The End of Local Radio

[flytrap]

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/01/local-radio-getting-tuning-out-thanks-internet/?test=faces

 

[SirRoxalot]

Interesting take, even if it is from Fox News. It seems that at least John R. Quain from Fox believes that homogenized programming won't outperform Internet radio when it comes to simply delivering music content. And if you're simply delivering music content, you can't beat Internet radio's ability to tailor music content to individuals.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

We will probably see messages that parallel so many of what we see about what radio SHOULD be, etc. But maybe this is an opportunity to trot out some answers we don't see everyday.

What does "local radio" mean? Does it mean "terrestrial broadcasting via a transmitter with no wire, cable connection to the listener" ?

I did a much-too-quick glance at the link and I need to come back and beat it to death a little bit. Just as everybody seems to be going to the dealer and comong home with a car that is different... no one living within 17 blocks of you has one just like it.... people are getting very picky about what they want delivered to their ear.

Will the owners of transmitters continue the programming trends we have seen for the last 10 years.... or will they decide that they must figure out what it is they can do that the programmer creating audio to be distributed state wide or nation wide or world wide cannot provide. Or will all forms of audio delivery simply go after the same small (at any one given time) availalble audience.

 

[SaltyDog]

I listen to a lot of radio via my smartphone plugged into my car audio system. I can't think of anything traditional music radio stations can do to get me to listen to traditional music radio. Spoken word formats are entirely different. Much of my listening is to local talk shows from around the country via the Tune In app and IHeart Radio app. These are terrestrial radio stations with local hosts I like. When I listen to music it's either my own music collection or Pandora. Once I got used to controlling my own music and not having to see what the radio stations have "curated", there was no going back.

 

[bossbill]

Well, the only way drivers in our community found out about a six car pileup this morning was from our local terrestrial radio stations. Try that with Pandora, ipod, 8-track, cassette, CD, internet. As a bonus, they got a reminder to slow down and watch for black ice. Try that with XMSirius.

 

[davideduardo]

Well, the only way drivers in our community found out about a six car pileup this morning was from our local terrestrial radio stations. Try that with Pandora, ipod, 8-track, cassette, CD, internet. As a bonus, they got a reminder to slow down and watch for black ice. Try that with XMSirius.

It's indeed fortunate that you can still do that in your markets. The FCC, first in its compulsion to make every town with three residents or more have its own radio station, and then in its need to force multiple voices on each city, town and hamlet has made it impossible to make money in so many places.

The family company I worked for in the 80's and 90's purchased an AM/FM in a northern Florida market where there was one other AM and another combo in the "town in the next county." Everyone made a decent return on investment.

Our stations had news blocks in the morning, at noon and in the late afternoon. The evenings had every high school sport, and weekends had FSU on one station and UofF on the other. We got "put in jail" until the band uniforms were paid for with donations, we had the hospital, police and funeral home reports. And all the other things that kept residents aware of what was going on.

Then Docket 80-90 put 5 new FMs in the two-county area, and the new stations all went on satellite and sold half a dollar spots in packages. One we saw was 10 spots a day for $300. None could get the High School to pull the games from us so one of them said that the school should get $25,000 a season for rights. That year, nobody carried the games. Revenues dropped as there was no increase in market revenue, just 5 more kids at the table trying to eat or having a fit if they didn't.

Money was lost for several years, and finally the stations sold for a quarter of what they cost. The market area no longer has much of any local service of any kind.

The home county went from 3 to 7 stations, and now there are 2 more LPFMs. None are good for much of anything.

 

[SaltyDog]

Well, the only way drivers in our community found out about a six car pileup this morning was from our local terrestrial radio stations. Try that with Pandora, ipod, 8-track, cassette, CD, internet. As a bonus, they got a reminder to slow down and watch for black ice. Try that with XMSirius.

