Healing Broken Radio

[skyrocker]

It's diagnosis is of illness. But it's still very much alive and full of unexplored potential, radio is.

The bad health has been brought about by lack of proper care. Radio's current guardians don't know their asset is sick. They don't know a lot about radio. Regarding it's health, they either do not know or do not care.
Would that they could possibly hear a Word of Advice or two. I'm sure there are plenty herein, and a couple worth a deeper look are: "Costs" and "Investments."

Radio staff are the latter, and their loss has cost everyone from the ignorant stockholder to the passive listener immeasurably. A body can continue to function without many of its organs, but is no good without a heart and a brain. It would be a mistake to throw those out along with the rest of the cost cutting bathwater.

Can anyone do anything healthy for the sad state of declining radio in San Francisco?
Can we only watch as it is further disfigured and rendered irrelevant?
It is too late?

(1.) Of course not! (2.) AND you cannot jut watch and do nothing.
Start by becoming more in tune with the mechanics of this simple folly. Amp up your awareness.
Two conversation starters:
(http://www.radiojox.com/forum/topic...babysitters-not-performers?xg_source=facebook)
(http://www.radiojox.com/forum/topic...349605:Comment:103045&xg_source=msg_com_forum)

 

[recto101]

We're healing broken AM/FM radio just flee and run to internet based radio.

 

[kinetic]

It's diagnosis is of illness. But it's still very much alive and full of unexplored potential, radio is.

The bad health has been brought about by lack of proper care. Radio's current guardians don't know their asset is sick. They don't know a lot about radio. Regarding it's health, they either do not know or do not care.
Would that they could possibly hear a Word of Advice or two. I'm sure there are plenty herein, and a couple worth a deeper look are: "Costs" and "Investments."

Radio staff are the latter, and their loss has cost everyone from the ignorant stockholder to the passive listener immeasurably. A body can continue to function without many of its organs, but is no good without a heart and a brain. It would be a mistake to throw those out along with the rest of the cost cutting bathwater.

Can anyone do anything healthy for the sad state of declining radio in San Francisco?
Can we only watch as it is further disfigured and rendered irrelevant?
It is too late?

(1.) Of course not! (2.) AND you cannot jut watch and do nothing.
Start by becoming more in tune with the mechanics of this simple folly. Amp up your awareness.
Two conversation starters:
(http://www.radiojox.com/forum/topic...babysitters-not-performers?xg_source=facebook)
(http://www.radiojox.com/forum/topic...349605:Comment:103045&xg_source=msg_com_forum)

It's hard to believe corporate owners really care. They're in a very different place than anyone who comments on boards like this. To them, radio isn't a product, it's an asset through which to make money or stem the bleeding. Honestly, could anyone at Bain Capital or Thomas Lee really care whether any of their radio stations sound good? And that's not to say a broadcast owner doesn't care about good radio. It just seems these owners, the largest of them --which always get the most attention-- aren't too big to fail operations; they're too big to care. I don't blame them for being that way (if they are); I don't bear any hostility towards them. It's business. They ran it badly, but it's business. They over-bought so they could be bigger, overpaid for the properties they bought, and now, like homeowners, they're upside down and over-leveraged. They were stupid, and they probably know it. So now, they just want to clear debts and, with luck, make a profit. If there were buyers out there, I'll bet a lot of sales would be getting made, but who's buying? Who can afford it? And who's to say the buyer would be any better? We'll never know, but it would be an interesting lab test to give any one of us, say, $30 million to buy a cluster in some market (you pick), or $100 million --whatever-- for a cluster in San Francisco. You buy it and run it. What would you do? How would you do it? Maybe this should be the real question in your post.

If you owned a cluster that needed real fixing, or just KGO, how would you fix it? And by fix it, you also have to identify its problems, and KGO had lots of problems that were hidden by the equity its hosts had in the market. I liked the hosts, too. I like the format and I liked that KGO wasn't filled with blithering, foam-at-the-mouth, talking point, table-pounders and ax-grinders. But "like" ain't got nuthin' to do with it. At the end of the day, you still gotta pay the light bill.

