Clear Channel Staff Meeting Today

[RomeToupee]

The meeting happened today.What went down?

 

[RadioStarOne]

Seems as if no ones talking!

 

[bartstar]

Afraid of the big bad managers going to beat you. When is radio going to grow up? Please, you treat people like crap. Don't talk to anybody, or else. Managers are not your fathers or God. Someday you will realize that no one can tell you what to do. Period. It is a wonderful feeling once you figure it out.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Maybe there's nobody left to talk?

 

[InTheBiz]

{{cricket, cricket}}

Wusses. This is your LIVELIHOOD. You gotta SHARE INFO with each other.

 

[pump]

New dawn new day! If something is going to happen there you will find out soon enough! Whatever comes down the pipe you can't do anythign about it! good luck up there!

 

[TheBigA]

Someday you will realize that no one can tell you what to do. Period. It is a wonderful feeling once you figure it out.

That's interesting. You're obviously not married.

 

[BobRoss]

Maybe there's nobody left to talk?

All kidding aside, this may actually be the case. I mean, yeah, there are still people who work at CC, but they're already running a pretty lean operation to start with. Maybe getting rid of Pat Pagano and leaving other recent vacancies unfilled was enough to dodge any corporate bullets. It's a shame though, because most of those "recent vacancies" come from the WSYR newsroom, where departing full-timers seem to be getting replaced by lackluster part-time college students. If I want to listen to college students, I'll turn on WJPZ or WAER.

Radio industry execs keep saying they're looking for ways to reinvent themselves and bring listeners back. Putting inexperienced college undergrads on a heritage news/talker is NOT the way to do it. Clear Channel may be saving money, but they're also snubbing listeners. I don't care if you use Cashbox to squeeze an extra :30 or :60 into each hour. I don't care if you shorten the TOH news to squeeze in an extra spot or two. But don't give me these inexperienced hacks like Jay Fishman. Granted, yes, once in awhile you luck out with an undergrad who sounds good on the air. Alex Silverman is one example. But kids like him are too talented to stick around here. If he doesn't have a job in a bigger market lined up by the time he graduates, he'll find one within 6-12 months. Get experienced, talented people back on the air, like Chris Weidman and Dave Bullard. Sure, they cost a lot more, but they deserve it, and the investment is worth it.

 

[RomeToupee]

Re: Clear Channel D Day January 20

Jan 20 is the date as Joel hopes to have his bloddletting hidden by the events of the day in Washington DC.The word is that he has already started the spin by telling everyone how "generous" and "great" the "reengineering" packages are!

 

[bartstar]

Yea, and how we are all going to be driving new cars because of Carousel, I mean the Destiny Project. And oh yea, we are all going to be on salary which is much better than getting commission, and we should be selling the internet because it is the way Radio is going, and voice tracking is the best thing to happen to local radio.

Can't wait for the changes!

 

[SirRoxalot]

Re: Clear Channel D Day January 20

Jan 20 is the date as Joel hopes to have his bloddletting hidden by the events of the day in Washington DC. The word is that he has already started the spin by telling everyone how "generous" and "great" the "reengineering" packages are!

Wow. That sounds EXACTLY like something Clear Channel would come up with. Welcome to the Brave New World of broadcasting.

 

[pump]

January 20th? Interesting! How do you know for sure? Where do you people find your facts at? Again, unless you know 100% for sure stop guessing and upsetting people who may not even be on the chopping block. Stay focused on your job and who knows...maybe it will pass you by. Time will tell then it will simply be somethign else to gossip...I mean talk about.

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

January 20th? Interesting! How do you know for sure? Where do you people find your facts at? Again, unless you know 100% for sure stop guessing and upsetting people who may not even be on the chopping block. Stay focused on your job and who knows...maybe it will pass you by. Time will tell then it will simply be somethign else to gossip...I mean talk about.

I saw the same date published on several websites last yesterday afternoon PST.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Wait for it...

Of course. It makes sense. Why else would they have waited to drop the axe after all the market managers returned from THE meeting in TX.

CC wants to avoid public scrutiny, and the inauguration is the perfect day to do that. If the story gets any play anyway, it will take a little luster off the Obama inauguration - another "benefit" for Bain, Lee, and the Mays family.

 

[Element9]

IF January 20th is in fact "D Day" for mass executions within the Clear Channel organization, it's truly is a despicable maneuver. I intended to use the word "diabolical," but "despicable" seemed more appropriate. And would any of us be surprised by Clear Channel's actions? Seriously. Check the record. Yes, "despicable" seems quite appropriate.

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

IF January 20th is in fact "D Day" for mass executions within the Clear Channel organization, it's truly is a despicable maneuver. I intended to use the word "diabolical," but "despicable" seemed more appropriate. And would any of us be surprised by Clear Channel's actions? Seriously. Check the record. Yes, "despicable" seems quite appropriate.

Didn't you mean devilish? As in, devious actions of The Devil?