If I could get that from my local terrestrial music radio stations, I might listen to them during my commute. And I still do listen (a little) to the one local terrestrial station that has live talk in morning and afternoon for up-to-the-minute information. I can't listen too much though because while "live and local", they aren't very good.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If I could get that from my local terrestrial music radio stations, I might listen to them during my commute. And I still do listen (a little) to the one local terrestrial station that has live talk in morning and afternoon for up-to-the-minute information. I can't listen too much though because while "live and local", they aren't very good.

There is an on-going, ever-present tension in the radio business. It hangs in the air, some of us recognize it and identify it, but most people don't want to deal with it. It's like facing the reality that some day, death is around the corner.

Radio thrives when effective, productive sales people are in the mix. And since a lot of lines of business need sales talent, sometimes the only way to attract and keep good sales talent in radio is to make them "The Management".... permit them to be "The Owners".

Effective sales people as often as not have to close their eyes to doubt.... sometimes close their eyes to reality. When I entered the business, it was slightly in the doldrums because television had arrived on the scene and a lot of talent abandoned radio for TV. There where a lot of radio markets.... particularly small markets, single station markets and smaller metro markets where an all-around broadcaster who had some business talent, some programming talent, some technical understanding, and at least mediocre sales skills could make and pleasant and comfortable living. Probably send the kids to college without breaking the bank. End up owning the station, which when sold at retirement age would fund the retirement. That worked pretty well when small rural markets had ONE stations. When I went to Indianapolis, there were EIGHT stations! (Yes, I am not counting the FMs which were grinding through the kilowatts but were not even a good pimple on the butt of a business model.)

It was a time when people who loved doing radio had the luxury of trying to do radio with a flair. News. Traffic reports. And a staff of people who loved doing it and when election day came along; when the town's annual festival came along; when turbulent, devastating weather came along, the entire staff could pitch in and give 125% or 150% effort and meet the challenge of being a "service".

Today's over populated radio spectrum is stretched so thin that almost EVERY STATION has to have ownership and management that is made up of sales superstars who see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. If they pretend that journalism and commentary is not important, then it is not important. If they pretend that to have excess capacity in physical plant and human talent is not important, then it is not important.

When the nation came to the realization 50 years ago that for the era we had a surplus of farm production land, our government began paying farmers to set aside some land and take it out of production. A number of years ago the government subsidized my brother-in-law to take some farm land and improve it, level it so the rice would irrigate more effectively. Then they realized we had too much rice land so they later paid him to go back and destroy the leveling and plant trees so it could return to forest production a la 100 years ago.

Maybe the Department of Agricuture should buy about 40% of today's radio stations and pay the owners to "destroy the leveling and return the real estate to forest management".

It would be interesting to see what people who are superbly focused on programming and only adequately focused on the sales effort could do to "restore the broadcast terrain to a topography that included a few state parks to go along with the factory-feeder-lot terrain" that is broadcasting today. Only those of you who have driven down the road past one of those corporate feeder-lot operations and observed that there is more bovine excrement present than the real estate or the air you breathe can handle can really inhale that thought.

How is that for a word picture of broadcasting today? ;D

 

[SaltyDog]

Maybe the Department of Agricuture should buy about 40% of today's radio stations and pay the owners to "destroy the leveling and return the real estate to forest management".

Makes sense to reduce the number of stations but since the government didn't have the foresight to sell the spectrum rights to radio stations in the first place (as they later did with other spectrum rights) but instead gave them away, as a taxpayer I wouldn't much care for the idea of buying them back. Maybe we should tell some of these operators who are simulcasting and trimulcasting that if they're not providing any programming, they have to give them back. And I'd set the bar higher than just music and voicetracking. Some of these stations are little more than mp3 players attached to transmitters.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Maybe we should tell some of these operators who are simulcasting and trimulcasting that if they're not providing any programming, they have to give them back. And I'd set the bar higher than just music and voicetracking. Some of these stations are little more than mp3 players attached to transmitters.

Two excellent responses on your part today.

