Run Jody Run

[thepostman]

I have to laugh when I see Jody running to D magazine. Please! You've already set the bridge on fire by going public instead of getting stuff in writing.

Purdy has orders to turn Chatmans huge salary in to reportable profit by eliminating the expense. Oldies formats are in the final death spins. CBS NY used to bill 44 million a year it's now down to 30 million.

You may want to be the next Chatman but I can guarantee you I've overhead too many conversations in the Fitzhugh halls excited about the idea of JACKING oldies! NY is looking souly at the huge $$$ they'll save and nothing else. Guys like Kurt are only too eager to tell corp what they want to hear knowing they have dolts like Henry back above them to blame if and eventually when things go south.

Somebody in another link tried to make the point that Gene and Julie didn't come cheap to KVIL. Really? Those two were being forced out in Atlanta due to lame ratings and were desperate to come to Dallas for less than they did the first time. They may last simply because they are working so cheap.

Unless you're a true proven talent like a Russ Martin or Kidd Kraddick who provide quantifiable sales ratings demos thru daily ever changing ideas of entertainment you only have your past name recognition. Sadly guys like Johnson will talk (force)the rest of you in to taking less money to read their lame liners on their more music stations. All in a desperate attempt to try and continue to fool an audience that now recognizes cheap, bland, souless crap when they hear it. Further pushing listeners in to deciding to finally pay for something that used to entertain them for free.

Mel is doing some very smart things right now. He hired Cousin Brucie and took out full page ads in NY advertising where you can find oldies on Sirus with Cousin Brucie. I wouldn't be surprised to see him spend some $ on Chatman and do the same thing to market number 5.

Wall Street has sucked the life blood "operating" money out of radio and will eventually do the same thing to XM and Sirus.

The question we should be asking ourselves is do we invest in the entertainment creators or the recievers? Me I'm moving my portfolio more towards cell phone/recievers.

 

[stinker]

> Purdy has orders to turn Chatmans huge salary in to
> reportable profit by eliminating the expense. Oldies
> formats are in the final death spins. CBS NY used to bill
> 44 million a year it's now down to 30 million.
>




Just WHO is this Chatman you speak of??

 

[BrainDeadPrez]

> I have to laugh when I see Jody running to D magazine.
> Please! You've already set the bridge on fire by going
> public instead of getting stuff in writing.
>
> Purdy has orders to turn Chatmans huge salary in to
> reportable profit by eliminating the expense. Oldies
> formats are in the final death spins. CBS NY used to bill
> 44 million a year it's now down to 30 million.
>
> Somebody in another link tried to make the point that Gene
> and Julie didn't come cheap to KVIL. Really? Those two
> were being forced out in Atlanta due to lame ratings and
> were desperate to come to Dallas for less than they did the
> first time. They may last simply because they are working
> so cheap.

Jody's sealed his fate by going public. Infinity does not like their business disseminated to the media unless they can put their own little carefully-planned spin on it to soften the blow for the stockholders. I expect if Jody survives this, he'll be relegated to hosting a new version of "Cartoon Carnival" for KTVT, and left there to rot until he jumps ship. Channel 8 might take him, you never know.

CBS/Viacom/Infinity are pulling the plug on anything that skews to older people. That's not where the ad revenue is. Anything that serves anyone older than 40-ish is being phased out. CBS has tried three times (at last count) to cancel "The Price is Right" because it only draws older viewers. I imagine when Barker steps down, they'll have the impetus to kill it then. This reminds me of the early 70s when CBS dumped "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Green Acres," etc...all regular, long-time top performers...to bring in a younger look to the network. They did this again not long ago by dumping "Dr Quinn" and "Touched By an Angel". They see no profit or value in anything outside the coveted 25-34/25-39/whatever range. As I said before, IT'S ALL ABOUT SHAREHOLDER VALUE...and nothing whatsoever to do with the listener or viewer. And we thought Lowry Mays was the only public enemy in the post-consolidation era.

But you just don't dump out of a KLUV. The dedication there by oldies lovers borders on insanity. You think WCBS got a backlash from changing formats? Try messing with KLUV. And, despite their older-skewing demo and 300-song playlist, they still deliver consistent numbers. That's more than can be said for KRLD, KOAI and KVIL, and much of KLLI's dayparts.

You might be referring to my earlier comments about Gene and Julie...but they were about what they are NOT making, not what they might have been worth at some earlier point in their pre-consolidation career. I'd bet they're hourly, non-exempt, and get no benefits until after 6 months.

 

[edwardrmurrow]

> Jody's sealed his fate by going public. Infinity does not
> like their business disseminated to the media unless they
> can put their own little carefully-planned spin on it to
> soften the blow for the stockholders. I expect if Jody
> survives this, he'll be relegated to hosting a new version
> of "Cartoon Carnival" for KTVT, and left there to rot until
> he jumps ship. Channel 8 might take him, you never know.
>
>Actually no,it's a brillant move on Jody's Part. When you feel that you may go under siege, attack. Jody will let the public get involved,before Ron's gone, and they willbombard Infinity with emails, letters ,etc. Ron (while he is still there) will be aware of the public's outrage, and let his voice be known over the air and re-emphasize that Jody is THE PERSON to succeed him ,and no outsider better screw around with that.So many going away parties are about to commence for Ron,so he will hold court on the issue and Infinity's hot air balloon will rupture. They can ill afford another station in their stable to take on water,especially if the crticism leveled at them comes from a legend. Case inpoint,look at WCBS-FM,"Cousin" Bruce has told his side to every major media outlet up there, adding gasoline to the fire of outraged New Yorkers seeing WCBS-FM getting "Jacked" Ron could take his cue from that and do the same here and you damn well know it will have a large impact. So Jody has learned well from the master.

