Mini-Me Monopolies

[Mark_Giardina]

Having started my radio career in the southern tier of New York, I was disappointed to hear that the two stations I used to work for, which at one time were independently owned, are now part of a conglomerate.

While it’s bad enough that two or three companies own most commercial radio properties in Buffalo and Rochester, its even a worse feeling knowing the same scenario is taking place at smaller market stations.

Why do I feel this way?

Because at one time these small market stations were the training ground for young people trying to break into broadcasting. These stations were the places to learn the trade. Now, instead of live announcers, you have block programming, automation, or syndicated shows. Which means that instead of someone having their own music program, you end up with a brief weather report or legal ID at the top of the hour. Forget local news, unless you have one newscaster reading news from one station to the rest of the chain.

There have been numerous discussions on this board about the lack of “localism.” Without independently owned local stations in smaller markets there won’t be a place for the next generation of radio personnel to learn the business. Hell the way things are going, there might not be a next generation period as the talent pool shrinks every year. Let’s face it most broadcasting majors in college are turning to television anyways because, at the present time, at least there is a future for them. Can’t say the same about local radio can you?

It makes me cringe when I turn on the radio in Rochester and hear some people who sound like they just graduated from the Tad Nifty School of Broadcasting.

The only positive thing out of all of this is that veterans of radio won’t have to worry about younger competition, like their TV counterparts, knocking down the door to get a job in radio because jobs are few and far between. But what happens once those veterans retire or find other careers?

It’s so painful to sit back and watch a business that I truly enjoyed being a part of commit suicide.
<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>

 

[majicrockstar]

> Having started my radio career in the southern tier of New
> York, I was disappointed to hear that the two stations I
> used to work for, which at one time were independently
> owned, are now part of a conglomerate.
>
> While it’s bad enough that two or three companies own most
> commercial radio properties in Buffalo and Rochester, its
> even a worse feeling knowing the same scenario is taking
> place at smaller market stations.
>
> Why do I feel this way?
>
> Because at one time these small market stations were the
> training ground for young people trying to break into
> broadcasting. These stations were the places to learn the
> trade. Now, instead of live announcers, you have block
> programming, automation, or syndicated shows. Which means
> that instead of someone having their own music program, you
> end up with a brief weather report or legal ID at the top of
> the hour. Forget local news, unless you have one newscaster
> reading news from one station to the rest of the chain.
>
> There have been numerous discussions on this board about the
> lack of “localism.” Without independently owned local
> stations in smaller markets there won’t be a place for the
> next generation of radio personnel to learn the business.
> Hell the way things are going, there might not be a next
> generation period as the talent pool shrinks every year.
> Let’s face it most broadcasting majors in college are
> turning to television anyways because, at the present time,
> at least there is a future for them. Can’t say the same
> about local radio can you?
>
> It makes me cringe when I turn on the radio in Rochester and
> hear some people who sound like they just graduated from the
> Tad Nifty School of Broadcasting.
>
> The only positive thing out of all of this is that veterans
> of radio won’t have to worry about younger competition, like
> their TV counterparts, knocking down the door to get a job
> in radio because jobs are few and far between. But what
> happens once those veterans retire or find other careers?
>
> It’s so painful to sit back and watch a business that I
> truly enjoyed being a part of commit suicide.
>
If your talking about the stations I think you are, there is 1 not owned by the same company.. Which happens to be the newest and most creative out of all of the whole bunch of them...To bad there filing with the FCC to block the sale of the other stations to one company didnt stick..Things would be alot more interesting if the 1 station had gotten half the pie..

 

[Element9]

Although it's hard to disagree with your assessment, it appears young people could not care less about radio. Ever watched 16-24's "listen" to whatever they're listening to?

It's all about instant gratification. My favorite song NOW. Video games have subplanted radio. Hip marketers put their new music on video games. iPods, mp3 players, CD's.

Radio is an appendage.

News doesn't come out of the speaker, it comes from a LCD screen, a blackberry or laptop.

As to getting into radio to be "on the radio?" Pfffftttt! Why? Better to get into radio to SELL it and make some money.

Another thread on this board is generating ire from vets like me regarding NPR, but there is a scintilla of truth to the poster's screen name. Radio isn't dead by any means, but it is in need of intensive care, especially AM; AM's in small markets and AM's in small markets in the shadow of larger markets. Lockport, Dunkirk, Brockport and Batavia are tough places to do business these days. New York state doesn't help operators or employees with its exorbitant tax structure. I wish I had the answers, but I don't. Sure, i have plenty of opinions, but until you're sitting behind the desk, signing the checks, it's all conjecture.

Ask Bob Savage, who periodically contributes to this board and runs an outstanding small market operation in suburban Rochester. (BTW, he's a KB alumnus and must wonder what's going on there. Bet he'd like to have 1520!)

