Deeper Issues?

[TheBigA]

None of us has all the answers, everyone may have different perspectives based on their own experience, market size they've worked in, ownership type, the length of time each of us has been in the business, etc.

Exactly. Radio is not one thing. Even consolidated or corporate radio is not one thing. There is no Minister of Radio. There are a lot of ways to approach the same thing, and that's what owners do. In another board, we're comparing iHeart vs. Audacy in terms of alternative programming. Why is iHeart more successful? Because they do things differently. On the other hand, when Limbaugh died, iHeart replaced him with another show, and all of their stations carried it. Audacy left it up to the stations, and a lot of them replaced Rush with more local talk. The OP author complains about cutbacks in promotions. Meanwhile companies such as Audacy are actually expanding promotions, hiring staffs to execute local events, such as concerts. Townsquare has been doing that kind of thing for a few years. So as I said, it's not one size fits all.

Back to the OP, I noticed for all of her criticism of corporate radio, she has never worked in a small market, or for a single station owner. Before she gives up on the industry, she should try it. Might give her a different perspective.

 

[seatownmedia]

Love that show! I have the entire series on DVD at home.

I firmly believe many of the writers on Green Acres were on pharmaceuticals.

 

[b-turner]

Radio has surely changed since I began my career decades ago. Back when I started in radio you were required to have a warm body in the studio every minute the transmitter was on. You had to sometimes have a 1st ticket on the staff or at worst under contract to care for your station. There were non-entertainment programming requirements you promised the FCC. Simply put, it took much more income then to make a station function.

As the years passed more and more stations came on the air in your market. That created a cash crunch. For example, that AM & FM combo in a town of 30,000 might have been capable of billing $600,000 a year. It made a nice profit and was heavily involved in the community. Then two more stations hit the airwaves and the dog fight over revenue began. That $600,000 got sliced in half as your two competitors got the remaining $300,000. You adjusted, did less and tried to turn a small profit while updating as required.

When the revenue dropped, FCC rules eased a bit so you could have a chance at making a profit. Then the computer became a part of the radio station and it became a bit easier to reach breakeven. You could automate at least those hours where you never covered your expenses.

The next big thing was the proliferation of national chain store. Walmart and many others came in. Most never spent a dime on radio. These big boys took a fairly large share of consumer dollars that had been going to those mom and pop merchants that were radio's biggest spenders. That local drug store might have spent $800 a month with you but once CVS and Walmart hit town, they barely spend $200. They lost so much of their business on price alone.

With the computer came online shopping, online radio (if you will) and much of what we see today.

My point in all of this is radio has never had an easy road to profits, but I can tell you it is so much tougher today with all the radio stations and so many other advertising venues that are seeing the very businesses that are the backbone of your billing. These backbone businesses have been beat up by national chains, then online shopping, to the point they only enjoy a fraction of the revenue they once enjoyed. The result is they have fewer dollars to spend and many places to spend it aside from their local radio stations.

At one point I saw figures as high as $8.40 per $1,000 in retail sales coming to radio but a more accepted figure at the time was $5.20. Then it dropped to $2.30. I would say for a well run and popular radio station I doubt that would exceed $1.50 today. And that $1.50 is split among those other local stations. Worse yet, that figure would have been $1.80 about 5 years back.

Radio simply cannot be what it was in almost every case because the universe of potential revenue has been dwindling so much over the years. The art is to do a bunch with a few people who are typically not paid anywhere close to their worth. I've seen well done radio that locals consider a vital part of their daily lives. These such stations are voicetracked and operate on a slim budget and make a slim profit but they're just as beloved as the stations we remember from so many years back. One such station was in a parade last week (with live remote), then to an event this week for a live remote. They do Friday high school sports. To think there's only 3 fulltimers, they do a bunch.

As crazy as it sounds, the more you purchase from local businesses, not national chains and online merchants, the more you help radio (and other local media).

 

[Kelly A]

Radio has surely changed since I began my career decades ago. Back when I started in radio you were required to have a warm body in the studio every minute the transmitter was on. You had to sometimes have a 1st ticket on the staff or at worst under contract to care for your station. There were non-entertainment programming requirements you promised the FCC. Simply put, it took much more income then to make a station function.

