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HERE'S WHERE COST CUTTING HAS GOTTEN US

M

McRadio

Just in general and confined to what you hear on the air. Never mind other cuts the listeners are not exposed to.

PRO-FM: Nights inconsistent. I guess now school's out so it's J-Buff but the last time I tuned in it was Austin. That was months ago. This looks like it will go on forever.
COAST: Anything after morning drive is a result of cost cutting. Look at the progression of PDs. Bill Hess...Rick Everett...now a guy from Danbury Ct. Yeah I know there was someone else squeezed in the middle but he had no impact.
HJY: Look at nights. From Lou Brutus in the distant past...Paul Jaxon...Doug Palmieri...Q&A...now this Matt Battle who is a stretch even in bad economic times.
CTK: OK so maybe no cost cutting here
B101: Anything after morning drive. Just think of how personality oriented they were a few years ago.
LITE: I don't see anything here affected by dollars. DeGraide may not have been renewed but the replacement process was handled well.
HOT: I don't think they spend much here anyway.
WHJJ: It's all been said
WPRO: Now here's where the money is being spent but it's an example of being spent foolishly.
Right now I have to say in spite of numbers the cutting is most evident on B101 when you compare what the station used to be. Coast was never much of anything anyway. HJY hasn't suffered too badly in spite of lowering the bar at night. PRO-FM probably hasn't had a killer nite jock in years.
So what's next?
 
Sounds like more foolishness-asking the starving man to run a marathon while those at the top play financial cunnilingus and fellatio with the stockholders, investment banks, and Wall St.
 
HJY has also felt the effects of cost cutting in the afternoon show with Charles going from Laurenti as a sidekick to Brangiforte to Scarpetti. It's their "anyone in the building" philosophy.
 
Don't shoot the messenger, OK?

It'll get worse before it gets better.
Things haven't bottomed-out yet.
And it SURE isn't just a problem here.
 
Re: Don't shoot the messenger, OK?

Holland Cooke said:
It'll get worse before it gets better.
Things haven't bottomed-out yet.
And it SURE isn't just a problem here.
Click to expand...

People have been predicting a local Citadel massacre for a while but it hasn't happened. The Score performed poorly anyway so it wasn't cost cutting for the sake of saving money. Will it happen and when?
 
RE "People have been predicting a local Citadel massacre..."

<< Will it happen and when? >>

Citadel stock is down to $1.50, and now they've got this Sean Hannity deal to deal with.

BUT THIS IS NOT ABOUT CITADEL.
Not even just-about-radio.
Or the price of gas.

It's a dang recession.
 
It's only a matter of time before the hammer comes down on Citadel in a major way. Markets that haven't yet been effected soon will be. The company is running on empty.
 
Skynet74 said:
It's only a matter of time before the hammer comes down on Citadel in a major way. Markets that haven't yet been effected soon will be. The company is running on empty.
Click to expand...
The Providence Market had its first round of cuts already. We won't see anymore until Citadel decides more salaries from the programming side need to go. We'll see sales cuts and office personell first. No more PD/MD. One position I bet.
 
How you KNOW there'll be more firings...

someplacesomewhere said:
The Providence Market had its first round of cuts already. We won't see anymore...
Click to expand...

Splice-out the word "Providence" and fill-in any market, any station, any company.

WHENEVER there's been a bloodletting, and management announces "that's all," it's a clue that that's-NOT-all.

Then, as-often-as-not, whoever-SAID "that's all" is next.
 
Well, as the conviently-left-out-portion of my post said, until its decided more needs to go on the Programming side. Like I said though, Programming gets saved on this next round. Sales and Business office are the next target.
 
Don't count the peanuts. Count the elephants.

As Dan Rather would say, "pull back and take 'the wide shot.'"

"Until it's decided," locally, whether this-or-that will be cut, is LATE.
At-any-given-moment, decisions-already-made, NOT-locally, have not-yet-been-announced, not even to local management.

Then, there'll be more "decisions."
Then more.

DON'T take my word for this.
Just watch.
This is NOT specifically with-reference-to any one station or company.
Although, as you read these words, stock-in the-company-which-YOU-reference is down to $1.45.

But it's not-even-just-about-RADIO, as you'll notice next time you gas-up.
"Take 'the wide shot.'"

EAVESDROP in-the-course-of-your-travels, today, tomorrow.
You will keep overhearing conversations, the-common-thread-of-which is "What NEXT?!?!?"

If you were an adult in the 70s, these economic conditions will look familiar.
HOPE that what-happens-next is not 70s-style "stagflation."

Think radio has already cut-to-the-bone, and sucked-out-the-marrow?
This is nothin.'
You won't RECOGNIZE radio.

But, again, this isn't about radio.
What'll happen to radio is an effect.
Recession is the cause.

How to spot a REAL smart radio station:
You hear advertising for local direct retailers who offer listeners solutions to what's-going-on.
In every chaos, there is opportunity.
But you won't spot the opportunity if you're counting peanuts.
Watch the elephants.
 
Holland Cooke is right on so many counts...

Others of you have it backwards..

Cutting Sales Staff in a recession is the LAST thing you want to do...you need as many people possible on the streets telling your story..and adding gentle reminders that maybe newspapers aren't the best place to be right now if you're an advertiser..

The larger question is, what will happen to station values in relation to sale prices.

The Private version of Clear Channel has a lot of stuff it wants to dump on the market..but at what price, and for how many takers?
 
If there's a God in radio heaven...

Speaker of Truth said:
Holland Cooke is right on so many counts...
Click to expand...

BE CAREFUL...BE VERY CAREFUL praising consultants here.
You'll be shunned, like the babely Kelly McGillis character in "Witness..."

But seriously...

Speaker of Truth said:
The Private version of Clear Channel has a lot of stuff it wants to dump on the market..but at what price, and for how many takers?
Click to expand...

What's-about-to-happen-THERE will be wholly un-holy!
Those Gordon Gekko look-alikes that are buying Clear Channel (with funny money) think it's a country club, with lots of fat to cut.
Imagine?

But it's not just CC.
It's no secret that other-big-companies-that-begin-with-"C" are about to lob-off about-a-third-of their station portfolios.
As-is these companies don't work, mathematically.

If there's a God in radio heaven, the next gang of BUYERS will be "the new mom & pop owners," who'll snap-up sticks at fire-sale prices. Then, unburdened as-the-big-owners-are-by-crushing-debt, these new owners will be able to afford to DO PROGRAMMING.

Suddenly, I remember all the words to "Hail Mary..."
 
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