares, leaving owners left looking for syndication. Only Top 25 markets can really afford to be local all the time. CBS, Cox, Entercom, Greater Media and several other big owners are live & local almost 24/7. It can be done, but it's a balancing act.