Beth Adams and other staff axed at WHAM

[JustPastBuffalo]

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.

It is about Clear Channel being over leveraged and it applies to other companies that bit off more than they could chew, only to go through bankruptcy and royally screw the shareholders and lenders, but most of all, the employees.

"Who could have predicted such a severe downturn in the economy?" Seriously? Prior to 2008, there were at least a half dozen advisories and warnings about the housing run-up and banking indiscretions the chief causes of the downturn. But still, CEOs couldn't resist their hubris and bought wildly. And we heard this sadsack refrain, "I should have sold instead of bought," a few years later. Genius. But it really didn't hurt them all that much, as they walked away with $35 million platinum parachutes.

Nobody here, to the best of my reading, is naive about what's going on in media. As to voice-tracking, most of those voice tracking over multiple markets do get paid to pick up extra markets, but in some cases, they don't. It's a matter of "here's another job to do if you want to keep working for this company." Most companies "reward" multi-market voicetrackers with a nominal fee, but it's not even close to the salaries of the air talent they replaced.

A friend of mine voice tracked eight stations for CC. He did AC, Country and Classic Rock, along with his daily live AC midday gig in Austin. He received an additional $300 per week for voice tracking. That's $37.50 per week, per station; $7.50 per day. Wal-Mart radio. Real nice. Of course, companies that do multi-market voice-tracking save on insurance, FICA and other expenses, which figure into the "saving through synergies" promise.

As to that "great" national talent? Stop. There are men and women on national TV and radio who are immensely talented. But for every Brian Williams or Christiane Amanpour, there seem to be an equal number of performers who open their mouths and butterflies emerge. But they look great and giggle nicely. There are many talented people in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany that have great presentations, voices and relate to listeners (that "two way" thing that's so important) and developed great ratings. They know how to pronounce Scajaquada, Chili, Tully and Cohoes properly, they know where those communities are and what makes 'em tick, Rick. Beth Adams, by all accounts, was one of those local, community people on the radio. Yes, I'm an NPR advocate, but there are also a dozen people on Buffalo radio whom I enjoy listening to because they do better radio than any satellite or voice-tracked out of town person.

Open eyes, open ears, open mind: Yet at this point in my life and career, that's just the way I see it, hear it and know it to be.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

Big A mentioned in a previous post that public radio stations succeed, even though they're airing mostly national content. Indeed, that is so. But the reason has nothing to do with the arguments being made here about the importance of local programming vs. national. NPR succeeds because it's truly unique. No radio network comes close to the breadth of national and world coverage than NPR. You can't get this on commercial radio. Sure, when a story of great importance, the CBS Radio Network in particular is able to offer expanded coverage. But day to day, it's NPR that delivers in-depth, quality coverage from dozens of bureaus across the globe. Yet, except for big markets like Boston and San Francisco, public radio still trails in the ratings, especially here in Buffalo, where WBEN still reigns as a powerful force in the news-talk format.

Yes, certain public radio programs are available via podcast, as Sir Rox noted. And I'll admit to downloading more than a few pub radio podcasts for listening at my convenience. But it's important to note that the flagship shows, "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" are NOT podcast (though a small percentage of segments and reports are). These shows are also not available on satellite. Plus, a podcast is useless in breaking news situations. So, at least during drive times, terrestrial public radio is the only source for the NPR magazines. And most public stations do a great job of adding local content during these hours.

Do I wish WBFO had more local content? Sure, but you need a big budget to do it right. It's not in public radio's DNA to simply turn over a couple of hours to a host taking phone calls from listeners, as is done on commercial radio. This region is fortunate that WXXI is able to invest in Bob Smith and his staff for a two-hour daily show with guests. And perhaps when WBFO and WNED are combined, there may be sufficient resources to do more local programming.

