CC Utica sale prices

[ThePickleReport]

The sale prices were posted for the sale of CC/Utica to Galaxy and Roser.

CC to Galaxy: $3.1 million
WIXT-AM & WSKU-FM/Little Falls, WADR-AM & WOKR-FM/Remsen, WRNY-AM & WUMX-FM/Rome, WUTQ-AM & WOUR-FM/Utica and WSKS-FM/Whitesboro

Galaxy to Roser: $650,000
WSKU-FM, WSKS-FM, WADR-AM, WUTQ-AM

Galaxy to EMF: $350,000
WOKR-FM

Galaxy to EMF: $1.22 million
WRCK-FM

Wow, talk about a fire sale.

 

[BobRoss]

Wow, the whole shooting match for $3 Million... apparently CC wants out of the below-100 markets no matter what!

Well... according to Fybush (http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-001211.html), back in 2000, Roser sold WSKU and WSKS (then WOWB and WOWZ) to ClearChannel for $2.15 million. WLFH-AM (now WIXT-AM) was included in the deal as well. If ThePickleReport's figures are correct, Roser made out like a bandit on this deal. He gets back his original 2 FMs along with 2AMs, for less than half what he sold them for!

Of course, you also have to compare the quality of Kiss FM then, to Kiss FM now... back then, they were live 24/7 and had decent jocks and promotions. Today it's crappy live dayparts, crappy voicetracked nights and and so on.

Obviously Roser couldn't have forseen this happening 7 years ago... but hopefully he didn't burn all that money he got for selling the stations. CC can get away with cost cutting and crappy programming because they have so many stations. Utica didn't do well, but bigger, more successful markets picked up the slack in the big picture. Roser's a much smaller owner and he's gonna need to spend some considerable coin to improve the programming and get people back on the Kiss train.

Then you have the Kiss vs. Mix issue... they currently compliment each other, but soon will be competitors. But I don't think it will be a problem for long. I predict Ed will flip Mix into a simulcast of Sunny 102 (the name, liners, and so on would work for both stations, unlike the "partial" simulcasting of TK and Rock 107). That would nearly eliminate any musical overlap with Kiss, while at the same time positioning 102.5 to compete more directly with Lite 98.7.

 

[ThePickleReport]

ThePickleReport's figures are correct, Roser made out like a bandit on this deal. He gets back his original 2 FMs along with 2AMs, for less than half what he sold them for!

Thanks for pointing that out Bob. I completely forgot that he used to own those!

It will be interesting for me to see what happens over the next two or three years in Utica radio. There's going to be two less FM's to compete with and two locally owned competitors with more signals to program. Maybe, just maybe, they can tighten up the gap and challenge some of Regent's top stations. I think those AM's in this transaction are practically worthless though.

 

[BobRoss]

Thanks for pointing that out Bob. I completely forgot that he used to own those!

...and when you consider the rate of inflation over the last umpteen years, you could say Roser made out even better than simply subtracting one sale price from the other. CC really undersold them, and Galaxy undersold them even more. As long as Roser can afford to shell out the bucks for a decent PD/MD, better jocks, and some nice promotions, it shouldn't take much for Kiss-FM's ratings to improve.

It will be interesting for me to see what happens over the next two or three years in Utica radio. There's going to be two less FM's to compete with and two locally owned competitors with more signals to program. Maybe, just maybe, they can tighten up the gap and challenge some of Regent's top stations. I think those AM's in this transaction are practically worthless though.

I agree... the AM's are garbage. As the SportsStars, at least they could be marketed together as if they were one unified station. Once the sale goes through and they're split up, we may see Arbitron's first-ever negative ratings. Either owner could just let those piddly AM's go dark... I doubt anyone else would bother to even TRY picking up the licenses. Even if someone did, it'd likely be a religious operator who would not be a threat.

The competition on the FM side could get interesting... but I don't know if I consider Galaxy a threat to anyone. They were barely trying before. They spent years putting both Rock 107 and K-Rock up against WOUR. If Galaxy was serious about going after Regent, they would have taken one of their two rock FM's and flipped over to either country or AC years ago.

