Whats up at Gap?

[DG]

...My point is that in a time when times are tough, it is an interesting concept that banks are still investing in radio...

I don't think banks are so much "investing" in radio as much as they already DID invest in it, and are now stuck holding tons of DEBT (ex: Clear Channel). I see GAP's creation of new divisions as a standard tactic to try to invigorate a stale brand and keep the debt-holders at bay. The current radio investment financial institutions hold has most likely lost quite a bit of its value vs a few years ago. That's not the sort of thing investors like to see, and in many cases in this industry, all they are seeing is red ink on the balance sheets.

...and that the medium that we all are very passionate about is not dead...

...but certainly appears to be on life support before the plug gets pulled for some of those media groups.

...Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business. I am a fan of great radio...

When has the broadcast industry ever NOT been a business? I'm of the opinion that the paradigm of "business as usual" in radio in the late 20th Century is the reason why things are looking so bleak financially in the 21st Century. I too am a fan of great radio, but one thing I learned in this biz is that what's good for the investors is most certainly NOT what makes for great radio. It seems to me that you can keep the investors happy or the listeners happy, but not both...

 

[cspotrun]

...Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business. I am a fan of great radio...

When has the broadcast industry ever NOT been a business? I'm of the opinion that the paradigm of "business as usual" in radio in the late 20th Century is the reason why things are looking so bleak financially in the 21st Century. I too am a fan of great radio, but one thing I learned in this biz is that what's good for the investors is most certainly NOT what makes for great radio. It seems to me that you can keep the investors happy or the listeners happy, but not both...

how TRUE! right now for GAP and the Clear Channel's of the world it is ALL about keeping the Investors happy, layoff's, cutbacks does not make the listener happy but the banks and owners don't care about listeners, or employees, so we have what we have. it might be better for everybody if these owners just went under and closed the door, they're not serving anybody's interest. and open the door to those who can.

 

[crow]

What we have to remember is that we are in a recession. Revenues are down and does not look to be coming back anytime soon. My point is that in a time when times are tough, it is an interesting concept that banks are still investing in radio (ex: GAP East...STILL...and that the medium that we all are very passionate about is not dead. People always come and go and thruout my long career I have seen some talanted people unfortunately treated unfairly. In some of those cases, those casualties were not willing to change with the industry or wear that extra hat required in todays environment. Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business. I am a fan of great radio...

First off... I appreciate you taking the time to fill us in on how you see GAP etc... Even though I can't agree with you... at least now we know where you are coming from. With that being said... when it comes to a company like GAP or any other radio company that is acting in the same manner. They are simply acting just like the BIG BANKS. What I mean is this... you have these BIG BANKS who took millions and millions of tax payer dollars... and then you would read about these same BIG BANKS buying private jets and handing out bonuses and spending tons of money on retreats etc...

What I mean by all this is that the BIG BANKS didn't get it and didn't simply care and that's how companies like GAP etc... are as well. Yes, I know GAP etc... didn't take tax dollars. That's not the point. The point is... that these companies continue to act irresponsibly, spending money in the wrong places etc... They are only interested in what makes them money NOW and not what the long term results are. You would think these MINI-ME's would see what happened to CC and other LARGE RADIO COMPANIES and learn that's NOT the way to operate. There is nothing positive at all with GAP expanding. Look at what they and other radio companies have done to the markets they have already bought. They come in... give speeches about how they get radio and understand that radio NEEDS to be local etc... then months later they start swinging the axe. Removing most of any local aspect that those stations DID have. What do you think they are going to do to the new stations that they will acquire? They aren't going to just stop cutting people etc... What happened to LOCAL being the way to go? I mean, this isn't something I just made up... this is something that GAP and many other companies like them continue to preach and preach while cutting live & local air staff.

 

[johnqdoe]

I'm actually looking forward to the day CC, Cumulus and the other "evil empires" fail. I don't wish ill will on the hard working folks that will be out of ajob...but the Mays, Dickey, Hogan types...I hope they rot in hell. The big guys WILL fail. They WILL have to sell stations. But...we'll never see 24-7 live and local again. Even the "radio guys" that buy up these stations when the big companies fall will wanna make as much $$$ as they can. That means VTing...short staffs, etc, etc. I hope I'm wrong....but I doubt it.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

A little birdie tells me that Gap is wanting an engineer now. Could it be they realize that no one is around to keep their automated crap and crappy equipment on the air? Did they let the last guy go because he "cost too much" or for other reasons? If it was a cost-savings then I hope they have a lonnnnnnnggggg wait before they find a new sucker. In the mean time let's hope the local contractors in the area demand a lot of cash for their troubles...

