Agency Owner: Hogan Owes Radio Day Crowd An Apology

[kinetic]

BOSTON -- February 26, 2009: Neal Advertising CEO Neal Bocian attended this week's Radio Day in Boston -- and he's calling on Clear Channel Radio President/CEO John Hogan to apologize for the tone of his remarks there.

[EDIT]


http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=1186826&spid=24698



[EDIT-citation exceeds Fair Use standards. URL provided by Radio-Info as a courtesy to other users.]

 

[TheBigA]

On the other hand, there isn't much John Hogan can say that isn't going to piss someone off.

Let's face it, he is the public face of one of the country's favorite pinatas that everyone lives to poke with a stick. If he talked about the great vision he has for the future, people would have been equally stunned. Had he talked about the great accomplishments of the past ten years, people would have walked out. Had he encouraged people to stick with it and fight for truth, justice, and the American way, people would have laughed.

He is probably better to not attend things like this, because no one is going to applaud anything he says.

 

[kinetic]

On the other hand, there isn't much John Hogan can say that isn't going to piss someone off.

Let's face it, he is the public face of one of the country's favorite pinatas that everyone lives to poke with a stick. If he talked about the great vision he has for the future, people would have been equally stunned. Had he talked about the great accomplishments of the past ten years, people would have walked out. Had he encouraged people to stick with it and fight for truth, justice, and the American way, people would have laughed.

He is probably better to not attend things like this, because no one is going to applaud anything he says.

Had he the humility to concede, "We did a lousy job," etc, etc... he'd have gotten applause. My sense isn't that the company is hated; in this case, it's that he doesn't seem to believe that Clear Channel has done much over the last 12 years to contribute to the sorry state of radio today. It's like someone rear-ending you because he wasn't paying attention and then blaming you for being in his way. People at that forum were probably incredulous first and angry second. The old-fashioned southern wisdom is that you can't get a first impression of someone unless he gives it to you; likewise, you can't be treated like a pinata unless you act like one.

 

[TheBigA]

Had he the humility to concede, "We did a lousy job," etc, etc... he'd have gotten applause.

That's not what Neal Bocian says. He says "negative" was the wrong approach. He says Hogan should have set a positive path to the future. Read: "Anyone can be negative these days, it’s the responsibility of our leaders like you, Mr. Hogan, and leaders like myself, to encourage our young people."

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

On the other hand, there isn't much John Hogan can say that isn't going to piss someone off.

Let's face it, he is the public face of one of the country's favorite pinatas that everyone lives to poke with a stick primary companies which has created thousands of enemies by being a terrible employer, flipping heritage stations, eliminating jobs for voicetracking, and refusing to air bands unless they signed shady deals.

Fixed it for you.

 

[TheBigA]

No you didn't fix it for me...you fixed it for yourself.

 

[kinetic]

Had he the humility to concede, "We did a lousy job," etc, etc... he'd have gotten applause.

That's not what Neal Bocian says. He says "negative" was the wrong approach. He says Hogan should have set a positive path to the future. Read: "Anyone can be negative these days, it’s the responsibility of our leaders like you, Mr. Hogan, and leaders like myself, to encourage our young people."

My sense, not Neal's.

"My sense isn't that the company is hated; in this case, it's that he [John Hogan] doesn't seem to believe that Clear Channel has done much over the last 12 years to contribute to the sorry state of radio today."

 

[SirRoxalot]

In Honor of Lincoln's Birthday...

All Hogan did is confirm what a lot of radio professionals have known for years...

Clear Channel has NO freakin' idea how to RUN radio stations. In fact, which of the consolidators has been a successful OPERATOR? Clear Channel, Citadel, Regent, and others had successful stations and markets with management that they inherited from previous owners, but that management, and the people that made both sales and programming successful, are being ruthlessly hacked from the budget.

Hogan should have heeded Honest Abe's advice that it's "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Farid might want to have that tattooed to the back of his hand as a constant reminder against speaking in public.

 

[adma]

I find this to be kind of surreal, in an end-of-the-Soviet-Bloc way. It's like John Hogan had an epiphany--not just of the "we did a lousy job" variety. It's like he came to discover that he was handed lousy or past-sell-by-date materials in the first place; and that as a consequence, there was never any hope. Like if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn't. He now realizes that he made a bad investment.

Perhaps it's worth considering that there are at least two poles in today's "radio sucks" mantra. One, which a lot of radio lifers hew to, is that it sucks compared to pre-Clear Channel days; the other, more epiphanous and self-consciously forward-thinking one, is that it always "sucked", at least by today's standards of media and entertainment consumption. Just like, from a computer-user's POV, the typewriter era "sucked". It isn't that the latter group is wishing for radio the way it used to be, because even the way it used to be no longer cuts the mustard--however much it cut the mustard back then. It's obsolete.

I guess Hogan has come around to the latter realization--that even a "positive path to the future" is in vain. It's the way in which he's doing it that's surreal...

 

[TheBigA]

Re: In Honor of Lincoln's Birthday...

All Hogan did is confirm what a lot of radio professionals have known for years...

Clear Channel has NO freakin' idea how to RUN radio stations.