Because back then, less competition, independent businesses buying their own advertising, and more interest in advertising on radio. No on-line competition, just radio, TV. and newspapers.

As the years passed more and more stations came on the air in your market. That created a cash crunch. For example, that AM & FM combo in a town of 30,000 might have been capable of billing $600,000 a year. It made a nice profit and was heavily involved in the community. Then two more stations hit the airwaves and the dog fight over revenue began. That $600,000 got sliced in half as your two competitors got the remaining $300,000. You adjusted, did less and tried to turn a small profit while updating as required.

Great comment. Recently saw a suggestion from another room recommending that if just another station moved into a small rural community outside much larger market (Seattle/Tacoma), that there may be opportunity for success. The problem is; besides the larger market also serves the community, it's already saturated with local stations duke-ing it out. Now the ad pie slice in that community goes from slim to sliver for everyone.

That local drug store might have spent $800 a month with you but once CVS and Walmart hit town, they barely spend $200. They lost so much of their business on price alone.

For us it was auto and furniture retail The bottom fell out.

My point in all of this is radio has never had an easy road to profits, but I can tell you it is so much tougher today with all the radio stations and so many other advertising venues that are seeing the very businesses that are the backbone of your billing. These backbone businesses have been beat up by national chains, then online shopping, to the point they only enjoy a fraction of the revenue they once enjoyed. The result is they have fewer dollars to spend and many places to spend it aside from their local radio stations.

I agree. There are so many on this site who still feel radio is such a huge profitable business. The one's who got ahead of the changes by developing streaming and other on-line media diversified their business, are the current success stories (iHeart, Townsquare) Anymore, hitching your wagon to just one form of media, means your future in that single business may not be long for this world.

At one point I saw figures as high as $8.40 per $1,000 in retail sales coming to radio but a more accepted figure at the time was $5.20. Then it dropped to $2.30. I would say for a well run and popular radio station I doubt that would exceed $1.50 today. And that $1.50 is split among those other local stations. Worse yet, that figure would have been $1.80 about 5 years back.

Brings a new meaning to the old radio ad term: 'dollar-a-hollar'

As crazy as it sounds, the more you purchase from local businesses, not national chains and online merchants, the more you help radio (and other local media).

But that's a big part of the reality. Even radio nerds who comment here about their radio listening habits; I'd be willing to bet they don't go out of their way to frequent stores and businesses who advertise on those stations. It's just consumers being consumers.

 

[b-turner]

I did a great deal of research on one market of 42,000 people with $715,000,000 in retail sales. The actual county seat is under 10,000 people.

The two heritage stations had the bulk of the market's dollars, the only local news department and high school sports. The AM/FM combo did about $720,000 a year.

The longtime FM country station did about $140,000.

There was an automated FM classic rock doing $98,000

An AM Conservative Talk had a live morning show with some ag programs. They averaged about $80,000 a year.

The station I was looking at was an FM doing Classic Hits with a live morning show. In the county ratings they averaged about 5.5% of the listeners, most all were 35+. 5.5% of the advertising pie was about $64,500. The station was doing so well, they were billing $153,184 (and no trades!). The station was priced accordingly and I decided the station had nowhere to go on an increase in revenue...they're already over performing on revenue. I figured the buyer, assuming they could maintain, was just lowering their profit margin with the note payment. With the $8 spot rate, I doubt there were more than about 6 units an hour on weekdays with some hours even less. When things got tough the offered a night spot for every day spot purchased.

There you have it: $1,190,000 split among 6 stations in a market of 42,000 with $715 million in retail sales. To sum up the market, the longtime AM/FM heritage combo was the only winner. All the other stations, including the station I looked at, were simply keeping costs at a bare minimum in order to survive. Note there are 4 translators that are from out of the market. One is an NPR station, two Contemporary Christian and one Christian Teaching/Talk, all listener supported although the NPR does try to sell underwriting locally even if half heartedly.

I'd say this market is fairly typical. I'd estimate about 7 years back the market was generating about $1,6 million in advertising revenue for radio.

