In today's Clear Channel layoffs that hit medium markets, evening personalities were a big target. It seems that between voice tracking and syndication, live evening jocks are slowly going the way of the video cassette recorder.
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Night Jocks An Endangered Species
- Thread starter RoddyFreeman
- Start date
When you look at the cumes for radio listening at night you quickly understand why companies have chosen this area to cut costs. Radio listening falls off a cliff at 7PM - Americans are at home, for the most part, watching "Dancing With the Stars."
It's good we still have a few GMs and operators who understand radio is a communication business. It's people reaching out to other people....not just playing a bunch of crappy music with reprobate announcers reading liners.
Our business is run by bean counters who have no concept of "communications" or showbiz. And let's not forget the consultants who dazzle the bean counters with statistical mish mash. The bean counters actually fall under the spell of these guys who make a living by sounding "smart." Many of these guys lost their mojo years ago....if they ever had any.....and are clueless as to where to go next. They will never experiment because that's too "risky." It's risky because they have no clue, or "gut instinct" - they have no idea if it's a good or bad risk.
I think it was Roddy who mentioned in his blog that radio is free, easy to use, and unrestricted by bandwidth issues. All that is true but what he fails to point out is that it's quickly becoming an inferior product. We, as an industry, had better get back to the basics and relearn how to actually "entertain" our audiences or we are heading for the dust bin of history...
It's good we still have a few GMs and operators who understand radio is a communication business. It's people reaching out to other people....not just playing a bunch of crappy music with reprobate announcers reading liners.
Our business is run by bean counters who have no concept of "communications" or showbiz. And let's not forget the consultants who dazzle the bean counters with statistical mish mash. The bean counters actually fall under the spell of these guys who make a living by sounding "smart." Many of these guys lost their mojo years ago....if they ever had any.....and are clueless as to where to go next. They will never experiment because that's too "risky." It's risky because they have no clue, or "gut instinct" - they have no idea if it's a good or bad risk.
I think it was Roddy who mentioned in his blog that radio is free, easy to use, and unrestricted by bandwidth issues. All that is true but what he fails to point out is that it's quickly becoming an inferior product. We, as an industry, had better get back to the basics and relearn how to actually "entertain" our audiences or we are heading for the dust bin of history...
Kicks just added CMT Radio Live with Cody Allen,we wil have to see how that goes,I remember a couple of years ago when they tried GAC nights. I miss hearing Kim Fitz at night.
If Lew Dickey would have only made 15 million instead of almost 20 million last year, Cumulus probably could have afforded to keep a few more live DJ's.
Families should not be running public companies. These family run corporations are responsible for radio's own demise, yet the family members are running to the bank. I wonder much each of the Mays have made since 1996 while they drove Clear Channel into BK? How much did Farid at Citadel bank in salary and bonuses by turning ABC Radio into a radio abortion story. You can justify it anyway you want to, calling it the 21st century way, corporate america whatever, but it really should be criminal.
Could be a a Pulitzer Prize story for Rodney Ho one day. If he doesn't write it, someone else should.
Families should not be running public companies. These family run corporations are responsible for radio's own demise, yet the family members are running to the bank. I wonder much each of the Mays have made since 1996 while they drove Clear Channel into BK? How much did Farid at Citadel bank in salary and bonuses by turning ABC Radio into a radio abortion story. You can justify it anyway you want to, calling it the 21st century way, corporate america whatever, but it really should be criminal.
Could be a a Pulitzer Prize story for Rodney Ho one day. If he doesn't write it, someone else should.
I'm in another market but at our co-owned AC they don't even bother voice tracking Mid-5am even though they could. They just run liners, promos for morning show etc. With that and radio's frequently mediocre ( I'm being 'kind' here) music, is it any wonder 22 million people have Sirius/XM ?!
