Beth Adams and other staff axed at WHAM

[Bob1370]

A comment by Bob Pittman at Clear Channel's conference call with Wall Street analysts and major investors reveals it all--the top brass at CC just don't get it, don't understand the essentials of the business they're running. Here's what he said about the slashing and burning at the medium markets; "What John Hogan has done with his team, and taken quite a bit of thought in it, is really looking at our smaller markets that don’t have an economic structure that allows them to do the same quality of programming as the big markets. And [they] looked at how we can use the assets of the big markets to help the small markets, therefore, obviously, giving an advantage to a Clear Channel station, because we have more of the big markets we can call upon.”

In other words, import programming from the big boys rather than making it a local service.

Folks, radio NEEDS a strong local component, it's an intimate, very local medium that thrives on that local connection which bonds the listener to the station, its personalities and even its advertisers.

Take it away, and the audience moves to the competitor down the dial that still does things the old fashioned way. If they can't find a station doing it right, they turn off the radio completely and fire up their iPods to program their own music commercial-free, or listen to their iBooks..

That network-oriented thinking killed Citadel and damn near killed Clear Channel a few years ago. Now they're repeating the mistake on an even bigger scale, and within a couple of years, they'll wonder why it didn't work and why they've had to put a lot of these medium market clusters up for sale.

Pittman is fine at running a national network service or an interconnected national online service, but radio at its best is LOCAL, and is most lucrative when it's run that way. He doesn't get it. And the Wall Street boys who just want to see a short profit blip so they can take the money and run, don't care what happens to the company next--they'll have moved on to their next speculative play.

 

[TheBigA]

Folks, radio NEEDS a strong local component, it's an intimate, very local medium that thrives on that local connection which bonds the listener to the station, its personalities and even its advertisers.

Yet for some reason, public broadcasting, of which you're a part, has built its model almost totally on national programming, rather than local. They may fundraise locally, but the majority of airtime is devoted to national programming. Perhaps it's the limited budget they operate with. My experience in that part of the industry says that the best way to ensure QUALITY is to devote national resources to it. That's what Pittman is talking about. You get a higher level of quality when you pick the best of the best, rather than use whoever happens to be geographically convenient.

 

[SirRoxalot]

And yet, stations with the most live and local content continue to dominate the ratings in most markets - including Buffalo.

Syndication is the cheap way out, and the way things are going, syndicators won't need local stations to carry their content in most markets. So, local stations are cutting their throats by building an audience for syndicated content. Why listen to NPR content on WBFO when I can hear the same content on MY schedule by simply listening to the podcast? If a local public station becomes nothing but a repeater for NPR, they're on the road to having nothing to sell local underwriters. Internet radio is already way ahead of HD radio, and there's plenty more to come along that line.

Too many radio executives either are resigned to a future that doesn't include broadcast radio, or ignore the future at their own peril. We'll see how Clear Channel's replacement of local broadcasting with syndicated content works out. My guess is that TSL will drop even more, or the few competitors that they have in those small and medium markets will feast on their foolishness.If people in those markets wanted "big city programming", they'd simply tune in the big city next door.

 

[therealjm12]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but let me explain how I understand this whole Clear Channel mess. C. C. used to be a very successful and very well respected broadcasting group that owned nearly the complete 7-7-7 in the 1970's, 80's and early 90's,mostly in Southern states.
Then the Telecommunications Act Bill came about deregulated ownership regulations set previously by the F. C. C. This bill was championed by the Republican Congress but signed by Democrat President Bill Clinton. C. C. went on a buying spree (led by Randy Michaels) buying every station in site. I guess over 1,000. They bought big stations, medium stations, & in tiny little markets with hardly any revenue to make it worthwhile. Seems like the only reason why they bought these stations was to prevent you & me from ever owning a station. They pretty much put Mom & Pop out of business. While on the buying spree, the price of the stations rose, sometimes twice what they were worth. Not only did they buy little stations in little markets but little stations in big and medium markets, just to monopolize the market and freeze out the competition. Once established in these markets, C. C. fired as much talent as possible. Sometimes wiping out entire staffs and turning stations into simple repeaters.
They borrowed the money from banks whose industry, also, had been deregulated by the government as well. These bankers had limited experience in the broadcast business but saw a quick buck to be made. Then the economy went south. The stations are not worth what was payed for them. The bankers, which WE bailed out now want their money from C. C., which they should never had loaned to them in the first place. So C. C. has to make further cuts to already skeleton staffs to satisfy the bankers - at least temporarily. So because of all this STUPIDITY wonderful, talented people like Beth Adams are on the beach with little or no prospects for employment. Of course, I am speaking of Clear Channel metaphorically in all this.

