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tragic broadcasting Don's Mistake

S

sickntired

First let me say i am very diapointed in Don McCoy, i thought and still think he is a very inteligent man,the rich dont get that way for being stupid!!!!
But here is the problem...he hires a guy for G.M, lets call him jet stagey, makes him more than that out of....well i don't know....everything he has done in P.C has turned to mud, and thats putting it nice, REALLY look at everything, when he showed up POOOF, jet hires a guy (poor guy) named Joe, now jet really is NOT that smart he is only as smart as the last person he talked to, Joe is filled with bad advice from jet, now jet turns to joe and thinks he is "THE GUY" allows him to drag the cluster down, while the cluster is going down they think they can improve Dothan, they get shot down, Dothan improves! (not the best but it does improve) because dothan know's if they get in POOOF!!! they go down also, so jet fires Joe and hires a guy named Cris we will call him. Cris gets to jet and don, even writes stuff about dothan here on this board thats not true. and says "see there is proof things are bad there i can fix it", Now remember P.C is still tanking, Don allows this crap into his head and now Cris and jet are allowed to make a push into Dothan while there own P.C is out of control, and now it appears dothan is starting to rip at the seems, because of the tieing up of the hands.WOW this is tiring...any how jet has a insider that lies for him all the time or do they lie to Don? we will call him...paul tyler, see the lieing is to protect jet because he is very parinoid, (i bet don doesnt even know why or the truth why jet got fired from his old job) alot of covering up any how, but they are working togeather to keep don in the dark, as a radio person myself it's sad to watch this happen to any company, if other stations do not see this they are crazy, it could be the perfect storm...So i wonder when will Don smartin up and remove the cancer of jet stagey? or will he just watch booth of his cluster get flushed!
 
wow man....you better get out of there before this thing eats you alive.
it ain't worth it.
 
sickntired ---

I have to believe you are posting a legit opinion. Try posting this on the North Florida board. In all honesty, I have been where
Don has been (and I indirectly remember him from PCB in the 80's) ... there's always the cover up and con jobs. He needs to
be aware of 'the situation' ... maybe he'll agree with it or totally blow it off. It could be totally off base, but if he's as smart as
you say, he'll take note and consideration of it and the wheels of change (good or bad) may occur. I know, in my situation, I
called it in front of everybody and the protection system eroded in minutes and we built a great team after that. The ones
under suspect of problems admitted their inability to produce positive results, but corrected it, made apologies and turned
their energies in the right direction. The one who spoke his mind and started the ball of change rolling couldn't handle the
momentum and left to run two other stations into the ground... no owner or manager has all the answers, but trusting his
gut (which he has to be feeling now) and hearing this may actually trigger some changes and decisions that lead to better
success.

Then again, to be honest, if Don's a poser...it may just be that what goes around comes around. Depending on what really
happened with Kim and Tom at Styles, this may be judgement day. Again, I am totally (gladly) away from that PC maket
of doom. Everyone's starving and they'll eat their own.

The proof of smart is in the 1.) teams energy level and happiness and desire to excel, 2.) ratings and listenership and
3.) revenues based upon maximizing ability and keeping the business financially sound.

If Don cares, he'll take action. If he's weak or to nice to take action, he's sunk. If he's a total a$$ and could care a less,
he's not rich, has never been and is using other peoples money. No way to win. Hopefully, he'll grab the reigns and lead
the team onward.
 
Having worked for Don McCoy in Macon for about 5 years (1997-2002), I can tell you that he IS a brilliant financial strategist. Yes, he used other people's money, but he made a FORTUNE for those people and a FORTUNE for himself by acquiring stations with real upside potential (WDEN 105.3 and WPEZ 107.9), finding a way to move these frequencies into the Atlanta metro, and then selling them for upwards of $80 million to other operators (Clear Channel and Radio One). At the same time, he was able to hang onto an eight-station cluster serving Macon (by building out two NEW FM's and upgrading one), so that both of his highest-billing/highest-rated stations would remain on 100kw signals. THEN, he (and his major partner, Doug Grimm) sold that cluster to Cumulus for about $35 million. So those "OPM's" got their share, the banks got paid, and Don moved on to his dream of owning a station that serves (at least part) of the Los Angeles market.