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Engineering help isn't exactly growning on trees these days ya know. Maybe the 'devil' they did know might be better than the one they don't have. LOL!

 

[Old Nick]

Does anybody on these boards actually like radio? Or do you just like being pissed off at radio? Yeah, radio is changing, but so is retail, and farming and space technology and cake making. Engineering is now becoming more of an I.T. job and less for the wire cutters, so some are going to fall by the wayside. Air shifts are going to be held down by the people who can multitask or the position will be v.t.ed, G.M.s and P.d.s will be multimarket because they don't have to sit on top of half-assed talent. Most of all, competition from other mediums will mean a smaller piece of the pie for radio. You can dis Gap, Clearchannel, or whoever, but I'll support anyone who is willing to keep a dollar invested in our medium in the current BUSINESS climate (yeah, its tough out there for everybody).

 

[johnqdoe]

Does anybody on these boards actually like radio? Or do you just like being pissed off at radio? Yeah, radio is changing, but so is retail, and farming and space technology and cake making. Engineering is now becoming more of an I.T. job and less for the wire cutters, so some are going to fall by the wayside. Air shifts are going to be held down by the people who can multitask or the position will be v.t.ed, G.M.s and P.d.s will be multimarket because they don't have to sit on top of half-assed talent. Most of all, competition from other mediums will mean a smaller piece of the pie for radio. You can dis Gap, Clearchannel, or whoever, but I'll support anyone who is willing to keep a dollar invested in our medium in the current BUSINESS climate (yeah, its tough out there for everybody).

Radio isn't radio anymore. I wonder how many stations were hours late getting ANY report on Ft. Hood shooting on the air. Hell, even WBAP in Dallas was still running syndication at about 3:30. There are thousands of talented folks that CAN multitask, that CAN pull good ratings, and did whatever the company asked...and STILL got blown out. Major markets are 50-60% or more VT or syndication. Small markets are 80%+ syndication or VTs. That's not the "cream rising"...thats owners being cheap.

 

[Garrett]

It seems to me that people do not listen to the radio for that kind of information . Instead they are reading their iPhone and watching CNN fox and Twitter

 

[johnqdoe]

It seems to me that people do not listen to the radio for that kind of information . Instead they are reading their iPhone and watching CNN fox and Twitter

because radio doesn't give it to them. I was driving in Dallas yesterday and got a text about the shootings because I have a friend at Ft. Hood. I started flipping thru news stations for info and KRLD was the 1st one on it. WBAP and KLIF lagged miserably and kept the syndication chugging along. I heard Obama bashing continue for almost an hour as the biggest news story of the year was unfolding a couple hours down the road.
In times of emergency, tornados, hurricanes, floods etc etc...iPhones, twitter, and CNN aren't usually accessible when the power is out. Radio is...but if there's nobody there to run the station, it doesn't matter. Nothing like hearing a jock from 1000 miles away give a "sunny and 95" forcast as the tornado sirens blare. REAL Radio is much more than 10 in a row or hitting the post.
I realize the examples I listed are extreme cases...but they DO happen. And stations ARE caught with their pants down. When I was in Tyler years ago, we had FULL staff meetings to go over severe weather procedures and everyone knew exactly what to do. CC/Dallas has a notebook somewhere in the control rooms. That's the extent of the severe weather procedure. Find the notebook. They have 1 board op monitoring all the stations. That's why you hear the EAS just break right into the middle of the songs. #1, he can't get to and kill all alarms before they go out...#2...He likely doesn't know HOW to go live, much less in an emergency situation.

 

[crow]

Does anybody on these boards actually like radio? Or do you just like being pissed off at radio? Yeah, radio is changing, but so is retail, and farming and space technology and cake making. Engineering is now becoming more of an I.T. job and less for the wire cutters, so some are going to fall by the wayside. Air shifts are going to be held down by the people who can multitask or the position will be v.t.ed, G.M.s and P.d.s will be multimarket because they don't have to sit on top of half-assed talent. Most of all, competition from other mediums will mean a smaller piece of the pie for radio. You can dis Gap, Clearchannel, or whoever, but I'll support anyone who is willing to keep a dollar invested in our medium in the current BUSINESS climate (yeah, its tough out there for everybody).

