God Save Local Radio

[Willis1000]

What's wrong with the way we used to do it.
Remember when stations were staffed around the clock.
The overnight shift was great training for wannabe radio stars.
It was also great for experimentation.
Now the nights are full of Coast to Coast AMs and juke box FMs.
What's the fun in that.

The FCC is considering turning back the clock to those golden days of regulation.
Having to follow all those rules made for some of the most creative radio ever.

Anyone can play 12 in a row. But try doing it with a 15% news and public affairs commitment and a fairness doctrine on top of that!

The stations will whine that they'll go broke. But we did it before. Why can't we do it now?

 

[FromTheBleachers]

What's wrong with the way we used to do it.
Remember when stations were staffed around the clock.
The overnight shift was great training for wannabe radio stars.
It was also great for experimentation.
Now the nights are full of Coast to Coast AMs and juke box FMs.
What's the fun in that.

The FCC is considering turning back the clock to those golden days of regulation.
Having to follow all those rules made for some of the most creative radio ever.

Anyone can play 12 in a row. But try doing it with a 15% news and public affairs commitment and a fairness doctrine on top of that!

The stations will whine that they'll go broke. But we did it before. Why can't we do it now?

1 - People used to spend more ad dollars on radio. That paid for the round-the-clock staffing. Ad sales are down. Do the math.
2 - The audience is falling off. The kind of people that used to gather around the radio at night to listen to Art Bell can now skip listening to George Noory and just go find archives of Art Bell on some random person's website and listen to that instead. Oh, and if I'm online I can also be chatting with my friends while listening AND, more than likely, I can listen without commercials. Hmmm, static on my clock radio or internet feed with no commercials. You tell me what 95% of the population is going to choose.
3 - Even if the FCC does mandate 'round the clock staffing, remember this: stations are consolidated. It's still only going to be one person roaming the hallways of the 6 stations. Probably text messaging with his buddies and dubbing/editing in the latest version of Ryan Seacrest's syndication while he's at it. He's not going to be cracking the mic and suddenly becoming the next Phil Hendrie.

They whine that they'll go broke, which is only partially true. Will adding a minimum wage overnight person cause them to go broke? No. But, to pay for it, they continue to cut elsewhere. The fat's already been trimmed. So has the muscle. We're starting to scrape bone.

But, to answer your original question. There's nothing WRONG with the way we used to do it. It was fun and it was good radio. But, welcome to 2008. Please grab your "I went to court with Clear Channel and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" souvenir on the way out.

 

[daypart]

The FCC is considering turning back the clock to those golden days of regulation.

Color me highly skeptical that the Republican commissioners on this FCC would consider re-regulating radio. The two Dems may be "considering" it, but they'll need to sell the notion to at least one of the others to make that kind of change happen.

 

[Throwdown]

from the bleachers....

I know we agree mostly, buuuut... I must say...that the ad dollars went down after cutting the staff out-not the other way around...now it is a handy excuse for goofies in radio managment that we can't hire anyone with ad sales down.

You goofs made it go down when you eliminated personality radio.

John B taught CC that listeners could give a poop about the jocks, and the listeners were just abusing what they had
till they heard radio without it...now they are off to the net and onto itunes....

who is to blame.?????

MANAGEMENT AND OWNERSHIP

YOU DID NOT CARE WHEN WE RAN OUT OF UNEMPLOYMENT, SO DON'T EXPECT ANY PITY WHEN YOU ARE CUT OUT
OF EVERYONE'S AD BUDGETS....

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cheese]

that the ad dollars went down after cutting the staff out-not the other way around...now it is a handy excuse

Right on.

 

[radioeye]

What's wrong with the way we used to do it.
Remember when stations were staffed around the clock.
The overnight shift was great training for wannabe radio stars.
It was also great for experimentation.
Now the nights are full of Coast to Coast AMs and juke box FMs.
What's the fun in that.

The FCC is considering turning back the clock to those golden days of regulation.
Having to follow all those rules made for some of the most creative radio ever.

Anyone can play 12 in a row. But try doing it with a 15% news and public affairs commitment and a fairness doctrine on top of that!

The stations will whine that they'll go broke. But we did it before. Why can't we do it now?

The problem from "the golden days" is that we live in a world of have and have nots. Haves are corporate big sticks in big markets that synergize with mulitple stations in multiple markets to achieve specific cost per point goals in addition to value added issues. The have nots...... don't.

When radio was fun, numbers really didn't mean much. And local dollars were big, really big. Today, mom and pops businesses are small, with very small ad dollars. The initiative by the FCC would be a disaster to small local radio operators. The big operators can find a $6.00 a hour operator to run 7 radio stations. The small radio operator where radio is "fun" is going to have a hard time. The initiative by the FCC is more about giving lip service to special interest groups that want to undo what we are already stuck with.

The real issue should be.... how do you get rid of the the corporate radio groups. It seems to me that you let the local market make those decision, Clear Channel, Radio One, Citadel, SBS, BMP and others are all facing serious financial issues.

 

[Willis1000]

We could undo it all by reversing the course that got us into this mess.
We can set progressivley smaller ownership caps at the same rate that they were raised.
Clear Channel didn't acquire 1200 stations overnight.

That gives the operators time to adjust to new business models the same way the big boys adjusted to the current system.

 

[Throwdown]

WILLIS-

Now you and Cheese are with me! I am with you both!

That is what I have been trying to tell all the folks in here that think swimming with the current will get them somewhere. It is too late to play nice to get along. The money is getting more sparse, and you all are still trying to fight for the scraps.

Guess what? These big ape companies are going to pay for all that they have done. Listenership is down, revenue is down and these clowns just stick their heads in the sand.

We do have the power to quit working for these guys and watch them fall. That is the best thing to do now.

That and fight for legislation to turn the tide faster.

YES!

 

[cheese]

I like what you said, Willis. It's sad to see so many talented individuals who gave years of their life tossed out to keep that profit margin up. Greed is killing Radio. If upper management would take a small % cut in their end of year bonus or salary, you wouldn't have a hallway full of part-timers clawing for scraps and more importantly the quality of your product would improve. But, that would be...crazy. Why do that when you can just pocket the profit and retire with a huge 401K before it all come tumbling down?