I agree 100%! CC literally murdered WRDU, a station that was once an icon in North Carolina. Victim of poor management and lack of imagination. There's a lot to be said for heritage and history. I once worked for a market-leading station that was nearly dead (twice), but resurrected by a talented Program Director both times. That station is still a market-leader today, with a 20+ year heritage. It gives the salespeople a lot to talk about. Would you rather buy the "blue chip" stock with the steady performance, or risk your advertising dollars on the "newest thing"?
And speaking of CC. In my opinion that company stiffles creativity and imagination. When I worked for them, if something worked in a particular market, that manager took all the kudos, and then the "idea" was sent to ALL of the other markets and positioned as something great that they should do, as well. I got the impression that many of the spineless market managers would do whatever the "idea" was, just to garner favor from the higher-ups and prove that they've drunk the koolaide. What these market managers didn't take into account was, duh... "Will this work in my market, with my people, with our clients?" Personally, I think that's what happened to RDU. Once Phil Zachary was out of the picture, those stations fell apart from the management they had. They dropped the sales commissions, so their top, talented, salespeople left, then they mandated some really stupid changes having to do with combo selling, etc. It just began to spiral downward and have yet to recover. The addition of Dick Harlow to manage the Raleigh and Greensboro markets might help, but he's going to be spread pretty thin.
Later, he just used a combination of leftover food.