It's day-to-day survival. Yes, it can be done, done well and enjoyed. But it's NOT for the faint of heart. Savage is a dyed-in-the-wool broadcasting veteran and attorney. He has an advantage on many a sorry bastard who buys into small market radio and thinks it's going to be a day at the beach, trading out new cars and furniture and playing golf three days a week while skimming "100 large" off the top of the operation.

Who could ever have thought the mighty (and now rather ecclectic and entertaining) KB would struggle to break a 1 share?

Apostasy!

This has to be a blemish on Entercom's sterling track record. Any wonder the "Air America" rumor rears its ugly head on this board from time to time? Nothing to it, for sure, but then again, who'd be surprised?

It's even more difficult for small market LOCAL operators who are up against it. The conglomerates who purchase small market AM's deserve to be held accountable for killing small market radio, but there are a lot of radio men and women who bought into small markets, hoping to live the dream and found the expenses overwhelming, thus resorting to voice-tracking, satellite syndication and automation.

It certainly doesn't portend good things.

 

[topsound]

> There have been numerous discussions on this board about the
> lack of “localism.” Without independently owned local
> stations in smaller markets there won’t be a place for the
> next generation of radio personnel to learn the business.
> Hell the way things are going, there might not be a next
> generation period as the talent pool shrinks every year.
> Let’s face it most broadcasting majors in college are
> turning to television anyways because, at the present time,
> at least there is a future for them. Can’t say the same
> about local radio can you?

This is a thoughtful and important discussion to have here. My opinion has shifted a bit over the years. I have always been a huge proponent of "live and local," and have striven to reflect that during my career. However, as the media world becomes ever-increasingly multi-channel and on-demand, live/local content may NOT be the most important thing that broadcast radio can provide. A couple of anecdotal points:

1) Even though WBEN and WBFO are both quality news sources that I respect, I find that there are still only a few days a year that local news is a MUST for me in the morning. Usually it's a potential snow day. And even then, I flip on the TV so I don't have to wait for it. There's no radio equivalent of the "Closed Now" scroll at the bottom of the screen (or the on-demand of the Web). Most days I might punch in to WBEN and/or WBFO for a few seconds, buit if it's not an item of immediate interest, I'm gone. I'll catch up on what's going on locally via the Web during the course of the day.

2) The most compelling morning programming for me until recently was Stern. Not live, not local, not always agreeable, but usually interesting and entertaining. And, closer to home for me, the very entertaining "live and local" done by Jackson Armstrong on KB is, of course, technically neither.

---------------------------------------------------------------

My point is that the origin of the information and entertainment you hear is perhaps not as important as the creativity and effort that goes into making it as relevant and on-demand to the target audience as possible. That's where stations have fallen down. The lack of local talent development is just a symptom of a bigger problem of programming development in general. And to Mark's original point, small stations can be just as aggressive as bigger ones, by using the Web to expand the variety and reach of their offerings, local and otherwise.

It looks like wireless broadband will one day soon be able to deliver exactly what the user wants, when he/she wants it, from literally millions of channels: local, regional, national, international, music, talk, sports (probably everything from grammar schooll basketball on up!), you name it. The current model for broadcasters is based on being able to limit programming choices because they control the distribution. That's changing irreversibly, if it hasn't already.

To me, the answer is for broadcasters to IMMEDIATELY expand both programming choices and distribution channels. It's starting with HD, but the jury's way out on whether listeners will invest in the receivers. HD could very well be another AM Stereo. Put all your current stations, all your HD streams, and as many more channels as you can think of and support out of your facility, onto the WEB. Invest in the audio and programming quality of those channels. Work out the legal issues with copyright, talent and commercials. Invest in promoting higher broadband penetration. People will be (and are already) using music and talk portably over the Web a lot more than they'll watch videos on tiny screens. Radio clusters already have more resources to deliver more of these services than anyone else. Why are they letting satellite, iPods and the Live365s of the world steal it away? The future is now.

 

[majicrockstar]