But I wholeheartedly agree that local ALWAYS wins! As much as I enjoy the quality of NPR's news magainzes, I'll admit that on the Monday after a Bills game, I'm tuning in to hear Jerry Sullivan with Schopp and the Bulldog. Why, because it's local, and they're talking about something I care about -- the previous day's Bills game. But do I listen to WGR for Jim Rome or ESPN? Rarely. And if I'm listening for personality, especially during music shows, I'm always tuning to the local guys. Fortunately in Buffalo, we don't have a lot of bigger market talent doing local shows here, except during the evening hours. But I'll take Slick Tom over John Tesh any day. And as big as Howard Stern was nationally during his days on terrestrial radio, his show never delivered sizeable ratings here in Buffalo. Norton and his crew at 97 Rock buried Stern. That's why I'm hoping Cumulus will be very careful in assessing its Buffalo cluster. Dropping local personalities in favor of disembodied voices from other cities will result in a drop in listenership.

Like Jim Pastrick, I KNOW that.

 

[Jeff Michaels]

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.

No one said that there aren't local talent on any stations. However, with the exception of Legends, there aren't live DJ's on air and WJZR is the only other one with someone LOCAL on it.

Most radio has turned to voice tracking and non local recorded dj's. Its great that there are other shows on locally that are live. Sadly the "music" played on the station guarantees I wouldn't hear you or know about you. Too much rap!

 

[TheBigA]

It is about Clear Channel being over leveraged and it applies to other companies that bit off more than they could chew, only to go through bankruptcy and royally screw the shareholders and lenders, but most of all, the employees.

Here's my question: Is there anybody who doesn't know the financial situation of CC, or Cumulus, or any company they happen to work for? Because if you don't, that's really not very smart.

I remember at one time when I was looking for a job, and I specifically checked into the financials of the prospective employer, because I didn't want to accept a job, and then find myself on the street for no fault of my own.

If you work for a broadcasting company, especially one that you can see is on the edge financially, and has a history of cleaning house, it behooves you as an act of simple common sense to make sure you're prepared if the end comes, and that you have a back-up plan if the salary goes away. When you buy stock, they warn you very clearly that the money is not protected, and you could lose the principle. Ignorance is no defense, especially when these companies have been operating this way for over 15 years.

 

[therealjm12]

If you are out on the street without a job, normal people are not going to be concerned with the financial condition of a new employer. Ever hear of the term "gasping at straws"?

“A drowning man will catch at a straw, the proverb well says.” The “straw” in this case refers to the sort of thin reeds that grow by the side of a river, which a drowning man being swept away by a fast current might desperately grasp in a futile attempt to save himself.

Clear Channel & the other mega media companies have thrown a lot of people into the river.

 

[Element9]

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

Yeah, so are the Sabres. Whatayou got? Besides a Michigan sammitch.

 

[SirRoxalot]

There was a time when great performance, great ratings, and generating great revenue were enough to keep you employed. Unfortunately, that's no longer the case. I'm sure that Beth Adams was integral to the morning show at WHAM. I'm sure that the morning show generates serious money. That wasn't enough for her to keep her job.

Many of these people have been working for stations for a lot of years before Clear Channel came along and swooped up clusters at crazy multiples of cash flow. They didn't hire on with Clear Channel, they inherited Clear Channel as an employer, and are simply trying to survive. A lot of talented people have gotten out of the business. A lot more have been forced out through no fault of their own.

 

[TheBigA]

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

Yeah, so are the Sabres. Whatayou got? Besides a Michigan sammitch.

I love spicy hot dogs.

 

[TheBigA]

There was a time when great performance, great ratings, and generating great revenue were enough to keep you employed.

Ah yes. "There was a time." My uncle had the same job his entire life. He was an assembly line worker, tightening the same nut on the same bolt for 40 years. Then he retired. That's what he did. There are documentaries on people like that, some who are third generation coal workers, who did the same job their grandfather did, got the same black lung, and died at about the same age. None of them ever thought about suing their employer, either. That was the most amazing part to me, because today, everyone is looking for a lawsuit. On both sides.