You obviously didn't read the original article. That's not what he said, not what he implied to say, nor what anyone in the audience interpretted him as saying. You're simply hijacking this topic to suit your own agenda.

 

[pocket-radio]

Clear Channel, John Hogan has little positive news to report. He's burnt out! Like the bankers and car guys who are worried to death, john is trying to figure out how he's going to keep his job. We are in a world wide ression/depression and the era of easy wall street money is over. Ad revenues will continue to decline and more people will be fired. Expect bankrupt radio groups. Don't expect a turn around for a while. Inflation is heading our way!

 

[SirRoxalot]

Hijack This

All Hogan did is confirm what a lot of radio professionals have known for years...

Clear Channel has NO freakin' idea how to RUN radio stations.

You obviously didn't read the original article. That's not what he said, not what he implied to say, nor what anyone in the audience interpretted him as saying. You're simply hijacking this topic to suit your own agenda.

Let me quote the article cited:

When the next guest speaker, the President and CEO of Clear Channel Radio, John Hogan, gave his perspective the enthusiasm changed. Listening to him talk about the demise of the radio world, the deterioration of the quality of programming, the less than quality sales people in the industry was enough to make me angry!! How dare you, Mr. Hogan, come into our home, of which you are a family member, and totally change the entire sentiment in the room to “sh*t.”

WHO is responsible for "the demise of the radio world, the deterioration of the quality of programming, the less than quality sales people in the industry"? If that's a description of the state of Clear Channel radio, just whose fault is it? It's not that there's a dearth of talented programming or sales people. It's that Clear Channel has cut, cut, cut, cut, cut them, and revenues continue down, down, down, down, down.

In other words, Clear Channel has no freakin' idea how to RUN radio stations.

 

[TheBigA]

Re: Hijack This

If that's a description of the state of Clear Channel radio, just whose fault is it?

Nowhere in the article (or in the speech) does he say that is a description of the state of Clear Channel radio.

 

[pocket-radio]

It's the state of radio, period. And clear Channel set the example that cloned idiot clubs followed.

Clear Channel has done more to drive good people out of radio and drive down the pay scale for all radio employees, not just CC. That fact is, if CC pays the lowest commission at 7%, the guy across the street will pay one percent more, and why pay more? It's not like anyone in radio has multiple options. Work for big radio group 1, 2 or 3. The only hope is CC, Citadel, Cox or Saga, end up bankrupt and stations are sold off to new blood with new ideas..

 

[TheBigA]

The only hope is CC, Citadel, Cox or Saga, end up bankrupt and stations are sold off to new blood with new ideas..

But the one very consistent thread in all radio owners, from the 1920s to the present, is they will try to do it on the cheap.

Take my advice: The devil you know is preferable to the devil you don't know. I know a lot of people who used to work for CC or CBS, and their station was sold to a much smaller group, and the new owners fired most of the staff.

 

[pocket-radio]

like the housing market, until we see a radio correction it's likely to get bloody. Clear Channel, Citadel and Cox have fired everybody. I mean they've fired talented people hoping to save a few bucks. I'm afraid that won't help and more people will be shot and thrown into the river. we haven't hit bottom yet.

"the deterioration of the quality of programming, the less than quality sales people in the industry" can all be fixed with money and time. It's impossible to cut resources and grow revenues. The continued cheapening of brand quality & innovation eventually catches up with you. Just ask General Motors? Clear Channel, Citadel and the rest of the idiots are up to their eyeballs in debt and revenues are way off the mark.

It's a train on the wrong tracks with no coarse correction in sight. From the wreckage comes learning and understanding and rebuilding. Hello this is your pilot, make piece with your god, fasten your seat belts, put your trays up and prepare for a crash..

 

[TheBigA]

"the deterioration of the quality of programming, the less than quality sales people in the industry" can all be fixed with money and time. It's impossible to cut resources and grow revenues.

They're not cutting resources...just people. The resources are still there. I don't believe there's a connection between the amount of money you pour into something and quality. Look at the American education system. You can't teach kids who don't want to learn. No amount of money will change that. Same with broadcasting. There's a lot of negativity about radio. Someone could launch an incredible AM station tomorrow, spending tons of money, with top employees, lots of promotion, and great programming. But because it's on the AM dial, how many people are even going to sample it? They might try out the podcasts, they might use the free features. But if we think the downtown area is blighted, with crime and decay, one great store isn't going to lure people away from the suburban malls.

 

[smedge2006]

They're not cutting resources...just people.

Could there be any better statement of the attitude that has plunged radio into this abyss?

 

[TheBigA]

They're not cutting resources...just people.

Could there be any better statement of the attitude that has plunged radio into this abyss?

Anyone who has ever worked for a company knows there are people who are resources and work to make things better, and then there are people who fill space. Radio has a lot of people filling space, going through motions, not thinking about what they do, and blaming everyone else for the state of things. A lot of them post on message boards, then go back to work and contiunue doing nothing.

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

They're not cutting resources...just people.

Could there be any better statement of the attitude that has plunged radio into this abyss?

I don't believe consultants are here to share information, but to spin it.