> Having started my radio career in the southern tier of New
> York, I was disappointed to hear that the two stations I
> used to work for, which at one time were independently
> owned, are now part of a conglomerate.
>
> While it’s bad enough that two or three companies own most
> commercial radio properties in Buffalo and Rochester, its
> even a worse feeling knowing the same scenario is taking
> place at smaller market stations.
>
> Why do I feel this way?
>
> Because at one time these small market stations were the
> training ground for young people trying to break into
> broadcasting. These stations were the places to learn the
> trade. Now, instead of live announcers, you have block
> programming, automation, or syndicated shows. Which means
> that instead of someone having their own music program, you
> end up with a brief weather report or legal ID at the top of
> the hour. Forget local news, unless you have one newscaster
> reading news from one station to the rest of the chain.
>
> There have been numerous discussions on this board about the
> lack of “localism.” Without independently owned local
> stations in smaller markets there won’t be a place for the
> next generation of radio personnel to learn the business.
> Hell the way things are going, there might not be a next
> generation period as the talent pool shrinks every year.
> Let’s face it most broadcasting majors in college are
> turning to television anyways because, at the present time,
> at least there is a future for them. Can’t say the same
> about local radio can you?
>
> It makes me cringe when I turn on the radio in Rochester and
> hear some people who sound like they just graduated from the
> Tad Nifty School of Broadcasting.
>
> The only positive thing out of all of this is that veterans
> of radio won’t have to worry about younger competition, like
> their TV counterparts, knocking down the door to get a job
> in radio because jobs are few and far between. But what
> happens once those veterans retire or find other careers?
>
> It’s so painful to sit back and watch a business that I
> truly enjoyed being a part of commit suicide.
>

 

[Savage]

Thanks for the nice comments re: WYSL. I'm amused by the barrage of doom - not just on this board - about how, under assault by "new technologies," radio is at death's door, radio is on borrowed time, radio is dead, radio has been dead, radio ought to be dead, etc. With all that negative comment you'd think that radio would have to be in worse shape than the US auto industry. But you can't prove it by me: some business categories are a little soft, and national and network are basically stagnant, but there's no massive erosion of revenue produced by consumption of media via cellphone, Blackberry, XM-Sirius, iPods, shoe-phones or people whistling to themselves while they walk down the street. The business picture looks like a basic up-and-down cycle you'd encounter in any industry....good times, "eh" times, not-so-good times, none of which amount to either the Second Coming or Armageddon.

Re: competition from new technology. I have yet to have one of my Rochester or regional clients tell me, "sorry, Bob, gotta cancel my schedule. I'm spending my media bucks on cell-phone newscasts." WYSL has streamed on the web since 2000, and I can count on one hand's worth of fingers how many times I've had inquiries about buying ads on our site - and, it's a pretty good one, too.

As far as small-market AMs go, the scenery isn't exactly littered with bleached bones here, either. It's like any other industry: when the owner-operator is on premises, knows what he/she's doing and is using reasonable business sense, the station does fine. (It's not unlike running a successful restaurant: if the owner isn't there watching things, the food and service stink and the help steals him blind.) Examples of proud local-regional AM operators: Kevin Doran's WLEA Hornell, Dick Green's doing a fine job at WLVL, and Dan Fischer has resurrected a great historic signal, Batavia's WBTA. Despite the frequent comments, not all AMs are parked on satellite programming, either. Even in New York (and the comments about oppressive taxes are quite true) you can find many fine examples of stations doing plenty of high-quality local programming, including smaller markets.

This isn't to say there aren't problems. Technology has frequently become an excuse for laziness. Just because you can actually run a station on BSI Simian for 100 days without manual intervention doesn't mean you should try it. Voice-tracking is evil because, overused as it currently is, it degrades the product and strikes at the essence of radio's role to the consumer. And, layoffs and staff reductions have been imposed by group ownership, not by bad business conditions. When Ford fires 30,000 workers, it's because of lousy sales thanks to the Japanese. If Clear Channel runs a 6-station cluster with a staff that used to populate one AM-FM combo, that order came from San Antonio, not Tokyo. As Pogo said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Finally, regarding "the 16 to 24 year old listener." No offense, but I'm not interested in that constituency. I'm sure they're mostly nice guys but they're not a demographic which advertisers want.

Small market, big market, AM, FM: us folks who frequent this board must be here because we love radio. So let's find out what our listeners want, and give it to 'em, better, more interesting and more often, and have some fun doing it. If we do a decent job nobody will be able to lay an itchy little seek-and-scan finger on us.


