Radio deserves to lose every single listener it has. Face it, ever since "deregulation", the radio business has been run by accountants (Sorry, accountants. No offense intended!) When accountants run businesses, disaster ensues. The only way an accountant knows how to address a problem is by cutting costs. Never, in their thought process, does it occur to them to IMPROVE THE PRODUCT! That would cost money. Meanwhile, they sit around and make up excuses for why the company is losing money. Naturally, they have a tendency to blame "external forces", or the proliferation of mp3 players, satellite radio, or the internet, when, in fact, if they just FIXED the problems, they'd get a good many of their listeners back. "Cutting back" has become radio's "National Disease". Here's how it shakes out:
Declining ratings: Cut the playlist.
Declining sales: Cut the budget.
Declining cumes: Cut the airstaff
Declining revenue: Hire more AE's
That's another thing: Prior to 1996 B.C. (Before Consolodation), an AE could make some pretty darned good money selling air time and could work the majority of their career at one station. Heck, they could even retire! Today? Fagehdaboutit. They're starving, just like the airstaff because most stations have three times more AE's than they need. It's just typical accountant mentality.
Oh, InTIMadate: Fredthehead won't be back. There are far too many alternatives to radio. No one's coming back until radio is REPAIRED, and the egos at play in the "topheavy-with-management" business of radio won't allow it until the last share of stock weighs in at 5-cents a share and everybody loses their job.