So what was wrong, what needs fixing, and how do you do it? And can you be sure the audience will care? Now maybe those questions would be best addressed by a hands-on, handle-with-care, closer to home operator, a local operator, rather than a big corporation that's too removed, too bureaucratic, to sclerotic to adapt quickly or react to specific market conditions --sort of like a small boat making turns more quickly than a battleship. I don't know, but while I hear a lot of people complain about the state of radio --and there's much to complain about-- I'd like to see a nice specific business plan for just one market or one station that we could all take for a ride. Maybe there are people on this board who have a better idea.

Let's see...

 

[TheBigA]

I don't know, but while I hear a lot of people complain about the state of radio --and there's much to complain about-- I'd like to see a nice specific business plan for just one market or one station that we could all take for a ride. Maybe there are people on this board who have a better idea.

Therein is the problem: Those who have programming ideas don't have a clue about business, and vice versa. The amazing fact, though, is that radio is amazingly healthy, with lots of listeners, and lots of advertisers. It ain't broke, or broken. Discussions like this become a matter of taste. Why doesn't radio play my favorite genre or artist any more? For them, radio is broke. But for listeners to KOIT, they seem very happy and content. Same with KQED.

 

[DavidKaye]

The bad health has been brought about by lack of proper care. Radio's current guardians don't know their asset is sick. They don't know a lot about radio. Regarding it's health, they either do not know or do not care.

This is the most preposterous thing I've read here in awhile. Do you honestly think that the people running the broadcast giants, Clear Channel, Cumulus, and CBS don't have any experience in broadcasting? They're all seasoned professionals, and yes they care about their industry.

Commercial radio is advertiser-driven, not listener-driven, as it always has been. Go listen to the broadcasts during World War II (archive.org is a good place to start looking) and notice that advertisers were always trying to tie themselves in with the war effort one way or another. And radio networks bent over backwards to make themselves look authoritative, even when their newscasters were hacks and they had no news to report. Commercial radio was slime back in the 1940s; it was slime in the 50s, 60s, and even today. Once in awhile you get some interesting stuff and some stations where quality is rewarded, but that's the exception, not the rule.

The key to commercial broadcasting has always always always ALWAYS been making a buck. This goes back to 1909 and San Jose Calling (today's KCBS) when Sybil True created the first payola on her DJ show by touting the records she played without telling the audience that she was given the record in exchange for air play.

If you want ethics, go get involved with non-commercial radio, but be prepared for ego trips and general nastiness. Those non-comm broadcasters want to hold onto their turf and aren't going to let any upstarts take their places.

Radio staff are the latter, and their loss has cost everyone from the ignorant stockholder to the passive listener immeasurably. A body can continue to function without many of its organs, but is no good without a heart and a brain. It would be a mistake to throw those out along with the rest of the cost cutting bathwater.

You want DJs and I'm hear to tell you that most listeners do NOT WANT to hear DJs. This is why the "more music" concept took hold so strongly. They want jukeboxes. This is why Pandora is so popular. Get it?

 

[DavidKaye]

Therein is the problem: Those who have programming ideas don't have a clue about business, and vice versa. The amazing fact, though, is that radio is amazingly healthy, with lots of listeners, and lots of advertisers. It ain't broke, or broken. Discussions like this become a matter of taste. Why doesn't radio play my favorite genre or artist any more? For them, radio is broke. But for listeners to KOIT, they seem very happy and content. Same with KQED.

Of course, as you know, Ideas aren't worthy anything. Only the implementation of an idea has any value. McDonald's didn't invent the hamburger; Starbucks didn't invent coffee. But they both had unique ways to implement the ideas of burgers and coffee to be successful.

Radio is what it is. It brings together people in certain groups and sells things to them. Always was and always will be.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Commercial radio is advertiser-driven, not listener-driven, as it always has been...

I'll play devil's advocate; We're getting hung up on the old Which came first, the chicken or the egg? debate. Without a certifiable listener base, you can not attract advertisers. Still, without advertising revenue, paying the power bill that sustains the broadcast that appeals to listeners is impossible to do. ??? I'm so confused...

 

[TheBigA]

I'll play devil's advocate; We're getting hung up on the old Which came first, the chicken or the egg? debate.

That points out the fallacy of the premise. Radio stations want to attract large audiences, and they devote money and time to do that. At the same time, they also care about their advertisers, because they pay the bills. So it's not a one-or-the-other thing. It's both. But they're not going to be as devited to niche music genres or formats that don't attract large audiences, because at the end of the day, all advertisers care about are the numbers.