Radio isn't radio anymore. I wonder how many stations were hours late getting ANY report on Ft. Hood shooting on the air. Hell, even WBAP in Dallas was still running syndication at about 3:30. There are thousands of talented folks that CAN multitask, that CAN pull good ratings, and did whatever the company asked...and STILL got blown out. Major markets are 50-60% or more VT or syndication. Small markets are 80%+ syndication or VTs. That's not the "cream rising"...thats owners being cheap.

Extremely well said...

 

[Garrett]

It seems to me that people do not listen to the radio for that kind of information . Instead they are reading their iPhone and watching CNN fox and Twitter

because radio doesn't give it to them. I was driving in Dallas yesterday and got a text about the shootings because I have a friend at Ft. Hood. I started flipping thru news stations for info and KRLD was the 1st one on it. WBAP and KLIF lagged miserably and kept the syndication chugging along. I heard Obama bashing continue for almost an hour as the biggest news story of the year was unfolding a couple hours down the road.
In times of emergency, tornados, hurricanes, floods etc etc...iPhones, twitter, and CNN aren't usually accessible when the power is out. Radio is...but if there's nobody there to run the station, it doesn't matter. Nothing like hearing a jock from 1000 miles away give a "sunny and 95" forcast as the tornado sirens blare. REAL Radio is much more than 10 in a row or hitting the post.
I realize the examples I listed are extreme cases...but they DO happen. And stations ARE caught with their pants down. When I was in Tyler years ago, we had FULL staff meetings to go over severe weather procedures and everyone knew exactly what to do. CC/Dallas has a notebook somewhere in the control rooms. That's the extent of the severe weather procedure. Find the notebook. They have 1 board op monitoring all the stations. That's why you hear the EAS just break right into the middle of the songs. #1, he can't get to and kill all alarms before they go out...#2...He likely doesn't know HOW to go live, much less in an emergency situation.

I disagree with you, here is why.
First of all, is it the chicken, or the egg? Are people turning to iPhone becuase the stations aren't providing info, or are stations not providing info because listening habits have changed? I would argue that we have become a more individualistic society. People want the information on their terms, rather than wait to hear it on somebody else's. So stations are not rushing to provide that information.

Second, it may have been true at one time cell phones were not as reliable during emergencies as analogue broadcast devices. But this is no longer the case. Our local TV stations in Lubbock rely weather watchers who use Cell phones to call in reports. Yes, once in a while the storm will take out a tower, but the loss is only momentary. Now, as more and more towers are going up, this is becoming less of an issue. I would say that a cell phone tower is no less reliable than an analogoue tower, espeically since more channels are available now thanks to the vacating of analogue TV stations. By the way, next time you take you portalbe radio/tv device to the storm shelter, let me know how well the TV works?

Exactly! It is a fact, we are becoming a more digital world. Radio stations are not going to waste valuable transmitter time for an audience that does not exist, even during an emergecy. We need to start rethinking the way with think about radio, its not the same thing are parents used to listen to.

 

[DG]

I sort of agree with Garrett, but differ on the reasoning.

Radio got out of the news biz for 2 very important reasons: 1) it became more lucrative for TV to cover local news, and 2), once the FCC dropped the "ascertainment rules", there was no longer a requirement by radio stations to "...conduct interviews with community leaders, solicit and maintain public files of comments about programming, and make the public aware of the station's duty to address community issues..." all of which were essentially handled by the station's news department. No federal requirement = no radio news department.

I agree that new media technologies have created increased competition for radio, but the loss of "radio news" started long before iPods, MP3 Players and even CDs. It began in the 1980s when Mark Fowler deregulated the FCC's involvement in local broadcasting. The idea was to "let the market decide" what station's should do, rather than the Feds. And I think that has led to the prevalence of cookie-cutter formats we see today most of which do not offer real news. Radio News (in the few places you can still find it) is basically a holdout for the older demos.

