The situation here is the operating strategy of the company. They have a very heavy debt to service (a bill that will require them to write a 10.1 billion dollar check to their lenders in 2016, with another large bill right behind that). Moody's Investor Service just did a statement this week talking about the challenges facing the company on being able to meet the obligation. And Moody's questioned whether that's going to be possible.
So, what they're apparently trying to do (remember, I'm an outsider looking in here) is shift their programming operations to a mostly nationally delivered platform doing what they hope would be engaging, entertaining content from that platform, leaving as little expense as necessary at the local level.
Is that what they want to do? Is that the way they would program the stations if they weren't a half a gazillion dollars in debt? Maybe...maybe not. But, it's what they may have to do to keep the business afloat. It's also possible that if it works, they could create a whole new paradigm of how you program local stations. That's the potential upside.
The downside, obviously, are the talented people who have already lost jobs and add to that the list of those who are now losing their jobs. A recent article I read predicted the "new normal" of radio would be some station groups that would adopt the Clear Channel model, while others would adopt a "hyper local" model in competition with it and some that would be in-between. And then, let the stations with what the audience perceives to be the best content, win.
Now, if I'm sounding heartless to you remember...some friends of mine lost their jobs in this round of cuts, (specifically, Andy Clark who I knew from WNCI and John Boy Crenshaw with whom I worked at WCOL.) My heart goes out to both of them and I hope their time on the beach will be short, indeed. Both are very talented guys.
But, there's an old saying..."it's not personal, it's business", and that's what's at play here. You have a heavily indebted company doing what it feels it has to do to try and make chicken salad out of...well, you know. I've worked for a couple of debt-strapped radio companies in my life (Great Trails Broadcasting and Stop 26, Riverbend come to mind), and dealing with that situation is not fun. But, you do what you have to do to try and stay in business. And that's what it appears CC is trying to do.
We live in a new world. "Heritage" is fine for what it is...but heritage means nothing to business these days. Not just in radio. But, all businesses. You may not like it, but you have to learn to live with it.
It's not a pretty side of radio, I agree. But it is what it is.