Regent typically has spent more than the competition on promotions, and their air staff has a decent amount of seniority. Roser is in a position where he'll need to sink some money into Kiss-FM to revive it, but since he's a one-market company, I'll be surprised if he has tons of dough to make it happen.

Galaxy likely spent most, if not all of its "rainy day" cash on buying the CC cluster, so who knows how much extra Ed's got left for promotions. Rather than keeping Mix intact, and improving on it by hiring more local talent... I predict he'll go the cheap route by simulcasting Sunny, which would allow him to ax at least 2 jobs, and it would be doing Roser a favor by eliminating any crossover with Kiss.

That leaves WOUR. You'd hope longtime veterans Jerry Krause and Alison are allowed stay on board. But if WOUR skews more "classic" (so K-Rock can be the solo dog for newer rock) WOUR will no longer have any direct competition, and the air staff becomes inconsequential. I wouldn't be surprised to see the TK simulcast moved from Rock 107 to WOUR, at least for overnights and weekends. WOUR was the best station for CC, and it's now the best station in Galaxy's roster. The changes Ed makes here could seriously make it or break it for him.

 

[ajhenderson]

So what are 'ADR and 'UTQ worth in a non-fire sale; $50 and $125k? There's been a Utica-Rome AM listed for sale on one of the brokers' sites for $295k... seems a bit steep for anything that would be for sale.

 

[Dave4120]

If you take what Galaxy paid for WOUR, MIX and the two useless AM stations, coupled with what he sold the other properties for to EMF and Roser, he ends up getting WOUR, MIX an the two AM's for around 1-million total! Not bad. Plus, by getting rid of WOKR and WRCK, he eliminates all rock competitors from WOUR, thus gaining market share again for WOUR. Would not be surprised to see WOUR with numbers in the teens again because of no competition.

I've been told Allison has been offered to stay on with Galaxy and accepted, while Jerry Kraus has not been offered anything. Not sure if this is accurate, but it is what many are saying.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Buying and owning an AM only in Utica-Rome, even if the cluster is comprised of two or three decent AM signals, would appear to be an overwhelming challenge. The big fulltime AM signals, WIBX and WRUN are occupied. Daytime only AM radio has seen better days. Astute as I'd like to think I am, I wouldn't want to make that kind of investment. Owning three FM's, even the challenge of Class A's, would seem to allow better return on investment than any investment in AM.

Do readers here think an FM talker with a signal that covers the population density of Utica-Rome could make a dent? Live local news AM and PM drive, live local general issues morning drive personality, satellite syndication middays and nights, weekends dedicated to local sports such as high school football and basketball, with Ed Schultz in the line-up and perhaps Neil Boortz too. I'm not talking "morning zoo" or "deep thoughts in a shallow pool" type of radio, but stuff that's relevant, hip, somewhat irreverent with some degree of gravitas. The Daily Show meets Talk Soup meets Morning Edition meets Joe Bagadonuts in New Hartford.

Make a dent or lost cause?

 

[ThePickleReport]

There's been a Utica-Rome AM listed for sale on one of the brokers' sites for $295k... seems a bit steep for anything that would be for sale.

I know there was a religious AM for sale in Utica awhile back, maybe it's that station.

 

[ThePickleReport]

Do readers here think an FM talker with a signal that covers the population density of Utica-Rome could make a dent?

I don't know Jim. There's already WIBX there and going head-to-head for that audience might be a lost cause. Then again having two country formats in a market that small is a lost cause too.

Doing a talk format right, IMHO, you need a local presence and local news staff to make it work. I worked in a competitive but small market (unrated) that had a four person news staff plus four or five sports play-by-play to choose from! Top-notch for a market that small.

 

[BobRoss]

Do readers here think an FM talker with a signal that covers the population density of Utica-Rome could make a dent? Live local news AM and PM drive, live local general issues morning drive personality ...