 

[gr8oldies]

Because back then, less competition, independent businesses buying their own advertising, and more interest in advertising on radio. No on-line competition, just radio, TV. and newspapers.

Great comment. Recently saw a suggestion from another room recommending that if just another station moved into a small rural community outside much larger market (Seattle/Tacoma), that there may be opportunity for success. The problem is; besides the larger market also serves the community, it's already saturated with local stations duke-ing it out. Now the ad pie slice in that community goes from slim to sliver for everyone.

For us it was auto and furniture retail The bottom fell out.

I agree. There are so many on this site who still feel radio is such a huge profitable business. The one's who got ahead of the changes by developing streaming and other on-line media diversified their business, are the current success stories (iHeart, Townsquare) Anymore, hitching your wagon to just one form of media, means your future in that single business may not be long for this world.

Brings a new meaning to the old radio ad term: 'dollar-a-hollar'

But that's a big part of the reality. Even radio nerds who comment here about their radio listening habits; I'd be willing to bet they don't go out of their way to frequent stores and businesses who advertise on those stations. It's just consumers being consumers.

There was also that sweet, sweet co-op money for all the locally owned appliance and tire stores (many other categories as well). I remember some stations even having co-op specialists.

 

[b-turner]

There's still co-op dollars out there but some discourage radio. I have an insurance agent using co-op that does not offer radio scripts. I have a tire dealer and one brand will only reimburse website and online advertising. With that said these places have fewer co-op dollars since they're tied to sales. And there's lots of places those co-op dollars can be spent.

 

[landtuna]

With a nod towards Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" - so-called social sites have successfully killed the relationship between the primary listeners of music radio (the teenager/young adult). Streamers and really bad "music" helped kill the rest. Outside of listening in the car (or perhaps at work, if permitted) music radio is essentially dead. No matter my age music radio offers me nothing. No personalities, no "great" music, no significant communication in the form of on-air talent, contests etc. Nada. Endless political and sports discussions put me right to sleep and I'm not going to mention the snake oil salesmen of religious persuasion.

Don't believe me? How many radio station stickers did you used to see on car bumpers? How many do you see today? That's right. Nobody gives a flying fugowee any longer.

I was fortunate to grow up in the heyday of music radio (and even MOR station programming). I still have that music and memories.

 

[TheBigA]

With a nod towards Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" - so-called social sites have successfully killed the relationship between the primary listeners of music radio (the teenager/young adult).

I agree. The artists use social media to interact directly with their fans. At one time, radio performed that role. Not any more. Artists are in control of their own music, their identity, and their fan base. That pushed radio out of the way, and left DJs basically repeating what the fans already know.

DJs need to find a new role, and they better do it quickly. Now the artists are hosting their own radio shows, and displacing DJs completely.

 

[Kelly A]

Don't believe me? How many radio station stickers did you used to see on car bumpers? How many do you see today? That's right. Nobody gives a flying fugowee any longer.

You're right, but those were the days where radio was the only mobile form of music and news. There are so many options now, you won't find an equivalent loyalty to any one form of media or station.

 

[boombox4]

I agree. The artists use social media to interact directly with their fans. At one time, radio performed that role. Not any more. Artists are in control of their own music, their identity, and their fan base. That pushed radio out of the way, and left DJs basically repeating what the fans already know.

DJs need to find a new role, and they better do it quickly. Now the artists are hosting their own radio shows, and displacing DJs completely.

In the 60's, I think that DJs had a little bit of latitude in presentation. but that changed some time between 1970 and 1990, with the introduction of mandatory cue cards, literal 3 X 5's that the DJ pulled from a box and then read on the air -- as friends of mine learned in the early 90s when they got their first air jobs on radio. Every single word was scripted.

I'm not sure how endemic this practice was, but apparently some stations insisted on it.

If that happens to be the case now, there isn't much leeway for airstaff to compete with social media, or recreate their role. It's management's call.

