Radio and our Culture of Greed

[SoftenedHeart]

James 5:1-6

Look here, you rich men, now is the time to cry and groan with anguished grief because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is even now rotting away, and your fine clothes are becoming mere moth-eaten rags. The value of your gold and silver is dropping fast, yet it will stand as evidence against you, and eat your flesh like fire. That is what you have stored up for yourselves, to receive on that coming day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. Their cries have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

You have spent your years here on the earth having fun, satisfying your every whim, and your fat hearts are ready for the slaughter. You have condemned and killed good men who had no power to defend themselves against you.

 

[dmargalotti]

I think that quote from the Bible can be applied to a heck of a lot more than just radio. While this industry is guilty of many sins, come judgment day it will have to wait inline behind all the unscrupulous, greedy crooks on Wall Street, in the mortgage & banking industry, and Congress!

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

I think that quote from the Bible can be applied to a heck of a lot more than just radio. While this industry is guilty of many sins, come judgment day it will have to wait inline behind all the unscrupulous, greedy crooks on Wall Street, in the mortgage & banking industry, and Congress!

Like the Wall Street fat cats, radio managemente has gotton very greedy over the years. With all their sophisticated, impressive titles, CEO's, CFO's, GM's, Asst. GM, PD, APD, etc. etc. etc, They take home the BIG $$$$$ while the underlings bust their ball sacks for a pittance. Corporate greed indeed!

 

[Tom Wells]

Glory Be! There shall be a wailing and gnashing of teeth. For the toothless, dentures shall be provided!

Your Lexus shall not satisfy you, your digital comforts shall be burned in your hearth as your last meager fuel.
The built-in garage door remote controller shall mock you and you shall control no thing at all.
Your pinstripe suits shall betray you, and provide no warmth as ye scour the fields looking for unharvested scraps to eat.
The workers of the field shall rise up and cast you into your fetid, half empty, in-ground swimming pool.
How much better it is to have stored up one's treasures in heaven!

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

Glory Be! There shall be a wailing and gnashing of teeth. For the toothless, dentures shall be provided!

Your Lexus shall not satisfy you, your digital comforts shall be burned in your hearth as your last meager fuel.
The built-in garage door remote controller shall mock you and you shall control no thing at all.
Your pinstripe suits shall betray you, and provide no warmth as ye scour the fields looking for unharvested scraps to eat.
The workers of the field shall rise up and cast you into your fetid, half empty, in-ground swimming pool.
How much better it is to have stored up one's treasures in heaven!

Ahhhhhhhh yes the wheels of justice grind exceedlingly slow.

 

[TheBigA]

I know how popular it is to accuse others of greed, but NPR just laid off 7% of its work force. Earlier this year, they dropped the Bryant Park show, produced at WNYC. It's not just greed, folks. Although the public stations could use some donations, if any of you greed-haters can spare a few pennies. Put your money where your mouth is, and support those who often volunteer to do radio.

I now return you to all your hell fire and damnation...already in progress.

 

[WPPCProductions]

The main word floating around is Corruption,Their boat will sink in the green water soon.

 

[davideduardo]

Like the Wall Street fat cats, radio managemente has gotton very greedy over the years. With all their sophisticated, impressive titles, CEO's, CFO's, GM's, Asst. GM, PD, APD, etc. etc. etc, They take home the BIG $$$$$ while the underlings bust their ball sacks for a pittance. Corporate greed indeed!

I hate to burst this bubble, complete with an attempt at Biblical porophecy, but what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

There are more jocks than PDs. There are more sellers than Sales Managers. There are more accountants than there are CFO's. There are more basketball players than there are NBA stars.

Where there is a shortage of superstars, the demand allows the stars to command a big price. There is less pressure if your skillset qualifies you as a barista at Starbucks than if you are a market leading GSM or GM.

If you want equality in compensation, move to a socialist conuntry; equal pay for all jobs is one of the tenets of socialism. In a meritocracy, which is almost a requirement for a democracy, ability and talent are the metric for pay, not need.

 

[Tom Wells]

Like the Wall Street fat cats, radio managemente has gotton very greedy over the years. With all their sophisticated, impressive titles, CEO's, CFO's, GM's, Asst. GM, PD, APD, etc. etc. etc, They take home the BIG $$$$$ while the underlings bust their ball sacks for a pittance. Corporate greed indeed!

I hate to burst this bubble, complete with an attempt at Biblical porophecy, but what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

There are more jocks than PDs. There are more sellers than Sales Managers. There are more accountants than there are CFO's. There are more basketball players than there are NBA stars.

