Clearly Conflicted

[radioray]

BS. Radio is UNDER priced. Few media can match the "audio advantage" of getting into the listeners mind and imagination the way radio can and does. The reason radio makes so little money is we train our sales people too little. The RAB and NAB co-show each year is a valuable source of ideas. As the old RAB slogan said "You come, you learn, you will make money, period". Not enough radio stations are attending this valuable event. It would be valuable at twice the price.

All this other stuff sounds good but is mostly overly analytical stuff bordering on academia. The fact is if you walk into a store, any store, and convince the owner (or whomever controls the ad spending) that by spendig, say 50,000 on your station they will get 60,000 back, you will get the sale. It requires training and discipline to do so. It requires a PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT to make spec spots to make your second meeting productive. Stop cutting and wondering why the ad world is passing you buy.

I am up over 7% this year year-to-date.

 

[TheBigA]

Everyone has their own way of doing things. Your way seems to work for you. But obviously a lot of very experienced salesmen have not had the same luck in their markets, and it's not because they don't know what they're doing. Anyone who has ever worked on commission knows what the goal is, and how to get there. Right now, what's working for me and a lot of others in this field is to combine on air and online. Radio's online presence isn't as strong as it can be, considering the resources radio companies have. To ignore those resources, or act as though other media doesn't exist, is doing advertisers a dis-service. Radio needs to be a player in this new space, and everyone will benefit from it. As I've said, radio needs to grow it's footprint, and until the FCC allows stations to double their power, the only other way to do that is bring radio content to other media. I don't understand why we're even having this discussion. It seems so obvious to me.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Thank you Mr. Pittman.

BTW, have you notice how well the companies you advocate or emulate have been doing over the last five years? Clear Channel, struggling. Citadel, bankrupt. Cumuless, would have been bankrupt if the banks hadn't rolled them up into Citadel.

There's your three C's, A. Their track record ain't so hot. BTW, I thought you were pimping a community station, not selling in a major market. What's your story this week?

 

[TheBigA]

There's your three C's, A. Their track record ain't so hot.

I advocate multi-platform radio, which is also embraced by CBS. How are THEY doing?

Also embraced by WYRK. How are THEY doing?

I thought you were pimping a community station, not selling in a major market. What's your story this week?

As I've said several times, I left public radio a while ago. I've been on the "dark side" for most of my career.

On the other hand, we know nothing about you.

 

[radioray]

Thought provoking article from the new owners of our beloved radiodiscussions message board.

http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2655461&spid=30800

 

[Element9]

On the other hand, we know nothing about you.

It goes like this, Zippy. Over the years, his posts indicate that he knows a helluva a lot more about the Buffalo market than you.

 

[TheBigA]

Over the years, his posts indicate that he knows a helluva a lot more about the Buffalo market than you.

That's not the point.

 

[SirRoxalot]

You abandoned the original point of the post pages ago.

As far as CBS vs. "The Cs", CBS has consistently invested in live and local talent. Radio is still their PRIMARY focus, and they've spent money to improve their product. The same cannot be said of "The Cs".

 

[TheBigA]

You abandoned the original point of the post pages ago.

Not at all. In fact, I brought it back around to your subject line in one of my last posts.

The point is that this subject isn't about Buffalo, as you said in the first post.

The same cannot be said of "The Cs".

CBS does their share of VT between 7 PM and 6AM. And radio is NOT their primary focus. TV is. And if you look at the platform they're building, they're combining TV, radio, and online into a powerful media tool. They're selling radio stations in markets where they don't own TV. Everything is built around the unified web site. But because they're successful, you prefer to associate me with "The Cs."

 

[SirRoxalot]

No, it's your attitude toward talent, and VT, and syndication that associates you with "The Cs".

Since I'm not in a CBS market, I really don't know if they're using their TV stations to promote their radio stations. They certainly haven't committed funds to on-line music like iHeart Radio has. CBS has invested considerably more in talent than "The Cs" in most markets where they compete.

 

[TheBigA]

They certainly haven't committed funds to on-line music like iHeart Radio has.

They also don't own as many stations. But Radio.com and CBS Interactive are big priorities.

Like everyone else, they know on-air isn't the growth area anymore, and they're not enlarging their investment in on-air radio.

Since I'm not in a CBS market

Buffalo WAS a CBS market, and it isn't a Clear Channel market. Yet....

 

[Ed Trefzger]

CBS has a strong commitment to local digital with their cbslocal.com websites. They also are streaming their 126 O&O stations with radio.com as well as programming online-only channels. And CBS Interactive, their web content arm, has a combined audience of 270 million a month across sports, entertainment, technology and music sites.

CBS may be investing more in local radio than those other stations, but they also have a bigger footprint in digital than any of them. They aren't pretending that it's still 1975.

 

[chas108]

CBS has a strong commitment to local digital with their cbslocal.com websites. They also are streaming their 126 O&O stations with radio.com as well as programming online-only channels. And CBS Interactive, their web content arm, has a combined audience of 270 million a month across sports, entertainment, technology and music sites.

CBS may be investing more in local radio than those other stations, but they also have a bigger footprint in digital than any of them. They aren't pretending that it's still 1975.

Ed, that's pretty much it. Digital is large and getting larger at CBS, IMO the acid test of the company's commitment to radio will come next year when Lew Dickey's supposed to come up with the $4-ish Billion believed to be needed to purchase CBS Radio from Les Moonves. Dickey apparently wants CBS to dilute Cumulus debt, since the company currently turns a profit.

The newest rumor is, they keep their Top 10 markets and sell Cumulus the rest.

I can see CBS getting out of, say, Hartford, where they only own radio. There are many bigger markets where their TV holdings consist of just a CW affiliate with no talk/sports radio to drive content on the CBS Local site.

But if they sell off their radio holdings entirely, even in markets with a strong cross-platform presence, I'd call that a no confidence vote for the entire medium.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

CBS seems to have a well-defined plan for digital and methodically goes about its work, unlike some bombastic companies. Chaz, I hope you continue to receive a CBS paycheck for a long time, because as you've noted in previous posts, the alternative is fraught with uncertainty. Just last week I spoke to a friend who's a PD in a major market. His station is doing innovative work with audio and video on line. They've allocated a healthy budget to their efforts. Yet companies (like the one he works for) continue to grapple with the question: How do we monetize our efforts and the product? Diverting 5% of a client's gross OTA buy to Internet is not the solution successful companies seek. They're seeking for an additional 5% to be dedicated to digital.

A lot of bright minds from sales, programming and IT are working to answer this question. There have been some breakthroughs and companies have moved the ball down the field. There have been some turnovers and some field goals, but as yet, no touchdowns. It continues to intrigue me that Jerry Lee, owner of stand-alone AC WBEB Philadelphia, is not yet on board with streaming. WBEB is a market leader in ratings and revenue. Lee does massive amounts of research. His station not only tests music, it tests commercials! Lee may be working below the radar to develop an answer. When he finds the answer, he'll no doubt make a play and see significant reward. So far, he's playing his cards close to his vest.

 

[TheBigA]

When he finds the answer, he'll no doubt make a play and see significant reward. So far, he's playing his cards close to his vest.

It's hard to know exactly what WBEB is doing, because it's a private company. As you say, they don't stream their signal. Lots of smaller owners don't stream because of the huge music royalties that eat up more than half of digital revenues. One fact isn't changing: The number of people using traditional AM/FM radios isn't growing. They are using other devices. There are threads on this board that talk about the difficulty of finding traditional AM/FM radios in stores. Perhaps Philadelphia, which is an older market, hasn't been affected by that yet. But it will be.

 

[chas108]

CBS seems to have a well-defined plan for digital and methodically goes about its work, unlike some bombastic companies. Chaz, I hope you continue to receive a CBS paycheck for a long time, because as you've noted in previous posts, the alternative is fraught with uncertainty.

Thanks for the kind words JPB. The place is very-well run, meets/exceeds its targets and is recognized by corporate as a leader for clusters our size. Plus we have a good relationship with the O&O TVs (CBS and CW) and promote each other's content. It hasn't always been this way so I greatly appreciate the here and now.

Everything I hear about Jerry Lee and WBEB has been positive.

 

[chas108]

Jerry Del Colliano this week:

Another CC RIF coming before 7/4/13...he says 4 people from every cluster will be let go.

Cumulus will follow suit, just because.

Film at 11 on Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

 

[SirRoxalot]

CC has just been through refinancing of a chunk of its debt - and they're paying some VERY high interest rates. They're still massively in the tank, which means that the banks demanded a plan for turning their financial fortunes around. Earnings ain't doin' it:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/CC-Media-Holdings-losses-rise-to-191M-last-4291592.php

Since they can't sell off stations purchased at the top of the market for enough to pay off what they owe, the only ammo they've got is more cost-cutting. Apparently, nobody recognizes that the previous rounds of cost-cutting are the likely reason that revenues dropped, and that more cuts in their core business - the part that EARNS the most money - aren't likely to reverse their fortunes. Sooner or later the real owners of CC - the debt holders - will decide that they might as well liquidate and get what they can from the carcass. That's when we'll see the bankruptcy.

 

[TheBigA]

Apparently, nobody recognizes that the previous rounds of cost-cutting are the likely reason that revenues dropped,

Because neither they nor you have any facts to back up that idea. I mean, it's a nice theory to say by adding more salaries, they can increase revenues, but it simply doesn't work that way. The fact is that revenues are what they are. They can't increase spot price or on air inventory. Costs are increasing, particularly for employee benefits, and the math doesn't work.

Sooner or later the real owners of CC - the debt holders - will decide that they might as well liquidate and get what they can from the carcass. That's when we'll see the bankruptcy.

They've all had the opportunity to cut and run, and everyone seems satisfied to extend the credit to 2021.

 

[SirRoxalot]

TheBigA defending Clear Channel and more cuts. Never saw that coming. :

Let's see, they keep cutting, and they have deepening revenue problems. Advertisers find their program to be of less value than it used to be, but gutting the programming isn't the reason why. It's all because of that darned Internet. Have you noticed that they're not putting the money that they used to spend on newspapers and radio into Internet advertising? Oh, yeah, some of it's going there, but not a lot.

Radio's not getting beaten, it's giving up. Study after study says that people think that radio programming isn't as good as it was. It's not as informative, or entertaining. The word most used is "homogenized". Clear Channel still hasn't figured out that they're in the ENTERTAINMENT business, not widget-making. CBS gets it. Clear Channel? Not so much.