Those times are over. They've BEEN over for a long time. It has nothing to do with the 96 TCA, because it's the same in lots of other industries. Congress passed a lot of disability laws in the late 70s that really changed the relationship between employer and employee. Anyone today who thinks they're going to have a job for life is absolutely mistaken. Back in the old days, you worked for a family business that gets passed down through generations. Not any more. The family wants to cash out and live on an island. If you work for the family, and they leave, you're vulnerable. They are your meal ticket. For this person in Rochester, last week's bad news was years in the making. The writing was on the wall. It always has been.

Here's my advice, and it's served me well: If you get great ratings, great performance, and great revenue, you have to cash in on it when you can, and use that money to start your own business, where you own your great ratings and great revenue. That's the only way you're safe. If you're working for someone else, you're putting your life in their hands. And today, everyone is in it for themselves. Sorry to break the bad news, but that's just how it is.

 

[Paul_Warren]

...If you work for a broadcasting company, especially one that you can see is on the edge financially, and has a history of cleaning house, it behooves you as an act of simple common sense to make sure you're prepared if the end comes, and that you have a back-up plan if the salary goes away...

Actually, you're at just as much risk if your company and personal performance are solid and your station is very successful. Your owners may get an offer they can't refuse, and guess what the buyers had to do to get a loan for an amount above prevailing multiples?

Convince a banker it will be more successful in a different format!

I was once awarded stock options in a major broadcast company for achieving the highest AQH of any station in my format in the country. The new owners attracted by the conspicuous success changed format and I was out before the options vested.

Another time, in a different format, I was tossed the keys as PD at #9 25-54, and two years later, at #1 25-54, the station attracted a buyer. I was offered a five-figure bonus just to stay through closing, which was fine, cause I wasn't planning on going anywhere. But then, the station was flipped before the sale even closed.

The first sale closed, I was handed the promised check. Three days later, the second sale closed, and they said they didn't need my services. And all three companies involved were in excellent financial shape!

You never know when the end is at hand, regardless of your performance or the station's. I would suggest not only having a backup plan, but having something of your own that you control up and running before the end comes. Even if it's a home studio doing voice work for small advertisers in distant markets, don't wait till you're on the street to start it, because it takes time to build it.

 

[TheBigA]

You never know when the end is at hand, regardless of your performance or the station's. I would suggest not only having a backup plan, but having something of your own that you control up and running before the end comes. Even if it's a home studio doing voice work for small advertisers in distant markets, don't wait till you're on the street to start it, because it takes time to build it.

Exactly. If you're a successful air personality, YOU are the product. Not the station. It's about YOU. And you need to control that and own it. You can't do that if you're an hourly employee with company benefits. You belong to them.

A career isn't about places or things. It's not about a radio station. It's about PEOPLE. I'm watching a great biography about Steve Jobs on PBS where they're talking about all the people who made him who he was. It's People. You need to be able to turn those relationships into something you own. So this woman in Rochester has lost her job. But obviously in reading this thread, she hasn't lost the people. Those people will be critical to what happens next. Some people, when they lose their job, want to hide. They feel shame. It's the wrong way to feel. The first thing you need to do is call all your friends. The ones who will take your call are the ones you can depend on. But YOU need to be the one driving the car. Don't wait for them to offer you a job. That's the wrong conversation. You need to have an idea, and you want their advice and input. That's how you recover.

 

[heydaybegone]

Just an opinion:

The last few posts have hit the nail on the head. FINALLY!! The battle isn't going to be won on what's happening...it's coming down to the most important 3 letters of the alphabet "CYA" (It's been that way for a LONG time, but it's just hitting the mainstream now...I know..I was one taking the hit when the Sharks started biting in 1992)

HDBG

sidebar: Paul, Rox, Big A ....nice!!

 

[chas108]

You never know when the end is at hand, regardless of your performance or the station's. I would suggest not only having a backup plan, but having something of your own that you control up and running before the end comes. Even if it's a home studio doing voice work for small advertisers in distant markets, don't wait till you're on the street to start it, because it takes time to build it.

