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Clear Channel Making Cuts. Is LA Next?
- Thread starter calguy
- Start date
B
Bianco500
Guest
Well
KHHT: Bring Steve Harvey's show over, that would have Hot syndied in Mornings and nights, get rid of Al B Sure, no need for expensive Celeb Jocks, and they VT weekends anyways.
KIIS: Probably like 106.1 in Dallas, Syndie Ryan Seacrest, VT middays, and either give Jo Jo or ODM the boot.
KYSR: Ya got me.
KBIG: Don't they have only two live jocks to begin with, Valentine and Kari Steele? I think Christian Wheel is still on weekends.
KOST: Probably VT weekends again.
KHHT: Bring Steve Harvey's show over, that would have Hot syndied in Mornings and nights, get rid of Al B Sure, no need for expensive Celeb Jocks, and they VT weekends anyways.
KIIS: Probably like 106.1 in Dallas, Syndie Ryan Seacrest, VT middays, and either give Jo Jo or ODM the boot.
KYSR: Ya got me.
KBIG: Don't they have only two live jocks to begin with, Valentine and Kari Steele? I think Christian Wheel is still on weekends.
KOST: Probably VT weekends again.
Bianco500 said:
What a pleasant thread this is. Let's speculate about people losing their jobs during the holiday season and bring up people's names. Really nice!
Radioresearcher said:
Amen to that. The real issue is, when revenues are off, some companies do anything to make budget, even if the very future of the medium is threatened. As has been mentioned on the Dallas forum, and in reaction to the local Kiss CHR going to voice tracking after mornings, how is radio any different than an iPod when there are no jocks and no human presence? Oh, yeah, there is a difference: we give a bonus of 12 to 15 minutes of spots and promos, and a personl iPod only has that individuals absolute favorite tunes...
Radioresearcher said:
I didn't mean for it to be a naming names thread. It IS a downer to speculate that this company, a company that has already erased so many people and jobs from the industry is doing it yet again, but if you look at it, they already are in many markets. The Burbank operation is large because it’s eight stations, but when you break it down station by station most of them are already running pretty lean. The exception is probably KIIS, but even that can be deceptive as most employees are in promotions and are low paying street teamers. But they do have a few more bodies that the others. The largest department is sales, and they won't cut there. Matter of fact, they make the best money, and the heart & soul of the station, the one that is responsible for product is the one that they keep cutting. Makes no sense. CC could definitely learn something by taking a look at how the big boys of radio used to operate 30 or 40 years ago. Back then deejays at the best sounding most productive properties worked shorter shifts knowing that they could out perform the competition that way, giving their best. Now its 5 hour shifts and voice tracking for multiple stations by stressed out over worked talent, and it sounds like it. Meanwhile the suits (sales) make more money. However, soon there won't be anyone to do their commercials. Oh wait, sales will just do it. Matter of fact, many salespeople do voice spots, and again, it sounds like it, yuk.
CC could definitely learn something by taking a look at how the big boys of radio used to operate 30 or 40 years ago.
You mean before the days of competition for ad revenue from:
* Cable TV
* Satellite TV
* Satellite Radio
* iPods
* Internet (incl. everything from banner ads to audio and video sponsorships)
* Cell Phones
* Email
* Social networks
* Advertisers buying space on anything and everything, from walls to buses to movie screens to gas pump and taxi cab toppers to corner pads in boxing rings to netting that snags footballs after field goals...etc. etc.
Unfortunately, so long as radio has months like September, where revenue across the country was 7% less than September a year ago, budget and personnel cuts will continue to make headlines. What's happening now is the new reality...with operators choosing to forego local programming in many cases (WLIT/Chicago being the latest exception) in favor of lower costs through generic syndicated shows and/or longer shifts for local shows (KPRC/Houston and WDFN/Detroit being the latest examples).
You mean before the days of competition for ad revenue from:
* Cable TV
* Satellite TV
* Satellite Radio
* iPods
* Internet (incl. everything from banner ads to audio and video sponsorships)
* Cell Phones
* Social networks
* Advertisers buying space on anything and everything, from walls to buses to movie screens to gas pump and taxi cab toppers to corner pads in boxing rings to netting that snags footballs after field goals...etc. etc.
