RADIO IS NOT DEAD... UNLESS WE WANT IT TO BE.

Today, over 1,850 employees were laid off by Clear Channel, which is one of the nation's largest radio companies. The list of talent laid off was unreal - pages long on All Access - an incredible amount of people that were very good at what they did, and very hard working individuals, were all people that were cut today due to the slumping economy, and the way that radio has changed in the past 5 years. Just as the time is now for our country to regain its strength and prowess around the world under the leadership of new President Barack Obama, now is the time for radio to go back to its roots.

The drastic changes that have happened in radio are unreal. As recently as September 2006, I was doing live, paid, overnights at Clear Channel's heritage top 40 station WKSS in Hartford. Granted, I was making $8 an hour, but I was there, I was live, and if an emergency happened in the middle of the night, people could have turned their radios on, and gotten information in a timely matter. And I wasn't the only one in the building, either. Now, visit that building, or hundreds of other clusters - not just Clear Channel - around the country, and see who's there in the middle of the night. Heck, even just the midday slot (which once was very important) or evening shows (many now syndicated) are more and more canned from out of market. How many live DJs are on the weekends....anywhere? How many affiliates does "On-Air with Ryan Seacrest" have? While the content of the show is excellent, the lack of localism is a turnoff and whatever hours this program are on in an individual day are taking any "serving the community" completely out of the equation. And by the way - Clear Channel, its predecessors AMFM and Jacor, among others - were doing just fine budgetwise with budgets triple or quadruple the size that they are right now. So don't tell me it can't be done.

Radio has been a medium that since its inception, starting with KDKA in the 1920s, has been very popular and an extremely effective way to communicate with people, and give results to its advertisers. However, in the past few years, the way radio has changed has set our entire industry up for a disaster that will result in possibly all or most of our jobs - and make today's Clear Channel bloodbath look like a drop in the water. Radio is about serving the community - it always has been, and most of the nation's large broadcasters, with some notable exceptions, have forgotten about this fact. It's not just a requirement of the station's FCC license, it's what it's been all about since day one. A way for the community to interact, and be served.

People today are turning more and more away from terrestrial radio, and more and more to their iPods, YouTube, and satellite radio. Why is this happening? The fact remains that we are in a digital age - and it's not just radio. Newspapers are struggling to survive, and TV has faced increased competition due to the new technologies upon us. Programming on radio is not nearly as interesting as it was just a few years ago - the more syndication, the extremely diminished community influence, and many other factors have really loosened the connection between a radio station and its community, except in a few instances. There were days - not too long ago - where people would be excited to meet personalities at a remote, and would take time out of their day to go there. Again, with a few notable exceptions, this isn't really happening anymore.

I am fortunate enough to work for 2 radio stations that have not lost their ties with the community. However, it's not like that way everywhere, and taking out the question of whether or not I have the talent to "make it" in this business - it's tough to look at radio for a career knowing the lack of job security, and the decreasing amount of jobs nonetheless. Yes, the best will rise - but the good will fall.

That is, if we don't turn it around. It is not too late to save terrestrial radio. People that have written it off - or people that think that listeners don't care about our medium anymore - are wrong. But, their interest is fading. Now is the time for America to get itself back together as a country (and despite my differences of opinion with the policies of President Obama, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt right now), and now is the time for us to save our medium before it's too late. How is this accomplished in budget-slashing world? We have to do it right. We have to tell our bosses, that if we don't serve the community, we're not gonna have our own jobs someday - and they won't have theirs either. I've got the balls to do it. Understand this equation:

More money invested in product = Better product = Better ratings = More money to pay for better product

More time invested in being a part of the community = More visibility = Likely more advertisers = More money to pay for better product

We've all got bills to pay. Which is exactly why we have to make the move to save what's left of radio, and bring it back to what it once was. Why could radio stations (and some still do) "do it big" and survive, and make money? Why can't that be done now? It can be, we just have to put the effort into it, and put the effort into the communities and advertisers that are the reason we have a meal on our table when we go home.

