Say it ain't so Jeff, say it ain't so

[adbuyer1]

I heard a rumor, as it can best be described, that Jeff Shaprio has chosen a General Manager for his new radio properties. There's no absolute way this can be true. I remember dealing with this clown, to be polite, when placing a $6,000 order that was to run over five or six months. He asked if it was ok if he billed all $6,000 in the first month and ran the remainder of the commercials as no charges. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and asked him "isn't that a little "Enron" like; in other words non-kosher accounting. He replied, "not at all, we do it all the time". A couple of months later, after traveling down I-91 listening to his station, I called him up and asked him "how many commercials do you run an hour"? He replied that "he wasn't sure"? You're not sure, I said...how about 18 in one hour and 20 in another! He responded by saying that the "advertisers don't mind". That was the last time we did any business with the station he was at.
There is just no way Jeff Shapiro would turn over the entire General Management of his new radio company to someone who has absolutley no skills to run it. Especially since the days of running 20 commercials an hour are completely over in the Upper Valley....and thank God for that!

 

[Who REALLY Cares?]

It probably isn't so. Why would Shapiro dump several million dollars to buy stations in a small market and throw the keys to a guy with no management experience? There are way too many good, experienced radio guys out there that Shapiro knows to select from before he would go there. Check your sources on that rumor.

 

[radiotony]

Why not name names?

 

[Ms_Milk_Maid_Mary]

Yes it's true...adbuyer1 is 100% correct! :'( I just got off the phone with My Big girlfriend at cc! Who told me they have brought in one of their little vox friends to ruin, I mean run the group. Word is they are takin' over on Wednesday and this "block head" has also approached the Big H! Although, I haven't reached out to him over in Hanover to confirm it. The boys and I are not impressed at all, just goes to show you - what could have been a 'good thing' has just been destroyed. Why didn't they ask Bob Frisch!? He could have done a better job from the bar stool in White River! :-* Oh, well. Your Mary will keep searchin' for the answers, while the boys and I, try to stay dry this mornin' up here on the farm in Sharon! wink-wink!!


Ms. Mary

 

[adbuyer1]

Tony:

I didn't name names because at this point it is only a rumor. I am not aware of any official announcement.
The other reason is that this is so unbelievable, it would be the equivalent of the Patriots announcing they have resigned Drew Bledsoe and have released Tom Brady as their quarterback. I would even question hiring this person as an account executive, forget about General Manager.

 

[Who REALLY Cares?]

Maybe he REALLY is going to be a glorified account executive. From what I understand, Shapiro is sort of the "man about town" guy and will probably be REALLY calling the shots anyways. Better known in management circles as a "puppet" administration.
My friend in Hanover who is a reliable source claims that the GM is not the only position to change. PD's, morning shows, several people total all out of work come next week. Sounds like a format change or two are in order?

Bottom line is that this is a tough business and getting tougher to find and hold decent paying jobs. Mediocre employees can no longer hide in a station, and eventually, people who have titles have to have credibility behind them. Otherwise, the REALLY good employees smoke out the imposters.

I can"t wait to see who the "clown" and "block head", as previous bloggers refer to him/her as, REALLY is.....

 

[radiotony]

No problem. It's just that no one knows who you are so it couldn't be traced back to you or anything if it were incorrect. That's all I was thinking.

Tony:

I didn't name names because at this point it is only a rumor. I am not aware of any official announcement.
The other reason is that this is so unbelievable, it would be the equivalent of the Patriots announcing they have resigned Drew Bledsoe and have released Tom Brady as their quarterback. I would even question hiring this person as an account executive, forget about General Manager.

 

[radiotony]

But for the most part, beyond really insane situations, really good employees can hold down their jobs. If they are willing to work hard and become more productive, they can hold on. Sometimes, there are too many really good employees and you have to let them go. Or, if you just took on a big amount of debt to buy the stations and you gotta make things work, well, you gotta make the numbers work. While I don't know Shapiro, I know some of the people who work for him and they seem alright to me. Unfortunately, the entire business is pretty sad right now and not getting any better, despite local owners trying to take some of the stations back from the big corporations. Some local owners are even driving the stations into the ground! What's worse: A big corporation which owns a station and doesn't care, or a local owner who cares but is driving the station into the ground?

Bottom line is that this is a tough business and getting tougher to find and hold decent paying jobs. Mediocre employees can no longer hide in a station, and eventually, people who have titles have to have credibility behind them. Otherwise, the REALLY good employees smoke out the imposters.

 

[Jimc]

Love rumors don't y'all

AND as far as Bob Frisch goes, when he was running WGIR in the old days [EDIT] he was fairly capable.

I've also seen a lot radio stations run from bar stools.

So..?


[EDIT-inflammatory]

 

[Who REALLY Cares?]

Just getting back from the VAB, and this is NO rumor!!! True stuff, and now I can see peoples disbelief. At the VAB, in just about every huddle of people, this was a topic of conversation, including "off the record" comments from former co-workers and soon-to-be employees.

 

[NO DAG]

Wow.. Everyone's bitchin and moanin' about Mr. Shapiro coming back to broadcasting, and they havn't even taken over the joint yet.. Say what you will, what conditions would you rather deal with ? The radio stations owned by a large company, or a local oriented operator. Kracko been in both worlds, and Kracko would prefer an atmosphere with local owners and operators anytinme. Been there, loved that !!