This has been talked about with friends of mine in the past, and we agree it COULD work. But, the key, as you mentioned, would be to have a news staff that could rival WIBX, and a good AM drive talk show. Right now, WIBX is all news for the entire morning, while something more like WSYR's morning show with Joe Galuski could be an excellent competitor. The problem is finding the budget to make it work. Corporate owners are too greedy to spend the kind of scratch it would take to get a real talented host, in addition to a full news staff. Local owners just plain can't afford it.

If someone DID want to spend the money, they would definitely have WIBX shaking. First off, they could very easily hire away anyone they wanted from WIBX. Those guys are making bargain basement salaries. Even though they're salaried, most are making so little, they legally cannot work overtime without being paid extra. Most of them are mediocre, but I'd hire away at least Jim Rondenelli. Dave Andrews sounds good on the air, but I'd be too distrusting of his shady past to risk it. Considering this is like his 3rd time around as News Director, I'd also be wondering how long he'd actually stay (or how long until he did something that would require me to fire him).

Secondly, hire more than, say, 5 people, and you've got WIBX outnumbered. The station barely has enough of a staff to have a different anchor for each daypart, 5am to 7pm. No nights, no weekends -- they give the entire 6-minute local window to CBS. There may be one or two reporters who can run out to cover stories, but only one news vehicle, so most of the interviews are done as phoners. Simply staffing the newsroom 24 hours a day, or at least during the day on weekends, would be a leg up over WIBX.

Finding syndicated talk shows for the rest of the day shouldn't be a problem. Glenn Beck is way better than that whining Laura Ingraham. Not sure who you'd put up against Rush. If we're assuming news is on from 3 to 7, then we just need an evening show. There's a handful of choices there. Overnights, just throw "anyone" on the air, whether they're on live, or it's timeshifted from earlier in the day. Overnights don't really matter in Utica. As for weekends, I'd try to hire away Ed Walsh for Auto Talk, and line him up with other, similar do-it-yourself or "practical advice" programs (lawyers, investors, doctors, etc.) on Saturday morning. Maybe some "best of" shows from the weekday talent for those who aren't able to listen at work during the week. Could also try to steal away local and syndicated sports from WIBX, assuming it's stuff that would only be "required" to air on weekends. There's no quicker way to anger listeners than by pre-empting their favorite weekday talk show to air a baseball game, especially if the team's having a crappy season -- which you never know until months after the contract's been signed.

Last but not least, I'd definitely hire a real meteorologist to voice the forecasts. Preferably someone from WKTV if possible, or else an outside service like AccuWeather, etc. Even though the "free" National Weather Service forecast is okay, it sounds more credible to have a meteorologist's voice doing their "own" forecast, than having news anchors read it.

The thing about WIBX is that everyone (on-air, sales, promotions and management) assumes all the listeners are 65+ men. Management thinks it's simply a matter of "they've been listening forever, so we'll just keep giving 'em the same old crap we've been giving 'em since before any of us actually worked here." By cutting things back and turning it into a barebones operation, they're only working to perpetuate their own stereotype. But if they invested the money to breathe some life into the product (more local talk programming, better-quality local news coverage, etc.) they'd find that more people would listen and they could actually start making money, rather than looking for ways to keep trimming the budget.

 

[Dave4120]

Hi Everyone...I agree with you Bob and Jim, that WIBX could do much better if the effort and budget was put forth. I also believe, and FM talker would do fine, again, if, it were done properly. I have spoken with management at Regent several times recently about what they can do to improve WIBX. It still sounds 40-years old. It's a tired radio station. I will only say that there is room for much improvement with on-air talent. And there is no reason to have all news in the morning and from 5-6PM. There isn't enough news to talk about in the Utica area. If you listen now, there is 5 or so minutes of local news, then the rest of the hour has network features. Boring and who cares.

The on air sound needs to be improved with better bumpers and lead in music into the news at the top of the hour. Just that, would give a different feel to the station. I can go on for hours about this. I do know that with improvements and adding more local talk, and local sports would work. I do local sports now and it has been a big hit in the community.