You can't fault the Dickey brothers for what has happened to radio as an industry. These guys grew up in radio and anyone who is objective would have to admit they are very shrewd businessmen. Same for the Mays boys, Alfred and Cathy et. al. These people are simply playing by the rules as set forth by congress and the FCC. Are they good operators? Most would say not but that is not the criterior used today to decide on the value of a stations service to it's community. Survival of the fittest seems to be the mantra today and Cumulus has proven to be one of the "fittest."
The death of this industry all started in the mid 90s when it was decided by our elected representatives that radio operators were at a disadvantage compared to other businesses involved in advertising. It was argued that the "pie slices" were too "thin" - that operators were not making enough money to sustain the industry going forward. The solution was to allow operators to "load up" with the goal being simply to narrow competition. Our "American" congress and media ownership decided that "too much" competition was not good for American motherhood and apple pie. What does "free market" talk have to do with "American" anyway??!!
I have said here before that historians will look back at this decision as one of the most pivotable moments in modern American history. Never before has so much power been consolidated in so few hands. Remember.....Walter Cronkite had more international influence than JFK. Uncle Walter, along with the two other networks, controlled the public political agenda....the water cooler talk.....and controlled what the American public saw as "important." Todays media heads control not only the news cycle but also what music and videos you listen to and watch. They control the political process. They control us culturally, politically, and financially and their influence is omnipotent.
The internet will be our salvation IF it is allowed to remain outside the political and financial control of government and big media concerns. The moment Cumulus, Clear Channel or politicians (either Democrats or Republicans)are in control of the internet infrastructure is the day we become totally enslaved.
The death of this industry all started in the mid 90s when it was decided by our elected representatives that radio operators were at a disadvantage compared to other businesses involved in advertising. It was argued that the "pie slices" were too "thin" - that operators were not making enough money to sustain the industry going forward. The solution was to allow operators to "load up" with the goal being simply to narrow competition. Our "American" congress and media ownership decided that "too much" competition was not good for American motherhood and apple pie. What does "free market" talk have to do with "American" anyway??!!
I have said here before that historians will look back at this decision as one of the most pivotable moments in modern American history. Never before has so much power been consolidated in so few hands. Remember.....Walter Cronkite had more international influence than JFK. Uncle Walter, along with the two other networks, controlled the public political agenda....the water cooler talk.....and controlled what the American public saw as "important." Todays media heads control not only the news cycle but also what music and videos you listen to and watch. They control the political process. They control us culturally, politically, and financially and their influence is omnipotent.
The internet will be our salvation IF it is allowed to remain outside the political and financial control of government and big media concerns. The moment Cumulus, Clear Channel or politicians (either Democrats or Republicans)are in control of the internet infrastructure is the day we become totally enslaved.
It's not the ownership companies making cuts and making thinks cookie-cutter and voice tracking that's killing radio.
What's killing radio is too many stations competing in each market, cable TV, iPods, internet radio, Pandora and all the other forms of music entertainment out there that have significantly cut listenership of local radio. There just isn't enough of an audience left to be supported by advertising revenues. So these companies are forced to cut what they can just to stay on the air and talent is where they can cut.
I've stated before that I think the next wave of local radio is for the companies like Cumulus to create superstations for each format that are broadcast 24 hours a day with breaks to insert local commercials and maybe news/weather. Basically take a KISS-FM 102.7 in Los Angeles and rebrand it to a generic KISS-FM that can be rebroadcast in all the other markets with predominantly national advertisers.
There will always be a few stations that do well enough in every market, like V-103, that will continue to operate locally (actually, V-103 could become a super station for CBS).
It's not what people on this site want to hear, but I think it's likely to happen out of necessity. I costs too much money to individually operate all these stations around the country and there just aren't enough local advertisers to support it any more.
What's killing radio is too many stations competing in each market, cable TV, iPods, internet radio, Pandora and all the other forms of music entertainment out there that have significantly cut listenership of local radio. There just isn't enough of an audience left to be supported by advertising revenues. So these companies are forced to cut what they can just to stay on the air and talent is where they can cut.
