Just A thought on CC Houston Cluster...

[LTT]

I don't work for Clear Channel. And neither do most of my listeners at KILT.

But here's what I find interesting as I listen to them talk about the state of radio today. They believe that CC is the company that has destroyed the radio stations that they used to enjoy. They believe that CC has bought up their hometown stations and fired the jocks they had always liked, tightened the playlists to the point that nothing but the top 10 songs ever get played and pertty much made them HAVE TO listen to their iPods or CDs or internet stations to hear what they want to hear - whether it's the music or the personalities.

This is what I hear from people who aren't reading these boards, aren't getting industry newletters or aren't veterans of radio before the monopolies began making stations greneric from one coast to the other. I have heard them blame CC for every change they hated at their stations - even if it wasn't a CC staion.

I find that very interesting. :

 

[Rex Tremendae]

CC Houston Cluster should clean house

But here's what I find interesting as I listen to them talk about the state of radio today. They believe that CC is the company that has destroyed the radio stations that they used to enjoy. They believe that CC has bought up their hometown stations and fired the jocks they had always liked, tightened the playlists to the point that nothing but the top 10 songs ever get played and pertty much made them HAVE TO listen to their iPods or CDs or internet stations to hear what they want to hear - whether it's the music or the personalities.

This is what I hear from people who aren't reading these boards, aren't getting industry newletters or aren't veterans of radio before the monopolies began making stations greneric from one coast to the other. I have heard them blame CC for every change they hated at their stations - even if it wasn't a CC staion.

I find that very interesting. :

Your observations are right on the money! Just check out any of the Radio Info message boards for ALL 50 STATES IN THE UNION, and you will find similar comments.

There is a unified chorus of former and current radio people NATIONWIDE as well as individuals not in broadcasting that are in agreement that Clear Channel and it's short term profit seeking mentality has destroyed radio.

For any radio station to request a downgrade of power to save $$$ on electricity is a disservice to the city of license, the community that "local" station is supposed to represent and to the integrity of broadcasting, which CC has none.

So sayeth Rex.

 

[adguy]

Serving the public and service to the community is a crock to anyone that owns a commercial radio station. If you believe that commercial stations' first and foremost duties are to serve the community then you probably believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy.

I believe Clear Channel became the poster child for the destruction of radio as we once knew it. In reality Clear Channel, Infinity (CBS), Nationwide, Emmis and the countless others took advantage of the HUGE money making opportunity the dereg act of 1996 created. If you're going to blame anyone for the destruction of radio as it once was blame your national US Congress. That single acted created the conditions for savy companies and owners like the Mays family, Jeff Smulyan and others to gobble up stations cheap with the full intention of making hundreds of millions in just a few years. I'm no fan of these companies because I loved radio before the act, but I don't blame them for wanting to make big profits and capital gains. Hell, that's what this country's economy is based on.

Further complicating things is the rise in technology. IPODS, MP3s and Satellite Radio have come in to being since that 96 dereg act and have given listeners new avenues for audio entertainment. Another American phenomenon; market forces. These new choices have provided the environment for new market forces to come in and fill in entertainment gap that these new massive homogenized radio companies created over the past 10 years. Stern is better than ever on Sirius. Both sat radio companies have every music genre and generation broken down to where you will NEVER go unentertained with commercials and repetitive music. And of course the IPOD and MP3 provides personal choices that you can program on your own. There's no better program director than yourself. You get EXACTLY what you want.

Hopefully what will happen to terrestrial radio is new single ownership will re-emerge as CC and the others divest themselves of the business, take their money and run. Perhaps these new owners will concentrate their resources on providing entertaining local personalities that are not afraid to be brash and controversial. Maybe they'll bring back inovative local promotions that advertisers can rally around. To sum up, these owners will actually pay attention to the product instead of the bank account. If they do their job, the bank account will take care of itself. BizRadio and KGOW here in Houston are good examples of single station ownership. Their execution is perhaps not that sound, but others will come in and succeed with the products that might just entertain as radio once did many moons ago.

 

[InTIMadate]

Damn capitalists! This would have never happened in a socialist third world country!