And maybe I'm wrong... you can pass me off as a 20 year old with a few years of experience that doesn't know what he's talking about. Fact of the matter, I understand capitalism. I understand what CC did today, and why they did it. But I also know, that if the trend continues - nationally syndicated morning shows - Ryan Seacrest everywhere - no live dayparts on many class B and C stations serving millions of people - then NONE of us will have jobs. The same 5 jocks on hundreds of stations across the country, with little to no local content, not only doesn't fulfill the requirements of the FCC license, but makes the listeners - and ultimately us, lose.

For too long the people that make the decisions in radio have forgotten about the people that listen and the communities they serve. Every chance I get to go out and represent my employer in the community, I do it. More of the same needs to be done, otherwise terrestrial radio is going to be background noise. If you've read this far, you love radio just as much as myself, or any of the people that lost their jobs today. We've still got time. We need to listen to our listeners, and give back to our communities. Improve our programming, stop worrying about the bottom line and shareholders - and get back to doing radio right. Because, like I said, the jobs lost today will look really small in the overall sphere of things if things don't change. You can't invest nothing in a stock and get money for it. Just like you can't invest nothing in radio, and get a return on it.

It's not too late for America. It's not too late for radio. I want to do what I love doing for the rest of my life if possible. Do you?


Adam Rivers

Great post Adam. I agree with you 100%. I'm glad you were able to get out of the 10 Columbus building when you did, and over to 2 stations that still care about the community they serve.

Yes Adam there is still time, All radio companies need to go private, dont trade publicly "Clearly" we can see how that went.

Local radio needs to concentrate on the area they serve. Not layoff local people who know the area and surroundings for syndicated programming from five hundred miles away. CC is having major financial problems because they are too management top heavy. CC should restructure and figure out the needs of their local markets.

Ya know what's funny? I have talked to people who are listeners and not radio people and the reason they say that they are turning away from radio is because it's not fun anymore. It sounds like a jukebox and if they wanted that, they could turn on their Ipods, listen to Cds, etc. The reason they listened to radio was because they felt like they had a friend and now, that friend is disappearing. People don't want to hear less talk, they want to hear less Blah! If it's fun, they'll listen. We have researched this business into blandness and we have accepted it. Obviously, not us, but the penny-pinchers. We have allowed research to dictate to us that listeners hate talk, love 10-in-a-row, don't like new music, blah blah blah. We know that each of these is untrue. Consultants (not all) have convinced owners and VP's of Programming that what is said in research in true verbatim. How about reading between the lines? Figuring out and probing as to what listeners really mean? People don't want to hear continually mindless talk, but they want fun talk. Meaningful talk. Local talk. Not completely meaning talk radio, but local flavor in any format, something fun and whenever it deems, something meaningful that happens and affects many. That's what made radio so amazing: the emotion, the quick response, the listener interaction with the jocks. If I owned a radio company now and a boy or girl scout troop wanted to come in and see my station, I would hope that there would be someone there on the air to give them that magic. If not, I would be ashamed of having them come in and see no one. What a freaking buzz-kill it would be for the kids and the parents with them. I bet then you would see several people ditch that station, feeling like no one cared about them enough as listeners to actually have a real person there.

I hate to bring up a station that's been dead and buried since May 2007, but one of the reasons I used to like listening to Thom Morgan on the now-defunct TalkRadio 990 is because it was fun to listen to. I loved hearing all of Thom's stories - things going on with his family, where he went to dinner, who he ran into that hadn't seen in years, etc, etc, etc. All great stuff. And it wasn't mindless crap.

I tuned into The Morning Show on HOT 93.7 yesterday and one of the topics was "If you could say one thing to Geroge W. Bush as he is leaving the White House today, what would you say to him?" I immediately turned it off. I don't need to hear that. Especially since I know that 99% of the people calling in would be bleeped-out so the only people who would hear are the people in the studio.