 

[geek-orama]

If you can attract enough listeners, you can sell enough advertising to make money. on the Internet if you attact enough eyes and ears you can make money.
the mistake the corporations make is to put the cart before the horse in expense to advertsing revenue projections. It is because as public corporations, they are playing with other people's money. They have little ability to lay out substantial dollars without guarantee of profit.
So they don't try new ideas.

 

[TheBigA]

So they don't try new ideas.

And yet they have come up with lots of new programming ideas, and lots of format ideas. And not all of them have worked. Like FreeFM.

That being said, they're not going to play unknown music by unknown artists. They are not in the artist development business.

 

[DavidKaye]

the mistake the corporations make is to put the cart before the horse in expense to advertsing revenue projections. It is because as public corporations, they are playing with other people's money. They have little ability to lay out substantial dollars without guarantee of profit.
So they don't try new ideas.

But this is nothing new. In the late 50s, Top 40 was so big in the Bay Area that when Gordon McLendon (a Top 40 legend in Texas and Florida) bought KROW and turned it into KABL, people were sure he was going to put up another Top 40 station. The columnists and pundits were bemoaning the fact that KROW would become yet another station aimed toward "the kids".

But McLendon saw that there were so many Top 40s around here that they were cannibalizing each other. So, he put on a beautiful music station instead and shot KABL to #1 within a couple books. Nearly all the stations that were copying each other were owned by small companies, not corporate America.

Remember, that in those days, there was the 7-7-7 rule, so we can't blame the state of radio format imitation on "corporate America" because most stations were mom 'n' pop ownerships, not corporations, since corporations could own only 7 AMs and 7FMs. In fact, during that era, only CBS had the full limit of radio stations.

That was 50 years ago and it was exactly the same situation: people imitating success rather than taking the risks of trying out new formats.

 

[RadioStarOne]

So what else is new?

 

[TheBigA]

Remember, that in those days, there was the 7-7-7 rule, so we can't blame the state of radio format imitation on "corporate America" because most stations were mom 'n' pop ownerships, not corporations,

Well that's not exactly correct. The situation was that many many many more corporations owned radio stations. Some of the world's biggest companies owned radio at one time. And then in the 80s, they cashed out. All the electronics companies, insurance companies, retail companies, and tire companies that owned radio got out. Plus the government forced newspapers to get out. Newspapers were huge corporations at one time, and all of a sudden they were forbidden to own radio. What a stupid idea. Killed two industries in one move. This idea that radio used to be mom & pop and was ruined by corporations ignores that radio was built by corporations.

 

[DavidKaye]

Well that's not exactly correct. The situation was that many many many more corporations owned radio stations. Some of the world's biggest companies owned radio at one time. And then in the 80s, they cashed out. All the electronics companies, insurance companies, retail companies, and tire companies that owned radio got out. Plus the government forced newspapers to get out. Newspapers were huge corporations at one time, and all of a sudden they were forbidden to own radio. What a stupid idea. Killed two industries in one move. This idea that radio used to be mom & pop and was ruined by corporations ignores that radio was built by corporations.

True that radio was built by corporations, notably CBS and RCA (aka NBC). But aside from the largest markets, radio was mostly locally owned.

Let's look at the radio ownership footprint circa 1960:

AM stations buy freq:
KSFO - Gene Autry, singing cowboy
KFRC - General Tire
KNBR - NBC
KCBS - CBS
KGO - ABC
KTRB - local Modesto folks
KEWB - Crowell Collier (former magazine publisher)
KABL - Gordon McLendon, who owned 3 other stations at the time
KKIS - local folks
KSAY - Grant Wrathall and family
KOFY - Scott Kilgore, maybe that was a little later, but anyhow, a small owner
KFAX - Judd Sturdevant & Al Krisik
KLOK - local investors
KIBE - Ed Davis & local folks
KYA - Clinton Churchill, who I think owned 1 or 2 other stations
KJOY - local Stockton interests
KDIA - Egmond Sonderling
KEEN - Mardikian, Farr, and Snell families
KPAT - owners of WPAT in Paterson NJ, a small investor group
KSTN - locally owned
KSAN - Patterson family
KXRX - the Levitt family
KKHI - Buckley/Jaeger (small investors with I think 4 stations at the time)
KLIV - Robert Kiev and another small owner before he bought it

