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Clear Channel Whining

S

Sparkomatic

HEADLINE: Clear Channel Renews Bid To Ease Ownership Limits

LEAD: "Clear Channel Communications Inc. , the biggest U.S. radio station operator, on Monday renewed its call for Congress to ease restrictions on the number of outlets it can own in a market so it can better compete and boost profits."

THE WHINE: "Free radio is struggling. The cost of competing with new technologies and increased listener choice is staggering and profits are down," Clear Channel Chief Executive Mark Mays said at a speech to the Progress and Freedom Foundation.

MY RESPONSE: Hey, Mark. Mark-meister. Mark-O-Rama. Mark-A-Lamba-Ding-Dong. Your profits are down because the free market doesn't like your product. That's America, and those are the rules. Can't compete? Well then pack up your toys and go home.

You're acting like a spoiled little brat hosting his own little monopoly game. All of his guests are beating him, so he tries to re-write the rules in his favor. Yep, by going to Congress you've shown that your business instincts are about as advanced as a 5-year-old's.

You should be embarrassed for yourself and your company.
 
The water level in the ocean is dropping. Clear Channel wants Congress to believe it can help fix the problem by buying up all of the boats. Hope Congress doesn't notice that CC's boats are mostly rundown and tied to the dock with fraying ropes. Heaven forbid Congress figure out that those CC boats might be responsible for lowering the water level in the first place. ;)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by daypart on 10/04/05 06:52 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Open letter to Mark Mays

Dear Mark;
Your daddy built a very profitable chain of radio stations in the '70s and '80s. He hired good managers and let them make local decisions. He kept corporate overhead small, and imposed stringent accountability on spending.
When the Arizona waiver glut caused highly leveraged stations to go belly-up, and lenders wouldn't touch loans on broadcast properties, Lester Lowry Mays bought up licenses at pennies on the dollar.
Then, after fighting for and winning an end to ownership limits, you went on a spending spree. Your formula (5 times free cash flow) for valuing stations was thrown out the window. You got into bidding wars with Hicks Muse and their chains, as you snapped up stations at any cost. Then you merged with highly leveraged chains like AMFM. Cost savings you anticipated from spending cuts were unavailable, because the stations you acquired had already been cut to the bone.
You de-contented local stations, slashed community involvement, and created a top-heavy corporate structure with as many vice presidents as you had stations. Local programming became part of national bureaucracy.
Now you're complaining about being 'Highly Regulated"? What regulation?
News and P.A. requirements are gone. The fairness doctrine is gone. And if it hadn't been for Howard Stern and Tom & Bob, you might now be ale to say f**k and s**t on the radio. The arrogance of thinking that creating monopolies would result in higher profits and lower costs worked to a point, but now it's apparent the public will create other options you can't control.
What can you do? Cut the corporate overhead. Give back your million dollar salary and stock bonuses. Invest in people at the local level, from overnight announcers to public affairs directors to news people. Build some good will with listeners and advertisers. Pay higher salaries to allow people to pursue careers in broadcasting. Live up to the original intent of the Communications Act, to PROVIDE A SERVICE THAT MEETS THE NEEDS CONVIENIENCE AND NECESSITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE AIRWAVES. It's not too late. You can win the battle.
You just have to STOP BEING SO D**M GREEDY!
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by grantchester on 10/05/05 06:28 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Clear Channel:Hippocrites?

Oh, these guys at Clear Channel want a wide open free market? They want free competition? If so, then allow citizens and corporations from other countries to own US radio stations. You Hippocrites! You want the market open for you, but you will fight to the death to not allow foreigners to compete.

What is this talk about NAFTA? Let's start by allowing Canadians and Mexicans to own US radio stations.

You protectionist pigs in radio will pay for your protectionism in the long run. The payment is already taking place. Radio is withering on the vine.

Foreign ownership will benefit listeners. Radio will become more efficient.

Steven Green
Not a hippocrite, but a Libertarian.



> HEADLINE: Clear Channel Renews Bid To Ease Ownership Limits
>
>
> LEAD: "Clear Channel Communications Inc. , the biggest U.S.
> radio station operator, on Monday renewed its call for
> Congress to ease restrictions on the number of outlets it
> can own in a market so it can better compete and boost
> profits."
>
> THE WHINE: "Free radio is struggling. The cost of competing
> with new technologies and increased listener choice is
> staggering and profits are down," Clear Channel Chief
> Executive Mark Mays said at a speech to the Progress and
> Freedom Foundation.
>
> MY RESPONSE: Hey, Mark. Mark-meister. Mark-O-Rama.
> Mark-A-Lamba-Ding-Dong. Your profits are down because the
> free market doesn't like your product. That's America, and
> those are the rules. Can't compete? Well then pack up your
> toys and go home.
>
> You're acting like a spoiled little brat hosting his own
> little monopoly game. All of his guests are beating him, so
> he tries to re-write the rules in his favor. Yep, by going
> to Congress you've shown that your business instincts are
> about as advanced as a 5-year-old's.
>
> You should be embarrassed for yourself and your company.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Re: Clear Channel:Hippocrites?

> What is this talk about NAFTA? Let's start by allowing
> Canadians and Mexicans to own US radio stations.
>
> You protectionist pigs in radio will pay for your
> protectionism in the long run. The payment is already
> taking place. Radio is withering on the vine.
>
> Foreign ownership will benefit listeners. Radio will become
> more efficient.

No it won't. It will allow countries who spit on our interest to own their stations (ie: Mexico) to have it both ways. Having a bunch of guys from Sonora or Baja come up here to no doubt program non-English radio will not help us one bit. How about finding a political board to talk politics?
 
Re: Open letter to Mark Mays

AMEN brother. I'm in one of CC's top twenty markets and it's a damn shame that we have several 100kw jukeboxes with just AM & PM drives staffed. Public service? HA! Local jocks relating to their audience? HA! The only thing Mark knows about doing local is sales. And God help you if you can't produce within two months from a dog of a list. <P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
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