I've stated before that I think the next wave of local radio is for the companies like Cumulus to create superstations for each format that are broadcast 24 hours a day with breaks to insert local commercials and maybe news/weather. Basically take a KISS-FM 102.7 in Los Angeles and rebrand it to a generic KISS-FM that can be rebroadcast in all the other markets with predominantly national advertisers.
There will always be a few stations that do well enough in every market, like V-103, that will continue to operate locally (actually, V-103 could become a super station for CBS).
It's not what people on this site want to hear, but I think it's likely to happen out of necessity. I costs too much money to individually operate all these stations around the country and there just aren't enough local advertisers to support it any more.
My point more relevant to the post is that corporate greed created a buying frenzy with corporations paying way more than they should of for properties (Clear Channel started this, Citadel finished it), so the cuts had to be made. I get that, and in fairness to Cumulus they did it better than most, but many of these people working for public companies made decisions that destroyed a lot of families.
Combining offices were just the obvious at the start, but then the overnight positions were eliminated, then the evening jock, the continuity director etc.... then that wasn't enough. Soon, even small and mid market stations were reading off the menu of cost cutting syndication choices to pay for their companies mistake of paying twice as much for a station than it was worth. Make a decision now, and then pay the consequences later. Boy are we all paying later....
When the market tanked, the big nut needed to pay the banks wasn't happening, so loyal employees were dismissed and voice tracking really took off. Thus also making bad content acceptable, or to be un-politically correct, "we screwed up paying this much for these stations, so we will have to gut everything if we still expect to get our bonuses." It's so the norm, that people just shrug it off.
You could compete with Pandora, Cable, TV, Internet a heck of a lot better if you have better content.
Combining offices were just the obvious at the start, but then the overnight positions were eliminated, then the evening jock, the continuity director etc.... then that wasn't enough. Soon, even small and mid market stations were reading off the menu of cost cutting syndication choices to pay for their companies mistake of paying twice as much for a station than it was worth. Make a decision now, and then pay the consequences later. Boy are we all paying later....
When the market tanked, the big nut needed to pay the banks wasn't happening, so loyal employees were dismissed and voice tracking really took off. Thus also making bad content acceptable, or to be un-politically correct, "we screwed up paying this much for these stations, so we will have to gut everything if we still expect to get our bonuses." It's so the norm, that people just shrug it off.
You could compete with Pandora, Cable, TV, Internet a heck of a lot better if you have better content.
I absolutely agree that these companies grossly overpaid for these stations. No question.
But this is a problem that has been building since the 80s with cassette tapes and MTV. Before that people had little choice of how to listen to music or especially occupy their time in the car other than listen to what was on the radio. In the early 80s there were probably what, maybe 10-12 serious radio stations in Atlanta?
The effect started out slow but then really picked up as more and more stations came online and then at the same time you had other stations being moved into Atlanta at the same time iPods and satellite music were coming in and dramatically eroding radio listenership.
And now, on top of all that, while all these radio conglomerates are hurting, they are further eroding their own product by adding all the new competition with the translators. Now there are what, probably 40+ stations in metro Atlanta.
But this is a problem that has been building since the 80s with cassette tapes and MTV. Before that people had little choice of how to listen to music or especially occupy their time in the car other than listen to what was on the radio. In the early 80s there were probably what, maybe 10-12 serious radio stations in Atlanta?
The effect started out slow but then really picked up as more and more stations came online and then at the same time you had other stations being moved into Atlanta at the same time iPods and satellite music were coming in and dramatically eroding radio listenership.
And now, on top of all that, while all these radio conglomerates are hurting, they are further eroding their own product by adding all the new competition with the translators. Now there are what, probably 40+ stations in metro Atlanta.
kal30005 said:
Granted there are some stations that are not, will never financially sound, and should go away, but
when you are talking such a small expense for an "live" person:
http://www.radio-info.com/news/feds-report-announcers-annual-salary-gulp-a-median-of-27k
verses:
http://www.radio-info.com/news/lew-dickey-became-the-20-million-man-in-2011
If you do not have "killer" debt a company can make money in Radio, even in a bad quarter:
http://www.radio-info.com/news/sagas-radio-revenues-slip-about-3-in-the-latest-quarter
BTW: Saga is not a "big" national player and sometimes pays below the national average.
