• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

The rumor mill is a-churning

K

kristym

Several CC employees told me that CC has acquired WRQK. I was also told that CC will cut over 90% of the WRQK staff & relocate operations to North Canton.

I also found this.

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/

OMW hears it has been officially announced this morning...Cumulus rock WRQK/106.9 Canton ("Rock 107") is headed for Clear Channel.

We don't have many details, but we understand that a station swap may be involved among the two companies.

Though we do not know what other stations are involved at this time, we are making the assumption that the other property or properties are outside Northeast Ohio.

More details as soon as they become available...
Click to expand...

The market is screaming for more voice tracking and faked local radio. Another one bites the dust.
 
"kristym", whoever you are:

I'm the proprietor of the blog you quoted. A quick check here on the boards will show you my login name, many mentions of the blog (which has been up over a year), and that I've been a regular here for years.

We did indeed report this on OMW last week. Though there is no new information at this time, we've received no indication from our sources of CC "cutting 90% of the staff", as you intimate. I don't know what you're hearing from the CC folk, but it's not in anything we've heard here.

I don't know what the future plans are for WRQK, but a quick once-over of the market tells me there is not likely to be much change. And for one, there's no "top-heavy" morning show to blow out, since WRQK has run Premiere's own Bob & Tom for well over a year already. The rest of the place doesn't seem to be the kind of station that would seem to prompt such cuts, frankly! I'm not sure how you cut 90% of not much.

I can't knock down for sure what EXACTLY they will do with the station once it CC takes it over, but I am not hearing any word of major (or even minor) bloodletting.

The station will most assuredly move to Freedom Avenue, the CC Akron/Canton HQ, because there's no reason for it to sit in that aging building on Martindale. But I have no idea where you're getting that "90 percent staff cut" thing. It's not supported by anything we've heard at OMW.

-OMW
 
makes sense if cc buys wrqk that they move it into the cc bldg in n canton........

as for the 90% stuff.......don't believe it...........

jsome may stay and some may go but 90% ain't gonna happen....
 
I was also told that CC will cut over 90% of the WRQK staff & relocate operations to North Canton.


Exactly WHO told you this? If it wasn't Mike Kenney, Bill Gentry, or John Hogan, it had to be pure speculation. We already have Roger "Word Is.." Brown to start and spread unsubstantiated rumors. We don't need more of this.

BTW... Of course they would move WRQK to Freedom. That place on Martindale was a dump back in the 70's and there is plenty of room at World Domiation South for a couple of more stations.
 
Please read this link:

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2006/08/policy-change.html

Again, as I noted, nothing we've heard at OMW indicates "over 90% of the staff cut". Period. It doesn't even sound feasible to speculate that at this point, for a number of reasons.

WRQK can't move to Freedom Avenue a moment too soon. I think the Martindale building is being held together by duct tape and string.

The only question I have at this point: who gets to Freedom Avenue first? 106.9 or 101.7? They may be incoming at nearly the same time, it seems!
 
Could this have anything to do with CC moving in 106.7 into Columbus. Think about it. They would own 106.7 and 106.9 the ajacent channel. While a considerable distance from Columbus, it is still a plausable theory in my opinion.
 
Ohio Radio Man, the two have nothing to do with each other.... Moving the studio does nothing for the signals, these are 2 differant situations. In Columbus the move to Change of city of license (COL) Dublin is that a COL. The move of a studio for an owned or LMA'd station to another location is like you moving into a new house, your old neighbors don't automatically move into your old house because you are not there...
 
dmettler said:
Ohio Radio Man, the two have nothing to do with each other.... Moving the studio does nothing for the signals, these are 2 differant situations. In Columbus the move to Change of city of license (COL) Dublin is that a COL. The move of a studio for an owned or LMA'd station to another location is like you moving into a new house, your old neighbors don't automatically move into your old house because you are not there...
Click to expand...
Huh????
 
Sonosational18 I will type slower so that you can understand. :) Cliff notes version, The Columbus move and move of the WRQK studio's are not connected in any way, the only remote connectionis that they are one FM channel apart.
 
Oh, for crying out loud.

This topic is now up at the top in red under the heading:

"RUMOR: Clear Channel Cleveland To Make Cuts?"

Let's see.

1) WRQK is coming into the CC Akron/Canton cluster, not Cleveland.

2) I have, along with others, pretty much tried to dispel rumors that major cuts are happening as a result of this move. I know I'm just another poster, but I think what I say would carry SOME weight. (And again, I *could* be wrong, but I'm just not hearing rumors about major personnel cuts at 'RQK, and I'm talking to a wide variety of sources on this story.)

3) The only person who says they hear these rumors is an unidentified, new poster.

The folks who do the red "highlighted topics" up at the top really have to have more insight into what they put up.
 
