Tibbs2 said:
Face the facts, AM is dead, regardless of Horne or not, in most small towns where there is no real revenue, results or listenership. It's just not profitable.
Does everything have to be about huge profits? Nothing else seems to matter but huge profits and ratings which is the very thing that has ruined commercial radio. Let me spell it out for everyone.........G-R-E-E-D, which is the very thing that has gotten this country into trouble.
As far as Horne is concerned this guy is clueless when it comes to running a radio station.
Raingus --- allow me to be a bit more clear from my perspective. Having once owned some stations, and thankfully being bailed out by of all people (groups)
CC, on a buying spree, AM in the under Top 50 markets is tough. I just happened to have a 100kw FM they wanted. Especially a fringe signal like one in Oak Ridge. Older listeners were loyal to AM in "the day". They've died. New listeners, more urban listeners, in bigger cities listen if the signal is decent and clean.
As for the word "HUGE" and profit...let me spell it out. P-R-O-F-I-T. Most operators of AM radio make little or nothing. There is no huge anything except headaches and expensive equipment, FCC manadates and stupidity, etc. If you are working at a small AM station making $8.00 an hour and you want a raise
to $9 are your being greedy? I do see where you're coming from. I just posted a similiar slam on the Atlanta board, but even as bad, dumb, inept, etc., as Horne is/was/are (I don't know who he/she/they it is) ... they went broke. There was no money or enough money to keep going. And to an owner just trying to stay on the air, a guy like you or me asking for a $1.00 an hour raise, as sensible as it is, might be considered greedy to the owner.
Seems like he lost a boatload of $$$. I ran a good, clean ship. The FM was strong and carried the two AM sinking ships. One AM, I leased out for religious programs and made, after expenses, roughly $300 a month (excluding equipment nightmares) ,,, the one I kept lost $3,000 a month, but I did not want to
fire anyone who had been there for years. Stupid me for not being greedy, I guess. But, honestly, it was the right thing to do. I could not fire those fine folks and they gave it 1,000%. CC kept 'em too, for a few years. Didn't have too. The FM more than carried this and if that had chanegd, I would have not considered myself to try to keep everything afloat. Nothing wrong with profits. They help pay people like you or me MORE! None of us would complain about that. Excessive profit...depends on what ya call excess! I guess.
