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Alan Eisenson out at KFBK?
- Thread starter bbutler
- Start date
If its true, that would be a shame considering the holidays. Alan has always seemed like a nice, personable guy and I think he's a decent programmer, but KFBK may have been too much for him. I am by no means a fan of Ken Kohl's management style, but he did consistently keep KFBK at the top of the ratings. KFBK has become a shell of its former self, the election alone should have helped KFBK pole vault to near the top, but still seemed to fall short. Budgets and staffing could also have played a role in KFBK's failure to capitalize in the ratings. If Alan is gone wish him all the best and hope that KFBK can find someone to help bring the station back to its successful track record.
audiophantom said:
KFBK's failure isn't entirely a programmer problem; the bigger problem is the corporate business model. The content has hardly changed since Ken Kohl's day but back then, at least they had a newsroom and money to pay reporters. Today, they have a minimal staff and are getting hammered by the public station which, despite having less time to air local news, is airing better stories because it has an expanded news team. Meanwhile, Clear Channel's syndicated programming is tired. The same old drumbeat that was popular 10 years ago is not attracting newer listeners and is losing the older ones because the audience is aging. There's not much the PD can do about that when the company is force feeding you the same predictable syndicated product and providing no budget to hire more interesting, diverse hosts.
Guys like Holden and Eisenson aren't the real problem; the problem is a failed business model of Clear Channel's own making that its debt holders are desperately trying to find a way to resolve.
S
Stage5Clinger
Guest
I couldn't agree more, and that was funny at the same time! Those two corporate ass smoochers are the reason CC and BK are in the mess they're in today. Remember when Holden was a smarmy sales guy? Perfect example of what happens when you put an AE in charge of a radio cluster. Run for your lives flies
My personal experience with Alan was, for the most part, O.K......Kohl was an entirely different matter. Both agreed to respect the arrangement I made with Alan to work there - Kohl tried to turn me into a reporter/board op/producer/anchor while ordering me not to automate the Prophet in BK control so I could actually do all they wanted. It was as though he had never heard of floating breaks.
But when corporate decides they can cut and slash to the bone, all the while trying to convince everyone the product isn't suffering, they are deluding themselves.
Came election night, not a radio was stirring in my house or car...I could get unfiltered facts plus all the punditry B.S. on my computer. There was a time not so long ago when - before my stint at BK - NOT tuning 1530 in on election night was unthinkable. Those days are long, long gone.....
But when corporate decides they can cut and slash to the bone, all the while trying to convince everyone the product isn't suffering, they are deluding themselves.
Came election night, not a radio was stirring in my house or car...I could get unfiltered facts plus all the punditry B.S. on my computer. There was a time not so long ago when - before my stint at BK - NOT tuning 1530 in on election night was unthinkable. Those days are long, long gone.....
talkerguy said:
Um.... that would be a big "Yeah". He, and Kohl, were broadcasters. The last to leave the building among management.
[/quote]
This may be anecdotal and not scientific, but when I roamed the halls of Ethan Way, the folks I respected and knew, and even the ones I didn't know, or maybe didn't think much of (professionally) all had the same opinion of Ken Kohl:
He was an ass. Folks can be tough leaders/managers...but no one I came in contact with in the building said "he was an ass, but a good programmer"...they all felt he was a jerk as a professional and as human being.
I never knew the guy, but I did know Alan Eisenson...he was a decent human and good Ops guy...and to have a near decade run with CC is pretty impressive, I don't care who you are.
That is Clear Channel's Motis Operandi...like pro sports, dump the vets after a time when they become too costly, and infuse younger, cheaper folks...it has been the CC way for a decade plus.
Folks should just know that going in...that when working for CC, once you hit about 5 years (if you are lucky enough to do even that)...after, regardless of who you are and even your track record of success, you start becoming "it" and expendable. The organization is littered with examples of this throughout; Alan is just another example of the CC people strategy and playbook.
Amen to your correct assessment, Interloper.
At least Alan showed some decency and even compassion -
although I got the feeling he had to watch over his shoulder for Corporate whenever he did so...........
At least Alan showed some decency and even compassion -
although I got the feeling he had to watch over his shoulder for Corporate whenever he did so...........
BurnedOutOnTheBoards said:
Alan is a cold-blooded survivor who would think nothing of selling out his own mother if there was something in it for him. His only objective is to remain in a paying position, and to do that he will do whatever he is told to do. As with any useful idiot, once his usefulness was finished he was kicked to the curb.
S
Stage5Clinger
Guest
I don't think everyone felt that way about Ken Kohl, especially towards the last couple of years. I didn't. I was in the building for 5 years and worked with him in the 90's, left CC, and when I came back Ken was very cordial, almost friendly 
He was a focused, driven programmer, and the "wheel" on his drive towards that perfection may have run over some toes. Anyone, including me, was subject to being dragged over the Ken coals... He also gave me a couple of pretty cool breaks that helped me move towards what I really wanted to do in broadcasting.
So, Ken is the difference between a broadcaster, and an ingratiating succubus corporate kow tow like Alan.
He was a focused, driven programmer, and the "wheel" on his drive towards that perfection may have run over some toes. Anyone, including me, was subject to being dragged over the Ken coals... He also gave me a couple of pretty cool breaks that helped me move towards what I really wanted to do in broadcasting.So, Ken is the difference between a broadcaster, and an ingratiating succubus corporate kow tow like Alan.
Like I shared, I cannot personally assess and attest to what Ken Kohl was like as a person or programmer, only shared what others thought of him, and found (again) that those whom I felt were pros and those whom I thought not so much, felt he was less than stellar in both regards.
I worked for Alan, I thought he was a good leader and fair, I do not know about his dealings with others in management or CC and corporate. But with me and others on staff he was well received.
Unless one owns an operation or is independently wealthy, most all of us answer to someone...so when I read that a person "does whatever he is told"...short of killing someone, that is what happens in most organizations...you perform and execute the decisions of others...and if lucky enough, your own.
You may laugh, but even someone as powerful as say a Rush Limbaugh answers to someone, and is accountable to his network.
Doing what one is told is not always a sign of weakness or "kow towing".
I worked for Alan, I thought he was a good leader and fair, I do not know about his dealings with others in management or CC and corporate. But with me and others on staff he was well received.
Unless one owns an operation or is independently wealthy, most all of us answer to someone...so when I read that a person "does whatever he is told"...short of killing someone, that is what happens in most organizations...you perform and execute the decisions of others...and if lucky enough, your own.
You may laugh, but even someone as powerful as say a Rush Limbaugh answers to someone, and is accountable to his network.
Doing what one is told is not always a sign of weakness or "kow towing".
talkerguy said:
Talkerguy....you and people like you exemplify the ignorance and loss of perspective that plagues us today, when everyone's actions (that are not even remotely analogous) are compared to the Nazi's, or some horrific event.
For you to compare someone, whoever it is for following orders of a boss or corporation so far removed from that sort comparison, it displays your willful lack and frankly laziness of being able to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of something or someone without being incendiary.
If you have never followed direction or orders, you are one of two things, maybe both:
1...a liar
2. unemployed a lot.
The myth(s) that some purport about individuals are shameful, but that is I guess why we have internet boards.
I did not always agree or see eye to eye with Alan, but that does not mean he was not a good person, or leader, in my view.
But when I didn't agree, I got over it, and moved on, whether with my work there, then eventually elsewhere.
Grow up, have your feelings, but be mature and professional enough...and intelligent enough to communicate them with out lobbing bombs and bulls****.
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