MarcB said:

If you could say one thing to Geroge W. Bush as he is leaving the White House today, what would you say to him

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You dont wanna know what i would say to him!! (Some of you already know)

Sallys, I think you hit the nail on the head. Radio is not fun anymore. It's not just about the music. People have iPods for that. It's about personality and information, both which have all but disappeared from this market.

Over the last decade or so, CC and others have been lowering their spot rates to under-cut their competition, which means their competition has to cut rates, and then their competition has had to cut staff payroll, and so on and so on... Is telling your customers that what they've been paying for all this time was worth less than what they'd been paying for all along a good business practice?

People don't watch "American Idol" because Seacrest hosts it, they watch it for the performances.

Big companies aren't as interested in ratings when they can bring down the bottom line.  Less overheard with slightly lower ratings can (and will) result in more profit...until nobody listens to the radio anymore.

And with big companies make sweeping "no more night jocks" edicts, we're just not going to serve the up-and-coming 18-34 demo.  That ought to make radio continue to be viable in the near future... :

The sooner the big companies go bankrupt and/or start selling off their portfolios, the better.  When that starts to happen, I think you'll find the situation improving, slowly but surely.

The WRONG people are running radio today. The Marty McGillicuddy theory of dumbing down your audience and doing radio on the cheap isnt working. They just keep fail to understand that ORIGINAL CONTENT is KING....

Radio stations should not be like chain stores...thats what the Marty McGillicuddies want to do with radio. The Jordan Levys and Paul Harriss of the world are an endangered specials...guys with PERSONALITY and a uniqueness to LOCAL radio. Thats what made radio so much fun...each town was DIFFERENT.

Good post Adam. CC made the cuts to service the HUGE debt Bain took on when it bought CC. I've heard rumors that another company may declare bankruptcy.

Until consolidation, radio was run by broadcasters; now it's run by bankers and accountants. During economic downturns broadcasters knew you NEVER sacrificed your product. The people running radio today don't even know what that product is. That is what is killing radio.

Sigh.....another battle about what's wrong with radio today. Granted, there's plenty, but the blame needs to be squarely shouldered by all parties. Broadcasters ran the business until the FCC opened up hundreds, if not thousands, of additional frequency licenses back in the 80's. It was a great opportunity for expansion but what really happened was that investor groups started buying up blocks of stations and then consolidating. We were our own worst enemy; by providing local, original programming and making loads of cash for our owners, we became bait for these acquisition oriented companies. After all, if one station is posting profits, imagine collecting the profits from 10 or 100 stations!
The bitter pill is that many if not most on-air personalities cobbled our shows together as we were on air. Some of us spent time writing, researching and producing bits, etc, but I'd venture a guess that more than 90 % of jocks came to work with no prep and no real plan. "Local" became a negative rather than a positive in many cases. Minions of consultants pounced of this frailty to gain the ear of ownership and preach the gospel of syndication, VT, etc. If we, as entertainers, had expanded our horizons instead of stubbornly holding on to our self centered often arrogant little worlds, things might have turned out differently. Truth is, not every one of us who has worked on the air is a great talent nor great personality. Putting someone on the air just to have anyone on the air is not a great programming move, then or now.
The difference is;Then you could get away with it; Now, Ownership does NOT want to gamble on you.
I know this is a gross oversimplification but every so often I just have to jump in and comment when the fingers start pointing at the accountants and bankers as owners. Friends, they have always been a part of our business. Making money has ALWAYS been the prime directive of a radio station, like it or not.
Back in "the day", making money was pretty much a given so what management put on the air made little difference in cash flow. Today, making money is a challenge (as it is in just about every business) and I don't know any bankers or accountants who are successful gamblers but are not in jail. As for the lawyers.....that's gonna take another post someday.