> Although it's hard to disagree with your assessment, it
> appears young people could not care less about radio. Ever
> watched 16-24's "listen" to whatever they're listening to?
>
> It's all about instant gratification. My favorite song NOW.
> Video games have subplanted radio. Hip marketers put their
> new music on video games. iPods, mp3 players, CD's.
>
> Radio is an appendage.
>
> News doesn't come out of the speaker, it comes from a LCD
> screen, a blackberry or laptop.
>
> As to getting into radio to be "on the radio?" Pfffftttt!
> Why? Better to get into radio to SELL it and make some
> money.
>
> Another thread on this board is generating ire from vets
> like me regarding NPR, but there is a scintilla of truth to
> the poster's screen name. Radio isn't dead by any means, but
> it is in need of intensive care, especially AM; AM's in
> small markets and AM's in small markets in the shadow of
> larger markets. Lockport, Dunkirk, Brockport and Batavia are
> tough places to do business these days. New York state
> doesn't help operators or employees with its exorbitant tax
> structure. I wish I had the answers, but I don't. Sure, i
> have plenty of opinions, but until you're sitting behind the
> desk, signing the checks, it's all conjecture.
>
> Ask Bob Savage, who periodically contributes to this board
> and runs an outstanding small market operation in suburban
> Rochester. (BTW, he's a KB alumnus and must wonder what's
> going on there. Bet he'd like to have 1520!)
>
> It's day-to-day survival. Yes, it can be done, done well and
> enjoyed. But it's NOT for the faint of heart. Savage is a
> dyed-in-the-wool broadcasting veteran and attorney. He has
> an advantage on many a sorry bastard who buys into small
> market radio and thinks it's going to be a day at the beach,
> trading out new cars and furniture and playing golf three
> days a week while skimming "100 large" off the top of the
> operation.
>
> Who could ever have thought the mighty (and now rather
> ecclectic and entertaining) KB would struggle to break a 1
> share?
>
> Apostasy!
>
> This has to be a blemish on Entercom's sterling track
> record. Any wonder the "Air America" rumor rears its ugly
> head on this board from time to time? Nothing to it, for
> sure, but then again, who'd be surprised?
>
> It's even more difficult for small market LOCAL operators
> who are up against it. The conglomerates who purchase small
> market AM's deserve to be held accountable for killing small
> market radio, but there are a lot of radio men and women who
> bought into small markets, hoping to live the dream and
> found the expenses overwhelming, thus resorting to
> voice-tracking, satellite syndication and automation.
>
> It certainly doesn't portend good things.
>

 

[topsound]

> Thanks for the nice comments re: WYSL.

(clip)

How great it is to hear from someone on the front lines. Continued good luck in your efforts!

 

[DowntownHazleton]

> Although it's hard to disagree with your assessment, it
> appears young people could not care less about radio. Ever
> watched 16-24's "listen" to whatever they're listening to?
>
> It's all about instant gratification. My favorite song NOW.
> Video games have subplanted radio. Hip marketers put their
> new music on video games. iPods, mp3 players, CD's.
>
> Radio is an appendage.
>
> News doesn't come out of the speaker, it comes from a LCD
> screen, a blackberry or laptop.
>
> As to getting into radio to be "on the radio?" Pfffftttt!
> Why? Better to get into radio to SELL it and make some
> money.
>
> Another thread on this board is generating ire from vets
> like me regarding NPR, but there is a scintilla of truth to
> the poster's screen name. Radio isn't dead by any means, but
> it is in need of intensive care, especially AM; AM's in
> small markets and AM's in small markets in the shadow of
> larger markets. Lockport, Dunkirk, Brockport and Batavia are
> tough places to do business these days. New York state
> doesn't help operators or employees with its exorbitant tax
> structure. I wish I had the answers, but I don't. Sure, i
> have plenty of opinions, but until you're sitting behind the
> desk, signing the checks, it's all conjecture.
>
> Ask Bob Savage, who periodically contributes to this board
> and runs an outstanding small market operation in suburban
> Rochester. (BTW, he's a KB alumnus and must wonder what's
> going on there. Bet he'd like to have 1520!)
>
> It's day-to-day survival. Yes, it can be done, done well and
> enjoyed. But it's NOT for the faint of heart. Savage is a
> dyed-in-the-wool broadcasting veteran and attorney. He has
> an advantage on many a sorry bastard who buys into small
> market radio and thinks it's going to be a day at the beach,
> trading out new cars and furniture and playing golf three
> days a week while skimming "100 large" off the top of the
> operation.
>
> Who could ever have thought the mighty (and now rather
> ecclectic and entertaining) KB would struggle to break a 1
> share?
>
> Apostasy!
>
> This has to be a blemish on Entercom's sterling track
> record. Any wonder the "Air America" rumor rears its ugly
> head on this board from time to time? Nothing to it, for
> sure, but then again, who'd be surprised?
>
> It's even more difficult for small market LOCAL operators
> who are up against it. The conglomerates who purchase small
> market AM's deserve to be held accountable for killing small
> market radio, but there are a lot of radio men and women who
> bought into small markets, hoping to live the dream and
> found the expenses overwhelming, thus resorting to
> voice-tracking, satellite syndication and automation.
>
> It certainly doesn't portend good things.
>
A year ago I had the opportunity to spend the day with a number of high school english classes, talking essentially about creative writing, but we also talked about radio. Not a single student said that radio was their #1 choice for entertainment. It was a choice, but it ranked VERY low with them. None of them cared anything about what we call "localism". Their answers were pretty much the same..[although voiced differently] "radio doesn't relate to me". To them, radio, no matter what the frequency or format is "Their father's Oldsmobile". An old buggy whip which is quaint, but certianly not of any use in their world.
I guess we've got some work to do.