Exactly. If you're a successful air personality, YOU are the product. Not the station. It's about YOU. And you need to control that and own it. You can't do that if you're an hourly employee with company benefits. You belong to them.

A career isn't about places or things. It's not about a radio station. It's about PEOPLE. I'm watching a great biography about Steve Jobs on PBS where they're talking about all the people who made him who he was. It's People. You need to be able to turn those relationships into something you own. So this woman in Rochester has lost her job. But obviously in reading this thread, she hasn't lost the people. Those people will be critical to what happens next. Some people, when they lose their job, want to hide. They feel shame. It's the wrong way to feel. The first thing you need to do is call all your friends. The ones who will take your call are the ones you can depend on. But YOU need to be the one driving the car. Don't wait for them to offer you a job. That's the wrong conversation. You need to have an idea, and you want their advice and input. That's how you recover.

Spot. On., A!

 

[SirRoxalot]

I'm sure Beth Adams and her listeners will be happy to know that her sacrifice will be used to save others from inconvenience.

http://www.radio-info.com/news/plane-talk-clear-channel-will-lease-bob-pittmans-plane-for-3-million

 

[Paul_Warren]

I'm sure Beth Adams and her listeners will be happy to know that her sacrifice will be used to save others from inconvenience...

The implication is that his compensation package cost Beth Adams her job. I doubt that. I admire Bob for successfully building a resume CC felt it couldn't do without, then negotiating well when the time came. I don't personally know anyone who would turn down a raise.

There's a tendency to spend too much time and energy on envy. The irony is that Pittman planned his career out, and we planned ours. Is it really shocking that he makes more money or has more job security today than a local DJ or newsperson?

Where this was all going has been pretty clear for at least 15 years. Pittman chose well.

 

[TheBigA]

Lee Abrams had a similar deal when he was at XM. He used to fly friends, staff, and clients around the country all the time. When he moved to Tribune, the plane went with him, and he found a way to get it included in a TV series for Tribune Entertainment, thus keeping the costs covered. It's not that Lee or Bob are so much smarter than any of us. They just made different choices.

 

[SirRoxalot]

You have to admit that CC is a bit tone-deaf to release this information in the wake of mass firings...

 

[Element9]

Still not as good as the deal Farid got to go away. But if you can sell and close, you win the new Caddy. "It's the newest, the biggest, the best and you just cannot live without it. Better sign now to get the best deal." The Beth and Bob stories are unrelated. But yeah, coming on the heals of CC's RIFs and Cumulus' ongoing purge, it might seem like somebody pissed in the corn flakes.

 

[Mark Giardina]

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.

Hello Paul.

Now that I've identified myself please tell me besides the WEASE show, if there are any other live programs on KISS FM after morning drive or weekends?

You see Paul when I started in radio back in the 1970s, Rochester radio was all live back then. There was no voice tracking. Automation, yes.

What resulted in the layoffs of Beth Adams and countless others started with the end of deregulation back in the 1980s. I was there; I saw first hand what happened. Radio stations were no longer required to have a certain percentage of their programs dedicated to news and public affairs, thus a large number of radio news personnel lost their jobs.

Deregulation also eliminated the rule that one company could only own two radio stations in a market. Again hundreds of announcers were tossed to the street.

It's a shame that many people in radio today didn't experience what I did before deregulation because radio back then was not only a great career, but it was fun. From what I am hearing today there isn't much to laugh about anymore.

 

[Jeff Michaels]

Wease is on Fox 95.1 and he does an afternoon show on Kiss FM.

Seacrest is on in the AM I believe on KISS, so thats not local, also their morning show is satellite too.

After Wease, its all automated as far as I have heard, you can usually tell the difference. I don't listen to KISS at all, so I can't tell you, but I'd be willing to bet that other than maybe a speciality show, I bet its all automated.