Dear Bob Pittman, Lewis Dickey, John Dickey, Patrick Esser & Bruce Beasley

[OnairPdMd]

Dear Bob Pittman, Lewis Dickey, John Dickey, Patrick Esser & Bruce Beasley and others,

Why did you get into radio? Was it that you wanted to be a DJ? Was radio cool? Was it the Money? What was the "LOVE" you had? Is it still there? Is it all about the buck?

Is it time to find that "LOVE" you first had? I think you all need to do something!

You ALL need to go "Undercover"! - UNDERCOVER BOSS follows a different executive as they leave the comfort of their nice corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their companies. While working alongside their employees, they see the effects that their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organizations and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their companies run. But most of all get back to your roots. Let's all sit down and drink tequila till the "LOVE" comes back.

Would you want your Big Boss to go Undercover in your company?
95% Yes, I think it would be helpful for the company
5% No, things are pretty good the way they are


Do you think any of them will go "Undercover"?

If you ask me, I would say "yes" I could see Mr. Pittman doing so. I think he has the most passion for radio.

 

[TheBigA]

Dear OnairPdMd,

Have you ever had to meet payroll? Have you ever had hundreds, maybe thousand of people and their families depending on you to ensure the paycheck doesn't bounce? Someone in the organization has to be responsible. It's not all fun and games. And yes, there are a lot of unsung people who work long hours and don't get thanked for all they do. But this is the job they chose to do. And while being an "undercover boss" makes for a great reality TV show, it might be just as interesting for the reverse to happen, and an employee sit in an office and make sure there's enough money in the bank account to cover all the expenses, all the stockholders are happy, and the bank gets its interest payment on time. Not much fun there, that's for sure. Not unlike the plumber who gets paid very well for dealing with crap.

 

[RonRoberts]

You make a valid point, Big A., but we all see those industry news stories, when they come out, detailing the salaries and bonuses the Dickeys, et al., get (since they're publicly traded), and we're all pretty well aware what personalities like Ryan Seacrest are pocketing.

Most syndicated morning shows cost what a full-time salary would cost the local affiliate these days, too. AND inventory.

Radio's not as valuable a marketing commodity as it was 10-15-20 years ago, but radio has no one or nothing to blame but itself. Diluting the product, homogenizing the choices and format, out-lowering each other on rates with the lower overhead (read: layoffs) ... Im still trying to figure out the end-game goal with all this.

 

[TheBigA]

You make a valid point, Big A., but we all see those industry news stories, when they come out, detailing the salaries and bonuses the Dickeys, et al., get (since they're publicly traded), and we're all pretty well aware what personalities like Ryan Seacrest are pocketing.

A lot of these people aren't standard employees with salary and benefits. Seacrest is an independent contractor with a staff of employees who HE pays out of the money he makes. Dickey and Pittman are investors who put a lot of their own personal money into their companies and get various dividends as a result of that investment. Whereas a typical employee puts no personal money at risk. It's all time-in-exchange-for-money. That's a very different track. If you want to get what the big boys get, you have to be willing to take the same risks, and most employees don't want to do that.

Radio's not as valuable a marketing commodity as it was 10-15-20 years ago, but radio has no one or nothing to blame but itself.

I don't see how radio invented the internet, cell phones, or all the other competing technologies. The fact that radio no longer has the monopoly on music content disctribution is what has led to the drop in value and the resulting layoffs. You can't hire or keep staff when the market share is shrinking, and it's been shinking for 30 years. That takes a toll. At the same time, the public has sampled other platforms that DON'T have all the employees, and they seem to prefer that system to the one where gatekeepers set the agenda. If the audience doesn't want what radio is doing, then radio has to adapt to what the audience wants.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

What do audiences want? Lets see: music the way they like it, all we can do is come as close as we can on that one since no one is the same. DJ's who are funny, interesting, locally involved in their communities and who are entertaining so they can feel like this person/persons is really a part of our area and boy I like to listen to them. Also be your own station have your own personality dare to be different from everyone else. I do agree that radio is having to cut jobs when they may not want to in order to balance the books but a lot of this happens too when it is not even needed or when it is in the best interest of some powers that be that don't seem to have radio, people, or the general audience anywhere on their minds.

 

[Kent]

What do audiences want?

As someone who's worked in programming, I understand we don't like to hear it, but this isn't one of the first questions management asks. When push comes to shove, the audience isn't our customer (except for public radio). The advertisers are, and our job is to deliver their customers (the audience) to them. So, yes, we have to consider what the audience wants, but we first have to consider if our customers want to reach that group.

Lets see: music the way they like it, all we can do is come as close as we can on that one since no one is the same.

While no one will have exactly the same music tastes, we can do an excellent job of finding the songs that are hits for the masses in our target demos. Playlists really don't have many slots opening each week, and good research and testing will tell you what your audience wants. Now, I will say that I've seen some very bad research and inconsistent testing over the years, but that's a separate issue altogether.

DJ's who are funny, interesting, locally involved in their communities and who are entertaining so they can feel like this person/persons is really a part of our area and boy I like to listen to them. Also be your own station have your own personality dare to be different from everyone else.

Actually, PPM shows most listeners don't want DJ's at all. The standard "one minute or less per break" has been scaled back to 30 seconds or less at many stations. PPM has also helped replace talk-heavy morning shows with the more music morning show. Unfortunately, air talent is more expendable than ever before, and it only further justifies cuts.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

Kent I will agree with you that advertisers are now the main point of sale on radio today althou I am not really sure they should carry more weight than the listerners on a station that actaully buy products or services due to that stations ad's since these are the people who listen to the station and I dought they do it for the advertisements. True music is what draws your audience and mine but just music alone gets boring or tiring to the ears after a period of time and commericals don't give a good break all the time. If you have a good morning show(local), a DJ with a good radio personality(local), and special feature shows then that gives variety and personality to that station. In other words it keeps it from being flat and tasteless radio with just music. Do you like it when your cable breakes down and you call on the phone and get the recording push 1 for english push 2 for directory push 3 to pay your bill push 4 for pay per view push 5 for other, gee where did help go, and half the time if you get a live person you can't understand a word they are saying no this is not the same thing as tasteless radio but it is getting very close.