There are some ideas I like. But I know some of them are not practical... will not fly. If you go back through my posts in the forums, I hope you can see going on what I try to do, but sometimes I write poorly so maybe it doesn't shine through. I am not interested in just getting into arguments with people. I have spent a lifetime in various businesses where one of my roles was that of a catalyst. Right in the middle of a staff meeting... or an e-mail exchange, I make a suggestion I know isn't going to fly... or ask a question that forces someone to respond: "No, no, no! That won't work. THIS is what we need to do!" And a fresh new idea tumbles out onto the conference room table that would not have be expresses if I hadn't sat there and agitated people and did some tail-twisting.... as they say at the Lion's Club meetings.

There has to be some way we can "thin the heard" in an acceptable and affordable way. In the case of the farmers, they really didn't destroy any farm land... they were paid to "deposit the properth into a LAND BANK" where it could be pulled out later when the market changed, when supply and demand changed, when cities and urbanization chewed up farm land else where.

How many cluster operators would gladly "land bank" a runt frequency if they could throw it in the "frequency bank" knowing that some wackk-a-doodle speculator would not be able to apply for the frequency at the next application window and come back to haunt the original operator.

The political question is: who gets to decide what are the marginal, non-productive frequencies. neither major political party is going to romance this concept. The Republicans and Tea Party folks are not going to warm up to the idea of government spending to buy back frequencies, the Democrats are not going to warm up to the idea of government squeezing down on available channels when Liberal thinking does not feel that it gets adequate exposure in today's surplus of channels. Where is that Old Testament Solomon guy when we need him?

 

[amfmxm]

Every market is different, and every company is different. And with 14,000+ radio stations now on-air, it is extremely difficult to make sweeping statements about our industry. As is often the case, David's observations about small-market radio in North Florida certainly ring true, but we still have large markets where one can go pretty deep into the station roster and find operators making millions in cash flow.

I sincerely believe that the commission screwed the pooch with a whole series of ill-considered deregulation rulings, from 80-90 to Telecom 96 to translators and LPFMs. But as long as the general economy was booming, the negative impact was minimized. In a sustained recession like today's, the shortcomings are magnified.

So we are now engaged in a survival-of-the-fittest exercise and it is not pretty.

Bet on the ones with all the money.

 

[Groove1670]

80-90 and multiple ownership was a shock to our industry. Like any other small business, it is the survival of the best. Serve your community, get involved. In a small market it is not about the music, it is about the involvement. Stay in front of the pack. It has always worked for us.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The big corporations claim to be "saving" radio by accumulating and clustering great numbers of stations. One moment, we're hearing that Docket 80-90, the broadcast changes in the Telecom Act of 1996, and LPFM led to "too many signals", and that "repeater radio" is the only viable option. In the next moment, they're trying to sell us on HD radio because "it will expand the number of formats that we can offer". In other words, HD would add even MORE signals to an already overcrowded spectrum.

C'mon guys, which is it? We have too many stations, or not enough stations? The corporate answer is likely "We don't have enough stations, but you guys have too many." What corporate radio really wants is to control the best signals in any market, and reduce the competition, or at least restrict them to the poorer signals in the market.

Radio still works when it's programmed well. Clear Channel will argue that "programmed well" means syndication of big-money jocks. A lot of others will argue that "programmed well" means less accomplished people super-serving a local audience. In markets where there's viable competition, it looks like we're going to see what listeners prefer. The markets I feel sorry for are the small and medium markets where Clear Channel owns all of the really viable signals.

 

[TheBigA]

In the next moment, they're trying to sell us on HD radio because "it will expand the number of formats that we can offer". In other words, HD would add even MORE signals to an already overcrowded spectrum.

The only stations pushing their HD channels are the public ones.

A lot of others will argue that "programmed well" means less accomplished people super-serving a local audience.

"Less accomplished?" What's devalued the job of the DJ is that so many "less accomplished" people are on the air. The cheapest approach is puttingpeople on the air because they're convenient, not good. There's no need to do that anymore. And the only people who're worried about it are all those "less accomplished people," who had no reason to be on the air except they were convenient. The ones who truely made a connection with their community will easily find work once their radio career is over.