 

[OldiesCat]

correction

you really impressed us with your inside knowledge- BTW, Ron's name is CHAPMAN wiht a 'p', not a 't'.


> I have to laugh when I see Jody running to D magazine.
> Please! You've already set the bridge on fire by going
> public instead of getting stuff in writing.
>
> Purdy has orders to turn Chatmans huge salary in to
> reportable profit by eliminating the expense. Oldies
> formats are in the final death spins. CBS NY used to bill
> 44 million a year it's now down to 30 million.
>
> You may want to be the next Chatman but I can guarantee you
> I've overhead too many conversations in the Fitzhugh halls
> excited about the idea of JACKING oldies! NY is looking
> souly at the huge $$$ they'll save and nothing else. Guys
> like Kurt are only too eager to tell corp what they want to
> hear knowing they have dolts like Henry back above them to
> blame if and eventually when things go south.
>
> Somebody in another link tried to make the point that Gene
> and Julie didn't come cheap to KVIL. Really? Those two
> were being forced out in Atlanta due to lame ratings and
> were desperate to come to Dallas for less than they did the
> first time. They may last simply because they are working
> so cheap.
>
> Unless you're a true proven talent like a Russ Martin or
> Kidd Kraddick who provide quantifiable sales ratings demos
> thru daily ever changing ideas of entertainment you only
> have your past name recognition. Sadly guys like Johnson
> will talk (force)the rest of you in to taking less money to
> read their lame liners on their more music stations. All in
> a desperate attempt to try and continue to fool an audience
> that now recognizes cheap, bland, souless crap when they
> hear it. Further pushing listeners in to deciding to finally
> pay for something that used to entertain them for free.
>
> Mel is doing some very smart things right now. He hired
> Cousin Brucie and took out full page ads in NY advertising
> where you can find oldies on Sirus with Cousin Brucie. I
> wouldn't be surprised to see him spend some $ on Chatman and
> do the same thing to market number 5.
>
> Wall Street has sucked the life blood "operating" money out
> of radio and will eventually do the same thing to XM and
> Sirus.
>
> The question we should be asking ourselves is do we invest
> in the entertainment creators or the recievers? Me I'm
> moving my portfolio more towards cell phone/recievers.
>

 

[BrainDeadPrez]

> >Actually no,it's a brillant move on Jody's Part. When you
> feel that you may go under siege, attack. Jody will let the
> public get involved,before Ron's gone, and they willbombard
> Infinity with emails, letters ,etc. Ron (while he is still
> there) will be aware of the public's outrage, and let his
> voice be known over the air and re-emphasize that Jody is
> THE PERSON to succeed him ,and no outsider better screw
> around with that.

I fully agree with you in principle, and I would probably do that myself without a second thought...BUT...in this day and age, where the job market is tight, and Jody's seen how shabbily his "invincible" buddy Scott Sams was treated, and knows that anyone can be disposable, should he risk being labeled a 'troublemaker' and someone who refuses to go through the proper channels within the company to plead his case? Perhaps a Russ Martin or a Howard Stern could get away with this (as that's within the 'nature' of their shows; bucking management is just another daily "bit",) but I think Jody would end up losing out on BOTH jobs. I'd bet that Ron feels like he's already done his part by endorsing Jody, but the rest is up to management. Ron's an out-going employee now, and I'm sure his pull is now diluted. Ron isn't the one who'd be working out Jody's contract. Knowing how Infinity ONLY reacts to shareholder interests nowadays, a letter-writing campaign or calls from disgruntled listeners would likely fall on deaf ears. I hate to say that, but looking at things like the WCBS format change, Kurt's promotion, David Henry's promotion, KRLD's move, other management shufflings, a mass Infinity migration to the self-contained Jack format across the nation...every move points to putting more bean-counters in charge and reeling back every expense possible. I would expect voicetracking to be the next logical move. Infinity "ain't" there for the listener and surely not for the "public interest", either, unless that "public" happens to own shares of the company. A "fair" salary for Jody may not be in their lean budget.

Unfortunately, standing by principles and doing what's right does not always pay the bills. We all have to find where that fine line is drawn, and either put up with it, or risk paying the price. You and I know that all too well.

 

[edwardrmurrow]

Good points,but with Jody making the first move to a public forum it will only enchance his growth among current and potential listeners. The Public likes to root for "David vs Goliath". Jody can use this pulpit and Infinity will have to cool their jets for awhile. Now Infinity will use as an excuse the forth coming fall book and claim Jody is not working out,without considering it as an "adjustment".Stupid? Yes it will be, because they will use Ron's spring book (which will show a spike upward) as a standard instead of a one time fluke. The folks who run Infinity and other companies are products of the 80's .All Business majors in college then,with no people skills or understanding of people in general just a cash register. They forgot,it takes people to fill the cash register. In this case ..listeners