Biff Barfington said:
Take a look at GM, pleading poverty and looking for a fat govenment handout. Well, they made their own bed by consistantly ignoring what American consumers want in a vehice and continually flooding the market with high markup SUV's and the like.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to recognize the market potential for fuel efficiency. The trend has have been evident for years. So how did GM respond to this sea change? By making plans to roll out another gas guzzling Hummer. No wonder the Japanese and Koreans are eating their lunch.
They weren't the only ones. For all the hype about Toyota, they've made some pretty boneheaded moves in the last few years too, from the needlessly-huge-but-still-prissy Tundra to their Hummer-wannabee PJ Cruiser to the general upsizing of most of their product line. Their sales are down about as much as GM's. The only thing that saves them is the myth that their vehicles are somehow better built.
Korean cars are crap, the only reason they sell is that they're cheap.
Your analogy is a good one though, even if my take on it is different than you perhaps intended. Once upon a time, radio, much like the "Big 3" pretty much was the only game in town. Now there are many sources of entertainment/information to choose from, yet the available audience hasn't grown all that much. Guess what? The audience (and advertising dollar) pie is being divided more ways than ever. That means less money coming in and costs must be cut. The sad fact is that most dj's are (and always have been) pretty much background patter, only radio geeks like us care.