 

[wjds]

Feel free to contact with me if you have any concerns or questions about the decisions that we make at our new Upper Valley Radio stations. The staff did a great job under clear channel running the stations...our goal is to make them even better! Why post anonymously now when my email address is below and you can give me direct feedback. Believe it or not..we care a lot about these stations and will continue to build and grow great stations in NH! Stay tuned for exciting things ahead!

Jeff Shapiro
[email protected]

 

[Who REALLY Cares?]

From what I understand, Shapiro is sort of the "man about town" guy and will probably be REALLY calling the shots anyways. Better known in management circles as a "puppet" administration.

Thanks for confirming this, we appreciate it.

 

[nhradiochild]

I'm glad to see that Jeff has taken an interest to what folks have to say about this situation, but in my opinion, he should be using the open forum to defend his position if there is merit to his hiring.

I know that in the old days all things were hush hush, but as Imus has proven there's no escaping answering to the internet public on issues that would have skated by before.

I do respect him for offering up his email address and I think those that have any credibility ought to take him up on his offer to discuss this candidly and non-anonymously. I think he would be grateful if you had valid input that he might not be aware of.

I know I don't, but if I did, I would be more than happy to bring it to his attention, because I would like to be someone that was known to have your back, even if it might be against what personal opinion might be. But I'd be damn sure I was right.

 

[adbuyer1]

Jeff,

This post, which I started, is not about any current or former Clear Channel employees or the way they ran the stations you are acquiring. It is in response to a rumor, that you can confirm, regarding who has been put in charge of these stations. Someone, who if true, has demonstrated complete disregard for all advertisers, not to mention any listeners still left, by stating it was acceptable to run upwards of 20 commercials an hour. Someone, who if true, advocated accounting practices that would have executives of any public company dragged out of the office with a coat over their heads and their hands behind their back. The rumor, as of now, is just that.

 

[Erie_Lackawanna]

I'm glad to see that Jeff has taken an interest to what folks have to say about this situation, but in my opinion, he should be using the open forum to defend his position if there is merit to his hiring.

i would disagree with the above assertion. there is no requirement to discuss one's qualifications or positions in regards to one's day to day employment. that Jeff has offered up his personal contact info for you to either rail against or inquire about his intentions is more than many, including myself, would have done in regards to being hired for any job.

and regarding the albeit direct demands to defend any aspect of one's business is a bit much, too. having to either state or publish any or every fiduciary detail on an Internet message board is not a requirement of doing business in any aspect of free commerce.

look at the divestiture of CC stations to groups perhaps envisioned of more local control and flavor as a positive thing. as Yogi Berra once said - you have to put the past behind you.

and fwiw: employees at CC stations have endeavored to keep their stations as local as possible. to a man and woman, i have heard from many of their struggles to avoid the homoginized radio formula from completely overtaking the signal.

 

[nhradiochild]

Yes, I have to concur that revealing such things (especially specifics about how a station operates) is a bit much, and should be unwarranted but the fact remains that people will continue to talk their s**t without knowing the facts. If there is a time when feedback is necessary, then I expect someone knowledgable to be able to say something in defense of a situation (maybe generically in nature) when people are trying to give others black eyes unjustly or without merit, so that the unknowing do not get sideswiped or worse yet, form a negative opinion of those they may be working for.

Like I said above, I think that acknowledgement is a wonderful thing and I really do give Jeff super-kudos for extending his hand to reach out to. Having taken the opportunity to talk with him, and his being candid with me, allows me to understand that he made his choice because he knows what he's doing, regardless of what the riff-raff might believe. And wow, how can you knock a guy, much less a station owner, that's willing to set the record straight on a one-on-one basis?

I will say that I don't know the man that Jeff hired or his alleged business practices except maybe by name only. Again, I encourage anyone who feels that there are issues to email Jeff as he has invited to do.

I truly think he has a master plan, much like he did when he first bought Q106, and he shaped that place up and made it huge. I expect the same for his new group of stations, and it sounds like he'll be able to be much more focused on providing good content for the listeners again.

By the way, I know for a fact that Clear Channel UV were not your typical Clear Channel stations simply for the fact that I knew Traci Lang personally and knew of Jason Place when he worked for Q106 and WGXL. The fact that they kept these personnel on board showed that CC UV had some commitment to locality in that market. (Or perhaps they just didn't care to change things because of the master game plan as we have recently seen.) And good for those locally involved who resisted the homogenization!

 

[radiotony]

I would agree that I think it is pretty cool that Jeff gave out his email to people and invited communication. More often than not, media organizations don't want to hear from listeners/readers/viewers - or say that do and then don't give two figs about what your concerns are. And, at the same time, if I was an owner of a station, I would want to know any available information about my employees which I didn't already know about. So, kudos to him for even responding to the post.

 

[Still on the Radio]

RUMOR HAS IT

Although I am not in the UV or Rutland markets much anymore (which is ok, as my ears cant take it) I do follow things...I hear that the initials H. C. may play a part in the big picture...bet he would love to do some battle!

I'm just saying, its what I hear...

Nuff Said

 

[sliver]

Really? I think you'll find that H.C. and Milk Maid Mary are very close. Far closer than you might imagine. Who knows what will happen but I think Mary has expressed her thoughts pretty clearly.

Sliver