I have one other perspective of the future for your consideration. XM and Seriusly Lost merge and end up filing for bankruptcy once their lawyers realize that their rusty birds will soon start falling out of the sky. Clear Channel's new owners activate their remaining shares and take over the business for pennies on the dollars of debt and start creating superstations out of their best properties. A new wave of radio superstars are created and listeners have the choice of listening online, satellite or on their local frequency. The smart phone becomes the rating standard and the same program can be sold three ways for more inventory, less overhead.

Buying spots become so easy throug online automation that it's actually easier than buying an airline ticket. The sales staffs are reduced to a handful of really good and happy idea people kept around to satisfy the unusual phone call. The traffic people get a big raises, since they're now handling all the demand for spots. Profits are high, owners are happy.... because RADIO IS AN EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIUM TO REACH THE MASSES!

 

[rhumbo]

Don't put Nationwide in the group of station owners that "took advantage of the HUGE money making opportunity" because of the 1996 dereg act. Nationwide Communications was sold to Jacor in August of 1998. At the time they owned 15 radio stations in eight markets. No market had more than two FM's, in Houston they were KTBZ-FM and KHMX-FM. While many stations were sold "cheap", many radio stations went for huge dollars. Jacor paid $660 million for 15 radio stations with Dallas and Houston being the only top 10 markets. You do the math. Nationwide made a huge priofit selling its stations when prices were the highest. Think about the debt service CC now has based on that one purchase alone and you can see the pressures they are under to deliver the bottom line.

 

[adguy]

Don't put Nationwide in the group of station owners that "took advantage of the HUGE money making opportunity" because of the 1996 dereg act. Nationwide Communications was sold to Jacor in August of 1998. At the time they owned 15 radio stations in eight markets. No market had more than two FM's, in Houston they were KTBZ-FM and KHMX-FM. While many stations were sold "cheap", many radio stations went for huge dollars. Jacor paid $660 million for 15 radio stations with Dallas and Houston being the only top 10 markets. You do the math. Nationwide made a huge priofit selling its stations when prices were the highest. Think about the debt service CC now has based on that one purchase alone and you can see the pressures they are under to deliver the bottom line.

The point I was trying to make was that the dereg act of 96 started this whole process of buying and selling stations, creating massive media companies with huge debt loads and finally those companies unloading at tremendous capital gains. I wasn't really singling out specific companies. Again, if you want to blame any single entity for the destruction of terrestrial radio as we once knew it, blame the US Congress. Oh, by the way Clinton signed the bill (no pun intended).

 

[mrtexmex2007]

Well I know you all probably dont listen to spanish radio but I do, and Mega 101 is starting to get on my nerves. They play this one song from some band called Camila. They play this song like 20 times everyday. : Which makes me think, are they going to shut down Mega?

 

[DickNixon]

sombody likes Camila - heard there was a ridiculously well attended concert last weekend.

 

[adguy]

sombody likes Camila - heard there was a ridiculously well attended concert last weekend.

Who the hell wants to see Prince Charles' wife?

No I don't listen (haven't listened to any FM in over 2 years since acquiring satellite radio), but I do buy it for lots of clients. IT'S ALL GOOD!

 

[Old Crow]

I was going to launch into one of my, "The Radio Industry Needs Radio Guys to Run the Business" rants, but, when I gave it more thought I figured what's the point? Within the next decade, radio, TV and movies will all be internet based. Why bother with the maintenance of an expensive tower, transmitter, STL, and all the associated gear when you can go to the Net and serve a local community with a facility from your spare room in your home? What's more, Wi-Fi isn't an "experiment" anymore. Dedicated Wi-Fi receivers are already beginning to show up and they're no bigger than your cell phone. GM and Ford have already made the commitment to include the Wi-Fi hardware in the dash of their new cars starting in '09 and '10. All we're waiting on is for those wonderful computer geeks to improve the audio, and believe me, that'll happen before you know it. Terrestrial radio will survive, but to do so, the idustry is going to have to reinvent itself just like it did in the early to mid 1950's. This is going to require hiring MORE on-air talent, not less. Playing music to fill the airtime is becoming more of a liability than an asset. Why should someone have to WAIT for their favorite song when they can load up their iPod or mp3 player and have real control over what they listen to? The same goes for TV. Why should I have to wait for my favorite TV show when I could just go to the Net and punch it up when I have time to watch? If I were an investment counselor, I could not, in all good conscience, recommend investing in radio, terrestrial or satellite. You'd do better buying lottery tickets.