Who knows...maybe some suggestions I have made and will continue to voice, might be put forth. Regent can also do a much better job with WODZ. It just sits there. That should be the FM talker.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

News-talk is a very expensive format to pull off. It's a demanding format, especially on FM and especially when there's an established AM doing the format. It's labor intensive, requiring good bodies with good brains.

"Second man in" is tough enough with music formats, but it's even more demanding with news-talk. Can't just throw 400 well-tested titles into Selector and Audio Vault and play twenty in a row against your competition. The adage "you're only as good as your weakest link" is especially true in news-talk, regardless of whether it's a live and local or syndicated off the bird.

It's very interesting to read the posts in this thread about what WIBX Utica is doing in the format. Even from this end of the state (and knowing a little about the market) the station is well established and the "go to" station when the lights go out or the lake effect snow off Lake Ontario starts piling up, or the Mohawk river has crested three feet above flood stage. In this respect, WIBX is very much like WSYR Syracuse or WBEN Buffalo. Everybody 12 to 82 years old knows it's the "news" station, whether it's got a two man news staff or a 12 man news staff.

Competing with an established AM news-talk station requires sound strategy that's tweaked daily, diligence and commitment to programming, news, engineering, promotions and most critically, a department that's frequently overlooked: Sales.

Selling news-talk isn't easy. It's not like selling AC, Country, CHR or Classic Rock (although selling a Classic Rock morning show has some similarities), especially when your live local talk hosts pisses off a client like a big car dealer, when talking to a caller and inadvertantly and honestly says something as tame as "I always liked cars with good radios, that's why I never liked Fords, they always had bad radios."

Woosh... that's the sound of the local (insert name here) Ford dealer calling his AE and canceling his monthly contract. Whether the client was getting $2 spots or $52 spots, no AE wants to get that call and very few AE's know how to deal with a call like that, short of storming into the PD's office and demanding that he force the air talent apologize (bad move) for making the comments.

I know this whole thread is a hypothetical discussion, but anybody who plans to put a news-talk format on, especially in the face of an established news-talk AM, better have deep pockets, lots of street smarts, book smarts and an abundance of patience and faith in the format. It's a thrill when the format works. There's nothing more rewarding than making your competition sweat because you're beating them on the street in programming, news, promotion and sales.

You can have the best programmed, slickest sounding FM news-talk station in the market, but if you can't sell it, you'll be playing Hootie and the Blowfish, Alan Jackson or the Doors in six months.

 

[therealjm12]

I was surprised to read Dave's statement about WODZ. He certainly knows a lot more about the Utica-Rome market than I do, but I would believe Regent would be satisfied with the performance of WODZ. From what I know about the station, it has a live morning show and is a computer the rest of the day. It should be a cash cow. The market is filled with 35-54 so there is really no excuse for an oldies format not to succeed in Utica-Rome- especially one with no payroll. The few times I have been in the area in the last few years I have heard the station in a lot of stores and on car radios. With the huge success lately of CBS-FM I would think any management would think long and hard about dropping an oldies format especially in a older demo market like Utica-Rome. Too bad Regent sold off WRUN. It would have made an excellent liberal talk station (Stephanie Miller-Ed Shultz-Randi Rhodes) companion for right wing WIBX.

 

[funnyman]

Dave works for an Ad Agency in town and also broadcasts sports on WIBX. Is WODZ still 35-54? Too bad they don't try to program a local River type format when the station is sold. With less competition in terms of WRCK going away the station would almost have to gain revenue and it could stop Galaxy from having a monopoly of the rock market in town.

 

[Dave4120]

Hi Everyone...I would agree that a River type format could definetly work and keep Galaxy in check. I also feel that WODZ could do much better than they are currently doing if Regent, as a company, paid more attention to it. Right now, it's like a throw away. Not much attention given to it.

