CC Syracuse expands its reach

[SirRoxalot]

Clear Channel named Joel Delmonico Regional Market Manager for Syracuse/Binghamton. Rich Lauber was named Regional Program Manager for Syracuse/Binghamton. So, does this mean that they got thrown a bone, or does it mean that they'll have to take on new responsibilities and do more with less? And, who's in danger?

 

[BobRoss]

There's a columnist named Jerry Del Colliano who seems to think CC is going to have a huge round of layoffs before year's end, and basically replace local talent with "Premium Choice," where it hasn't already done so.

Someone posted the entire piece on syracuse.com's forum but it appears to have been deleted since Del Colliano's site is a paid subscription site. Of course, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to draw the same conclusions as Del Colliano. Big meeting for all the managers, everyone sent home with flash drives with their directives. We've seen this happen before, and those flash drives usually include directives to lay off certain people deemed no longer necessary by virtue of the fact their tasks will be replaced by syndicated fare.

The only real question is, to what extent will this happen, and when? CC must know they can't just make such cuts across the board blindly; they must be strategic in knowing where it would bring the best benefit (or the least harm).

Also have to wonder -- if there's a limit to how many O&O stations a network can have, at what point would the FCC consider CC to be a "network" because it has so many stations running the same national content?

 

[bartstar]

"Part of their "revamp" is using airing successful shows on one station and broadcast them on other stations around the country."
There goes Local Radio.

 

[BobRoss]

"Part of their "revamp" is using airing successful shows on one station and broadcast them on other stations around the country."
There goes Local Radio.

Exactly. What made that (hypothetical) show successful on the first station it was on? Probably the fact that it was LOCAL and superserved the interests of the audience in that one station's listening area. When you take a "local" show and start syndicating it to other markets, it is no longer local. If Clear Channel, for example, had taken Reith's show and simulcast it to Rochester and Albany, it wouldn't be the same show. Roc and Alb don't care about Syr issues... Reith would have to make the show more generic to appeal to those markets, which would result in de-localizing the show from Syracuse.

One particular real-life example of such failure: Beaner & Ken, one of the first replacements on 95X after Stern left terrestrial radio. They were local to Syracuse for a very brief time, then simulcast here and in some other market a few states away (wherever they first came from). You might be able to get away with simulcasting to two adjacent markets, where many interests/issues are similar, but not two markets with several states between them.

 

[TheBigA]

Exactly. What made that (hypothetical) show successful on the first station it was on? Probably the fact that it was LOCAL and superserved the interests of the audience in that one station's listening area.

So I guess Rush Limbaugh's show is a flop?

 

[flashback]

"Part of their "revamp" is using airing successful shows on one station and broadcast them on other stations around the country."
There goes Local Radio.

Exactly. What made that (hypothetical) show successful on the first station it was on? Probably the fact that it was LOCAL and superserved the interests of the audience in that one station's listening area. When you take a "local" show and start syndicating it to other markets, it is no longer local. If Clear Channel, for example, had taken Reith's show and simulcast it to Rochester and Albany, it wouldn't be the same show. Roc and Alb don't care about Syr issues... Reith would have to make the show more generic to appeal to those markets, which would result in de-localizing the show from Syracuse.

One particular real-life example of such failure: ------ & Ken, one of the first replacements on 95X after Stern left terrestrial radio. They were local to Syracuse for a very brief time, then simulcast here and in some other market a few states away (wherever they first came from). You might be able to get away with simulcasting to two adjacent markets, where many interests/issues are similar, but not two markets with several states between them.

bob and tom on WFBQ indianapolis were a lot better when they were local.when they went national they lost the local feel and the show suffered.