It is true that the news habits of the younger generations are very much different than older folks- fewer kids read a newspaper, they are more likely to get their info online, watch The Daily Show for their news, or couldn't care less about news at all. And if they do get a wild hair to know what might be going on, they probably wouldn't turn to radio- and most radio stations these days couldn't tell them anyway even if they did. What passes for a "catch-all" for emergencies is EAS and don't get me started on it's shortcomings.

Because the up and coming generation uses news differently, I doubt they would positively respond to a radio station suddenly returning local news to their programming. Older listeners would be more likely to respond favorably, but the economic model currently in use doesn't really care about them.

I also think most folks are pretty smart when it comes to getting information, and I think most know that radio isn't that place. Why not? Because the industry has effectively trained its listeners to go somewhere else for that (outside of news/talk stations- and even then most of those don't hold a candle to the Cold-War era I grew up in).

I think the audience exists, but it's a captive one- an audience that has been trained by radio stations STILL doing local news to rely on them for certain info. I also think that same audience is shrinking and not likely to grow by the addition of current younger demos because they're tweeting and facebooking and whatever it is they're doing these days.

Now on another point, as for those cell sites being "reliable", I disagree with you completely Garrett. And as one of those "weather watchers who use Cell phones to call in reports", I can tell you that across the region there are more dead-spots than there are bars of full-coverage. Most cell sites are located where the populace is: in the big cities and along the interstate. Head out to the boonies and your cellphone becomes an expensive paperweight. You are correct in that more service is being added, and coverage is increasing, but as for it being more reliable, no sir, not even close.

I can tell you from experience that when something bad happens in a community, such as severe weather for example, everyone picks up the cell phone to call someone else. The system is not setup to handle EVERYONE making a call AT THE SAME TIME. "All circuits busy" or a busy signal is what I usually hear.

If the power is out, the cell sites have batteries to get them through what is termed a "minor" outage. But anything longer than a few hours and the cell site goes down. Some have generators, but unless they are fed fuel, they too will go down. Fueling backup generators was a BIG problem during Katrina and Rita, and evidently that lesson still hasn't been learned. There's been talk of federal legislation requiring gensets at cell sites, but I don't know where that is in process. When those storms hit, people turned to radio. Why? Because it was THE ONLY THING STILL ON. Power, cellphones, the Web- all of that was knocked out, and thanks to lots of dedicated radio folks, people could still hear the latest on their battery powered radio. But it was the option of LAST RESORT because nothing else worked.

And if you are out of range of the cell site, which I experience quite frequently, there's little you can do about it. I've spent a fortune on external antennaes, amplifiers and cords to make my cellphone work a mile further than it otherwise would. The best damn portable phone I ever had was a Motorola 4500 bagphone- 3 watts of analog signal, and it ROAMED like nothing else. The digital stuff I'm using now is crap. Trust me, the easiest way to really screw up communications to an area is to take down its cell service, and that's not very hard it turns out.

When I'm out chasing, I have several UHF and VHF radios in the car with me, as that is how I make my reports to the National Weather Service. The FCC prohibits me from using my amateur license "for personal gain", thus my having to use a cellphone to talk to the TV station. The 2-way radio is FAR more reliable than the cellphone, which is why the NWS uses it for the local storm-spotting team. I've tried in vain for the TV station to invest in licensed 2-way gear, and like radio, it's all about doing things on the cheap. Think radio is bad? Try local television.

I do agree with you that radio as it has been done needs to be thought of and perhaps done differently...

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

In the little station I work for full-time we only have nine full-time staff members. What we have done is first worked out a agreement with a local TV station to carry their weather in the event we need it. I've got things rigged up where we can remote into our automation and switch the TV tuner into our audio chain by remote, my iPhone to be exact. So, we have the EAS box as a ultimate failsafe message giver and the TV audio when we get it switched. We are a non-comm and have VERY limited resources but we either usually are switched over at the same time as corporate or sometimes beforehand. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that with today's technology, there is NO REASON to not arrange things to continue to keep the public informed. I'm involved in several stations that are radios-in-a-box but they are still well covered by the few that work with them by remote in giving important info. It can be done if people put their minds to it.