EBITDA's around or + 25% are easily achieved at a viable radio station.
Even leveraged Cumulus had $86 million EBITDA (33%) and free flow cash (more important in a leveraged operation that EBITDA) of $38 million.
http://cumulus.com/investors.aspx
Yes there are smaller markets that have limited number of profitable hours. I worked part time at WPTN AM /FM Cookeville TN in 1977 & 78 while finishing college. The AM was a daytimer (1550 back then) simulcasting with the FM (now WGSQ). We signed off at 10 PM because there was no revenue. Each hour up till then had at least $30 or more of commercials. Some daytime hours had over $200 of commercials. In the 1990's you could not buy a local ROS 60 sec. commercial in either Louisville or Cincinnati markets on any of the top 15 rated station for under $20 each unless you bought a really big package.
Radio has a really attractive profit margin. I will try to do this simple with small market numbers. Your station's P & L will vary:
You have fixed casts: electric, tower rent or land cost for tower, equipment repair (engineer service), office staff, insurance, and the pesky on air talent. The office staff often get paid more on average in some sub 150 market on air talent. Once you cover the fixed expenses there is profit unless you have a huge debt to pay.
The BMI and (now ASCAP fees) are based on station gross. The sales staff expense should run around 30%. So if your station has a "fixed" annual overhead of $200K, any billings over $311K annually or $25,917 monthly is profit to pay the bank of put in your pocket.
IMHO:
The problem is several operators paid way too much (sometimes over 25 times positive cash flow) with help from Wall Street and some hedge funds / bankers.
Radio being "free" no cell bill or ISP expense will always have a place in the media as long as there is compelling content.
It's not a problem of too many signals. And while the multiples paid for stations a few years back are unbelievable that is not the problem. The problem is the serious lack of programming ideas.
We have created this paradigm for radio....this little box we are afraid to think outside of. We think the format choices are music, sports talk, or news talk. That's all there is out there.....no other way to "make it happen."
People use radio for information and entertainment. What are some other ways we could meet those needs? Why is there no "game show" radio? Why are there no radio soaps......radio reality shows....comedy shows? Why is it so hard for us to think of radio as something other than the familiar?
It's human nature to not color outside the lines....we are taught to "replicate success" our entire lives. And that's a good survival skill, too! But true leaders are people who think outside the box.....they blaze new trails where there were none before....they create the "new" in our world. It is this "new" that moves civilization, and mankind forward.....it makes life richer and more fulfilling. We need some true programming leadership. And we need the bean counters to bite their tongues and let the creative folks experiment so that the next "new" can be located.
We have created this paradigm for radio....this little box we are afraid to think outside of. We think the format choices are music, sports talk, or news talk. That's all there is out there.....no other way to "make it happen."
People use radio for information and entertainment. What are some other ways we could meet those needs? Why is there no "game show" radio? Why are there no radio soaps......radio reality shows....comedy shows? Why is it so hard for us to think of radio as something other than the familiar?
It's human nature to not color outside the lines....we are taught to "replicate success" our entire lives. And that's a good survival skill, too! But true leaders are people who think outside the box.....they blaze new trails where there were none before....they create the "new" in our world. It is this "new" that moves civilization, and mankind forward.....it makes life richer and more fulfilling. We need some true programming leadership. And we need the bean counters to bite their tongues and let the creative folks experiment so that the next "new" can be located.
taylorengineer:
I didn't say that the number of translator signals is the ONLY or even the primary problem, but it is a significant factor that is further eroding an already dying product.
I don't think the problem is so much programming ideas, but the ability to implement those unique ideas is costly and then to get the word out in a single market.
And sadly, it's largely the listeners themselves who are the biggest problem because they gravitate toward listening to the "familiar". Stations like the River have decent ratings despite having a very limited playlist and on air talent. They don't support stations that try to take a chance and be different.
