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More bad news for Radio

One has to wonder if this is becoming a "non industry" like blacksmithing and typesetters. The technology has become the entertainment. With rare exceptions we have gone backwards to the point that we started with the same show on hundreds of stations coast to coast and worldwide..and with mini-networks, and voicetracking (itself a mini network) the industry has eroded itself to a non-profession.

A successful pizzeria makes a GREAT pizza with GREAT HOME MADE CRUST. It is known as the BEST IN THAT TOWN..a nother cook comes in and uses a little less pepperoni and nobody notices. Soon a new manager comes in and says that the same number of people will buy the pizza if they take off a few more ingediants..and they do. it works for awhile but..another owner comes in and uses the same premade crust that he uses in another town where he owns a pizza shop, and a new cook comes in and decides that they don't need cheese on it and cuts back the sauce..fewer people buy the pizza but that's okay because it costs SO much less to make, and the pizzeria can make more money. After awhile there are no more people coming in to buy the pizza because they found other things they like to eat. The pizza place sees thier errors, and returns to the original recipe. But nobody cares anymore. They found other things they like better. Today the pizza place is a parking lot.
 
This is what happens when an industry gets taken over by people who consider their workers "liabilities" instead of "assetts." It would be easy to blame consolidation, but I've always suspected that the suits feel like anyone who collects a paycheck is maybe one step ahead of a thief.

The sad thing is that the technology that could make radio better than ever with less overhead is instead being used to cut every possible corner, fire every possilbe employee and like Jeff says the attitude is "no one will notice."
 
That's what happens when bankers with no commitment to the product take over an industry. The buy-outs and private equity takeovers are further symptoms of this (potentially terminal) disease.

I was working a PM Drive airshift on all-news 570 WHNZ in late 1997 or early '98 when Mark Mays came through, inspecting the Paxson "assets" that were soon to become ClearChannel's (and then mostly sold off except for 'HNZ oddly enough). Among the 7-8 news computers and monitors was a Bloomberg terminal, which we were fairly proud of, so that was mentioned on Mark's 25 second studio tour. Mays' only comment/question was: "Where's the ClearChannel price today?" That was an early indication of priorities.

The Jacor attitude/creativity seemed the dominant factor in the CC-Jacor takeover early on, but the bankers won out, especially after the forced departure of Dave Reinhart.
As I have said before, the industry is killing itself in many ways, but mainly by not playing to its strengths: localism, imagination, simplicity. The bean-counters have won: the pizza tastes bland and unfulfilling, and customers are finding new sources.

ClearChannel (CCU) closed at $37.71 on Tuesday.
 
Look at what a great radio station 970WFLA use to be. All the great talent that went through there. Now look at them. All syndication except for mornings. Radio is not dying it's dead.
 
All of this is true, but there are still some real gems out there. Almost all are independently owned, have enough staff and talent to get the job done and use automation sparingly. The main difference is that they provide local, relevant programming to their audience. Generic radio cant do that. The one example of a decently run small station is WENG 1530 in Englewood, FL. Local hosts, live program blocks. Decent syndicated hosts
 
Another live and local station is 640-WVLG - the Villages, live and local from 6am to midnight seven days a week with music and local events. (music is from the 50's through the 80's).

Their southern most signal has been diminished by 620- WDAE's IBOC side hash and then there has always been the strong 640 out of Cuba, but from just north of Dade City and north of Brooksville, WVLG is a good option to hear radio as it used to be nearly everywhere and the way it still should be.

Also, in nearby Leesburg, 790 WLBE is locally owned and operation and is live and local most of the day, with a combination of talk and music.

Anyone going to Webster, Bushnell, Wildwood, the Villages or Leesburg etc should give WVLG a listen.

btw- 1660 in Marco Island, before they were Relevant Radio and talk radio, was live and local and music in C-quam stereo back around 1999 and 2000; they were an oasis in the vast wasteland of AM radio.
 
Jeff Laurence said:
One has to wonder if this is becoming a "non industry" like blacksmithing and typesetters. The technology has become the entertainment. With rare exceptions we have gone backwards to the point that we started with the same show on hundreds of stations coast to coast and worldwide..and with mini-networks, and voicetracking (itself a mini network) the industry has eroded itself to a non-profession.

A successful pizzeria makes a GREAT pizza with GREAT HOME MADE CRUST. It is known as the BEST IN THAT TOWN..a nother cook comes in and uses a little less pepperoni and nobody notices. Soon a new manager comes in and says that the same number of people will buy the pizza if they take off a few more ingediants..and they do. it works for awhile but..another owner comes in and uses the same premade crust that he uses in another town where he owns a pizza shop, and a new cook comes in and decides that they don't need cheese on it and cuts back the sauce..fewer people buy the pizza but that's okay because it costs SO much less to make, and the pizzeria can make more money. After awhile there are no more people coming in to buy the pizza because they found other things they like to eat. The pizza place sees thier errors, and returns to the original recipe. But nobody cares anymore. They found other things they like better. Today the pizza place is a parking lot.
Click to expand...