 

[TheBigA]

And yet, stations with the most live and local content continue to dominate the ratings in most markets - including Buffalo.

From what I understand, most of Buffalo's radio stations are still live and local, and none of the CC cuts affect Buffalo, because CC owns no stations in Buffalo. What last week's cuts are about, and what Bob Pittman's quote was about, had to do with markets smaller than Buffalo. In my view, there is a real issue between this desire to keep radio local, and to deliver quality content to the public. And from what I read of Pittman's comments, he sees a real need for bringing big market quality to smaller markets. I sense that he's right. It's not about money, but about quality, and these smaller markets simply don't have access to quality talent and quality content.

 

[Element9]

That's a reasonable overview RealJM. But there are plenty of subplots, such as the Justice Department's involvement, or lack of such, in sorting out potential conflicts; the repeal, in 1999, of the Glass-Steagall Act, the absence of which aided and abetted radio's demise by enticing banks and venture capitalists to the casino like moths to a flame. Nothing happens in a vacuum or independent of other events.

Step back to 1993 when the FCC began a bidding system for broadcast licenses. "Auctions for access to the airwaves." Early on, it slowly drove up the value of broadcast licenses. After 1996, the chances of Joe Small outbidding Clear Channel, Keymarket, Susquehanna or Entercom slipped from slim to none. Broadcast companies were either buyers or sellers. Families and companies that owned AM-FM combos in Scranton, Akron, Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester sold out to the bigger companies. Eat or be eaten.

Although republicans held majorities in the house and senate during the 104th Congress, democrats were complicit in getting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed and signed into law by WJC. The Act was initially intended (wink, nod) to address the services of phone companies, as outlined and mandated by Title I. Title II regulates Broadcast Services and was, without exaggeration, written by lawyers from the NAB.

Jocks and front line peons weren't the only people adversely affected by the re-alignment of the telecommunications business, plenty of good GMs, SMs and PDs also lost their jobs. Some lucky GMs were given oversight of two or three other stations in their cluster. If a large medium market GM was making 200Gs (an arbitrary figure for argument's sake) running one station, he sure as hell didn't pick up an additional 400Gs when the responsibility of two more stations were added to his plate.

Advances in technologies in the mid to late 90s, such as digital audio production and music delivery, also helped re-define radio and the manner in which the product was created and delivered. When did your station stop playing CDs and carts? 1998? 2001? When did your station blow out the all night guy? When did your PD begin generating music logs for two other stations in the cluster (just to help out)?

And it got really dicey when Clear Channel walked into your city and approached the mom and pop owners of the AM-FM combo, dangling crazy-a$$ money in front of them, with the mafia-like enticement of "you can either sell to us, or compete with us... we know you'll make the right decision." Multiples went from a reasonably sane five times cash flow to an out of control 10 and 12 times cash flow... and later, it got more insane... and then the bubble went poof! Who could turn down $5 million for a combo that would normally fetch $3.5 million? That extra $1.5M pays for a nice condo in Boca del Vista. Yep, that's the way it worked. And this is what we have to show for it.

Aside for the zombie AMs that can't break a 1 share and the FMs that are on auto-pilot, Buffalo radio sounds decent, thanks mainly to stations like Kiss, the Edge, WYRK and 97 Rock. But this market is nowhere near as entertaining and exciting across the board as it was ten years ago, sure as hell not what it was twenty years ago... and for those (sales reps, jocks and managers) who recall the days when there were two or three stations competing in the same format, well... to young guys who got into the business within the last five or ten years, that's simply a myth promulgated by old guys.