Where there is a shortage of superstars, the demand allows the stars to command a big price. There is less pressure if your skillset qualifies you as a barista at Starbucks than if you are a market leading GSM or GM.

If you want equality in compensation, move to a socialist conuntry; equal pay for all jobs is one of the tenets of socialism. In a meritocracy, which is almost a requirement for a democracy, ability and talent are the metric for pay, not need.

I take no forethought and hold no grudge, speaking in generalities and I accuse no one but only translate into modern terminology.
Porophecy is not a hobby of mine and I make no claim to any special knowledge, nor do I think it's ever something I've thought about
or done before.

As to greed and meritocracy, our values and our worth are evident in the end.
Any system which does not recognize and accomodate this is flawed.
But like our financial markets, sometimes we don't seem to know where our values and our worth really are.
Ratios have way of getting out of whack when too much cash accumulates in the hands of too few people.
I know you never play the three-shell and the pea game with the guy on the "el".
The game never changes at any level. The difference is when one works for the guy who runs the game.
You have to play and you always lose. Hence those awful unions and their horrible demands, etc.

No socialist here, but I do see considerable inequity.

 

[EbolaMonkey]

what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

Tom Wells hit the nail on the head. The radio biz as it is today is NOT representative of healthy capitalism. There are too few companies with control over the marketplace. In such an environment, the healthy market forces of capitalism are asphyxiated, and workers find themselves under the jackboot of monopolistic interests.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

Tom Wells hit the nail on the head. The radio biz as it is today is NOT representative of healthy capitalism. There are too few companies with control over the marketplace. In such an environment, the healthy market forces of capitalism are asphyxiated, and workers find themselves under the jackboot of monopolistic interests.

Any employee who is replaced by a technological monstrosity programmed by a geeky nimrod has a beef with managemente. And that is where we are headed folks.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

I know how popular it is to accuse others of greed, but NPR just laid off 7% of its work force. Earlier this year, they dropped the Bryant Park show, produced at WNYC. It's not just greed, folks. Although the public stations could use some donations, if any of you greed-haters can spare a few pennies. Put your money where your mouth is, and support those who often volunteer to do radio.

I now return you to all your hell fire and damnation...already in progress.

Corporate corruption and greed are everywhere. It's all about the degree of the crime. You think a GM should make $500k a year while everyone else is busting their humps to scrape a $40k a year salary with no benefits? Most GM's are like Arthur Carlson of WKRP in Cinncinati. Who couldn't even operate a pencil sharpener or a phone to call 911 if their life depended on it. ;D

 

[davideduardo]

what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

Tom Wells hit the nail on the head. The radio biz as it is today is NOT representative of healthy capitalism. There are too few companies with control over the marketplace. In such an environment, the healthy market forces of capitalism are asphyxiated, and workers find themselves under the jackboot of monopolistic interests.

Let's compare the number of radio companies in New York City with the number of companies that, let's say, make engines for jet airliners.

There's plenty of competition.

 

[EbolaMonkey]

Let's compare the number of radio companies in New York City with the number of companies that, let's say, make engines for jet airliners.

There's plenty of competition.

A completely fallacious argument. A false comparison.

 

[neo11]

what one makes is dependent on supply and demand.

Tom Wells hit the nail on the head. The radio biz as it is today is NOT representative of healthy capitalism. There are too few companies with control over the marketplace. In such an environment, the healthy market forces of capitalism are asphyxiated, and workers find themselves under the jackboot of monopolistic interests.

Let's compare the number of radio companies in New York City with the number of companies that, let's say, make engines for jet airliners.

There's plenty of competition.

That's a convenient way for you to wrap the argument into a way that suits you.

Let's turn it around a bit: instead of counting the number of radio companies active in NYC, how about we count how many are active across the country...AND, compared to the total number of radio stations, what percentage of them belong to one of the big companies. Let's even go further and look at the quality of the properties they own...e.g. what kinds of stations the big companies own, versus the types of stations the "mom and pops" own. I think you will get a much different answer but one that is also less convenient for your big corporation-friendly argument.

 

[TheBigA]

There are THOUSANDS of companies that own radio stations. The mistake the critics make is they only look at the tip of the iceberg. The POPULAR ones are owned by about thirty or so different companies. But there's lots of competition. Just an unwillingness on the part of some people to work at a station with a bad signal or small owner with no money, and devote time and energy to create programming that could compete. It's a defeatest attitude that didn't exist years ago. WMCA had a crappy signal and no money, and was willing to take on the power of WABC. They never beat them, but that didn't stop them. Today, people wouldn't even try. Instead, they complain on message boards like this one about the big powerful owners.