FM stations skipping to the commercial band
KDFM - local Walnut Creek interests
KSJO - local SJ interests
KJAZ - Pat Henry
KYA - Churchill
KPFA - Pacifica Foundation
KSFR - local interests
KKHI - Buckley
KRON - Chronicle family owners
KEAR - Family Radio
KPGM - local owners
KABL - McLendon
KOME - local interests
KCBS - CBS
KNBR - NBC
KPEN - Gabbert, Geilow, and other local owners
KBBM later KKIQ, local owners
KDFC - Ed Davis et al
KPAT - WPAT owners
KGO - ABC
KFOG - Kaiser Broadcasting, local company
KFMR - local owners in Fremont
KBRG - local SF owners, then group owner Entercom
KARA - Bob Kieve, local owner
KFRC - General Tire
KMPX (prior to that KPUP and something else) -- all local owners

When you look at formats, KBRG, KKHI, KIBE/KDFC, KRON, and KSFR were all doing classical music formats, but only KKHI was owned by what might be called a group owner, Buckley, long before they amassed large numbers of stations.

In rock, you had KYA, KEWB, KLIV, KJOY, KSTN, and earlier KOBY, but only KEWB was owned by what might be considered a corporate owner. Crowell Collier owned just 3 stations.

In easy listening you had KABL, KBBM (later KKIQ), KPEN, KFOG, KPAT, KARA, KMPX, KDFM, and KFMR, but only KABL could be construed as corporate although Gordon McLendon owned only I think 4 stations at the time.

In full-service (music, news, sports, DJ personality) you had KSFO, KFRC, KNBR, KCBS, KGO, KXRX, and a few others. Okay, there's lots of corporate there.

In country, you had KEEN, KSAY, and KEGL 1430, all locally owned. In religion, you had KFAX, KEAR, KXKX 88.5, and KSMA 90.3, all locally owned.

So, you see, plenty of copycats existed, and they weren't necessarily corporate-run stations. The copycats could just as easily be mom 'n' pop stations. (Now I know the dates are a little fuzzy, but they're close enough for my examples here.)

Now there were SOME interestingly programmed stations such as KJAZ (all jazz), KPFA (free speech and culture), etc., but they were actually very few compared with the bulk of stations that fell over each other all trying to get the same audiences with the same or similar approaches.

Time for bed...

 

[recto101]

Well that's not exactly correct. The situation was that many many many more corporations owned radio stations. Some of the world's biggest companies owned radio at one time. And then in the 80s, they cashed out. All the electronics companies, insurance companies, retail companies, and tire companies that owned radio got out. Plus the government forced newspapers to get out. Newspapers were huge corporations at one time, and all of a sudden they were forbidden to own radio. What a stupid idea. Killed two industries in one move. This idea that radio used to be mom & pop and was ruined by corporations ignores that radio was built by corporations.

True that radio was built by corporations, notably CBS and RCA (aka NBC). But aside from the largest markets, radio was mostly locally owned.

Let's look at the radio ownership footprint circa 1960:

AM stations buy freq:
KSFO - Gene Autry, singing cowboy
KFRC - General Tire
KNBR - NBC
KCBS - CBS
KGO - ABC
KTRB - local Modesto folks
KEWB - Crowell Collier (former magazine publisher)
KABL - Gordon McLendon, who owned 3 other stations at the time
KKIS - local folks
KSAY - Grant Wrathall and family
KOFY - Scott Kilgore, maybe that was a little later, but anyhow, a small owner
KFAX - Judd Sturdevant & Al Krisik
KLOK - local investors
KIBE - Ed Davis & local folks
KYA - Clinton Churchill, who I think owned 1 or 2 other stations
KJOY - local Stockton interests
KDIA - Egmond Sonderling
KEEN - Mardikian, Farr, and Snell families
KPAT - owners of WPAT in Paterson NJ, a small investor group
KSTN - locally owned
KSAN - Patterson family
KXRX - the Levitt family
KKHI - Buckley/Jaeger (small investors with I think 4 stations at the time)
KLIV - Robert Kiev and another small owner before he bought it

