Cumulas Visits CBS Radio Las Vegas

[jondavidvox]

Punk....good to talk to you again....And yes....Las Vegas Radio drove me MORE than just a little nutty. (What an....interesting market! In the classic Chinese sense....)

I was referring to (the possible) Mr. McKenna's comment about one of his employees dissing the company on this board. As you know, before leaving town, I crossed swords with CBS LV Radio Management several times, so I understand the willingness to express that frustration here. What I found significant was he communicated directly, inviting an intellectual debate. In the past, CBS LV's contempt of talent (or at least of me) would have precluded any public response at all. I hope Mr. McKenna continues to comment where appropriate.

As for my time in Dallas/Ft. Worth....It's been a great ride. (It's also been 5 years! Time flies....)

We smoked the PPM changeover; putting the highest PM Drive numbers on KLIF in 20 years. I'm now at KSKY, working for Salem Communications. Before going to work for Scott Gentry in Las Vegas, (God Bless that Man!!) I had cold-called Salem about working for them...believing that they were one off the last true Broadcasters left in the industry. When Cumulus welched on their bets, they picked me up, and all has been nearly perfect since.

Re: Alan Stock....His record in Las Vegas speaks for itself. He'll be fine. The capricious nature/history of KXNT's management team dictates that everyone there was/is day to day. That philosophy goes back at least as far as my time there, so I'm sure Alan knew his leaving was a foregone conclusion. The good news is that he has been able to stay in Las Vegas and will continue taking care of that city, as a pro broadcaster should.

Good Luck to All! I hope 2012 is the best year ever for you, and for Las Vegas Radio!

J-D
TWR

 

[Wildstyle K]

I'd say CBS cares about local talent. KLUC is live 24/7, local 100% (minus countdown show), KXTE, local jocks only, KMXB, local jocks only, KXNT, despite slacking ratings wise, local in mornings and afternoons (more than many talk stations could say).

So, I'd say CBS is absolutely invested in local talent. I don't see ClearChannel doing the same.

100% Agree.

Just to name two of the BEST cbs stations I've locally experienced for a long period of time:

KZON
WVEE

Check them out and see their market ratings as well. Sometimes live local talent is a GOOD thing.

 

[Denning54]

Wow. Pathetic. "I was part of the production team and I was working on a few spots that are due to air on Monday for KXNT."

Anyone that works inside of CBS Radio Las Vegas knows who our "Production Team" is... a very small and incredibly hard working crew which help make the cluster the best sounding in the valley - easily.

Ok lets think about this together, and set the record straight. The original post, about a supposed Cumulus visit, is dated December 17, 2011. While the production team at CBS Las Vegas may be small, any number of people could have been working on production at that time in the CBS facility. Because vacation time does not accrue year to year, for most CBS employees, much of the staff generally scrambles to utilize their paid time-off during the last six to eight weeks of any given year. This means that regular production staff members are many times -out of the building- during the months of November and December, and various other individuals are tasked with the job of cutting production and/or loading spots into AudioVault. Weekend and part-time employees, rarely seen or heard from during the week, are sometimes asked to fill-in, and thus you could have an employee who a) isn't well known to the cluster general manager and b) may be more inclined to share information over an internet message board.

And Moonves would not sell one cluster of stations, unless they are buying
the smaller ones in Vegas, Charlotte, San Diego, Sacramento and they tire
kicked Vegas.

It is generally well-known inside the CBS universe that the company would like to sell off its lower-tier stations and only remain owners in, say, top twenty markets. When asked about a potential sale, CBS suits generally regurgitate the "we aren't officially for sale, but everything in this world is for sale, for the right price" nonsense. Some have speculated that one of the reasons the CBS cluster was moved into a brand new facility, was to make it "more appealing" to a potential buyer.

This is obviously a rumor that probably isn't true. However, anyone else think it's weird that a CBS General Manager would post a message like that on this board? Kind of unprofessional if you ask me.

Unprofessional, some might say, doesn't begin to describe the current CBS GM. After all, this is a person who, after the CBS Radio alternative station posted some of its highest numbers in recent memory, rewarded the station's program director by future-endeavoring him. This is also the GM who green-lit the severing of a more than 10-year-relationship with the valley's most widely recognized talk show host. McKenna is known to have told CBS employees the firing was done so that the station could "move in another direction," only to hire a clone of the fired host several months later. (at a much cheaper price, too- guess the direction he referred to had nothing to do with content)

Speaking of B.S., the most disturbing and damning story involving the CBS GM has to do with his allowing of the cover up a blackmail attempt made by a reporter at the CBS Radio news/talk station. By his alleged own admission to coworkers, the reporter (who is still under the employ of CBS) attempted to use his position with the company to get out of a City of Las Vegas parking violation by saying that he would "do a story on them, painting them in a negative light unless they agreed to cancel his parking ticket." Sources say McKenna laughed when presented with the information, and the employee only received a written warning about his unscrupulous conduct. Many fellow CBS Radio employees were appauled to learn that such unprofessional conduct did not warrent an immediate dismissal, and were equally surprised to know that Mckenna may have even joked about the situation.

CBS Radio Las Vegas continues to be a powerhouse in the market, despite the lack of leadership coming from it's general manager. KMXB and KLUC continue to do well, as they run on autopilot fueled by decades-old branding (although the latter apparently did not meet recent sales goals) KXTE and KXNT on the other hand, continue to flounder, proof positive that the current GM has neither the creativity nor the mental acumen to improve the stations, and more importantly, the necessary management skills to impliment a growth strategy.
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[GooLong]

Kudos to the above poster! The present GM at CBS Vegas has done nothing for the cluster. Well, I take that back. He has gotten the morale down to the lowest of the low. The GOOD people that are still there (not the random new faces) can't even stand it.

Arrogance + Ignorance = CBS Vegas' GM

 

[MC]

Looks like Vegas CBS Cluster would be a good place for another Vegas based reality show.

 

[Sharktank]

to Denning54 :

Hi Robert , good to see your spending your free time well