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Working at Clear Channel is like playing Russian Roulette

B

BleuLou

Guest
Stay there long enough and you're bound to take a bullet. Another casualty at Clear Channel in Lexington. This time CC targets Production Departments across the country. Is the Janitor now programming a couple of stations and tracking a shift or two? There aren't many people left.
 
BleuLou said:
Stay there long enough and you're bound to take a bullet. Another casualty at Clear Channel in Lexington. This time CC targets Production Departments across the country. Is the Janitor now programming a couple of stations and tracking a shift or two? There aren't many people left.
Click to expand...

Nope...it's not the janitors. They were let go last year.
 
Is radio the only industry that it's employees can't seem to understand that things change as technology advances? While I hate to see people lose jobs; it's the way the world is today. These cuts happen in every industry, every day, no matter what field of business you choose to work in. If you want to keep a job today you need to be ahead of the technology, wear as may hats as possible and make yourself a valued member of the team. It doesn't always guarantee you a job but it does make you less of a target and more of a valued asset.

I agree that Clear Channel has made a lot of cuts over the years (and cuts suck) but they seem to continue to grow in core share and cume. They seem to be doing something the listeners like (at least in Lexington) with less personnel. Last I looked WLKT has better ratings now then they did with a full airstaff and dedicated PD, same for WMKJ, WBUL, WKQQ and WLAP. While I don't listen to the stations everyday, I am in Lexington a couple of times a month and the stations seem to sound good and surprisingly local. Maybe Lexington radio is full of over achievers or Clear Channel is not always wrong?
 
Gee little buddy, didn't mean to poke you in the eye. Just statin' how every CC employee in every market could be next. Wasn't questioning the abilities of anyone, but YOU sure are defensive. Maybe a little TOO defensive? ;)

Since you asked, I feel obligated to answer...

1. Maybe Lexington radio is full of over achievers (yeah, right)

2. or Clear Channel is not always wrong (no, not always, just the majority of the time)

The answers are Not Likely and NO.
 
thinkgodimout939 said:
Is radio the only industry that it's employees can't seem to understand that things change as technology advances? While I hate to see people lose jobs; it's the way the world is today. These cuts happen in every industry, every day, no matter what field of business you choose to work in. If you want to keep a job today you need to be ahead of the technology, wear as may hats as possible and make yourself a valued member of the team. It doesn't always guarantee you a job but it does make you less of a target and more of a valued asset.

I agree that Clear Channel has made a lot of cuts over the years (and cuts suck) but they seem to continue to grow in core share and cume. They seem to be doing something the listeners like (at least in Lexington) with less personnel. Last I looked WLKT has better ratings now then they did with a full airstaff and dedicated PD, same for WMKJ, WBUL, WKQQ and WLAP. While I don't listen to the stations everyday, I am in Lexington a couple of times a month and the stations seem to sound good and surprisingly local. Maybe Lexington radio is full of over achievers or Clear Channel is not always wrong?
Click to expand...

It is a shame, however, when employees are considered just another cost element to minimize.
 
Not defensive just tired of people not getting it. Got out of radio after 16 years because I didn't "get it" and thought the "big companies were killing the industry". Now after sometime away from radio I realize that the radio was and is fun, listeners have changed the way they listen and technology is making everyone do things differently. Anyone could be in next in any industry, at least in radio you can wear jeans, have fun and play music.

By the way I agree with your answers to my questions. However, I would say Clear Channel is right about 50% of the time. Maybe a little more or less depending on the market your in. They have Cox, Radio One and Cumulus beat hands down.
 
thinkgodimout939 said:
Not defensive just tired of people not getting it.
Click to expand...

I don't have a dog in the hunt over whether Clear Channel is right or wrong, good or bad.

However, I must agree with your central point that EVERY industry is streamlining, EVERY industry is downsizing, and EVERY industry is relying on ever-increasingly sophisticated technology.

Things are just different than they used to be. Ask somebody who works at a bank if they have as many tellers as they used to. Or ask someone at a travel agency if their staffing is the same.... if you can find a travel agency, that is.

When I was a kid, scientists talked about our coming future of leisure, where machines would do the work, while we all enjoyed ever more free time to indulge in our hobbies and personal pursuits. Guess what? It didn't play out that way. Computers didn't make our lives more leisurely. Just the opposite. Now, we have to work that much faster to try to keep up with the mounds of data computers churn out. Computers never sleep, and we're not supposed to, either. Also, technology has increased business productivity to the point that we have have built-in, structural unemployment that's not going away any time soon.

It's not a matter of whether we like change or want change. Change comes anyway. Better just to adjust and adapt as best you can.
 
Somewhat relelated to all this...

About 20 years ago, I visited what was WNVL in Nicholasville seeking a part-time/weekend situation with that station which I thought might need some help. I don't remember the owner's name, but he promptly blew me out the front door and with this message:

"Why should I hire YOU or ANYONE? I have this computer that does all the work. The computer does not call in sick and I don't have to pay it an hourly wage. It works overtime -- for free. It doesn't demand health insurance nor do I have to pay into the unemployment insurance fund. It doesn't complain about being overworked and it makes very few mistakes."

While I have spent most of my full-time working life in areas outside of broadcasting, I have seen other industries slash and burn their staffs and have, at times, been the victim of that. In 2003, I moved briefly to Louisiana for a very lucrative management position paying "big bucks" with a company that had lost money for 4 years in-a-row. The new hires were promised big rewards if we could turn the place around. It was the "ideal" job. Inside of 6 months, we had the place making lots of money again. Guess what? After 9 months, the owners decided to sellout while it was profitable. Shortly after that, EVERYONE was fired by the new corporate owners!

For me, working in radio was just fun. I would have probably done it for free. Fortunately, I knew early on that I could NEVER make a career in it. And, truthfully, few people do.
 
Clear Channel Charlotte OM and 15 year company vet. Bruce Logan has been let go. I rest my case.
 
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