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Rating Question

S

secondchoice

Here are the latest 6+ freebes from Neilson:

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb047

I just realized that 106.7 is getting beat 6+ by two translators.

That has to make the shareholders of Cumulus stock "happy"! I realize Cumulus has a lot of stations that need "fixed", but in the city that has the Corp. office, you would think they could do a little better ratings wise, just for morale purposes. It is not like a station hundreds of miles away that you only read reports from.
 
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Would it kill Cumulus to put up a billboard or 2 around town for WYAY? Look at the top 10 stations on that list. You see billboards around Atlanta for them. A few months ago, billboards for Q100 went up and recently popped up for Rock 100.5.
 
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Remember, the current corporate management is still trying to dig out from under the direction of people who were successful small market broadcasters. Playing radio in the city is very different, as they found out to their sorrow. Also, as the new corporate management is finding out, it was way easier to chase off good employees under bad management than it is to convince them times have changed. Most competent broadcast types aren't interested in them.
 
littlejohn said:
Remember, the current corporate management is still trying to dig out from under the direction of people who were successful small market broadcasters. Playing radio in the city is very different, as they found out to their sorrow. Also, as the new corporate management is finding out, it was way easier to chase off good employees under bad management than it is to convince them times have changed. Most competent broadcast types aren't interested in them.
Click to expand...

The dickies actually ran WALR Kiss 104 VERY successfully for a number of years. It sold for $283M and was the seed money for Cumulus. They DID have major market experience.
Lew is Harvard trained with a grad degree MBA and grew up in radio. He reminds me of a guy I worked for once....good guy but cheap to the core...he, too was raised by a "broadcaster dad" and was immersed in the business of running radio from an early age. Watching expenses is a business core principle and you can't be too critical of a CEO being financially conservative.
Lew made a business bet and lost. If the timing had been different maybe things would have worked out differently.
I do not understand people who have a "scorched earth" policy regarding their employees. The dickies would screw with people even when there was no business reason to do it...they enjoy inflicting pain on their perceived enemies and seemed to get pleasure from making those around them squirm. Your people are your business so it never made sense.
Lew, John et.al. will return, to be sure. This time, if they have learned their lesson(s), they will build slower, not be as greedy, will hire/retain decent team members...and they will actually see them as "team members." These changes, along with Lew's smarts, will be a winning combination. Profitable too!
 
Doubt they will return. As you point out, they're inimical to employees, which means they'll get the dregs which means built in problems. Look back at Lowry Mays... properly frugal, and successful. Saw what was coming and sold it.
 
In other ratings news, I think this new PK/DK morning show is what's bringing Power 96.1 down. I just can't listen to them for more than 5 mins. They should've never let Scotty K and Bret go. (smh) But instead of beating that dead horse....what's the plan, Power?!
 
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secondchoice said:
I just realized that 106.7 is getting beat 6+ by two translators.

That has to make the shareholders of Cumulus stock "happy"!
Click to expand...

One of those translators is owned by Cumulus. And they own a few other stations higher in the ratings.

Shareholders don't care about individual stations. They aren't involved in operations. The ratings of individual stations won't have any effect on stock price. Company wide, WYAY is doing better than legendary stations like WABC and KGO. The corporate offices really aren't in Atlanta anymore either.
 
littlejohn said:
Doubt they will return. As you point out, they're inimical to employees, which means they'll get the dregs which means built in problems. Look back at Lowry Mays... properly frugal, and successful. Saw what was coming and sold it.
Click to expand...

I think people like lew will always come back. After all, he used other people's money to build quite a kingdom and made himself a multi-millionaire in the process. lew simply bit off more than he could chew...
I do agree regarding the corporate climate being toxic at Cumulus. It starts at the top. You have to wonder why a guy who has had every advantage in life hates people! There is no such animal as the "self made man."
 
wavo said:
The dickies actually ran WALR Kiss 104 VERY successfully for a number of years. It sold for $283M and was the seed money for Cumulus. They DID have major market experience.
Lew is Harvard trained with a grad degree MBA and grew up in radio. He reminds me of a guy I worked for once....good guy but cheap to the core...he, too was raised by a "broadcaster dad" and was immersed in the business of running radio from an early age. Watching expenses is a business core principle and you can't be too critical of a CEO being financially conservative.
Lew made a business bet and lost. If the timing had been different maybe things would have worked out differently.
I do not understand people who have a "scorched earth" policy regarding their employees. The dickies would screw with people even when there was no business reason to do it...they enjoy inflicting pain on their perceived enemies and seemed to get pleasure from making those around them squirm. Your people are your business so it never made sense.
Lew, John et.al. will return, to be sure. This time, if they have learned their lesson(s), they will build slower, not be as greedy, will hire/retain decent team members...and they will actually see them as "team members." These changes, along with Lew's smarts, will be a winning combination. Profitable too!
Click to expand...

WALR (then Kiss 104.7) was part of Dickey Broadcasting (nee Midwestern Broadcasting), owned by the Dickey family and not by Cumulus. It was definitely highly successful and run by David Dickey, not Lew and John. David is the one Dickey brother I know, and he's a great guy.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
WALR (then Kiss 104.7) was part of Dickey Broadcasting (nee Midwestern Broadcasting), owned by the Dickey family and not by Cumulus. It was definitely highly successful and run by David Dickey, not Lew and John. David is the one Dickey brother I know, and he's a great guy.
Click to expand...

I've had a single, business discussion with David. He did graciously spend time on the phone but came back with numbers that were ridiculous. He may be a "great guy" but he shares lew's desire not to leave any money on the table. Funny thing is...lew has left at least a couple of piles of money(that I'm aware of) on the table simply because he was greedy.
That's the part that is hard to understand. lew used to cut the grass at his dad's station when he was a kid...he is an educated man and has his own backyard 9th hole replica of Augusta. He was born with the proverbial "silver spoon in mouth." Why would a guy like that be so hard nosed when dealing with others. People who knew Lew Sr. say he was never anywhere near as bad as lew or john...they also wonder "what happened?"
 
Those ratings are about as dull as the dull radio in this city. When will things change? When will I quit turning off my car radio in disgust because nothing but commercials and junk are on?
 
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