bernzee, no one is saying put someone on the air for the sake of a live body. There used to be a "farm system" that started with a building your part-timers into personalities that could be full timers. Then they'd become the overnight person or the night person and so on and so forth. Many stations now don't even have live weekenders or even anyone live 7p-5a. What kind of personality radio is that? Because the companies are so in debt that they cannot make their payments, they have cut their staffs to the bone. There is no where for anyone to learn and grow. You've got already be a person in the business who's great, good or kind of good. There were a lot of great people let go the other day...and over the last several years...and even these people have NO WHERE to go anymore. Yes, there have always been accountants, bean counters, etc., BUT, there were broadcasters who said no because, like Blackies said, you don't sacrifice your product. You look for other ways to cut costs. But these people sold to the big companies and these big companies over paid so much for the properties that they cannot always make their payments. Also, these companies have been low balling each other to get the sales, as was said earlier on this thread. Instead of working for the buy and showing results to a prospective client, everyone wanted the quick sale and took what they can get. Instead of charging more for a last minute buy, like the airlines do to book a flight, they coddled the agencies and took the easy buy instead of turning away some of the business to show they had some spine. In the end, the agencies always win by getting the cheapest price and the stations take a loss on that end. Good lord, we have people selling radio who have never sold radio, or anything else, before and no one is training these people how to sell radio. That's as bad as putting people on the air who barely know the way to sell radio on the air as a talent. Yes, there are a lot of people to fault in this, but don't put it on all air personalities and assume that many of them didn't do show prep and that's why the business is in a tizzy. There are a lot of talented people out of jobs who are still doing show prep while out of work who would love the opportunity to use that on the air somewhere.

SallysPizza said:

bernzee, no one is saying put someone on the air for the sake of a live body. There used to be a "farm system" that started with a building your part-timers into personalities that could be full timers. Then they'd become the overnight person or the night person and so on and so forth. Many stations now don't even have live weekenders or even anyone live 7p-5a. What kind of personality radio is that? Because the companies are so in debt that they cannot make their payments, they have cut their staffs to the bone. There is no where for anyone to learn and grow. You've got already be a person in the business who's great, good or kind of good. There were a lot of great people let go the other day...and over the last several years...and even these people have NO WHERE to go anymore. Yes, there have always been accountants, bean counters, etc., BUT, there were broadcasters who said no because, like Blackies said, you don't sacrifice your product. You look for other ways to cut costs. But these people sold to the big companies and these big companies over paid so much for the properties that they cannot always make their payments. Also, these companies have been low balling each other to get the sales, as was said earlier on this thread. Instead of working for the buy and showing results to a prospective client, everyone wanted the quick sale and took what they can get. Instead of charging more for a last minute buy, like the airlines do to book a flight, they coddled the agencies and took the easy buy instead of turning away some of the business to show they had some spine. In the end, the agencies always win by getting the cheapest price and the stations take a loss on that end. Good lord, we have people selling radio who have never sold radio, or anything else, before and no one is training these people how to sell radio. That's as bad as putting people on the air who barely know the way to sell radio on the air as a talent. Yes, there are a lot of people to fault in this, but don't put it on all air personalities and assume that many of them didn't do show prep and that's why the business is in a tizzy. There are a lot of talented people out of jobs who are still doing show prep while out of work who would love the opportunity to use that on the air somewhere.

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Excellent post.

Good lord, we have people selling radio who have never sold radio, or anything else, before and no one is training these people how to sell radio. That's as bad as putting people on the air who barely know the way to sell radio on the air as a talent.
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How about sending Acct Execs (who by the way wouldn't know which end of the microphone to talk into) to cover local elections because the News Director is the one man show of the News Department. In the end the show always goes on no matter how lame the production. Thanks to corporations gobbling up the local stations and making them bird feeders ;D

Don't misunderstand me; there's no way I would place the blame for the sad state of our business on talent. I'd be shooting myself in the foot. Those of us who have been blessed with very long successful careers in broadcasting abhor the devaluation of "personalities" in the marketplace. On the other hand, a bucket full of "used to be's" doesn't change the way things are now. It is what it is. It may not be like it used to be and it certainly isn't the way we'd WANT it to be but, at the end of the day, that's just the way it is. Nobody has to like it; everybody has to deal with it. Sad.

Radio should be progressing in many ways. Yet it seems to be regressing with corporate suits calling all the shots.