It's not going to get better until it gets worse. Whether it's $50 million in synergies, owning an AM that's under water, or sitting on the sidelines with dry powder waiting to buy back into the game, the whole process has been put on re-set. It's the new feudalism. Welcome to the machine. Listen... is that Pink Floyd playing (again)?

 

[TheBigA]

So C. C. has to make further cuts to already skeleton staffs to satisfy the bankers - at least temporarily. So because of all this STUPIDITY wonderful, talented people like Beth Adams are on the beach with little or no prospects for employment.

I haven't seen that any of the cuts were done to "satisfy the bankers," and have no reason to believe that there's been any change in the loan situation CC has now that would have necessitated this change. From what I saw, CC just hired a whole bunch of new people, and also gave another group a bunch of raises. They also just spent $110 million to buy Metro Traffic. So money doesn't appear to be tight. I also read that local managers (and CC's regional management is based in Rochester) had lattitude over who was let go.

I keep hearing politicians say that the reason the economy is in a mess is because there's too much government spending, regulation, and taxation, and therefore we need to give more control to corporations so they can hire more people. Who's lying here?

 

[TheBigA]

But this market is nowhere near as entertaining and exciting across the board as it was ten years ago, sure as hell not what it was twenty years ago... and for those (sales reps, jocks and managers) who recall the days when there were two or three stations competing in the same format, well... to young guys who got into the business within the last five or ten years, that's simply a myth promulgated by old guys.

Then again you can take a look at the latest census report if you want another reason why Buffalo ain't what it used to be. If Kodak falls apart the way observers say it will, Rochester will be hurting too. There's a direct relationship between declining population, collapse of manufacturing, loss of local advertising, and the shrinkage of local radio. It's all the same story, folks. Every time a local industry shuts down, you can probably kiss more local radio jobs goodbye.

 

[Paul_Warren]

An inconvenient part of this story is that radio has been dumbing itself down and cutting local content since well before dereg hit. Mom-&-Pops were among the first big users of automation.

Hogan's vision is only getting traction because, in many music formats, any competition that would have kept CC honest is already long-gone. Consultant-driven identities, local playlists based on national "safe lists," and the elimination of local service elements as "clutter" were already the norm, even among local owners, before the mid-90s.

I'd +1 the comments about declining population, except that the same thing is happening in large and growing markets.

 

[Element9]

As you sometimes protest that some posters quote you out of context, the sentence preceding the quote which you lifted from my previous post is contextually important: "Buffalo radio sounds decent, thanks mainly to stations like Kiss, the Edge, WYRK and 97 Rock." Because you don't live here, you're not intimately familiar with the market. No, it's not booming as Columbus, Ohio may be, but it isn't Las Vegas, either. Buffalo had no housing run-up bubble to burst. Which, BTW, doesn't mean it was languishing. It's a steady market. Yeah, declining in population as are other northeast markets, but the city and the county, the two largest government functionaries, are solvent and have operating surpluses. (This is not a political aside.) Perfect? Far from it. What major northeast city is? Recently, the NY Times offered that Buffalo is a community that endured the recession far better than most cities and their suburbs, and offered that it's a swell place to live.

 

[TheBigA]

Recently, the NY Times offered that Buffalo is a community that endured the recession far better than most cities and their suburbs, and offered that it's a swell place to live.

Wow...don't take it personally, 9. The Bills are still there, aren't they?

 

[SirRoxalot]

The idea that big-market talent means better radio in small markets simply isn't true. Big-market talent distributed over a myriad of stations simply saves money for the major corporation, and reduces service in the smaller markets.

You'd be shocked to find that there some very good jocks who chose to stay in smaller markets, where they enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, and deep ties to the community. Many talented, relatable people have been cut by the big players without regard to ratings or revenue produced. In many cases, small town audiences have access to radio from larger markets, yet support small town stations because the want local content. I'm sure that CC will be dropping in some local liner, but it ain't exactly the same thing.

And yes, even smaller operators are doing some syndicated programming these days. It's better to fly off the bird overnight than turn the transmitter off at midnight. Mid-days are often being voice-tracked, or run with live-assist, but even that's better than canned SPAM.