Unfortunately, so long as radio has months like September, where revenue across the country was 7% less than September a year ago, budget and personnel cuts will continue to make headlines. What's happening now is the new reality...with operators choosing to forego local programming in many cases (WLIT/Chicago being the latest exception) in favor of lower costs through generic syndicated shows and/or longer shifts for local shows (KPRC/Houston and WDFN/Detroit being the latest examples).
Shoot From Hip said:
Maybe if the suits didn't make obscenely huge salaries they could have lower operating costs. I guess it would be best if the automation system was in the GM's office and he could run it all from there. Yes, there's competition, but you have to spend money to make it. This new reality was created by these same people. They wanted to own hundreds of stations and have companies that own property in almost every segment. Look at CBS, they are owned by a company that operates network and local TV, cable, radio, movies, outdoor advertising, etc. These same companies have a piece of the competition too. Radio is a very profitable business, the problem is that like every other business in America these days the people at the top keep making massive profits and the people that work for them making the product get less and less. They just want more without investing back into the business. Most people I know haven't seen a simple cost of living wage increase in 6 or 7 years and are asked to take on more and more responsibility without any increase in pay. When they ask for a raise they're told no, the company can't afford it. The only ones who get a raise already make great money. It's a nasty business now days. But it's like that in many industries.
Shoot From Hip said:
You left out the big one: debt service. 40 years ago, most of the "big" radio chains had been in the business for a long, long time...long enough that the reasonable amounts of money they paid for those stations had long since been amortized. Even new acquisitions were bought and sold for money that would allow the new owner to be in the black within 3 to 7 years.
De-reg changed all that. Companies like CC and others spent like drunken sailors...item number one on the budget sheets is debt service....tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars per station times however many stations they bought.
It adds up. Pretty soon you're talking about real money.
Ten years ago, Charlie Van Dyke and I were hired by Nationwide to do a morning show on their 96.9 FM in Phoenix, which they'd just bought from Bonneville. The night before, we got together. Charlie asked me if I had any second thoughts. Just one, I said. Bonneville sold the station because they were losing money. Let's pretend they made one dollar the last year instead. Nationwide paid $36 million for the station. Meaning, at the existing rate of return, Nationwide would see their money back in........um.....36 million years.
What's the math like to get that down to five years? Even 10 or 20? You'd have to cut out every possible expense and find every possible means of cramming in revenue...spot and non-traditional. And that's what they've been doing...all except Nationwide, who sold to Jacor in less than a year for....$38 million. Which is the other way of making a buck...finding the next sucker....who, of course, will go back to plan A...cutting every possible expense.
The worst part is...there's no way out.
---Michael Hagerty
Maybe if the suits didn't make obscenely huge salaries they could have lower operating costs.
I'm not here to defend any one or any company...but there are very few suits today that aren't doing more than they did prior to the Telecom Act of 1996. Most GMs run several stations, and many PDs program several as well. Job security is worse than ever.
You left out the big one: debt service.
Point well taken. I've got a buddy who owns a few stations. He spends more time responding to his investors than he does building relationships with his listeners, advertisers and employees.
I'm not here to defend any one or any company...but there are very few suits today that aren't doing more than they did prior to the Telecom Act of 1996. Most GMs run several stations, and many PDs program several as well. Job security is worse than ever.
You left out the big one: debt service.
Point well taken. I've got a buddy who owns a few stations. He spends more time responding to his investors than he does building relationships with his listeners, advertisers and employees.
michael hagerty said:
You forget that companies like Clear Channel obtained most big stations via stock and mergers, not through debt. In fact, Clear has a lower debt to equity ratio that General Electric. Debt is a way of using someone else's money to do something today at a cost that should be exceeded by the profits.
Debt service is not an expense in calculating EBITDA. Debt is the cost of obtaining assets... hopefully, producing assets.