Jeff
What you say here is what is happening to almost every american Buisness that is run by a publicly held corporation.
Eveyone worries about the bottom line today and next week. Almost every buisness thinks about at 5 years down the road.
it is a shame. Radio is a dying industry for people who want to do it, and almost every good job in America is going the same way.
We are going to have 5% of the people making millions a year and everyone else will be working for $8.00 an hour without any benifits.
Well that is my rant for today.
 
Jeff & Mr News... you both hit "home run" posts. My pizza place is continuing on without a clue as to what is really happening. Or maybe they just don't know how to stop themselves. Sadly, your annology will fall on deaf ears (eyes?).

I heard from an old friend yesterday that worked at CC for many years and now works for a different company in the mid-south. Talk about a 180! He's as happy as a clam because he is working for a real radio station and management is treating him like gold.

We know how these mega-companies got to where they are today. How do we fix this problem? Or do we just let them crash & burn, and clean up the mess later? ???
 
By the way.... Do you know what time of year it is???? Time for the "budget cut lottery"! Everyone is entered and everyone has a chance to win. But don't worry kids, even if you're not top management, you still get a chance to win the "play at home" version. Let the annual CC chopping begin:

From All Access:
Newsman EBEN BROWN has exited CLEAR CHANNEL Talk WFLA-A/TAMPA due to budget cuts. BROWN's experience includes stints at FLORIDA'S RADIO NETWORK, CBS RADIO NEWS, WHTZ (Z100)/NEW YORK, WLIR-A/SPRING VALLEY, NY, and WRVO/SYRACUSE as well as the syndicated "STEPPIN' OUT" weekly show.
 
Clear Channel argues that they are cutting news in response to research that shows listeners no longer think of radio first when it comes to news. Of course, given the way, local news is evaporating on the radio, why should anyone look to radio for news? It ain't there anymore. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.

By the way, it is unfortunate that 970 gassed Eben Brown. He's a capable reporter and a nice young man. Hate to say it, but a bright young fellow with so much on the ball may be better off doing something else. I'd love to be wrong, since Eben's the kind of person the industry can't afford to lose, but seems hell bent to drive away.
 
FiveStar said:
Clear Channel argues that they are cutting news in response to research that shows listeners no longer think of radio first when it comes to news. Of course, given the way, local news is evaporating on the radio, why should anyone look to radio for news? It ain't there anymore. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.

By the way, it is unfortunate that 970 gassed Eben Brown. He's a capable reporter and a nice young man. Hate to say it, but a bright young fellow with so much on the ball may be better off doing something else. I'd love to be wrong, since Eben's the kind of person the industry can't afford to lose, but seems hell bent to drive away.
Click to expand...

Concur. No wonder that anytime I hear a story on FLA anymore, they always direct their listeners to the station's website for more info. Here's where I might have some issue with this practice--let's say that a story breaks overnight, and while I'm listening to the report I hear, "for more, go to 970wfla.com and click on local news". Well, more often than not, I'm not going to be at home in front of my computer listening to George Norry discuss the hollow earth theory with his guest on "Coast to Coast AM". I'm going to be at work listening to it, which means I won't have access to the internet, so what good would it do me? Now that said, honestly, who listens to local radio at all (let alone radio news) while they're at home in front of a computer? With all the options available out there from not just the web, but digital cable and satellite, I'm guessing not very many.

I kinda have an idea what CC is trying to accomplish here--not only do most people get their news (in general) from the web nowadays, but what else do you see on websites? Of course! Advertisements! Cha-Ching!!! You could say that it's one way to try to boost sales by directing listeners to the website, and maybe, just maybe, the listener will click on one of the many offers that are available on said site. And if there's one thing that I've learned by listening to radio over the past several years, it isn't program quality that necessarily drives a radio station anymore (although it doesn't hurt), it's sales and advertising revenue.

As for Eben, he is going to be certainly missed, and I'm beginning to wonder who FLA now has left in their news dept...Byrd, Lamb, Roeper and Pavluk are all I can think of off hand.
 
Bad time for corporate real-estate-radio... But anyone willing to get dirty and grease on their sleaves, can make small town 'mom & pop' work... It's called entertaining, local radio, broadcasting in the public interest... Wow? What a concept? ;)
 
Bad time for corporate real-estate-radio... But anyone willing to get dirty and grease on their sleaves, can make small town 'mom & pop' work... It's called entertaining, local radio, broadcasting in the public interest... Wow? What a concept?
Click to expand...

