No, I don't see a return. It would require a return to limited ownership (Think more like one owner, one engineer) which I don't see happening. Remember, in The Day, small and medium markets didn't offer benefits for the most oart. I was discussing this with a manager and his response was (Rregarding retirement, we had health coverage) This operation is full of young people moving up. The average tenure is two years. If I offered a choice between a hundred dollar rase and a pension plan, the great majority would go for the raise. I suspect he was right.
Today, we see much larger companies. Since they offer bennies in their large markets, they must do so in the smaller ones as well. Surely this enters into the Clear Channel decision to divest many markets. The numbers I heard were, those stations represented 30 percent of their HR costs, but only ten percent of their cash flow. I'd believe it. It will be interesting to see how those stations fare in the hands of smaller operators. And, will not this selloff make room for more engineers?
Today, we see much larger companies. Since they offer bennies in their large markets, they must do so in the smaller ones as well. Surely this enters into the Clear Channel decision to divest many markets. The numbers I heard were, those stations represented 30 percent of their HR costs, but only ten percent of their cash flow. I'd believe it. It will be interesting to see how those stations fare in the hands of smaller operators. And, will not this selloff make room for more engineers?