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C(BS) Downsizing

landtuna

landtuna

I've never worked in a commercial radio station nor been close to the biz so I've got to ask:

Why does axing only ONE DJ make a substantial difference in the station's cost? For example:

KOOL-FM in Phoenix was one of the most popular stations in the Valley for years. I would therefore think that they made big bucks for parent C(BS). They were also very stable with very few personnel changes over the recent few years.

In February they canned Bill Gardner, their premier morning drive guy. While I assume he made more than any of the other on-air staff how could his salary alone be enough to drive profits up significantly or move the station from loss to profit?

I would have thought they'd have made more personnel changes but apparently not.
 
landtuna said:
I've never worked in a commercial radio station nor been close to the biz so I've got to ask:

Why does axing only ONE DJ make a substantial difference in the station's cost? For example:

KOOL-FM in Phoenix was one of the most popular stations in the Valley for years. I would therefore think that they made big bucks for parent C(BS). They were also very stable with very few personnel changes over the recent few years.

In February they canned Bill Gardner, their premier morning drive guy. While I assume he made more than any of the other on-air staff how could his salary alone be enough to drive profits up significantly or move the station from loss to profit?

I would have thought they'd have made more personnel changes but apparently not.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing based on the ratings that he was let go because the ratings in sales demos were not very good.
 
landtuna said:
I would have thought they'd have made more personnel changes but apparently not.
Click to expand...

Bill Gardner was just the most visible of those let go at KOOL and the
rest of the PHX (C)BS cluster--also evening guy Dave Shannon and
disco show host Allie Torres, among others.

When you add up the $$$$ saved after the (nationwide) layoffs, I'm sure
it more than covered the funding for their million-dollar (nationwide)
giveaway contest during April. In fact, they probably had enough left
over to renew the lease on Les and Julie's private jet. ::)
 
oldiesfan6479 said:
Bill Gardner was just the most visible of those let go at KOOL and the
rest of the PHX (C)BS cluster--also evening guy Dave Shannon and
disco show host Allie Torres, among others.

When you add up the $$$$ saved after the (nationwide) layoffs, I'm sure
it more than covered the funding for their million-dollar (nationwide)
giveaway contest during April. In fact, they probably had enough left
over to renew the lease on Les and Julie's private jet. ::)
Click to expand...

The simple and much more credible answer is that KOOL is down to 16th in 25-54 and had to look at how to become more viable in that demo.

Cutting promotion is not the way to make things better. But looking carefully at the demographic appeal of talent and formats is..
 
One of the problems I have with your answer David is that the morning crew is essentially unchanged. Bill's two sidekicks are still on-air and they bumped the late morning guy into the drive time part. So, aside from gaining a bit of salary reduction (I'm just guessing on this point) from BG to the guy currently sitting in his chair - what did they gain?

I'll admit the music has changed a little bit (they apparently added some additional 70's and a few 80's tracks) but not enough to drag the X-gens away from their hip-hop haunts.

I had forgotten about Dave Shannon. Can't find a reason to give him the axe unless there were some office politics. Allie evidently went the way of her Saturday Night Disco show which, predictably, didn't do well. Sorry Lauren :(
 
landtuna said:
One of the problems I have with your answer David is that the morning crew is essentially unchanged. Bill's two sidekicks are still on-air and they bumped the late morning guy into the drive time part. So, aside from gaining a bit of salary reduction (I'm just guessing on this point) from BG to the guy currently sitting in his chair - what did they gain?
Click to expand...

If I were to guess, they did some kind of perceptual to determine appeal of different talent.

I'll admit the music has changed a little bit (they apparently added some additional 70's and a few 80's tracks) but not enough to drag the X-gens away from their hip-hop haunts.
Click to expand...

All they have to do is go 35-54 or even 39-54 instead of 45-64, which is what they got with the old mix.
 
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