In my opinion, WODZ does not have the same exciting feel as other oldies stations such as CBS-FM in New York, or even WSEN in Syracuse for that matter. The ABC syndicated format WODZ subscribes to in my opinion is way off on the music mix. And from a sound quality standpoint, WODz sounds flat and as blah as can be. When I listen to WSEN or WCBS-FM of many other oldies stations, I get pumped up listening to many of the songs, not with WODZ.

When I was in college, I remember a professor telling us that even though most people will never say aloud that a stations sound quality is good, or that a stations sound is compressed and gets them pumped up...it does, without them really knowing it. I believe even if WODZ went back to live on-air talent during mid-day and afternoon drive, improved the sound processing for an oldies format, and got someone in there that knows the music mix better than what they currently have, they could be a big factor in the market. I have no doubt in my mind about how well they could perform.

i really do not believe Regent is satisfied with the performance of WODZ. I wouldn't be. I think because FROG and Lite do so well, WODZ has been spared.

 

[Element9]

If I was responsible for debt service on a million dollars at two points above prime, rest assured I wouldn't even THINK of doing a news-talk format in Utica-Rome. If CBS is walking away from the Free FM format and returning to music formats, it's more than likely they know a thing or two about what works and what doesn't, and in many cases, they found out the hard way.

No, I'd rather be second or third man in on music formats, run them responsibly and practically, make my monthly payments, retire debt and have some money left over to feed my family than go out on the limb doing a format that doesn't guarantee a payoff in the near or distant future.

As George Allen and Vince Lombardi once said, "the future is now."

The way some formats are "executed" in Utica-Rome, witness the mentions about WODZ, it wouldn't take much to put a station in play. To quote a previous poster, an operator with "lots of street smarts, book smarts," could take his choice of formats and easily lay waste to half the market.

Hiring away a few good people from the competition for 50 bucks more a week would be a good way to start. Regent's staff can't be THAT loyal.

-9-

 

[BobRoss]

I agree with several of the posts since my last one in this thread (wow, things got moving fast for the first time in awhile here!).

Dave, I know you're on the inside and I'm on the outside, but I've heard many of the same things of WODZ. It and WIBX are like the redheaded bastard stepchildren, while the attention is given to Lite and Big Frog. Therealjm12, WODZ was a cash cow at one point. In addition to live mornings, they were profiting enough to hire a second jock for live afternoons! But a few years later, Regent laid him off in a cost-cutting move. (He's since been re-hired, but only part-time, last I knew.)

Unfortunately for him, I think the real problem was with the former morning host, who had a reputation for being rude with listeners, both on the request lines, and even at remotes! One of WODZ's biggest gimmicks was those summer car cruise-ins they did almost every night, but whenever he wouldn't get his way, he could get pushy and mean. P!$$ing off the leaders of a local classic car enthusiast group with a rather sizeable membership doesn't really help you maintain your audience numbers. (I won't name names, but let's just say he's MOViN the same old B.S. in Syracuse these days.)

I digress. Yes, WIBX has a long history. But compared to the other newsmedia in the market, it's a joke. When something big is happening, I think most people would first go to WKTV or the Observer-Dispatch before they turn on WIBX. Like I said in an earlier post, the WIBX Newsroom basically shuts down after 7 or 8 at night. There's no local news nights or weekends, yet WKTV and the paper are still staffed around the clock. You should NEVER get voicemail when you call a newsroom. There should ALWAYS be someone there to answer the calls. You never know when a really hot tip could come in, and you missed it because the caller didn't want to leave a voicemail message.

A competitor who is truly serious about executing a solid plan to defeat WIBX wouldn't have to do very much to be successful. Having a news staff with enough people to properly cover events is the first step. Have enough anchors to provide local newscasts every hour, seven days a week. Even if the overnight anchor voicetracks a few so they can devote more time to preparing some well-polished stuff for the morning, it's better than six solid minutes of CBS with no local content.

