Ford Exec Writes Open Letter to Broadcasters...

[SirRoxalot]

Starting their own radio company? Please. College radio and Internet radio are pale imitations of the real thing. Six days a week, with an air shift, a news shift, plenty of production, and personal appearances were typical at small market stations prior to 1996. All for barely enough to pay the bills for a single guy either sharing an apartment, or renting a room. That's training - especially when you've got a morning guy/PD/Ops Manager who also sells riding herd on you. You learned really fast how to entertain, or you were gone.

The number of 20 year olds who are interested in radio these days is at an all-time low. They're not excited by what they hear on the air, and they're even less excited at the pay scale in radio. The really smart ones look at the potential future of radio, and how corporate radio treats the vast majority of people, and move on hastily.

 

[TheBigA]

Starting their own radio company?

No. Did I say anywhere they're starting their own radio company?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Starting their own radio company?

No. Did I say anywhere they're starting their own radio company?

We - or at least I - was talking about training for on-air talent in radio. You said,

But the young people I work with now aren't waiting for on-the-job training. A lot of them are starting their own companies. They don't need training. They've had a lifetime of training. They want to DO.

So, yes, you did infer that they were starting there own radio company.

 

[Uncle Rob]

The fact is that programming is not going to sell HD radio. So it's not about programming.

HUH? Why do people buy satellite radio? For the programming. Why do people listen to OTA stations? For the programming. Why would someone buy a new $50 HD radio? For the programming. There is NO other reason. People want to be entertained and TV is not an option in the workplace. So they tune in the radio. You don't give them what they want, they'll find it someplace else. Why do you think there are so many stations on cable TV? Because of the programming!

 

[TheBigA]

HUH? Why do people buy satellite radio? For the programming. Why do people listen to OTA stations? For the programming. Why would someone buy a new $50 HD radio? For the programming.

That's not my point. The fact is that in the last 8 years, a number of companies and stations have placed a wide variety of programming and exclusive content on HD Radio. And less than a million radios have been sold. They've tried fringe formats not available on OTA radio, they've tried deep cuts, they've tried just about anything anyone can imagine, and it hasn't worked. So the programming isn't going to sell HD Radios. And the only way anyone can sample the programming is to own a radio. It's like charging someone for a free sample. That's why I said in another thread that maybe it's time to give up this multi-channel idea for HD and do something else. If OTA want to do other radio channels, they're better off launching them online.

The other part of this is that programming isn't selling satellite radios either. However, people already have satellite radios installed in their cars, so all they have to do is pay the monthly fee. Paying for programming is different from buying a piece of hardware. I suspect if HD Radio programming was available by subscription on devices people already own, it would be doing better than it is now. It can't do much worse.

 

[landtuna]

Most people I've talked to about sat radio tell me they listen to it because it is commercial-free. A few have mentioned they subscribe to listen to Howard Stern but that is the only "programming" that seems to stick out with my crowd.

My vehicle has a mp3 connection, a CD player and a USB port so there is no reason I have to listen to commercials or pay fees - and I don't. Perhaps if I was a MLB, NASCAR or NFL fanatic and spent a lot of time in the car it would make sense for me to subscribe. Then it would be the programming.