Clear Channel Shakeup

[UncleCharlie]

Any news on todays expected changes in Dallas?

 

[jeffdfw]

Yes, sadly, Lisa Thomas is gone from Mix. That is all I know so far. :'( :'( :'(

 

[Stinkymess]

Were there even very many people left in DFW they could fire?
Almost everything was voice-tracked. :'(

 

[bucwhyl]

I read that the morning man, Tony Zazza is gone also.

 

[Slambang]

It was a sad day for alot of people formerly of the CC empire. Seeing around 10% of your total workforce pinkslipped due to idiot managment and a mantra of voicetracking/syndie is the clear and present danger in this business. For all the folks who were dismissed either on the mic or behind the scenes, I feel for them and I have a feeling most will bounce back. Im thinking about doing this weeks show on the CC cluster-f (see sig below for link), because it needs to be said....

 

[jeffdfw]

Yes, gone are Lisa Thomas, Tony Zazza & Joe "Kelly" Cucinotti (overnight DJ). Rick O'Bryan shifts to Assistant PD while KISS FM's Patrick Davis takes over as PD. The new schedule (starting Monday) looks like this...

The Morning Mix with Rick O'Bryan and Victoria Snee
Middays are piped in from out of town (San Diego I think) with Cindy Spicer
Afternoon drive becomes On The Air with Ryan Seacrest piped in from LA

 

[Slambang]

Why in Gods name would anyone want to listen to victoria snee and the assistant PD, thats like scraping the bottom of the barrell for talent going with victoria to begin with....Then putting on Seacrest is going to drive down the numbers as well...like I said elsewhere, CC-Radio will probably out of business within 18 mon-2 years and will shed all the stations at that time.

 

[jeffdfw]

Totally agree with you Slam... AND Cindy Spicer is coming to us from KUSS FM in San Diego (COUNTRY!?!)

http://www.us957.com/pages/cindyspicer_jock.html

Here is her resume... Apparently she has a LOT of VT experience...

http://cindyspicer.com/cindyswebsite1040608_004.htm

 

[Stinkymess]

Well thank the radio gods that SHE got to keep her job so she doesn't have to give up her Costa Rica casita.
Bless her and all the other CC voice-trackers. Save your money because they'll eventually find a way to replace you too.

 

[txchipk]

Totally agree with you Slam... AND Cindy Spicer is coming to us from KUSS FM in San Diego (COUNTRY!?!)

http://www.us957.com/pages/cindyspicer_jock.html

Here is her resume... Apparently she has a LOT of VT experience...

http://cindyspicer.com/cindyswebsite1040608_004.htm

She used to VT evenings for KDMX several years ago. If I recall, she was one of the original CC voicetrackers...doing this now for almost a decade...and for a while was on a half dozen CC stations at one time.

 

[txchipk]

Yes, gone are Lisa Thomas, Tony Zazza & Joe "Kelly" Cucinotti (overnight DJ). Rick O'Bryan shifts to Assistant PD while KISS FM's Patrick Davis takes over as PD. The new schedule (starting Monday) looks like this...

The Morning Mix with Rick O'Bryan and Victoria Snee
Middays are piped in from out of town (San Diego I think) with Cindy Spicer
Afternoon drive becomes On The Air with Ryan Seacrest piped in from LA

It looks like, on the air, only KDMX got impacted here from the reports. Of course, with KEGL only having one local or non-syndicated shift, I guess there wasn't much to be cut from some of the other CC stations in the cluster.

 

[Dr. o Fun]

Middays are piped in from out of town (San Diego I think) with Cindy Spicer

Yes, Cindy Spicer is out of San Diego and, at one point, voice tracking all over the country for CC was all she did.

She's a very nice person and a great air talent. Please don't think of her as a Country DJ with her affiliation to KUSS. She's a Classic Rocker at heart but will voice track just about any format.

But, I'm sorry to see she's replacing local talent.

dr

 

[Slambang]

Like I said folks, im going out on a limb and saying CC as we know it wont be around in 18 months-2 years, Im going to cover some of this on saturdays show, but im also in agreement that pulling VT in from another market isnt the way to go. Ive always believed local on-air talent knows their city and what they enjoy listening to more than clueless front office hacks, sales people or consultants.

 

[scrtr84]

Like I said folks, im going out on a limb and saying CC as we know it wont be around in 18 months-2 years, Im going to cover some of this on saturdays show, but im also in agreement that pulling VT in from another market isnt the way to go. Ive always believed local on-air talent knows their city and what they enjoy listening to more than clueless front office hacks, sales people or consultants.

'ZACTLY! That's one of the major things I miss with radio today. When I travel to points A, B or C, I want to know what's going on in those places. I don't want to hear Jock Doe in all those places, telling the same lame bit jokes. To paraphrase the old song... "VT'ing killed the radio star".

 

[Slambang]

Update: We're going freeform on the show about the business, we'll start with an hour and go from there...

 

[TheBigA]

Ive always believed local on-air talent knows their city and what they enjoy listening to more than clueless front office hacks, sales people or consultants.

Ever watch WKRP in Cincinnati? It was not unusual for a local on-air guy to spend a few years in a town, get fired, and move to another job in another city. If you study the history of DJs on radio, that was the pattern. Most of the DJs I know worked in at least ten markets before settling in a place for a while. So to assume local on-air talent knows about their city more than an out-of towner misses the fact that few local on-air folks actually were born & raised in the town where they're working. Same thing with local TV newscasters. Most are imported from other places.

Radio reached a point in the 90s when it became a better-paying gig than it had been before. People became comfortable and assumed things would never change. But the fact is that historically, radio is not a stable profession, for on-air people or anyone else. Never has been. We're seeing that again now.

 

[ButtnPushr]

I feel like I live in Wichita Falls. I really never thought voice tracking would take over major markets, too!! How sad. I'm glad I jumped on the Sirius bandwagon years ago. It's basically the same thing, but I don't listen to commercials with my music now! R.I.P Radio...

 

[Slambang]

I tell ya, it used to be that you could trust to hear an on-air personality from your own town, who knew about the local color (HS Rivalries, Who was playing at a club/hall, how it was to drive in the city, ect..). Now in the CC VT era, they can fake it while sitting at home in san diego..

 

[TheBigA]

I tell ya, it used to be that you could trust to hear an on-air personality from your own town, who knew about the local color (HS Rivalries, Who was playing at a club/hall, how it was to drive in the city, ect..). Now in the CC VT era, they can fake it while sitting at home in san diego..

Hate to break the myth you believe to be true, but back in the old days, they were also faking it, because they were born and raised in Idaho or Maryland, not Big D.

You watch the Weather Channel, and their casters talk about Dallas as though they live there. Then they slide over and talk about Phoenix, and they live there too. It doesn't matter if they know the high school rivalries. I bet the old guys at WRR know them too. Does that mean people will sit through classical music to hear the announcers talk about local stuff?

 

[scrtr84]

Hate to break the myth you believe to be true, but back in the old days, they were also faking it, because they were born and raised in Idaho or Maryland, not Big D.

I don't agree. Up until the late 1980s / early 1990s, you KNEW almost all Dallas area jocks were local. They got out locally and did remotes, etc. VT'ing changed all that.