Removed from dying AM radio

[DavidEduardo]

Horses are spread out across the USA and are relatively common except in some intense urban areas.

Someone has to take care of the Central Park carriage ride horses!

Where I lived in Burbank, CA, about a half-mile from the Disney lot and corporate offices, there were stables for over 100 horses. And where I live part of the time now, in a desert community near Palm Springs, I am hearing distance of two polo fields and at least two farriers.

 

[K.M. Richards]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - Santayana.

And for those who feel inclined to again engage the esteemed Sr. Gleason, I offer another of George Santayana's better-known quotes:

Before you contradict an old man, my fair friend, you should endeavor to understand him.

 

[Avid Listener]

You can call the debate "bogus" now if you wish, but it was not bogus then, and the radio landscape might be a different one today.

Yes, it might have been different today. But this is a discussion about the here and now. So, in a discussion of the reality that exists today, throwing in non-sequiturs about what might have been is bogus. Wanna discuss "what if" hypothetical scenarios about how things would be different today had the past been different? Launch a thread in Classic Radio.

 

[JeffM]

I don't care how much the suits whine about how hard it is. If someone running a radio station can't turn things around by changing what needs changed, then he has no business running a radio station.

Nobody cares how much you whine either...

 

[Avid Listener]

When you run a radio station that's licensed by the government on frequencies owned by the public, there are things that affect the success of the operation that you can't control. That's what it says in the prospectus for any radio company.

When you run ANY business, in ANY industry, regardless of the presence, absence, or degree of government control, there are things that affect the success of the operation that you can't control. That's business. Anyone who cannot do what must be done to make the business work, regardless of the industry, shouldn't be running that business.

 

[ContinuousWave]

You are forgetting the ever-popular "... left over philosophical differences" or "... left over creative differences".

OR in the case of Clear Channel, "fired on a lie and we are spreading a rumor that will destroy the poor bastard"

 

[Kelly A]

OR in the case of Clear Channel, "fired on a lie and we are spreading a rumor that will destroy the poor bastard"

WOW! Interesting comment. Care to elaborate with more detail?

 

[TheBigA]

That's business. Anyone who cannot do what must be done to make the business work, regardless of the industry, shouldn't be running that business.

"Any business" isn't licensed by the federal government. How would you feel about having the feds tell you how to run your private business? Tell me.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Does that mean that of the thousands of people responsible for what goes out the stick, there aren't any who are particularly skilled? No. There are a relative small portion of the total number who are producing excellent results. That portion is, however, too small to make up for all the others who are allowing the stations they run to wither away to nothing.

Obviously, you are not familiar with the operating income statements of the majority of U.S.. radio stations.

 

[K.M. Richards]

When you run ANY business, in ANY industry, regardless of the presence, absence, or degree of government control, there are things that affect the success of the operation that you can't control. That's business. Anyone who cannot do what must be done to make the business work, regardless of the industry, shouldn't be running that business.

That qualification did nothing to improve the validity of the repeated statement which comprises your last sentence.

There is a huge difference between being an "avid listener" (*cough*armchairquarterback*cough*) and a radio station manager. And that difference can only be truly understood by those who have worked in the industry.

No amount of your repeating yourself is going to change reality.

 

[TheBigA]

From about 1961 on, AM radio was monaural because the law said it was monaural.

And this gets to my point about managing a business regulated by the government.

 

[Avid Listener]

"Any business" isn't licensed by the federal government. How would you feel about having the feds tell you how to run your private business? Tell me.

Clearly, you've never had to deal with the EPA, EEOC, OSHA, DOT, and 147 other acronymed Federal bureaucracies that meddle in all businesses in the US.

 

[Avid Listener]

That qualification did nothing to improve the validity of the repeated statement which comprises your last sentence.

There is a huge difference between being an "avid listener" (*cough*armchairquarterback*cough*) and a radio station manager. And that difference can only be truly understood by those who have worked in the industry.