No one is stopping anyone with time, imagination, and some guts from taking a small radio station and showing how good programming can win in New York. Unless people really don't think it can be done.

 

[TheBigA]

compared to the total number of radio stations, what percentage of them belong to one of the big companies.

OK...there are 14000 radio stations, and about 3000 of them are owned by the major companies. That's less than 25%.

what kinds of stations the big companies own, versus the types of stations the "mom and pops" own.

They paid for them, didn't they? A Cadillac costs more than a Civic. But having a big powerful signal is no guarantee of anything. There's a thread somewhere else of 50K AMs that are wastes of a great signal. In NY, what about 1130 WBBR? That was once a Top 10 radio station. But Bloomberg doesn't need ratings, just an outlet for his financial services.

The history of radio is filled with stories of guys who took lousy signals and facilities with no money, and built them into powerhouses. Who among all the complainers is willing to risk their own time and energy to do that? Or do you just want to complain and dream of the day when Clear Channel donates W-Lite to you for free?

 

[EbolaMonkey]

OK...there are 14000 radio stations, and about 3000 of them are owned by the major companies. That's less than 25%.

First, I'd like to know where you found this stat.

But, for the sake of conversation, let's assume it's correct. I think we need to know what percentage of the U.S. population is covered by the corporate 3000 vs. the more independent 11000. I'd also want to know the percentage of the ad revenue pie consumed by the 3000 vs. the 11000.

It's a safe bet that the percentages are lop-sided in favor of the 3000.

It's also a safe bet that the same 3000 stations employed far more people in 1990 and still produced an overall profit (if you averaged the bottom lines of all 3000).

Today those 3000 stations employ a fraction of what they employed in 1990, and yet they serve a larger population than in 1990. And to remain profitable in the coming years those 3000 stations will have to continue cutting jobs.

That's how monopolies work. No one is worried about improving the product, only about cutting the costs of the product as it presently exists. Actually the product can decline in quality and it won't matter.

 

[TheBigA]

First, I'd like to know where you found this stat.

Do the math. We know who the big companies are, and we know how many stations they own. Add them up and tell me if your number is much different.

I think we need to know what percentage of the U.S. population is covered by the corporate 3000 vs. the more independent 11000. I'd also want to know the percentage of the ad revenue pie consumed by the 3000 vs. the 11000.

Radio is local. The size of the local ad revenue and audience pie is regulated by the FCC. If a single company takes too big a piece of the revenue pie, the FCC asks it to divest. This was covered under the 96 Act.

It's a safe bet that the percentages are lop-sided in favor of the 3000.

That may be. I'm sure Mr. Eduardo knows. My view is that it doesn't matter since those stations don't compete for a national audience or national revenue. Just within their local areas.

That's how monopolies work. No one is worried about improving the product, only about cutting the costs of the product as it presently exists. Actually the product can decline in quality and it won't matter.

You could use a lesson in what a monopoly is. The key comes in the first four letters: "mono," which is Greek for one. All big companies don't operate as one. They compete very actively and aggressively within their markets in attaining audience and revenue. That is what determines a monopoly. Quality is not part of the definition.

If you're going to make legal arguments, you have to know what the law is. What these companies are doing is legal. Firing their staff would have been equally legal under the previous Communications Act. It was legal for one station to have 30% of a local market's audience and revenues in the 1960s, and it's legal for one company to do the same with five stations today. The government does not get involved in radio programming quality. It never has. And when it gets involved in measuring quality, as it does with food and drugs, it often runs into trouble.

If you want to say that having a couple thousand companies owning 14000 radio stations constitutes a monopoly, then you will need to explain how three breweries control 85% of the beer made in this country, three soft drink companies control about 90% of all soft drinks consumed, four phone companies control 85% of all consumer business, and 8 auto manufacturers control 95% of all vehicles sold. Those are far closer to monopolies than radio. I want to know why it's a monopoly when I have 50 stations in my town, owned by at least 10 different owners, yet I can get cable TV from only one company. THAT is a monopoly.

 

[TheBigA]

And to remain profitable in the coming years those 3000 stations will have to continue cutting jobs.

I missed that the first time I read your post.

That's not necessarily true. There are a lot of factors that relate to profit.

One of the big trends in radio now is diversification, and seeking new sources of revenue. The idea of taking content created on one platform, and offering it across multiple platforms, making money each time. That is the infrastructure that these companies are building as we speak. So while on the surface it appears they're cutting jobs, they are at the same time hiring people for their new platforms. It's the only real growth area in broadcasting right now.