I do think that when they start creating these national "superstations" that I think will come, you'll probably see few more chances taken because the economic of it become a little more bearable.
I didn't say that the number of translator signals is the ONLY or even the primary problem, but it is a significant factor that is further eroding an already dying product.
I don't think the problem is so much programming ideas, but the ability to implement those unique ideas is costly and then to get the word out in a single market.
And sadly, it's largely the listeners themselves who are the biggest problem because they gravitate toward listening to the "familiar". Stations like the River have decent ratings despite having a very limited playlist and on air talent. They don't support stations that try to take a chance and be different.
I do think that when they start creating these national "superstations" that I think will come, you'll probably see few more chances taken because the economic of it become a little more bearable.
I agree that rolling out anything new is going to cost some beans. That's one of the reasons why the bean counters don't like "new" and "unproven."
But I disagree that the problem is the listener. We are creatures of habit and as we get older we become more and more comfortable with our daily routines. We crave familiarity in all areas, radio included. But we can also be drawn out of our daily routine by anything which creates curiosity or fills a need we may have. An example would be "reality TV" shows. They did not exist 10 years ago and now they are on network television practically every weeknight. MTV is another example. Most people my age never dreamed we would watch and listen to music videos on television. But when it came we all watched and we kept watching even after the "new" had worn off. Television created demand for a product where there had been none before by exposing curious viewers and fulfilling (or possibly creating) a need.
Our tastes in entertainment are a very social thing. Most of us like the music we listen to because our friends like that kind of music. We watch the same TV shows because they are the ones everyone else watches. The media is in a very unique position of influence and has the power to make or break songs, bands, movie stars, politicians, preachers, and yes.....DJs.
Free market forces will eventually force radio to evolve in exactly the way I'm talking about - there will be other uses (or formats) for radio and they will be quite different than what we know now. I just wish the evolution would happen quicker before we all lose our jobs!
But I disagree that the problem is the listener. We are creatures of habit and as we get older we become more and more comfortable with our daily routines. We crave familiarity in all areas, radio included. But we can also be drawn out of our daily routine by anything which creates curiosity or fills a need we may have. An example would be "reality TV" shows. They did not exist 10 years ago and now they are on network television practically every weeknight. MTV is another example. Most people my age never dreamed we would watch and listen to music videos on television. But when it came we all watched and we kept watching even after the "new" had worn off. Television created demand for a product where there had been none before by exposing curious viewers and fulfilling (or possibly creating) a need.
Our tastes in entertainment are a very social thing. Most of us like the music we listen to because our friends like that kind of music. We watch the same TV shows because they are the ones everyone else watches. The media is in a very unique position of influence and has the power to make or break songs, bands, movie stars, politicians, preachers, and yes.....DJs.
Free market forces will eventually force radio to evolve in exactly the way I'm talking about - there will be other uses (or formats) for radio and they will be quite different than what we know now. I just wish the evolution would happen quicker before we all lose our jobs!
Yeah, I think your calling it cookie cutter stuff and it isn't working, and certainly isn't generating revenue to pay for a full staff at most places after the cuts.
Syndication and voice tracking is a direct result of "oops, I can't believe we actually paid 25 million for that station, now what do we do?" And then it becomes "where's my bonus and how do I continue to get them?"
When you blow out your best loyal and quality people, some get out of the business and others become your competition somewhere else, making even that much harder to make your budget. It's like your revenue is now playing dominos month after month after a buyout every time... After seeing it happen so many times, just saying...
Syndication and voice tracking is a direct result of "oops, I can't believe we actually paid 25 million for that station, now what do we do?" And then it becomes "where's my bonus and how do I continue to get them?"
When you blow out your best loyal and quality people, some get out of the business and others become your competition somewhere else, making even that much harder to make your budget. It's like your revenue is now playing dominos month after month after a buyout every time... After seeing it happen so many times, just saying...
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