Having said that, Don is also one of the most narcissistic, arrogant, pompous people I have ever met. He will be the FIRST to tell you that he is all of the things I said about him above. In the case of Macon, what made things work well for us was the fact that those of us who had a clue about how to run radio stations insisted that he let us do our jobs without constant daily interference, and Doug Grimm ran interference for us. Once Don was not in the building every day yelling at us and showing his glutes, we were just fine. In fact, over the course of two years (2000-2002 when the stations were sold), I only saw Don in the building one time, and that was on the day the sale closed when he came in to supervise getting his personal files and expensive mahogany office furniture out of the building. I didn't even speak to him. Doug Grimm, on the other hand, is a great guy and was great to work for, because he actually gave a damn about the people who worked for him.

I can't comment personally on the issues in the Panama City and Dothan properties, but if Don is in the midst of things on a regular basis, which I assume he is since he resides in PC, there won't ever be anyone put into positions of responsibility that aren't "yes-men" for the Godfather. That's probably not a good thing, especially in a market like Panama City where it's almost impossible to make money because of the over-saturation of media in a very small pool.

To anyone who works for Magic, I bid you Godspeed and will pray for your sanity every day.

TDO
 
Dear sick,

I think the lack of response to this thread speaks volumes. Way too many posters that I know personally can't even begin to respond without their own emotions bursting forth and having to relive what you are obviously experiencing right now. Your frustration is understandable but I don't think it will improve. Take the advice of Cowbell. LISTEN TO YOUR GUT, not your heart or your head in this situation. What is happening right now is one of the most native reactions that humans have, you're experiencing the decision between "fight or flight". You will not win in this situation even if you do things exactly as you should...if you are an honorable person. If you are not honorable then you are probably getting what you deserve just as Tibbs says. As for Mr. Tibbs allusion to the virtues, i.e. doing wrong of K & T, take care with your speculation.

Follow Cowbells advice and let go of the misery.

I have said all that I will on this very unpleasant matter and wish you the best of luck.
 
My tonuge hurts from biting it so much.

The only 2 cents I want to add that may help is we need to remember that Mon DcCoy is a magician, so its all smoke and mirrors!
 
Stewy:

Without blowing my coverless cover, here...

I should make it clear, since approx. 1984, I have known only four honest, fair radio owners in or around PC or FWB.
One is Steve Riggs (98 Surf/98one Classic Rock in the mid-90's) and second is Mark Carter who still owns Seabreeze 106.
Both, I still talk to ... to this day and are great friends. The third is Jimmy Whitaker, a true legend from WAAZ in Crestview.
Wow! No words can say enough, there.

Sadly, the other majority of them were similar in makeup to Don MCoy. Saved by the Corps buying sprees.
In fact, I have never seen such a run of attitudes for nothing in my life. Nothing like claiming you're a big shot owning
a radio station loosing a fortune in market's 2035. Geez! What a joke. The fourth guy, is just a little to close to this
post, but still misses what was a great team and will always be thankful for them all. To bad, Don will probably never get
that feeling. It's gotta be lonely. I can't say he'll ever learn or pay the price though. Seems like just the opposite happens.
 
I should add that, over the years, obviously, I did not meet all of the owners, etc. I don't want to discredit
those I did not know. I hope you guys get where I am coming from....it's late and I am OLD.
 
We old guys here in the south use the term "OLD COOT" to lovingly describe an old southern gentleman who was "COOL". Jimmy Whitaker is a great OLD COOT. When I was working for the Atlanta Braves network doing affiliate relations, we got a call that Jimmy running the board for the games. He was cutting into the broadcast to give his opinion about Bobby Cox's managerial moves. So, I had to call him and ask him to stop. We got to talking, he invited me down for a free lunch the next time I was on vacation. After meeting him, hell I wanted to work for him.
 
Ten minutes with Mr. W will change a man's life. I will never forget calling him seeing if he wanted to sell WAAZ so
I could add a second station. He said come on up. After a while, he was shocked that I was not like all the other
fast talking con artists clowns infesting the Panhandle. Funny thing, after talking to him, if he wanted to GIVE
me that station, I couldn't take it. It is/was like one of his children. He told me his father got out of radio back
when the FCC stepped in and started making radio rules, power controls, etc. Real life, honest stuff. Sadly, when he
goes to the great broadcasting facility in the sky, this nation will have lost one of the finest true American
broadcasters I can think of. I don't think there is a day I don't think about his honesty, candor, mindset, etc.
If you get a chance to visit Crestview, you should see if you can see the station. It is frozen in time. Good
times. I hope WAAZ stays as it is for many more years, just the way it should be, his way.