It could be 3 full-time anchors each working 8 hour shifts. Or it could be 5 anchors doing the traditional "dayparts," using their non-anchoring hours to do street reporting. Either way, at least 3 reporters on weekdays, 1 or 2 weeknights, and 1 or 2 on weekends would be sufficient. Yes, that's a lot of bodies, but it's still fewer than WKTV, the Utica paper or even the Rome paper. Geographically, Utica/Rome is a big market. You shouldn't have to choose between equally-important events happening in both cities at about the same time just because there's only one reporter on duty. Even worse, you shouldn't miss a big event on the weekend because the newsroom's running on banker's hours.

Dave, you're also right about the music, bumpers, stingers, etc. I think they've been just using cuts from some production music library. A "real" news/talker actually forks up the cash for a news music package. Rather than using production library tracks that "sound newsy," you need to have music that's tailored for news, with cuts that were created specifically to be a newscast open, a sports bed, weather and traffic stingers, promo beds, and so forth. Yes, it's a little more pricey, but it does help the overall sound improve, and in turn, gets more listeners (hopefully below 60).

Perhaps the only real struggle for a competing news/talker would be finding a good lineup of talk shows. As much as people are always asking for more liberal hosts, most non-Rush stations have a hard time competing with the Rush station in town. You almost have to be prepared to sacrifice 12-3, but in doing so, you can concentrate on stealing listeners away before and after Rush. As I said before, a Galuski-like show in morning drive would work well over the mostly canned national crap used as filler on WIBX's morning news. If the budget allows, a local talk show could do well in the afternoon too. Heck, maybe it would be better in the midday slot against Rush. With the right talent talking about engaging local topics, and good outside promotions, ya never know what could happen.

See, the trick is knowing that WIBX, for years now, has just been resting on its laurels. Aside from expanding the coverage of local sports in the recent past, management hasn't really done much to lift up WIBX. It's just the same old routine, day in and day out. Nobody cares how good or bad the product is, just as long as it all gets on the air and the ratings don't change dramatically. Instead of striving for ways to make the product better and attract new listeners, they just settle for "good enough." And you'll rarely see any outside promotion for the station, unless it's part of a trade deal.

As for the sales part of it, Regent's sales department is split in half. One half sells WODZ and WFRG. The other half sells WIBX and WLZW. If you can bring in a ton of bread (and commission) selling WLZW, what's your incentive to devote any time to WIBX? Most of those reps are probably out there offering WIBX as a "bonus freebie" as an incentive to get clients to spend more on WLZW. Same could be said for those who sell WFRG and WODZ. Why bend over backwards trying to sell time on the oldies station that gets only half the ratings of the country station? If Regent had reps devoted specifically to WIBX or WODZ, both stations would most definitely benefit. So would any WIBX competitor that had well-informed sales reps devoted exclusively to their product, not trying to cross-sell 2 or 3 other stations.

Another area where WIBX could easily be overtaken: the website. A recent overhaul, but still very lacking for an alleged news media outlet. Local news is only offered in text form, and whoever's posting the content is doing a terrible job. Many proper nouns (like "Oneida County") aren't capitalized (saw it as "Oneida county" several times, just checking as I write this), local places like Hinckley aren't spelled properly (saw it as "Hinkley") and then you have vague story headlines like "Rape" or even better, "Flu Shot Clincs" (yes, spelled just like that). Where are the audio downloads? Podcasts from the always-thrilling "First Look" program? Younger audiences aren't into waiting for the top of the hour. They want it available anytime on demand.

WKTV and the OD run circles around WIBX every day, both in their traditional product and on the web. This is a time when radio should be fighting harder than ever to appeal to younger audiences. But Regent is content with the same old cast of characters doing the same old crap they've been doing for decades. Unless they shake things up soon, it's just a matter of time before the WIBX news department is reduced to just one person, doing morning drive updates for WIBX and the rest of the cluster.

 

[Dave4120]

Hi Bob...You could not have explained things any better than you just did on your latest post. And, you are right when you mentioned that except for local sports being revived on WIBX (thanks to Fred Miller and his newspaper "My Hometown Sports", not a Regent idea) it is the same old, dull thing everyday. The sports has actually put them back on the map to a degree. There is more talk about what football, basketball and hockey game we're going to do, than anything else over there. You are also right about the former morning host at WODZ being rude and having an ego attidtude problem.