No amount of your repeating yourself is going to change reality.

Hogwash! Anyone who has run any sort of business understands the basic principles of business. Anyone who has worked in, or better yet managed and entertainment venue understands the basic principles of operating a radio station. It's not all that special. I'd have to say that one of the biggest problems in radio is the insular attitude that radio is somehow "special", and immune to the standard principles that govern the operation of all businesses.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I

Hogwash! Anyone who has run any sort of business understands the basic principles of business. Anyone who has worked in, or better yet managed and entertainment venue understands the basic principles of operating a radio station. It's not all that special. I'd have to say that one of the biggest problems in radio is the insular attitude that radio is somehow "special", and immune to the standard principles that govern the operation of all businesses.

There is a difference. Radio is an intangible where there are two different consumers... The advertiser and the listener. We have to please both even though their interests ar often opposed.

And running a station is not like running a venu (I have done both) as in a venu you have both instant feedback and box office states from other venues. In radio, results are delayed significantly from actual broadcast and, for most stations, never really known.

While a business degree helps, empirical experience, creativity and intuition are equally important.

I know you think all radio management is dumb by your standards, but obviously you don't know what goes into the day to day running of a station.

 

[TheBigA]

Clearly, you've never had to deal with the EPA, EEOC, OSHA, DOT, and 147 other acronymed Federal bureaucracies that meddle in all businesses in the US.

Actually, most of them also regulate aspects of broadcasting. Including the FAA for broadcast towers.

But the FCC rules have a lot to do with why AM radio is in the state it's in. Owners and managers can't change the federal rules.

 

[K.M. Richards]

How many times has Avid stuck his foot in his mouth during this conversation?

The latest "understanding of basic principles" argument is completely devoid of any experience that qualifies comparison to the radio industry.

Obviously, he ... wait, David already said that.

Okay ... Obviously ... oh, David already said that, too.

Well then: Obviously ... what? David just said that in his next-to-last post?

Looks like I can't say much more since all of my arguments have been used by the esteemed Sr. Gleason already. Guess I will have to settle for saying this: Avid, you are so deeply wrong that you wouldn't last six months in radio management. Maybe not even that long, depending on the level of denial you would be in when your arguments were proven wrong, one by one.

My advice to you, sir, is to quit while you're behind in this thread. Like another former adversary on this site, you are now resorting to repeating yourself as a debating tactic, and we all know what Einstein said about such things.

 

[Avid Listener]

There is a difference. Radio is an intangible where there are two different consumers... The advertiser and the listener. We have to please both even though their interests ar often opposed.

That same dichotomy exists in other businesses.

And running a station is not like running a venu (I have done both) as in a venu you have both instant feedback and box office states from other venues. In radio, results are delayed significantly from actual broadcast and, for most stations, never really known.

Identical" No. Similar? Yes, they are very similar. There are minor difference, such as what you've mentioned, but they aren't as significant as you make them out to be.

While a business degree helps, empirical experience, creativity and intuition are equally important.

Again, a statement that true about ALL businesses.

I know you think all radio management is dumb by your standards, but obviously you don't know what goes into the day to day running of a station.

One need not know the minutiae of an enterprise to know if it is being well run. One need not be a gourmet chef to recognize when the meals at a restaurant are poorly cooked. One need not be an automotive engineer or a master mechanic to recognize when an automobile isn't running as it should. A male obstetrician can deliver a baby, though there's no way he'll ever experience a pregnancy first hand.

Any time we deal with transmitter site issues we deal with them and more. A recent Miami transmitter move required 24 permits and took over 24 months to approve due to hearings and administrative delays.

So you are aware how tough the Federal government makes things for all businesses. Apparently TheBigA does not.

Actually, most of them also regulate aspects of broadcasting. Including the FAA for broadcast towers.

But the FCC rules have a lot to do with why AM radio is in the state it's in. Owners and managers can't change the federal rules.