 

[TheBigA]

In the 60's, I think that DJs had a little bit of latitude in presentation. but that changed some time between 1970 and 1990, with the introduction of mandatory cue cards, literal 3 X 5's that the DJ pulled from a box and then read on the air

It really depends on the station. People were reading scripts on the radio in the 30s an 40s. So it's not like they just appeared at some point, or even that they're "mandatory." Howard Stern doesn't use cue cards. So there is no one way of doing radio. Some of it depends on the format, the ownership, the popularity of the station, and the creativity of the DJ. Some DJs get hired for their voice, not their ability to come up with funny or witty things to say. Those are the ones who NEED cue cards.

So now with social media, it's either another canvas for an artist to paint on, or it's another thing that you have to do as part of your job description. It depends on how you view it. The thing to know is that artists are always creative. So the fact that they're stepping into the DJ role is going to really change things.

 

[ixnay]

[W]hen visiting my folks for Thanksgiving last year, there was no Christmas parade held that weekend in that city because of Covid, but one of the local TV stations showed a bunch of past parades one evening to try and bring some holiday spirit. One of the parades I happened to catch was from 1997. Two of the best known radio stations at that time had entries. One, an AC, was easily #1 in the market, nearly every one of their on-air staff were in the parade riding in or walking alongside the station vehicle, their secretary was dressed as their mascot, they were handing out station logo swag, the crowd was excited to see them, and many were familiar faces (most certainly voices) in the community. The jocks often did live broadcasts at businesses that advertised with them, they had a heavy presence at nearly every concert that happened there, were seemingly always doing contests, promotions and events in the community and the station made good $$. Another entry in the parade was a horse-drawn stagecoach, sponsored by a country station which was I believe #2 or a close 3 in the ratings. Again, their morning guy was atop the coach holding the horse's reigns and the coach was filled with their on-air staff, while others were walking alongside. The crowd was waving and yelling to them.

Later, they showed the parade from I think 2005. Same city, same sized crowd, same holiday, but the difference was that the country station had within that time been gobbled up by one of the big corporations, flipped to talk and was consolidated with about 5 other stations within that market. The AC, long-beloved and long #1 in that market had been sold by a retiring owner to a larger company, who then sold it to another even larger company who consolidated it with 3 other stations. It was now satellite content 24/7 with voice tracking. Both stations had a presence in the parade. Both had trucks or vans with the station's logos on them. No on-air staff, because there were none. All gone. No swag because those days were gone. The vehicles were most likely driven by sales staff or someone who'd be completely unknown to listeners. That's it. A van with it's hazard lights flashing away. No one in the crowd seemed to care - and their ratings had fallen badly. Huge contrast from their presence at that same event a few years previous. The once #1 rated AC from 8 years ago was now #4 or 5 in that market after the consolidation, format flip and dismissal of local air talent. The country station that had been #2 or a close 3 was now a #6 rated talker, airing mostly syndicated shows or programming from a national network.

Small town/city stations were still participating in parades like that in 1997? How quaint, homey, and nostalgic.

BTW what is/was "station logo swag"? Station souvenirs?

 

[vchimpanzee]

It seems I'm in the minority here, but I'll stick with the initial comments that I made in my post above. I didn't really read into the parts of the article from the OP about HR, mental health and diversity, so much as the first few paragraphs and I do agree with her general sentiment about the effects of consolidation on radio broadcasting.

As an example, when visiting my folks for Thanksgiving last year, there was no Christmas parade held that weekend in that city because of Covid, but one of the local TV stations showed a bunch of past parades one evening to try and bring some holiday spirit. One of the parades I happened to catch was from 1997. Two of the best known radio stations at that time had entries. One, an AC, was easily #1 in the market, nearly every one of their on-air staff were in the parade riding in or walking alongside the station vehicle, their secretary was dressed as their mascot, they were handing out station logo swag, the crowd was excited to see them, and many were familiar faces (most certainly voices) in the community. The jocks often did live broadcasts at businesses that advertised with them, they had a heavy presence at nearly every concert that happened there, were seemingly always doing contests, promotions and events in the community and the station made good $$. Another entry in the parade was a horse-drawn stagecoach, sponsored by a country station which was I believe #2 or a close 3 in the ratings. Again, their morning guy was atop the coach holding the horse's reigns and the coach was filled with their on-air staff, while others were walking alongside. The crowd was waving and yelling to them.

