Karel Show Making Gains

[DavidKaye]

a minor sucess story in a down economy...that is good news. I tried to go to some of the links on his websiteand they don't come up very good.

Oh, admitted, he's getting the floor sweepings of stations, but he's still getting some stations. Contrast this with other, more skilled hosts who had to stop syndicating because they couldn't get anything. And heck, Peter B. Collins had to *buy* a station so he'd have at least one outlet for his show.

 

[HCochet]

a minor sucess story in a down economy...that is good news. I tried to go to some of the links on his websiteand they don't come up very good.

Oh, admitted, he's getting the floor sweepings of stations, but he's still getting some stations. Contrast this with other, more skilled hosts who had to stop syndicating because they couldn't get anything. And heck, Peter B. Collins had to *buy* a station so he'd have at least one outlet for his show.

It looks like by accepting low pay, he's lowering the standards for everyone. Even though he didn't cross a picket line or anything, He's like a union scab. He's a parasite. You radio people need to stick together and not take any work too cheap.
I remember back when Jesse Jackson was trying to be the Democratic nominee for President in 84 or 88.
Jesse was speaking in a factory town where there was a labor dispute. It looked like there would be a strike and there would be scabs coming in to take the jobs. Jesse said one of the best things I ever heard a politician say (and I'm not a fan of his), Jesse told the people in attendance to don't even consider crossing the line and taking those $10.00* an hour jobs for $8.00 "because next time someone else will take your $8.00 job for $7.00"*

*I'm not sure of the dollar amounts. It's not an exact quote. But the point is exactly the same.

 

[DavidKaye]

It looks like by accepting low pay, he's lowering the standards for everyone.

He's syndicating. Syndication is different from working for a station. As a syndicator he's offering a barter arrangement: he is supplying the show for nothing, runs his own ad inventory (where he makes his money), and leaves holes in the broadcast that the local stations can fill with their spot inventory. Stations run syndicated programming when they need holes in their schedule to fill in. This is the way it's done in syndication, so he's not lowering any standards.

 

[LKellerIII]

a minor sucess story in a down economy...that is good news. I tried to go to some of the links on his websiteand they don't come up very good.

Oh, admitted, he's getting the floor sweepings of stations, but he's still getting some stations. Contrast this with other, more skilled hosts who had to stop syndicating because they couldn't get anything. And heck, Peter B. Collins had to *buy* a station so he'd have at least one outlet for his show.

It looks like by accepting low pay, he's lowering the standards for everyone. Even though he didn't cross a picket line or anything, He's like a union scab. He's a parasite. You radio people need to stick together and not take any work too cheap.
I remember back when Jesse Jackson was trying to be the Democratic nominee for President in 84 or 88.
Jesse was speaking in a factory town where there was a labor dispute. It looked like there would be a strike and there would be scabs coming in to take the jobs. Jesse said one of the best things I ever heard a politician say (and I'm not a fan of his), Jesse told the people in attendance to don't even consider crossing the line and taking those $10.00* an hour jobs for $8.00 "because next time someone else will take your $8.00 job for $7.00"*

*I'm not sure of the dollar amounts. It's not an exact quote. But the point is exactly the same.

Yes - Jackson's statement is a good one. I've never personally crossed a picket line or been a "scab," but the desire to eat and keep a roof over your head is a mighty incentive.

From what I understand, radiio is losing jobs at a rapid rate due to automation and voice-tracking, not to mention the near-death of local talk radio in favor of cheaper syndicated shows like Karel's.

I'd compare radio to the American auto industry, which has had to make enormous concessions on pay and benefits to keep jobs. And the auto industry still has a Union, unlike most radio jobs.

 

[Citadel]

In those select few markets with a respectable liberal population in both the urban and suburban areas (it MUST be both, i.e. Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Denver-Boulder, Santa Rosa, Palm Springs), Karel could easily triple the ratings over Air America's Norman Goldmann in the 3p-7p time slot, and even do well among women listeners.

 

[HCochet]

In those select few markets with a respectable liberal population in both the urban and suburban areas (it MUST be both, i.e. Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Denver-Boulder, Santa Rosa, Palm Springs), Karel could easily triple the ratings over Air America's Norman Goldmann in the 3p-7p time slot, and even do well among women listeners.

I don't know who Norman is, but I think I could do better than Karel in any market or time slot. Karel is a terrible radio talk show host.
Karel is a little bit better than dead air.

 

[Wrench]

The more you listen to Karel, the more you like him.

He's everything a good talk host should be: Emotionally naked, opinionated, takes a clear stand on most issues, energetic, and is engaging.

If you have strong opinions about him, so much the better.

 

[Tom_KYA1260]

The more you listen to Karel, the more you like him.

He's everything a good talk host should be: Emotionally naked, opinionated, takes a clear stand on most issues, energetic, and is engaging.

If you have strong opinions about him, so much the better.

Sorry, he's just a crappy excuse for a broadcaster. How dreck like this gets on the air anywhere is beyond me.

 

[confusedlistener]

The more you listen to Karel, the more you like him.

He's everything a good talk host should be: Emotionally naked, opinionated, takes a clear stand on most issues, energetic, and is engaging.

Sorry, he's just a crappy excuse for a broadcaster. How dreck like this gets on the air anywhere is beyond me.

I've tried listening to him many times and I am a liberal. He blows donkey balls (not just human balls).

 

[oaktree]

His ad inventory is mostly "P-I" -- Per Inquiry spots. He makes nothing off local spots and only gets paid for results from the P-I ads. Pro Flowers, for instance, might pay him $7 per order if it is called in. When you here "Enter the code K A R E L" ... you can bet that's all P-I. He has no national sponsors.

Further, he is not growing. Ever check the times he's "on" these stations. Most of them are "fill time" of 1 or 2 hours -- not full time shifts. Even the stations he most brags about only carry him in the middle of the nigh or for only limited time shifts in the evening or in late afternoon.

The network he is using claims two-minutes each hour of his show to pay for satellite distribution. The network -- the same one Alex Jones uses -- take 2 of the 12 or 13 minutes an hour he gets. Local station inventory is 6 minute per hour. He fills the rest with news or music in lieu of spots.

He pre-tapes Friday shows and Monday shows.

He announced on air that he only sold 20 tickets to this Sunday's show with Maureen Langdan at the Razz Room and as of today, they went on sale two-for-one. Ticket price: $25 ... or $12.50 on the 2-for-1. He gives Maureen a third to half of that. He gets paid by the door gate .... not on drinks.


His is still a reviewer for Huff-Po (free) and does get perks like a motorcylcle try out every two or three months and he has to return the Apple products he gets every 3 months.

Tough life.