No, but owners and managers can put better, more compelling and entertaining content on their AM stations. The FCC doesn't prevent that. Or are you going to tell me that there is an FCC regulation against airing interesting and entertaining content?

Avid, you are so deeply wrong that you wouldn't last six months in radio management. Maybe not even that long, depending on the level of denial you would be in when your arguments were proven wrong, one by one.

Why would I want to be in radio management? Why would anyone? Apparently, everything is beyond your control. It's the listener's fault that your programming isn't appealing to them. The FCC won't allow you to put interesting, entertaining content on the air. And everyone is out to get you. Your industry is slowing sinking, and all you can do is point out the exceptions as if they were all typical and place the blame on someone else. Or, reply with non-sequitur answers like Mr. Gleason and hope some sycophant will run in to praise your irrelevant responses. I'm sorry, while I would like to once again hear some creative, entertaining, and interesting content on the radio, I don't want to have to overcome working with the kind of people who weren't skilled enough to move to a branch of show business with a better future.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Why would I want to be in radio management? Why would anyone? Apparently, everything is beyond your control. It's the listener's fault that your programming isn't appealing to them. The FCC won't allow you to put interesting, entertaining content on the air. And everyone is out to get you. Your industry is slowing sinking, and all you can do is point out the exceptions as if they were all typical and place the blame on someone else. Or, reply with non-sequitur answers like Mr. Gleason and hope some sycophant will run in to praise your irrelevant responses. I'm sorry, while I would like to once again hear some creative, entertaining, and interesting content on the radio, I don't want to have to overcome working with the kind of people who weren't skilled enough to move to a branch of show business with a better future.

Your whole schtick about radio rapidly dieing and radio programming not being relevant is getting as old as a 40's vaudeville act.

Radio is not declining. Radio distributed by AM and FM is declining, but it is doing it very slowly. Radio distributed by new media is growing rapidly, and offers great opportunity for risk-taking management. Saying that the industry is slowly sinking is simply a lie.

If you think you have climbed the mountain and discovered truth, think again. Think of the huge growth of radio services like Pandora, iHeart and Uforia. We may, in fact, find that all forms of radio, when measured together by Nielsen, exceed the high-point years from the past.

Let's look at the record industry's content over the last 5 decade. At any given time, and in any given format, stations gave broad airplay to perhaps 10% of each week's or month's production and less than half of those became hits and sold enough to be profitable. But when the game paid off, it paid well enough to justify throwing out all those stiffs because there was no way to know which song would be a big, profitable hit.

Radio format changes have a vastly greater rate of success. While I have never looked at successful vs. unsuccessful format shifts, I'd guess that more than half of all shifts are successful... a rate of new product success comparable to the success of new product introductions by marketing masters like P&G. So you can't say that stations are poorly managed if they hit their targets along with the best marketers in the nation.

As to the FCC, you fail to put the FCC regulations in context. For example, when FM passed 50% of total listening back in 1977, the FCC generally questioned license renewals for AM's with less than 8% non entertainment programming, but FMs got by with 6%. That means that AMs had to do about 4 hours more a week of talk programming in areas like Public Affairs, Educational and News programming... setting them at a disadvantage for listeners who had discovered that FMs played more music. There are many other onerous FCC requirements, but this one speaks to this thread about the reasons why AM is a much smaller part of radio listening than it was 30 to 40 years ago.

Finally, you speak about your search for things that entertain you. Based on your expressions here, I doubt any radio station would find it profitable to seek listeners such as yourself because they are too few and way to fickle.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

Clearly, you've never had to deal with the EPA, EEOC, OSHA, DOT, and 147 other acronymed Federal bureaucracies that meddle in all businesses in the US.

Fair enough, but please share with us with regulations you would be happy to keep and which regulations you'd like to see go away.

 

[Avid Listener]

Fair enough, but please share with us with regulations you would be happy to keep and which regulations you'd like to see go away.

This is not the venue for that.