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COX Cuts?

Some extremely high quality people have been let go. It makes a very sad and scary statement about where our industry is today. It's no longer enough to add quality to the product and let someone else turn that quality into profit. If you don't DIRECTLY add to the bottom line then you are vulnerable in this economic climate and that will cost us quite a few of our most creative and dedicated personalities and news people. That's a crisis for the industry in my opinion. Compelling content is essential to competing with the emerging technologies. Without it radio will become obsolete. I personally am blessed to be able to have success in both programming and sales and that is the only reason I have been able to provide for my family and stay in radio. Too many people whose talents lie squarely on the programming side are gone and too many talented sales people are left selling a product that is less than it could be. That said, we are far from a dead industry and there is still time to turn it around. If you love radio keep doing it with passion and some people with resources and vision will find a way to restore the industry. It's too strong of a medium for that to not happen.
 
I applaud the passion you have. But radio as we know it will be pretty much dead in 5 to 10 years. Nobody under the age of 35 listens to radio anymore. You'll have some syndication. Music stations will be like Jack FM. Talk stations, mostly syndicated. You might have a local morning show. But other than that, turn out the lights.

Anyone in radio today should be planning their exit. Anyone wanting a career in radio should come up with a Plan B very fast.

I got out of radio five years ago and never looked back. What was a great business is now a shell of what it used to be. It's still possible to survive, but I wouldn't be in the radio industry today with a mortgage or other debt. You're best bet is find something else.
 
I would suspect that Cox is looking at their situation after CC and Cumulus made their moves.
10 staff people...some of them on talent.
Look for voice-tracking from other staffers to fill those positions or maybe they are looking for savings to prepare to pay for Finebaum when he makes his move.
Whatever the situation, it is not a safe place to work these day.
 
Nomoreradionews said:
I applaud the passion you have. But radio as we know it will be pretty much dead in 5 to 10 years. Nobody under the age of 35 listens to radio anymore. You'll have some syndication. Music stations will be like Jack FM. Talk stations, mostly syndicated. You might have a local morning show. But other than that, turn out the lights.

Anyone in radio today should be planning their exit. Anyone wanting a career in radio should come up with a Plan B very fast.

I got out of radio five years ago and never looked back. What was a great business is now a shell of what it used to be. It's still possible to survive, but I wouldn't be in the radio industry today with a mortgage or other debt. You're best bet is find something else.
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You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Good thing you're out of radio.
 
Nomoreradionews said:
Nobody under the age of 35 listens to radio anymore..
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That's strange.... I'm 21 and still listen to radio every day. At least 90% of the under 35 crowd I know still does too. :eek:

-Travis
 
What I can't figure out is that they now have an ad for Afternoons on their Class Hits stations. Didn't they just let the afternoon guy go on that station?
 
Hey guys! I love radio and always will. But look at reality! If you deny there haven't been BIG changes over the past few years that has changed the landscape, then you're living in a cave.

Fact of the matter is, syndicated programming has replaced local talent. If you think there are tons of jobs for radio people, then you are living in a cave.

It's only a matter of time before most radio stations are relying mainly on syndicated programming. You'll still have some that do it right.

I'm not some idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm not a bitter former radio person. I had a great run in the business with no regrets.

Younger people are turning to IPODS for music. If you don't think that's a fact, then again, you are living in a cave.
 
Look at this reality-bad economy means bad advertising sales. That having been said, the logic of their decisions is a mystery. Jay Michaels is one of the best. Their loss, someone else's gain.
 
Nomoreradionews said:
Younger people are turning to IPODS for music. If you don't think that's a fact, then again, you are living in a cave.
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My kids all have iPods, but they listen to 103.7 The Q to see what the new songs are. I have an AUX jack in my car and often times listen to my iPod in the car, but my teenagers will turn on The Q as soon as they get in to see what's playing. Radio is not the same, but its not going away.