Boy, this sure was a much easier post than chewing through the McCoy posts, rewriting, erasing, censoring...
 
I've no horse in this race, but I wanna party with Tibbs!! ;D
 
Been kinda busy lately so this is my first chance to weigh in on Jimmy W.....I have known him for about 25 years and Tibbs and theradiopro are right on the money....if you go into that station, it is a step back in time "when radio was"....you could eat off the floor is so clean in that place, in fact, you could eat off the floor in the transmitter room too.
 
As it should be everywhere Sir. And while your watching this thread cceng, has anyone figured out how to clone you? There sure needs to be several more of you, goodness knows the title of this thread does!
 
Guys,

This is an interesting post...point made on all sides...after working for Don for nearly a year on a one on one basis I can honestly say yes Don is a very smart guy...sure some of his ideas lack a bit of currentness but the foundation of nearly all he says is right on... After all he is rich and you don't get there from being stupid. However being someone that was involved in the corporate location of the company I was aware of and have knowledge of a lot of things that most on this board don't. There are some that won't believe what I'm about to say (because they don't know what I do) Don is not 100% to blame for the failure of that company. The company is not run by him yes he is the CEO and yes he makes decisions but there is also a board of directors who are all major investors in the company who also make major descisions like hiring a COO to run the company. I have worked in many places in my career and have done many things and this was the first place I worked where failure happened. So many people blame me for the programming...yet if you only knew what was going on behind those walls. To a degree I'm kinda saying if you don't know for sure be careful who you throw under the bus. There are/were a lot of talented and devoted people that work/ed for that company.... Just be careful who gets thrown under the bus...Don is not one of the guys that should be thrown under...maybe grazzed but not thrown. (okay 852...slam away at me)

Jo Valentine
Former Dir Op. Magic Broadcasting
 
vtown said:
Guys,

This is an interesting post...point made on all sides...after working for Don for nearly a year on a one on one basis I can honestly say yes Don is a very smart guy...sure some of his ideas lack a bit of currentness but the foundation of nearly all he says is right on... After all he is rich and you don't get there from being stupid. However being someone that was involved in the corporate location of the company I was aware of and have knowledge of a lot of things that most on this board don't. There are some that won't believe what I'm about to say (because they don't know what I do) Don is not 100% to blame for the failure of that company. The company is not run by him yes he is the CEO and yes he makes decisions but there is also a board of directors who are all major investors in the company who also make major descisions like hiring a COO to run the company. I have worked in many places in my career and have done many things and this was the first place I worked where failure happened. So many people blame me for the programming...yet if you only knew what was going on behind those walls. To a degree I'm kinda saying if you don't know for sure be careful who you throw under the bus. There are/were a lot of talented and devoted people that work/ed for that company.... Just be careful who gets thrown under the bus...Don is not one of the guys that should be thrown under...maybe grazzed but not thrown. (okay 852...slam away at me)

Jo Valentine
Former Dir Op. Magic Broadcasting
Click to expand...

Joe
the message i got from sickntired was not that it's all Don's fault, but more so jet stagey..lol. i wonder who that is?..and prob not all your fault either, and as you can contest to.
 
When you're on the bottom of the pile there's only one thing that can change the scenery... You've gotta move. Another location, another company, just get out of dodge. It's getting harder and harder to find a decent job in radio, but I'd rather be a garbage man than put up with the garbage this company is capable of.

I've got some personal experience in this. When you're in market 273... or 290, your a step away from being a corpse in the radio industry anyhow, there's nowhere to go but up. Get OUT, they've probably already got a date to fire you.

And they said Clear Channel was the devil... Hold on to those corporate gigs while you can :)
 
Easy guys, it's becoming a badge of honor to have been fired by tragic or to have left before you were fired. As far as market rank = skill level you'd better take care in that type of evaluation, just ask the college football teams from Boone NC and Tampa Fl.
 
...As far as market rank = skill level you'd better take care in that type of evaluation,...

I'm not saying it's bad to be in this market (i've some skilled people in small markets), but its about as small as they come. If you look for a new job, chances are it'll be in a bigger, better place with a little more money. There's 30 markets smaller? and 230 bigger? It's just odds.

Those who are successful move. Don't get caught in Tragic's quicksand.

"Badge of honor...???" tell that to those eating ramen for breakfast.
 
Yeah, it took a while for me to adjust to all the sodium in that little packet but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!!! BTW, are those really little carrots or do I really want to know?
 
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