A decision to invest is based on the prudence of the investment. If $100,000,000 in corporate bonds produces 5%, can you make more than 5% after the interest? The asset value is fixed... you still have the "principal"... and not part of a business formula. This is analogous to buying a house. If, after the net interest cost after tax savings, you are acquiring an asset with a known value for less than renting, you have a viable proposition because, in the end, you will have the house and the costs will be lower than renting.
Shoot From Hip said:
I'm not talking about GM's or owners that have a couple of stations, but suits way above. However, when even a market manager makes more in a few months than 5 or 6 of his top employees combined make in a year, that's obscene. And it is that way at a lot of companies. No doubt a lot of them earned their top spot, but there's money out there that could be spread around so you can get braces for your kids and a new car every 10 years or so...
As for the debt, most of the guys doing the buying weren't total idiots or they wouldn't have been in the position to buy the stations, they just bought too at too high a prices many in most instances.
Never should've de-regulated in the 1st place...
D
dbdigital
Guest
calguy said:
Yeah, nothing like striking fear into the hearts of already underpaid radio professionals to sharpen a person's appetite.
I don't know what the average monetary compensation is for Clear Channel employees in L.A. but a good friend of mine who works for a CC "cluster" in the Midwest tells me that, where he works, most employees are paid so little, they have take second jobs to make ends meet. Even the salesmen make only about 3% commission on spots ranging from 15 to 50 dollars. For this they have to go out, often in incliment weather and meet with clients and still work other jobs.
I oftentimes get the feeling that, at some point, this business is going to implode in on itself.
db
Even the salesmen make only about 3% commission on spots ranging from 15 to 50 dollars. For this they have to go out, often in incliment weather and meet with clients and still work other jobs.
I oftentimes get the feeling that, at some point, this business is going to implode in on itself.
db
[/quote]
If that's the way they treat the guys who bring in the revenue, then it absolutely will. Underutilizing, underpaying and eliminating talent is one thing. They might (maybe...only maybe) be able to get away with that (think "Jack").
If they also think they can starve the guys who sell the airtime, then it really is over...and they deserve it.
---Michael Hagerty
I oftentimes get the feeling that, at some point, this business is going to implode in on itself.
db
[/quote]
If that's the way they treat the guys who bring in the revenue, then it absolutely will. Underutilizing, underpaying and eliminating talent is one thing. They might (maybe...only maybe) be able to get away with that (think "Jack").
If they also think they can starve the guys who sell the airtime, then it really is over...and they deserve it.
---Michael Hagerty
The reality is that CC is not running radio stations. they are running things that turn a profit. Could be radio, could be a 7-11. It needs to make money. If it doesn't then management either cuts the staff or something (Gee...betcha they will be terrific holiday parties this year) to make the bottom line. Serve the public interest? Build the audience? Ha!
The folks in San Antonio should be forced to work in the hell-holes of their own making.
The folks in San Antonio should be forced to work in the hell-holes of their own making.
calguy said:
Meant to say that they bought too many stations at too high a price. Typing way too fast, sorry.
Looking at other posts, I don't know about the Midwest, but the sales people I know in LA do very well, driving BMW's & Mercedes Benz and owning nice houses in the best areas. But it's cut throat to say the least so you can have accounts stolen at any time. Most of the ones I've met through my friend seem nice enough and don't have other jobs. But I know many people in the industry who work multiple jobs to try and make ends meet. There seems to be no getting ahead.
The debt service point is well taken (the companies have themselves to blame and the investors should be more upset). As to execs and sales, please don't sound like some form of radio socialist. Sales pays your salary. They only sell what the station allows them to. And if you want to be an exec, get more experience, go back to school, be more innovative, and you will be.
KJCB said:
I've heard that 100,000 times...but rarely heard an AE admit that they need product to sell. Always one-sided:
most AE's bust their butts...in a job I would never want to do...but how many times is there a contest/promotion
within sales (with large bonuses) that doubles or triples the production load...with NO recognition of the equal amount
of extra work on the production side?
plus "sales pays your salary" is like telling a cop "I pay your salary" when you get pulled over.
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