Its a shame everybody is firing local people for syndicated crap. When I was in radio, every jock was part of the community and loved meeting the listeners. Now you'd be lucky to see ANY jocks in public. Truly a shame.
 
Oxnard said:
Its a shame everybody is firing local people for syndicated crap. When I was in radio, every jock was part of the community and loved meeting the listeners. Now you'd be lucky to see ANY jocks in public. Truly a shame.
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Though I don't have anything to back up my opinion, I believe there's still a strong desire among listeners for local jocks. However, the radio industry as a whole has dumbed down the art of being a DJ, resulting in jocks/personalities/shows leaning too heavily on national prep services as a crutch. Of all the people in my life, I know only one person who actually cares about celebrity news, stupid/silly news, etc. Everyone else could not care less -- they're interested in what's happening around them.
 
Oxnard said:
Its a shame everybody is firing local people for syndicated crap. When I was in radio, every jock was part of the community and loved meeting the listeners. Now you'd be lucky to see ANY jocks in public. Truly a shame.
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Do your kids know or care who is local and who is not on The Q?

This runs counter to what whitfm just posted… to contrast that post, I don't know of anyone outside of radio people themselves who really care whether a voice is local and live or not. In fact I've been told by some old(er) timers that they didn't even like the jocks on WSGN or WVOK back in the day and would have preferred all music instead of "shenanigans" and constant news breaks!

I'm all for local over national talent, but I understand why that's the trend - because the way people listen to the radio has changed, and not to the benefit of the local jock. They want hits now and as few interruptions — commercial or otherwise — as possible.

Seriously, do you guys know anyone (who controls the radio dial and is not stuck in a waiting room or store) who sits through each 10 minute commercial stopset on modern radio stations?
 
Nomoreradionews, sour grapes. it must have been a terrible divorce. The comments you are making now is the same thing that was said when Television was introduced.
 
musicfan11 said:
Look at this reality-bad economy means bad advertising sales. That having been said, the logic of their decisions is a mystery. Jay Michaels is one of the best. Their loss, someone else's gain.
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Close musicfan11, close but yet way off the target. The demise of radio, television, the lack of ad sales due to a bad economy all have the same cause, in my opinion. Consolidation within industries fostered by government approval. Rather than government promoting competition, it has allowed monopolistic practices in telecommunications, pharma, insurance, banking and energy. Break them all apart and you'll see plenty of new companies, jobs and investment opportunities. As I said, just my opinion but I stated this opinion, oh, 4 years ago????
 
Rambo, with all due respect, not sour grapes. I'm not hear to make anyone mad. I'm not bitter not being in the business any longer. Maybe my original post came across as a little harsh.

So let me put in this way. If you have a grocery store that for years has operated as a good business model Provided great customer service, a five star meat department. Wonderful produce section. Then one day, you see a store open down the street as competition. What do you do? Lay people off? Scale back? Or do you keep doing what you've been doing for years, running things correctly and continue to make a profit?

My point is, many of the radio companies today in my opinion have scaled down their radio stations and in the process run off listeners. You have to give people a viable product.

There are some who do it correctly. They will be around in 5-10 years. The ones that haven't will find it harder and harder to lure in new listeners.

And one more point. With all the changes today, you won't see many young, talented people entering the business because there aren't many opportunities for them.

So, I'm sorry if this comes across as sour grapes. I'm not a former broadcaster who sits around griping about the good ole days.
 
Stewy nailed it as to why the radio business is in the dire straits it finds itself in today. And nomoreradionews nailed it with a way that stations owned by smaller companies can not only compete with but DEFEAT these conglomerations. Great analogy with the grocery store. And in addition, putting radio people back in positions of authority and giving the bean counters sweet little offices in the back of the building away from contact with the rest of the staff so they can't damage the product like they are today would be a wise move. Still waiting for the "spin offs" that have been discussed since CC first starting collecting stations like pogs
 
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