 

[TheBigA]

I'd +1 the comments about declining population, except that the same thing is happening in large and growing markets.

That's because it's both declining population AND collapse of manufacturing and local business. That second one is the real killer.

Every town had at least one local department store. My town had 3. And I didn't live in a big town. These were family owned downtown department stores. One by one, they all went belly-up, replaced by the national chains. No one seems to be starting department stores the way they did 100 years ago. Combine that with all the other local businesses. I remember doing a report when I was in school surveying all the local businesses in my town. Several local candy companies, two meat packing plants, two leather factories, a cigar plant, and a snuff plant (I'm not kidding!), and then there were regional auto plants. It was amazing. Every one of those plants is gone now. Replaced by service companies, who don't advertise much. It's a big problem if your radio station depends on local companies for advertising.

 

[TheBigA]

The idea that big-market talent means better radio in small markets simply isn't true.

The combination of the talent and the celebrities that talent will attract will mean better radio for smaller markets. And as Pittman pointed out, the non-corporate stations will continue to use local talent, and then they'll see who wins. If you're right, and Pittman's wrong, you can stick your tongue out.

You'd be shocked to find that there some very good jocks who chose to stay in smaller markets, where they enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, and deep ties to the community.

That may be true, but they're now in their 60s and ready for retirement. Who will replace them? The public can't wait for junior's voice to change. The public has gotten used to national quality talent. They see it every night on TV, and can't understand why radio sounds so hokey. It's time for radio to catch up to the rest of the media world. CC has good talent in medium markets who are ready for a step up. This is a chance for them to make more money and reach a larger audience.

 

[SirRoxalot]

This is really a chance for good jocks to replace higher-paid talent in larger markets, and have their talent distributed to markets that LIKE "hokey" and home-grown. It's really all about CC cutting costs.

 

[TheBigA]

This is really a chance for good jocks to replace higher-paid talent in larger markets, and have their talent distributed to markets that LIKE "hokey" and home-grown. It's really all about CC cutting costs.

As I said, there will be many places for those people who want hokey and homegrown. Just not on CC.

 

[SirRoxalot]

And, we'll see how CC fares in those markets where it has competition with a credible signal. I feel sorry for those small markets where there is no alternative to Clear Channel.

This is all about Clear Channel being overleveraged, and unable to renegotiate its debt. They're trying to avoid bankruptcy by cutting expenses. Pittman is trying to paint lipstick on this pig, and extend their reach by improving the Internet component, where he sees an opportunity for growth. Ultimately, I suspect that CC would like to move their audience to the Internet, and get out of the broadcasting business. Gee, that almost sounds like somebody else who posts on numerous boards here at radio-info.com.

 

[TheBigA]

This is all about Clear Channel being overleveraged, and unable to renegotiate its debt. They're trying to avoid bankruptcy by cutting expenses.

If that was the case, then why did they hire a bunch of high priced people the very next day? Guy Zapoleon didn't leave his own company for minimum wage or stock options. I take Pittman at his word when he says this wasn't for cost cutting. And the remaining talent won't be taking on extra markets for free. This retooling will cost real money. And it comes just six months after they spent $110 million for Metro Traffic. So they don't seem to be having money problems. And a lot of smart people seem willing to leave good jobs to take their checks. They don't have to do that.

 

[Bob1370]

There are good examples in our markets of why live and local content beats big national names, and Clear Channel's Rochester cluster is already on the short end of one of them. In the CHR format battle, Scott and Sandy (local) on WPXY are clobbering Elvis Duran from Z100 in New York, heard locally on Clear Channel's Kiss 106.7. When Kiss had local morning and afternoon shows, the battle between the two stations was close enough to be competitive. Now 98 PXY is local from morning drive to midnight, Kiss is all satellite all the time from CC's biggest markets and biggest CHR names, and it isn't even remotely close--98PXY wins hands down.

Case closed, verdict for live and local. CC loses. This will be repeated across the country now.

 

[Googs0105]

Dear everyone.. my name is Paul Guglielmo. I do afternoons on 106.7 KISS-FM and produce The Wease Show. I live here in Rochester.. proof that we are LOCAL. STOP being gutless and anonymous on these boards. ID yourselves.