Later, they showed the parade from I think 2005. Same city, same sized crowd, same holiday, but the difference was that the country station had within that time been gobbled up by one of the big corporations, flipped to talk and was consolidated with about 5 other stations within that market. The AC, long-beloved and long #1 in that market had been sold by a retiring owner to a larger company, who then sold it to another even larger company who consolidated it with 3 other stations. It was now satellite content 24/7 with voice tracking. Both stations had a presence in the parade. Both had trucks or vans with the station's logos on them. No on-air staff, because there were none. All gone. No swag because those days were gone. The vehicles were most likely driven by sales staff or someone who'd be completely unknown to listeners. That's it. A van with it's hazard lights flashing away. No one in the crowd seemed to care - and their ratings had fallen badly. Huge contrast from their presence at that same event a few years previous. The once #1 rated AC from 8 years ago was now #4 or 5 in that market after the consolidation, format flip and dismissal of local air talent. The country station that had been #2 or a close 3 was now a #6 rated talker, airing mostly syndicated shows or programming from a national network.

How is that "better" for anyone involved? The station, the listeners, the former staff, the advertisers who really have no incentive to spend money there anymore because of fallen ratings and the lack of local 'personalities', etc? While I think everyone here realizes that times change, tastes change, listener habits change and one must adjust to all that, I fundamentally agree with the author's first sentence, that consolidation and downsizing have had a deeper, in at least some cases detrimental effect than sometimes meets the eye. Also, as I mentioned in my post above, it's harder and harder to explain why people should listen to terrestrial radio vs. satellite or an app, when so many stations have lost their "personalities" and what made them unique and special.

Charlotte has one of the biggest Thanksgiving parades, and they used to have a lot of radio station entries. In recent years there have been few of those.

It is a good thing when the number of TV station entries is reduced because when there are entries the one station that shows the parades has to show the competition.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Don't believe me? How many radio station stickers did you used to see on car bumpers? How many do you see today? That's right. Nobody gives a flying fugowee any longer.

I still have window stickers I got from a gas station in the area, but that station went Spanish years ago and the stickers are faded. I haven't gotten anything from the station I listen to instead for that type of music. Maybe I should ask if I can get one.

 

[seatownmedia]

Radio or Sports bumper stickers have certainly lacked their luster in the 2010’s and beyond. Reasons? Not positive, but my best guess radio stations have all but dropped this promotional tactic. Sports bumpers are a bit more frequent, but generally also are disappearing. I think that the current society is hesitant to put any message on their cars these days. And for good reason due to a very divided society from everything from government to sports. People are angry and displaying an opinion on your vehicle is a no win situation. One exception is those trucks with flags waving on the back. Not sure that is helpful to our society, but they certainly have the right. I personally steer clear from them.

 

[seatownmedia]

I agree. The artists use social media to interact directly with their fans. At one time, radio performed that role. Not any more. Artists are in control of their own music, their identity, and their fan base. That pushed radio out of the way, and left DJs basically repeating what the fans already know.

DJs need to find a new role, and they better do it quickly. Now the artists are hosting their own radio shows, and displacing DJs completely.

I agree. Radio dj’s are really not needed today. Except for some huge market stations. They will hang on just because.

Too bad as this story of radio in the 20th century is well known.

Different music delivery is the culprit. The days of waiting for your favorite bands next hit on radio are over. Radio needs to reorganize and offer new approaches if it is to survive.

 

[Kelly A]

Radio needs to reorganize and offer new approaches if it is to survive.

Hasn't that already been happening? Seems like reorganization/reinvention is the major bone of contention with many poster's on this very discussion board. 'Nobody listens to radio anymore, because it doesn't sound the way I remember it did while growing up.'
Of course, statements like that aren't close to being true, because radio is still out there and relevant, albeit different than it was when we were kids. There's certainly a lot more competition.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

No no no. They mean to reinvent exactly what it was doing before. Different but precisely like it was.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

There's still co-op dollars out there but some discourage radio.

Right. My understanding is Ford Motor Co. now requires half of all co-op dollars be spent on digital advertising. That hurt my company, because we had two Ford dealers in our top 10 clients list a couple of years ago.