What a sad omen it was

[jerry367]

Just heard a replay of Howard Stern in 2002 remaking at how ridiculous it was that Farid Suleman was taking over all the chain's radio stations.

They joked about how he had never actually worked at a radio station and gave no indication whatsoever that he knew anything about radio programming. Stern went so far as to say his cat was more qualified because it actually listened to the radio.

 

[TheBigA]

Which chain? Howard worked for CBS. In 2002, Farid went to Citadel. The fact is that Howard rants about a lot of things that make no sense. His mentor, Mel Karmazin, never held an on-air shift or worked in programming. Mel was a salesman and a deal maker. If Farid was unqualified to run a radio chain, so was Mel.

The second thing is that there is a long history of non-radio people running radio stations, going back to Bill Paley at CBS in 1928. Bill worked in his family's cigar company. He knew less about radio than Farid. Sarnoff used to say the same thing about Paley. Big deal. The people who run radio don't program them. They hire the people who do. Big difference.

Third, Howard also rants about lots of people who actually have radio experience, whether they're competing DJs or any of his many program directors. So having radio experience doesn't really matter to Howard. I wouldn't use Howard Stern as an authority on much besides female anatomy.

Farid made one mistake: He bought ABC Radio. That's funny to me, because at the time, ABC Radio was considered to be a great asset and worth the money. Several other companies were competing to buy it at the same time. Had Entercom bought ABC instead of Citadel, they'd be the company filing for bankruptcy.

 

[jerry367]

Which chain? Howard worked for CBS. In 2002, Farid went to Citadel. The fact is that Howard rants about a lot of things that make no sense. His mentor, Mel Karmazin, never held an on-air shift or worked in programming. Mel was a salesman and a deal maker. If Farid was unqualified to run a radio chain, so was Mel.

The second thing is that there is a long history of non-radio people running radio stations, going back to Bill Paley at CBS in 1928. Bill worked in his family's cigar company. He knew less about radio than Farid. Sarnoff used to say the same thing about Paley. Big deal. The people who run radio don't program them. They hire the people who do. Big difference.

Third, Howard also rants about lots of people who actually have radio experience, whether they're competing DJs or any of his many program directors. So having radio experience doesn't really matter to Howard. I wouldn't use Howard Stern as an authority on much besides female anatomy.

Farid made one mistake: He bought ABC Radio. That's funny to me, because at the time, ABC Radio was considered to be a great asset and worth the money. Several other companies were competing to buy it at the same time. Had Entercom bought ABC instead of Citadel, they'd be the company filing for bankruptcy.

Mel was at least a radio SALESMAN. Suleman was/is nothing more than a numbers cruncher.

And the ABC deal you think so highly of WAS NOT universally desired by everybody. While it may have offered some prestige, the debt load was a monster and smarter operators wanted nothing to do with it.

Stop being such a contrarian. You do it all over the board just to do it ...and it's obvious.

 

[TheBigA]

Mel was at least a radio SALESMAN. Suleman was/is nothing more than a numbers cruncher.

Neither were programmers. That’s what the Stern comment was about.

The full story was that Mel felt betrayed when Farid left. Stern was just supporting his mentor. Nothing more.

And the ABC deal you think so highly of WAS NOT universally desired by everybody.

What makes you think I "think so highly" of it? In fact, I was against the merger at the time, and I've been proven right.

Stop being such a contrarian. You do it all over the board just to do it ...and it's obvious.

If you can't stand the heat....

If I see stuff I don't agree with, I'm going to speak out. That's what message boards are about.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Stop being such a contrarian. You do it all over the board just to do it ...and it's obvious.

If you can't stand the heat....

If I see stuff I don't agree with, I'm going to speak out. That's what message boards are about.

The difference between a discussion and a pep-rally is the presence of someone willing to be the doubter or the contrarian.... whether it is what they really believe or not.

There are times when I am the teacher of a Sunday School for adults. I am dependent on having a contrarian sitting on the back row to keep the discussion lively and to keep some of the participants from going to sleep.