FM stations skipping to the commercial band
KDFM - local Walnut Creek interests
KSJO - local SJ interests
KJAZ - Pat Henry
KYA - Churchill
KPFA - Pacifica Foundation
KSFR - local interests
KKHI - Buckley
KRON - Chronicle family owners
KEAR - Family Radio
KPGM - local owners
KABL - McLendon
KOME - local interests
KCBS - CBS
KNBR - NBC
KPEN - Gabbert, Geilow, and other local owners
KBBM later KKIQ, local owners
KDFC - Ed Davis et al
KPAT - WPAT owners
KGO - ABC
KFOG - Kaiser Broadcasting, local company
KFMR - local owners in Fremont
KBRG - local SF owners, then group owner Entercom
KARA - Bob Kieve, local owner
KFRC - General Tire
KMPX (prior to that KPUP and something else) -- all local owners

When you look at formats, KBRG, KKHI, KIBE/KDFC, KRON, and KSFR were all doing classical music formats, but only KKHI was owned by what might be called a group owner, Buckley, long before they amassed large numbers of stations.

In rock, you had KYA, KEWB, KLIV, KJOY, KSTN, and earlier KOBY, but only KEWB was owned by what might be considered a corporate owner. Crowell Collier owned just 3 stations.

In easy listening you had KABL, KBBM (later KKIQ), KPEN, KFOG, KPAT, KARA, KMPX, KDFM, and KFMR, but only KABL could be construed as corporate although Gordon McLendon owned only I think 4 stations at the time.

In full-service (music, news, sports, DJ personality) you had KSFO, KFRC, KNBR, KCBS, KGO, KXRX, and a few others. Okay, there's lots of corporate there.

In country, you had KEEN, KSAY, and KEGL 1430, all locally owned. In religion, you had KFAX, KEAR, KXKX 88.5, and KSMA 90.3, all locally owned.

So, you see, plenty of copycats existed, and they weren't necessarily corporate-run stations. The copycats could just as easily be mom 'n' pop stations. (Now I know the dates are a little fuzzy, but they're close enough for my examples here.)

Now there were SOME interestingly programmed stations such as KJAZ (all jazz), KPFA (free speech and culture), etc., but they were actually very few compared with the bulk of stations that fell over each other all trying to get the same audiences with the same or similar approaches.

Time for bed...

Wasn't KNBA 1190 in the 1960's KGNY?

 

[recto101]

Well that's not exactly correct. The situation was that many many many more corporations owned radio stations. Some of the world's biggest companies owned radio at one time. And then in the 80s, they cashed out. All the electronics companies, insurance companies, retail companies, and tire companies that owned radio got out. Plus the government forced newspapers to get out. Newspapers were huge corporations at one time, and all of a sudden they were forbidden to own radio. What a stupid idea. Killed two industries in one move. This idea that radio used to be mom & pop and was ruined by corporations ignores that radio was built by corporations.

True that radio was built by corporations, notably CBS and RCA (aka NBC). But aside from the largest markets, radio was mostly locally owned.

Let's look at the radio ownership footprint circa 1960:

AM stations buy freq:
KSFO - Gene Autry, singing cowboy
KFRC - General Tire
KNBR - NBC
KCBS - CBS
KGO - ABC
KTRB - local Modesto folks
KEWB - Crowell Collier (former magazine publisher)
KABL - Gordon McLendon, who owned 3 other stations at the time
KKIS - local folks
KSAY - Grant Wrathall and family
KOFY - Scott Kilgore, maybe that was a little later, but anyhow, a small owner
KFAX - Judd Sturdevant & Al Krisik
KLOK - local investors
KIBE - Ed Davis & local folks
KYA - Clinton Churchill, who I think owned 1 or 2 other stations
KJOY - local Stockton interests
KDIA - Egmond Sonderling
KEEN - Mardikian, Farr, and Snell families
KPAT - owners of WPAT in Paterson NJ, a small investor group
KSTN - locally owned
KSAN - Patterson family
KXRX - the Levitt family
KKHI - Buckley/Jaeger (small investors with I think 4 stations at the time)
KLIV - Robert Kiev and another small owner before he bought it

FM stations skipping to the commercial band
KDFM - local Walnut Creek interests
KSJO - local SJ interests
KJAZ - Pat Henry
KYA - Churchill
KPFA - Pacifica Foundation
KSFR - local interests
KKHI - Buckley
KRON - Chronicle family owners
KEAR - Family Radio
KPGM - local owners
KABL - McLendon
KOME - local interests
KCBS - CBS
KNBR - NBC
KPEN - Gabbert, Geilow, and other local owners
KBBM later KKIQ, local owners
KDFC - Ed Davis et al
KPAT - WPAT owners
KGO - ABC
KFOG - Kaiser Broadcasting, local company
KFMR - local owners in Fremont
KBRG - local SF owners, then group owner Entercom
KARA - Bob Kieve, local owner
KFRC - General Tire
KMPX (prior to that KPUP and something else) -- all local owners

When you look at formats, KBRG, KKHI, KIBE/KDFC, KRON, and KSFR were all doing classical music formats, but only KKHI was owned by what might be called a group owner, Buckley, long before they amassed large numbers of stations.