 

[BobRoss]

Re: Clear Channel D Day January 20

Jan 20 is the date as Joel hopes to have his bloddletting hidden by the events of the day in Washington DC.

I have also heard this will be the big day (3rd hand info, but a trustable source in my book). It's kind of odd... I mean, everyone knew these meetings were happening in TX, and everyone knows the end result will not be good. The mainstream media may overlook this if it happens on January 20th, but people in radio certainly won't ignore it, and it's not like the listeners won't notice on the 21st, when their favorite on-air talents are suddenly missing.

On the other hand... listeners keep listening. Even if "icons" like Ron/Tom & Becky got the ax, people would still listen. Partly because there's no other country station in the Syracuse market, and partly because people wouldn't have the cajones to take a stand. Even if listeners mount a write-in campaign asking CC to bring them back, CC just has to say no. What next? Nothing. Because it's not like anyone else in the market has a big pile of money, ready to pick up Tom & Becky and launch their own country station. Citadel doesn't have the money. Galaxy... well, they've managed to score some key "leave-behinds" here and there, but I can't see them flipping anything over to country. That leaves Buckley, who just dumped a bunch of people at WSEN; and Craig Fox, who I doubt would flip Movin to country. (And I just use B's morning team as a hypothetical... I haven't heard any specific names, and you could probably plug any morning show host's name into that example.)

Perhaps the only people who are safe in all of this are Joe Galuski and Jim Reith from WSYR. You have to have local talk in morning drive, and it has to be a host who can be at ease with a wide variety of topics and keep the show moving. A music FM can go "music intensive" in the morning and get away with it. A news/talk AM needs to have quality, topical, local talk in the morning. There's no cheap "filler" for news/talk, unless you want to see the ratings plummet.

As for Reith... people either love him or hate him. Either way, he's still on after all these years, so people must be listening. At first, I was considering Reith dispensable -- there are dozens of syndicated shows out there which could be easily replace him. But having a local show always means more room to cram in more spots, not to mention live host-voiced commercials, and host sponsor mentions of things like Snack of the Day, etc. At the end of the day, the fact that Reith's show provides so many additional opportunities for WSYR to whore itself out, is the main reason I'm guessing his job is safe.

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

IF January 20th is in fact "D Day" for mass executions within the Clear Channel organization, it's truly is a despicable maneuver. I intended to use the word "diabolical," but "despicable" seemed more appropriate. And would any of us be surprised by Clear Channel's actions? Seriously. Check the record. Yes, "despicable" seems quite appropriate.

Taylor-On-RI is reporting in his newsletter that the 20th is the day for the instructions on the jump drives that were handed out at the Dallas managers' meeting to be implemented.

I hope nobody's missing the symbolism of Obama's inaguration day. It's no secret that certain powerful families in Texas/Washington have enjoyed each others' strong support for at least the last eight years. I hate to be one of those "called it" folks, but I do recall mentioning my belief that the Mays family was pushing the privatization deal to time its completion with the end of Bush's administration. You don't get as far as they did without having some pretty powerful friends in Washington, but it looks like they knew exactly when the party would be over. Any special consideration they might have been getting from the federal government, any blind eyes or understandings with the FCC might be more closely scrutinized by a new administration. Golden parachutes awaaaaaay! The fact that Obama's administration will now be forever closely associated in the minds of a thousand Americans with their job loss is just a special present. Of course, counting on the national media to overlook massive job cuts in the face of the Presidential Inaguration makes that last final statement about what this family has contributed to America all that much more clear. It's not just a nod to friend Bush. It's almost poetic in its total farking of the industry, the listeners, the voters, and the nation that allowed them to become insanely rich and power-mad. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[TheBigA]

Of course, counting on the national media to overlook massive job cuts in the face of the Presidential Inaguration makes that last final statement about what this family has contributed to America all that much more clear.

It wouldn't matter what day the cuts happened. The national press isn't going to report a thousand radio people losing jobs when half a million people a month are getting slashed, including police, teachers, and firemen. Thousands of newspaper, TV, and magazine people have been fired over the last three months. A thousand radio people is a drop in the bucket.

 

[BobRoss]

It wouldn't matter what day the cuts happened. The national press isn't going to report a thousand radio people losing jobs when half a million people a month are getting slashed, including police, teachers, and firemen.

Good point. After the same things have been going on at company after company, additional stories of firings/layoffs is like white noise. Obviously, the CC layoffs will get plenty of ink in the trades. But unless some really well-known names get axed, it's not likely we'll see much coverage among the mainstream national media.

As far as local media goes, it's doubtful we'll see any coverage. The newspapers might run something, but it's doubtful the TV stations will do anything. WSYR news obviously won't report on its own people being fired. Will other outlets (like WRVO) bother? Not likely. One exception: if any longtime "well-loved" morning shows get the boot, that will get more attention. But CC is probably hoping the TV stations will decide it's "old news" by the time the inauguration haze has cleared.