OK, OMW, but whoever >>The folks who do the red "highlighted topics" up at the top<< are... that's the only reason I came visiting to this board.
 
She never said you said that. She said she heard that and then pointed to your blog about another reference. Lighten up dude.

OhioMediaWatch said:
"kristym", whoever you are:

I'm the proprietor of the blog you quoted. A quick check here on the boards will show you my login name, many mentions of the blog (which has been up over a year), and that I've been a regular here for years.

We did indeed report this on OMW last week. Though there is no new information at this time, we've received no indication from our sources of CC "cutting 90% of the staff", as you intimate. I don't know what you're hearing from the CC folk, but it's not in anything we've heard here.

I don't know what the future plans are for WRQK, but a quick once-over of the market tells me there is not likely to be much change. And for one, there's no "top-heavy" morning show to blow out, since WRQK has run Premiere's own Bob & Tom for well over a year already. The rest of the place doesn't seem to be the kind of station that would seem to prompt such cuts, frankly! I'm not sure how you cut 90% of not much.

I can't knock down for sure what EXACTLY they will do with the station once it CC takes it over, but I am not hearing any word of major (or even minor) bloodletting.

The station will most assuredly move to Freedom Avenue, the CC Akron/Canton HQ, because there's no reason for it to sit in that aging building on Martindale. But I have no idea where you're getting that "90 percent staff cut" thing. It's not supported by anything we've heard at OMW.

-OMW
Click to expand...
 
Sorry 'bout that.

I guess I just took it a bit too close to home, since I'm basically the only "radio news source" (such as it were, with OMW) reporting this story at ALL right now.

The 'RQK sale has not hit any of the radio trade publications, or even the FCC website as of yet. So I kind of felt the need to weigh in, being the only "source" for this outside of a message board post.
 
OhioMediaWatch,

Just because you signed up and write in a free blog does not mean you are the be all end all.

Did you ever think that maybe CC was using you? Could it be that they leaked the information to you and you do not understand how you are being used? Could they have a reason for this? I'll let you throw that one around. Maybe one of your CC friends are just blabbing about it and maybe they leaked the information to you on purpose. A lot of my friends at both companies are blabbing and blabbing and so are many others. You got the information very early which makes me think it was leaked to you on purpose.

I have worked in the past for both Cumulus and CC, but do not work for them now. I left the industry several years ago and work in a related field. I am still very close to people at many Cumulus and CC stations, both in Ohio and elsewhere. Here is what I am hearing, along with a large amount of common sense.

There will be large cuts in staff. I heard from a couple people that a Keith at WRQK is jawing about already being hired by a Keith at CC. I don't know if this is true, but he might be one of the few to survive for a year or two. Who else will be safe when the cuts begin? The PD? Other jocks? Traffic and office workers? Sales staff? I would bet money that most of those jobs will be thrown upon people who already work for CC. It is a way of reducing staff and saving money that CC is famous for.

Will anyone argue that WRQK will become a boring voicetracked wasteland? CC always wants to cut expenses as deeply as possible and will do so with WRQK. Just wait and see.

CC has a track record of being unethical, uncaring, and only concerned about the almighty dollar. Have they had this reputation for so long that people now take it for granted?

The term "World Domiation South" proves that everyone knows what CC is about and how they ruin both radio professionals and have played a large part in ruining the radio business. They buy everything up and kill it, which is why I left CC almost four years ago.

I liked listining to WRQK whenever I was in town. Nowhere else did I hear jocks actually having fun and playing off the cuff. Can you be off the cuff when you are voicetracked?

I hate "World Domiation" and what it has done to radio. It has left the business in a shambles. It has only hurt the industry. Anyone who thinks different is most likely cashing CC paychecks and too blind to see... Until "World Domiation" dominates them.

I agree with the first post that CC will toss most of WRQK's staff to the curb.

OhioMediaWatch, the only thing you are interested in is if CC will boost the signal strangth? Very telling.

Time will tell what CC does with WRQK. After a few months have gone by, why don't we revisit this issue and see who was right? That seems fair to me.
 
Tubes--

Your post is quite out of line, especially your excoriation of Old Akronite.

Do you know affirmatively that Ohio Media Watch is a Clear Channel pawn?

And since you're out of the business, why should we take YOUR hearsay about staff cuts as any more truthful than what OMW has already reported (and which was confirmed by Main Street Tattler)? OMW's not saying that staff cuts AREN'T coming, only that it's not confirmed anymore than a rumor post here and some similar rmor comments attached to the OMW report.

If yo're going to call people out, it's only right if you first spill your sources. Otherwise, whatever...I think OA/OMW's track record here speaks for itself. You need more than a one-post track record to be taken seriously like he is.
 
Thank you, Johnny.