 

[Groove1670]

In the next moment, they're trying to sell us on HD radio because "it will expand the number of formats that we can offer". In other words, HD would add even MORE signals to an already overcrowded spectrum.

When HD radio drops the license fee, more small broadcasters will probably or think about adding it. Until then, it is a unnecessarily expense for the small operator. It would be nice to offer other subchannel formats. As far as HD quality vs FM quality, I don't think the average listener cares.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The only stations pushing their HD channels are the public ones.

Public radio certainly didn't develop this technology, make the major investment in it, or push it through the FCC. Thank Big Corporate for that debacle.

"Less accomplished?" What's devalued the job of the DJ is that so many "less accomplished" people are on the air. The cheapest approach is putting people on the air because they're convenient, not good. There's no need to do that anymore. And the only people who're worried about it are all those "less accomplished people," who had no reason to be on the air except they were convenient. The ones who truely made a connection with their community will easily find work once their radio career is over.

We're seeing PLENTY of the "cheapest approach". If you're hearing people on the air who aren't good, it's because they won't pay enough to keep the people who are good. Too many jocks are making the same salaries that they were in the '80s. Is it any wonder that many of the best people have moved on?

There are still a lot of very talented people in radio who are there because they love it, not because they expect to get rich. They do expect to be treated fairly, and rewarded for creating a product that talented sales people can sell. They don't expect to get blown out because of poor decisions by bad management.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

We're seeing PLENTY of the "cheapest approach". If you're hearing people on the air who aren't good, it's because they won't pay enough to keep the people who are good. Too many jocks are making the same salaries that they were in the '80s. Is it any wonder that many of the best people have moved on?

There are still a lot of very talented people in radio who are there because they love it, not because they expect to get rich. They do expect to be treated fairly, and rewarded for creating a product that talented sales people can sell. They don't expect to get blown out because of poor decisions by bad management.

Are you attempting to paint a picture that says people in all other lines of work are treated fairly, and rewarded for creating a product that talented sales people can sell and in those other lines of work there are no poor decisions by bad management?

Take it from a guy who left broadcasting (temporarily?) a number of years ago so my children could stay put while growing up rather than think a moving van was part of the family fleet of vehicles. I said I would do whatever it took to stay put!!! And I did. 30+ years. Sometime we can have a side discussion of companies and industries who do not understand "treated fairly"... do not understand "rewards for creating a sellable product" and industries that do not understand what it means to have "no poor decisions by bad management". I worked for some great employers. I worked for a couple of employers who drove their companies into bankruptcy. (The ultimate in poor decisions by bad management". I worked for a couple of employers who eat their young.

The whole experience made me carve out a place in my memory for the guy out on the shop floor that put the bumper sticker on his classy Snap-On big red toolbox: "Life is a bitch... and then you die."

Radio does not own the patent on these "bad behavior" modes of operation. Burt some radio companies do seem to own the local franchise for such behavior. ;D

 

[TheBigA]

Public radio certainly didn't develop this technology, make the major investment in it, or push it through the FCC. Thank Big Corporate for that debacle.

Are you going to argue, or deal with the facts? The main stations using it are NPR stations, mainly supported by CPB grants, approved by Congress. The same Congress that approved LPFM over objections of the radio industry.

We're seeing PLENTY of the "cheapest approach". If you're hearing people on the air who aren't good, it's because they won't pay enough to keep the people who are good.

You're the one who used the term "less accomplished." Not me. Those who have accomplishments and know what they're doing are the ones getting 6 and 7 figure salaries for on-air work. And there are lots of them.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Well, you're right that NPR is the primary user of HD these days because even most corporate honchos have realized that HD isn't happening, and is a waste of money.

As far as talent making 6 and 7 figures is concerned, there are a lot less of them now than there were a few years ago.

 

[bossbill]

Many of the non-comms likely hitched onto the HD train because they had funding. Commercial stations make business decisions.