My comment about GAP is only a commentary on the industry as a whole and their treatment of some engineering help. There aren't many new people getting into our business on the engineering end of it. If you run off your engineer and he wasn't really that bad, (I don't know the case down there at all...) it might be very hard to find a replacement, especially a decent one for the pay that a market that size will pay. For all the years of being kicked around in the industry as the guy that gets to go do everything that others won't at a station, there aren't that many that are willing to take the pay and the abuse many stations put out. In another seven years I feel it will be even more evident as most of the engineers that are really holding things together in most markets will likely retire out.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

To add to that, if a broadcast group, (whomever it may be) has a real habit of not having reliable stuff and frustrating engineers as a whole into quitting regularly, don't look for many others to come rushing in to take the vacated jobs. In the world of supply and demand, the supply is drying up and the demand is getting higher by the day.

 

[Garrett]

Now on another point, as for those cell sites being "reliable", I disagree with you completely Garrett. And as one of those "weather watchers who use Cell phones to call in reports", I can tell you that across the region there are more dead-spots than there are bars of full-coverage. Most cell sites are located where the populace is: in the big cities and along the interstate. Head out to the boonies and your cellphone becomes an expensive paperweight. You are correct in that more service is being added, and coverage is increasing, but as for it being more reliable, no sir, not even close.

I can tell you from experience that when something bad happens in a community, such as severe weather for example, everyone picks up the cell phone to call someone else. The system is not setup to handle EVERYONE making a call AT THE SAME TIME. "All circuits busy" or a busy signal is what I usually hear.

If the power is out, the cell sites have batteries to get them through what is termed a "minor" outage. But anything longer than a few hours and the cell site goes down. Some have generators, but unless they are fed fuel, they too will go down. Fueling backup generators was a BIG problem during Katrina and Rita, and evidently that lesson still hasn't been learned. There's been talk of federal legislation requiring gensets at cell sites, but I don't know where that is in process. When those storms hit, people turned to radio. Why? Because it was THE ONLY THING STILL ON. Power, cellphones, the Web- all of that was knocked out, and thanks to lots of dedicated radio folks, people could still hear the latest on their battery powered radio. But it was the option of LAST RESORT because nothing else worked.

And if you are out of range of the cell site, which I experience quite frequently, there's little you can do about it. I've spent a fortune on external antennaes, amplifiers and cords to make my cellphone work a mile further than it otherwise would. The best damn portable phone I ever had was a Motorola 4500 bagphone- 3 watts of analog signal, and it ROAMED like nothing else. The digital stuff I'm using now is crap. Trust me, the easiest way to really screw up communications to an area is to take down its cell service, and that's not very hard it turns out.

When I'm out chasing, I have several UHF and VHF radios in the car with me, as that is how I make my reports to the National Weather Service. The FCC prohibits me from using my amateur license "for personal gain", thus my having to use a cellphone to talk to the TV station. The 2-way radio is FAR more reliable than the cellphone, which is why the NWS uses it for the local storm-spotting team. I've tried in vain for the TV station to invest in licensed 2-way gear, and like radio, it's all about doing things on the cheap. Think radio is bad? Try local television.

I stand corrected DG, please excuse my ignorance on cell phone reliability, although I still think cell phones are the next wave.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Yup! I agree 100 percent with your thoughts. As a former engineer of a 50kw news-talker I have to tell you that our two-way was, in general a LOT more reliable when bad storms would tear up stuff. Everyone is in love with the cell phone/ip based technology because it's cool and easy but good 'ol RF is actually a hell of a lot more reliable in many cases.

I still do all my high school football games via a Marti for the same reason (except for every other year when we have to travel well past our marti range). I bring enough backup gear to be able to hit different Marti sites and frequencies of course. I watch other broadcasters having problems with land-line based codecs and IP based codecs and I just have to wonder to my self if the convinence is really worth the potential for easy failure. RF Martis aren't 100 percent perfect, however they sure come closer to the mark every year for me. Yes I have to occationally change frequencies or whatever, but I'm not off the air. In fact I haven't had an acutal off-air failure in over five years. The last time it did happen I got it fixed within two minutes by changing transmitters. Sometimes the old technology has a better tendancy to get the job done right and more reliably....

That brings up this whole CAP (CrAP as I like to call it) deal for EAS we're going to have to endure soon. Who's the bright boys that think that using the internet is the way to do emergency management anyway? LOL! I can't wait until the first time that system falls flat on it's face...