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Why Is Seattle Entercom So Bad?

W

Wrench

Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why Seattle Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall into such disarray?

Obviously, they've totally given up weekends and nights too, not only KIRO, but KTTH.

KISW is no winner either. Leykis at night is plagued with technical problems. It is as if nobody from the station is even monitoring.

What's the reason(s)?

Budget? Corporate trying, then failing to buy ABC Radio?

Strains from trying to implement IBOC?

Severe overlord syndrome from above?

Other?
 
> Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why Seattle
> Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall into
> such disarray?


You ask a valid question that has no logical answer to it. Entercom Seattle is a joke at this point... the real laughs will come as we all sit back and watch several PD's get fired over the next year. Remember,if it's not broke... don't fix it.
 
> Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why Seattle
> Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall into
> such disarray?

I'm not anywhere NEAR "in the know" -- but I have spoken with many who programmed there, and one common notion was that it seemed to be anything BUT "hands off" from the corporate tier. Not uncommon for a suit to show up and offer dictates about on-air strategy. Then there is the programming layer at corporate level.

NOT making excuses for what we hear on-air, but from outside looking in I've never assumed it was the local crew making ALL the decisions.
 
> > Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why
> Seattle
> > Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall
> into
> > such disarray?
>
>
> You ask a valid question that has no logical answer to it.
> Entercom Seattle is a joke at this point... the real laughs
> will come as we all sit back and watch several PD's get
> fired over the next year. Remember,if it's not broke...
> don't fix it.
>
It seems simple to me.They really aren't what I would call "People-People"
None of the big media companies really care much about making employees happy but Entercom seems to particulary not put much value on it.The guys in Philly dont even really seem to see much past the Management level when evaluating the people who work for them.They deal in numbers.Most air staff ,traffic,clerical, engineering type employees are just salarys to them and they like to keep those salarys low.
You will find that many talented people who now work for CBS, Clear Channel, Fisher etc are former Entercom employees who were shown the front door instead of a decent pay increase when the time to retain services or cut them loose came.
As I said, no big company really cares about people but the smart Market Managers have a way of keeping good ones around as well as recruiting other good ones away from places like Entercom from time to time.No expert opinion here but as a person who has watched this market for a bit that is the perception I get.
 
> Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why Seattle
> Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall into
> such disarray?
>
> Obviously, they've totally given up weekends and nights too,
> not only KIRO, but KTTH.
>
> KISW is no winner either. Leykis at night is plagued with
> technical problems. It is as if nobody from the station is
> even monitoring.
>
> What's the reason(s)?
>
> Budget? Corporate trying, then failing to buy ABC Radio?
>
> Strains from trying to implement IBOC?
>
> Severe overlord syndrome from above?
>
> Other?

I know it's not a popular opinion, but I'm not sure they are doing so poorly.

First of all, Entercom is saddled with heritage stations that are very difficult to improve upon. So as the competitive environment got worse and the market revenue flattened it was more difficult to keep the engines pumping on all cylinders. For example: KIRO did $20 Million in billings back in the late eighties...can't imagine their doing a whole lot more today.

Secondly, some of their cash cow stations are ending their product cycles. Through either fragmentation (such as N/T) or aging (as with KBSG)some of David's stations are gasping. Radio stations have to die and re-invent themselves on regular cycles. Some are very short cycles (remember disco in the 70s?) - some are very long (certainly N/T). But everyone with a publicly traded company is loath to throw away a perfectly good radio station to develop a new format (as CBS did with WCBS in New York last year with the flip to Jack.) Even locally - KJR had to brought to it's knees before it would consider switching to Sports - though that format made sense for several years prior to the switch.

Third of all...these stations all require an enormous amount of work. Consolodation has had a real impact on resources. Just not as many bodies to do the work...so it all seems to take longer to get stufff fixed.

Remember, audiences are not as tuned to what's going on as the people populating this post...so they give the stations grace, if they notice the issues at all.
 
> You ask a valid question that has no logical answer to it.
> Entercom Seattle is a joke at this point... the real laughs
> will come as we all sit back and watch several PD's get
> fired over the next year. Remember,if it's not broke...
> don't fix it.


Leaving aside the question of Entercom's competence for a moment, since when do we laugh at people losing their jobs?
 
> I know it's not a popular opinion, but I'm not sure they are
> doing so poorly.

You raise a great point in that we forget sometimes that simply being on the "black side" of $0 is a huge accomplishment in itself. Many stations would kill to attain THAT goal!!
 
Think about who has been making moves in Seattle lately.

100.7, losing Howard Stern, new End morning show, Leykis fiasco, KIRO staff changes.

Nothing really out of the ordinary, it's just the confluence of all of those elements happenig in such a short period of time.

Clear Channel nor CBS have made any changes. Entercom making all of those changes in a short period of time in an otherwise sleepy and vanilla radio market is the only thing that's been going on.
 
> > You ask a valid question that has no logical answer to it.
>
> > Entercom Seattle is a joke at this point... the real
> laughs
> > will come as we all sit back and watch several PD's get
> > fired over the next year. Remember,if it's not broke...
> > don't fix it.
>
>
> Leaving aside the question of Entercom's competence for a
> moment, since when do we laugh at people losing their jobs?
>
Sorry, can't resist this one...the two issues are intertwined, of course. We "laugh", or take pleasure in people losing their jobs when they, through incompetance and/or maliciousness have been responsible for many many others losing their jobs. It's a little thing called Karma. The Germans call this particular aspect "Schadenfreud", and it's what's for dinner. Mmmmmmm.
 
> > > You ask a valid question that has no logical answer to
> it.
> >
> > > Entercom Seattle is a joke at this point... the real
> > laughs
> > > will come as we all sit back and watch several PD's get
> > > fired over the next year. Remember,if it's not broke...
> > > don't fix it.
> >
> >
> > Leaving aside the question of Entercom's competence for a
> > moment, since when do we laugh at people losing their
> jobs?
> >
> Sorry, can't resist this one...the two issues are
> intertwined, of course. We "laugh", or take pleasure in
> people losing their jobs when they, through incompetance
> and/or maliciousness have been responsible for many many
> others losing their jobs. It's a little thing called Karma.
> The Germans call this particular aspect "Schadenfreud", and
> it's what's for dinner. Mmmmmmm.

ROTFLMAO!!!<P ID="signature">______________
"If I were in this business only for the business, I wouldn't be in this business." Samuel Goldwyn

[email protected]


</P>
 
> Leaving aside the question of Entercom's competence for a
> moment, since when do we laugh at people losing their jobs?
>


It worked for Drew Carey and the evil Reginald Wick for about 5 years, so I'd have to guess we've been laughing at people losing their jobs since at least 1998.


-Dick the Humor Critic
 
> Would anyone "in the know" care to comment about why Seattle
> Entercom has allowed its programming and staff to fall into
> such disarray?
>
> Obviously, they've totally given up weekends and nights too,
> not only KIRO, but KTTH.
>
> KISW is no winner either. Leykis at night is plagued with
> technical problems. It is as if nobody from the station is
> even monitoring.
>
> What's the reason(s)?
>
> Budget? Corporate trying, then failing to buy ABC Radio?
>
> Strains from trying to implement IBOC?
>
> Severe overlord syndrome from above?
>
> Other?

They do it because they can. Okay, maybe they're not really that good at sucking, but at least they can suck a little and work their way down.


-Cynical Dick
 
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