In rock, you had KYA, KEWB, KLIV, KJOY, KSTN, and earlier KOBY, but only KEWB was owned by what might be considered a corporate owner. Crowell Collier owned just 3 stations.

In easy listening you had KABL, KBBM (later KKIQ), KPEN, KFOG, KPAT, KARA, KMPX, KDFM, and KFMR, but only KABL could be construed as corporate although Gordon McLendon owned only I think 4 stations at the time.

In full-service (music, news, sports, DJ personality) you had KSFO, KFRC, KNBR, KCBS, KGO, KXRX, and a few others. Okay, there's lots of corporate there.

In country, you had KEEN, KSAY, and KEGL 1430, all locally owned. In religion, you had KFAX, KEAR, KXKX 88.5, and KSMA 90.3, all locally owned.

So, you see, plenty of copycats existed, and they weren't necessarily corporate-run stations. The copycats could just as easily be mom 'n' pop stations. (Now I know the dates are a little fuzzy, but they're close enough for my examples here.)

Now there were SOME interestingly programmed stations such as KJAZ (all jazz), KPFA (free speech and culture), etc., but they were actually very few compared with the bulk of stations that fell over each other all trying to get the same audiences with the same or similar approaches.

Time for bed...

 

[TheBigA]

True that radio was built by corporations, notably CBS and RCA (aka NBC). But aside from the largest markets, radio was mostly locally owned.

Let's look at the radio ownership footprint circa 1960:

I don't have a lot of specific SF data in front of me, but that ownership profile began to change in the 70s, no?

You're confusing two issues: Mom & pop ownership and local ownership. The Chronicle was a local owner, but hardly mom & pop. Same with Sonderling. Egmond wasn't some local guy running the station in his garage. Sonderling Broadcasting became one of the biggest MSOs of its time. Not a mom & pop. He was the Cumulus of his time.Clinton Churchill was from Buffalo, where he owned the powerhouse WKBW. McClendon wasn't local, and by this time wasn't mom & pop. To me, mom & pop is a single station owner. If you own more than that, you're in it for more than a hobby.

The other thing is it's one thing to own a station, and it's quite another to have lots of people listen. There are still local owners in the SF area, like KSCO, but they don't have the listenership that KGO has. I would take your list of owners and put it next to the ratings list at the time, and see how many mom & pops made an impact with the audience.

 

[DavidKaye]

You're confusing two issues: Mom & pop ownership and local ownership. The Chronicle was a local owner, but hardly mom & pop.

The KRON president Francis Martin was the son-in-law of one of the DeYoung family heirs. That sounds mom 'n' pop to me.

If you own more than that, you're in it for more than a hobby.

The whole discussion is about "how corporate America ruined radio", and by that the posters mean chains of 800 stations such as Cumulus, Clear Channel, and CBS. They're not talking about chains of 3 or 4 stations.

 

[TheBigA]

The whole discussion is about "how corporate America ruined radio", and by that the posters mean chains of 800 stations such as Cumulus, Clear Channel, and CBS. They're not talking about chains of 3 or 4 stations.

A chain is a chain is a chain. Chronicle Broadcasting was no less corporate than any current chain in terms of operating policies. Same with Sonderling, RKO, or McLendon.

This is like taking something one doesn't like, and then extrapolating it to everything. The Mafia is made up of Italians, so therefore all Italians are in the Mafia. Clear Channel owns a lot of stations, so all MSOs are bad. That logic doesn't work.

The fact is that corporate law has dramatically changed since the 1960s. Gordon McLendon would not have run his company today the way it was run in the 60s, because it exposed him to too much personal risk. By the 80s, broadcasting was a very different industry, which is why a lot of the founders got out. And also why they weren't replaced by new generations of mom & pops. NBC could have sold KNBR and KYUU to a local guy instead of Emmis. The local guy might have done a better job. But the industry had changed.

 

[MarioMania]

you forgot 1190