I am sure that most of you will agree that the industry where we have spent most of our lives is revolving dramatically. The consolidation years brought about major changes and now the latest round of "reduction in force" appears to be yet another major blow to broadcasting as we know it! Cumulus and Clear Channel are making huge changes in medium and smaller market stations giving the impression the "national" programming staff's can and will improve the quality of the personalities and service to the community. How can a "jock" in Pheonix have any real imput for stations in Jackson, Missississippi, Ann Arbor, Michigan, or Enterprise, Alabama? It may sound like small patotoes but "The Birthday Club" that many smaller market stations air is important to those in that particular community. I feel that I am a more than passionate broadcaster and honestly I am sorely concerned with the state of our beloved business. After 50 years in broadcasting I am doing consulting work for various broadcasters and promise that any station (s) that I am associated with will continue to be local and be a servant to the local community. Wonder how long it has been since Bob Pittman, John Hogan, or Lew Dickey went to a Chamber of Commerce of PTA meeting? When was the last time they saw a "cart" machine or God forbid a turntable? To all the medium and smaller market owners out there I applaude you for your continued service to your individual communities.
Tom
Hard to know how to reply to this-I too have spent 45 years of my life in local radio, and am still a station manager in Bloomington, Indiana. I wish I could say that rates and revenue were at the save levels they were 5, even 10 years ago, but they are not. When Steve Jobs came back to Apple after a long leave of absense, they were at rock bottom. His motto, "Think Different" became a company mantra and we all know the results. We've been told to think different in our industry by a lot of people over the past 10-15 years. Guess we really need to take that advise to heart. Streaming and smart phone aps will ensure that today's cell phones will become like yesterday's "transistor radios." I hope so anyway. It will be up to us in the local radio business to find out how to effectively compete with Pandora and the thousands of other available streams. Will we even need towers and transmitters 20 years from now?
I couldn't agree more. As I have said repeatedly since the Big Cutback, try getting Ryan Seacrest to come out to a car dealer remote in your town next Saturday. The failures of XM/Serius have proven that radio needs the local touch. If I want national humor I can watch Leno.
Never owning a station,I have been blessed with whats called in the business "a good set of pipes" In my 15 years of radio and television which I am retired from now,I find myself working toward starting and internet radio station programming to my age era. I have to confess nearly all of the stations in my market are pumping out garbage and up on "The Bird". Satalite broadcasting has changed local radio for ever. No longer do we have personalities behind the mic that made a station what it was. But now,it's sterele songs played by some service out in LA that pops up on my radio dial. Radio and television for that matter programs to an age bracket of 18 to 35.But statistics prove that the buying power is listeners age 50 to 70 not to mention we are the MAJORITY listening out here. So why can't broadcasters see this? Who says you have to do what everyone else is doing? The days of cart machines,audio consoles and thank God turntables are gone.But what happened to the personalities that use to wake me up in the morning? What happened to a local station playing the music it decides to program and not some music service that comes in and sells a contract to owners? My station will program to those who have the money to support my advertisers.You want me to listen to your station? Then program to me.Play the greatest hits from the 50s,60, and 70s and NO don't let some LA music service do it for you.I can listen to a station 10 minutes and tell you if they are up on the bird or not.My station will be much like those stations of years ago USE TO BE.
One more thing worth a thought,remember what FM did to AM? Well, the internet is getting ready to do the same thing to FMs.You think not?. More cars are coming out with internet reception.Check out Amazon.com and you will see table top internet radios selling right now.The handwriting is on the wall.
The technology is here today that will allow North Carolina Internet Radio to be heard ONLY in the state of North Carolina. A one hundred thousand watt FM will cover at best 10 to 12 counties,while my computer can cover every county in the state of North Carolina.