Would that it were true... WTAN (Dave and Lola Wagenvoord) is about as mom and pop as you can get... but none of the words you used in your third sentence apply to it.
 
I guess we in the 'flyover' midwest have success stories of the local kind.. Mr. Turpin has a 250 watt day, 1 watt night "Little Giant" in a county seat with a weekly paper that works with him... Bills 20K, plus a month in a town of 6,000... He's only 15 minutes from the main Metro and is in a metro county... He plugs his stream and is one of the most listened internet stations in the state.. Ol'fashioned "Hometown Radio"... www.radio1540.net .... :D
 
CTyner said:
FiveStar said:
Clear Channel argues that they are cutting news in response to research that shows listeners no longer think of radio first when it comes to news. Of course, given the way, local news is evaporating on the radio, why should anyone look to radio for news? It ain't there anymore. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.

By the way, it is unfortunate that 970 gassed Eben Brown. He's a capable reporter and a nice young man. Hate to say it, but a bright young fellow with so much on the ball may be better off doing something else. I'd love to be wrong, since Eben's the kind of person the industry can't afford to lose, but seems hell bent to drive away.
Click to expand...

Concur. No wonder that anytime I hear a story on FLA anymore, they always direct their listeners to the station's website for more info. Here's where I might have some issue with this practice--let's say that a story breaks overnight, and while I'm listening to the report I hear, "for more, go to 970wfla.com and click on local news". Well, more often than not, I'm not going to be at home in front of my computer listening to George Norry discuss the hollow earth theory with his guest on "Coast to Coast AM". I'm going to be at work listening to it, which means I won't have access to the internet, so what good would it do me? Now that said, honestly, who listens to local radio at all (let alone radio news) while they're at home in front of a computer? With all the options available out there from not just the web, but digital cable and satellite, I'm guessing not very many.

I kinda have an idea what CC is trying to accomplish here--not only do most people get their news (in general) from the web nowadays, but what else do you see on websites? Of course! Advertisements! Cha-Ching!!! You could say that it's one way to try to boost sales by directing listeners to the website, and maybe, just maybe, the listener will click on one of the many offers that are available on said site. And if there's one thing that I've learned by listening to radio over the past several years, it isn't program quality that necessarily drives a radio station anymore (although it doesn't hurt), it's sales and advertising revenue.

As for Eben, he is going to be certainly missed, and I'm beginning to wonder who FLA now has left in their news dept...Byrd, Lamb, Roeper and Pavluk are all I can think of off hand.
Click to expand...

For this budget cycle and barring any career shortening indiscretions on or off the air, the FLA newsroom still includes Long, Hall, Giles, Hennessey, Parker, Gohman (mr&mrs) Chernak, Little and Carney.
 
Jeff Laurence said:
A successful pizzeria makes a GREAT pizza with GREAT HOME MADE CRUST. It is known as the BEST IN THAT TOWN..a nother cook comes in and uses a little less pepperoni and nobody notices. Soon a new manager comes in and says that the same number of people will buy the pizza if they take off a few more ingediants..and they do. it works for awhile but..another owner comes in and uses the same premade crust that he uses in another town where he owns a pizza shop, and a new cook comes in and decides that they don't need cheese on it and cuts back the sauce..fewer people buy the pizza but that's okay because it costs SO much less to make, and the pizzeria can make more money.
Click to expand...

Bad analogy. Pizza Hut's pizza is as assembly-line as it gets, yet the parking lot is usually full. Or maybe it's a good analogy...pizza afficiandos would never eat there, but to most people it's OK, and (unlike the mom & pop pizza place) you know what you're gonna get.
 
For this budget cycle and barring any career shortening indiscretions on or off the air, the FLA newsroom still includes Long, Hall, Giles, Hennessey, Parker, Gohman (mr&mrs) Chernak, Little and Carney.
[/quote]
...Richards, Cole, Byrd and Pavlik, too.

Eben will be sorely missed...this industry eats its children..
TPAnx
 
There is something that doesn't make sense to me. Why would you cut a reporter to cut costs instead of cutting evening news?

Pavlik does a really nice job at night, but it seems to me like they are throwing money out the window by broadcasting news when so few people are listening.

Clearchannel is really stupid if they are cutting the people that actually produce the news instead of those who read it. I guess we will find out more as the changes come into focus.

Although from what I hear, Eben wasn't producing much news anyway. I hear Sharon Parker reading reports all the time, but I rarely if ever hear Eben. Maybe I am just missing all of his contributions.
 
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