First of all, anyone who tries to make guesses about our sources ends up with a pretty decent chance of being wrong. You can assume all you want, but that doesn't make you right.

While we always, always keep our sources confidential, we've made it quite clear on this particular item that we've been talking to people connected to BOTH companies, and have other sources outside of both companies. Heck, we even have sources on the other end of this, in Michigan, which is - at last check - far from Freedom Avenue.

This one's been singing so long, I'm surprised you can't hear it walking down the streets of Canton. This is one of the more extensively sourced items OMW has ever put up, in the year and change it's been in existence.

As far as job cuts...much of it is an educated guess on our part.

Guess #1: Most such moves involve scuttling the morning show and exchanging it for a syndicated program. What does WRQK run in morning drive? Umm, the morning show syndicated to rock stations by incoming owner Clear Channel.

Guess #2: It would appear just by listening to WRQK that most of its problem involves sales, or lack thereof. I am not a regular listener of Rock 107, but it appears to have a LOT of "non-traditional" spots.

Guess #3: There will be SOME cuts, just by the mere fact that WRQK will not need a separate office on Martindale Avenue.

But...90 percent? 90 percent of what? If the rumor posted above about the midday personality is true, you don't even have 90 percent left of the air staff!

Interesting rumor about that midday person, by the way, "Tubes". Despite your assumptions about who I'm talking to, I haven't even heard it. I guess you've got one up on me, eh?

About the phrase "World Domination" - it's a joke, son. It's MY joke, not theirs. You might want to search on "Glossary" on OMW for our "running jokes".

And I poke PLENTY of fun at Clear Channel, by the way. Just ask the staff of WTAM's afternoon drive show...

"Tubes", you seem to be automatically jumping to conclusions based on your own thoughts about the company taking over that station. I've worked both for them and against them, and reality (from what I've personally seen) is not necessarily perception.

We'll see who's right here. But keep in mind...many of the same folks who rail against "Cheap Channel" are also taking shots at Cumulus...calling it "Cume-less" and other such names. Just from my experience watching both companies, the 'RQK folks may actually welcome the change!

As far as this line:

Just because you signed up and write in a free blog does not mean you are the be all end all.
Click to expand...

You obviously don't follow me or my writing very well. I've frequently said that "I'm just a guy with a blog". Any ego you get out of this keyboard is accidental.
 
Both companies are different versions of the same bad idea. While it may be true that some of the staff at RQK will welcome the change, it will only be initially. But once the automation and Prophet systems are installed, it will only be temporary. The horror stories about Clear Channel are true, just as the horror stories about Cumulus are equally true. And as radio revenues continue to decline, so will budgets and staffing, until more private owners and equity return to the business.
The stock market model of radio is dying. And until it's hopefully, mercifully, finally gone, radio career professionals are going to continue to suffer, and it doesn't matter at the hands of which CEO-heavy company it comes from.
I guess what exasperates me the most, after surviving this horseshit for all these years, is how myopic people in our business continue to be, convincing themselves that one of these stock market abominations is actually better than the other.
 
Well, here's the thing.

Horse. Barn. Long gone.

There's a lot of gnashing of teeth on these boards about how bad the giant radio companies are, and how they've "ruined radio".

You know what? On the whole, I can't disagree with the general point.

I wouldn't use that same wording, but I'd have to be silly to disagree that as a rule, dynamic, locally-oriented radio was much better X number of years ago.

It wasn't perfect. There were poorly-funded local owners with their own agendas. There were small "mom and pop" companies which ran stations off of the bird or with then-huge automation systems. It wasn't all The Golden Age. (Trust me on this - I've lived some of it.)

But...yes, I miss the days where companies didn't own 8 stations in a cluster, programmed by one or two people and voicetracked much of the time.

You know what?

For all the complaining about it here, THE OLD DAYS ARE NOT COMING BACK. Too much would have to happen in this world for a return to the Way Things Were in radio, and those things are just not happening.

Long ago, I figured that complaining and complaining about "the state of radio" meant nothing, either here or out in the real world.

I adjust. I do whatever job I think I can do in today's New Radio World. If it gets to the point that I can't deal with it anymore, I move on and do something else.

Even from OMW, which is read by approximately 1000-ish people a day, what good does it do to complain about "Big Radio"? What effect will it have? People with far more reach and influence than me print articles all the time about "Big Radio". The regulatory and political climate is NOT changing, and in fact, it's probably going to "get worse".

So, I'm considered a "tool" of "Big Radio" if I don't get up on the high horse and whine about how they've "ruined radio". Anyone who doesn't automatically decry Clear Channel, CBS, Cumulus, Citadel or any of the major companies is not considered a "freedom fighter" and is attacked.

Horse. Barn. Long gone.

Read it again.

Just my opinion.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom