DB, this sounds to me like the 2012 version of the 1978 movie/Steely Dan hit "FM" (No Static At All)...at least if Corporate FM adheres to the mindset put forth in the Urban Dictionary definition...
"Mainstream radio stations that throw the sh*t that record companies call good music at you. They say it is cool and attempt to brainwash you into thinking the same. The fact is corporate radio sucks and you would all be better off turning off your radio and driving to the cool sound of silence."
Hoo-kay fine.
Although I was just a wet-behind-the-ears teenager back during the glory days of who-know-who...wasn't Capital Cities a corporation? Or RKO/General? Or Hearst, Westinghouse, Malrite, Doubleday?
I know, I know, it's different now. One could only own 7 on each band back then...and only one of each in a market.
This isn't a defense of Corporate radio per se...but I'm of the mindset that consolidation and corporations aren't the boogeymen many make them out to be. In fact I'll argue that one benefit of consolidation has been the ability to streamline backroom operations. Computers and improved methods have made the office workplace more efficient...just the same way studio improvements such as carts eventually made the board-ops assisting music jocks obsolete back in the 70's.
Yes you can argue that tighter ownership limits would prevent CC/Cumulus from destroying the medium, and you'd be correct. But I'd argue back that no matter who owned those stations, many of them would still be in a tailspin...for the same reasons we had crappy radio before consolidation.
Incompetent/greedy owners/management, too much corporate control, laziness...lack of passion...all nothing new.
Maybe there are too many stations...too many choices fighting for a static or diminishing pool of revenue.
Can you blame someone for plugging in Ryan Seacrest when the "local content" they're replacing is THIS...
"In the car, on the job, it's the station everyone can agree on with more variety in the music...we play the best mix of upbeat and slower songs...we specialize in playing only the very best upbeat mix of the 70s, 80s, 90s and today without a lot of rap and very little talk"?
Oh, and get that in over this :05 intro.
I know that's a broad brushstroke...many talented people who were doing it right have been cut loose too. I cannot and will not defend that kind of indiscriminate slashing of local talent. What I am saying is that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 isn't all by itself to blame for the sorry state in which the industry as a whole finds itself.
DB, I remember a SOWNY Show featuring you, Jack Armstrong and if I'm not mistaken Jeff Kaye...I think you did two of them just prior to Jack's death and as I recall in one of them, Armstrong talked about how PO'ed he was when the liner cards came to CHUM, where he worked in 1969.
Mediocrity is nothing new. But people today have a myriad of entertainment choices and aren't just limited to radio. Radio needs more than ever to be about emotional connection and entertainment...when given the chance, that type of radio wins.
I've stated all this before but I think in this context it's worth reiterating. Emmis and CBS are corporations too and both have committed to live, local and compelling content. Worst thing I can do when I go into work tomorrow is not be aware of what my listeners are thinking...what's going on in my market and with their favorite artists. Worst thing I can do is not have fun sharing all that. In the same breath I realize how fortunate and blessed I am that my station is owned by people who, from Corporate to the PD's office, understand the connection between live/local/compelling and their bottom line.
CC and Cumulus represent the worst of the corporate mentality. Greed, short-term-only thinking...one-size-fits-all mentality. I have to believe that those who continue to do this business right will prevail in the end.
Oh well, my inbox is filling with studio work. Time to make the donuts...