Overall, I like everyone at Regent. I do business with them, and I also freelance doing high school play-by-play, however, there are many areas they can improve upon and I beleive they are at least open to discussing those options. I am not saying I want to get back into programming and management, but there are days where I would at least love to try some of my ideas to get them back on track.

 

[Element9]

A fine thread, gentlemen!

But I'll stand by my initial contention that doing an FM news-talk format to compete with WIBX, no matter how shoddy itsproduct might be, isn't an easy way to pay down debt.

The in depth analysis supplied by Bob Ross holds some good arguments in favor of news-talk, yet, looking at three to five anchors/beat reporters at a minimum salary of $20k (a harsh, unappreciative salary from where I stand) totals $100k. Now add a morning anchor-hand off guy, your production director and promotions director-web master and benefits, SS and unemployment taxes and you're investing about $200k per year on personnel. For Utica-Rome? It's a tough number to carry for a company that's carrying a half a million to one million in debt.

By the way, if for some reason I wanted to mess with Rush, I'd put Ed Schultz on and position him as the voice of the "everyman" who's more likely to live and work in U-R, going up against a guy whose show originates from West Palm and is a multi-millionaire. And I'd parody the daylights out of Rush in locally produced promos. But I digrress. I simply would not do news-talk on FM in that market.

I'd rather find and counter program the weaknesses of my music-format competitors, hire a good Ops Manager who doubles as a morning or afternoon drive guy; plus a promotions manager-web guy; an accomplished production guy, who also doubles as a voice-track maven; at least one good morning person (male-female) and a responsible, literate news person co-host (male-female). The bottom line is a bit more managable and the music and formatics are far more controllable, regardless of the format.

On top of this, your sales people have a more consistent product to market, with a minimum of distractions and volitility.

As to WODZ and the former morning guy who found himself Movin' to greener pastures, all I can say is if you treat your customers badly, you give them a reason not to visit your store. Dumb move.

A manager would be wise to be objective and get both sides of the story, then, if warranted, give the air talent a first time warning, making the person aware of their transgressions and how it adversely impacts the welfare of the radio station. If the jock is right, you're obligated to stand behind him/her. If there's culpability, you tell the individual "next time this happens, there will be swift and immediate action taken that may impact your employment." If and when "next time" occurs, you pull the trigger.

If any employee is adversely affecting my investment and my business, he's stealing from the cash register and harming the well being of other, responsible, hard-working employees who may have families and dependents. Morning guy or not, act like a screw-up on my dime and you pay the price. Sorry if that sounds cold. I actually like air talent and personalities, but I have no tolerance for uncontroled egos and petulant adults who act like children. I operate a radio station. It's not a daycare center, de-tox or rehab unit.

-9-

 

[therealjm12]

I grew up in the Utica-Rome area and have to say any belief that WIBX had a great news dept. ever is greatly overblown. No, I wasn't around for "the network days" but I remember WIBX in the 60's & 70's. Even back then WIBX's programing was mostly syndicated and automated (anyone remember Music with McMasters or Joe Pyne?). They usually had one or two newspeople on staff durring the day Monday-Friday and a rip & read 1st ticket guy nights & weekends. After P. D. Ralph Alinger died there was a big decline in program quality.
They did have that terrific signal and very high fidelty but after a while WTLB and the expertise of C. E. Dave Doughty blew them away. And speaking of WTLB their news dept. was far, far, better in the late 60's & 70's. WTLB had Brian Whitemore, and the likes of Joe Tierno, Steve Hunter, Bob McMahon, Gary Kenerknect, and several other talented journalists in their newsroom.
In my opinion, WIBX's true golden years were when Bob Dearborn owned the station n the 80's. The station never sounded better technically, or programing wise. It was probably why WTLB gave up on the talk format and left WIBX unchallanged. Too bad, I always thought WTLB did a great job moving from a top 40 to a news talker.