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Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
According to this rather plain-speaking editorial on Radio and Music Pros, it's not finding the audience that's the issue with the medium, it's over-consolidation. A radio veteran observes what he thinks happened to move the industry one step closer to the edge (and not the station at 102.1!)
He says it started when big corporations were allowed to take over so many stations, especially in the U.S.
"Hundreds of owners became dozens. Dozens became a handful. The promise of scale gradually became an obsession with efficiency. Stations that once competed by sounding different began sounding identical. Research replaced instinct. Voice tracking replaced personalities. Shared playlists replaced local music directors. Regional programming replaced hometown programming.
The accountant slowly became more important than the program director. The lawyer slowly gained more influence than the news director. Eventually the spreadsheet outranked the audience. Wall Street rewarded quarterly savings while listeners quietly disappeared."
Did Radio Surrender Its Greatest Competitive Advantage?
- Mavridis
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
- RadioActive
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Mavridis wrote:
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
There's a lot of blame to go around, but you're not wrong. I've read tons of stories over the years that suggest the giants buying out stations is the day radio died, removing the local content from a lot of them in an effort to save money and maximize profits. So you can also blame the FCC for this - at least in the U.S. - for allowing these guys to get bigger - and greedier.
The result - radio that wasn't for listeners. It was almost inevitable this would happen.
While they can't own as many stations here, the Rogers and Bells in Canada essentially did the same thing.
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Thread Starter- Paul Jeffries
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
Depends on whether the next generation wants to inherit a radio station or not. I can't totally fault an owner who's worked hard all of his or her life and wants to have a nice little nest egg for their retirement. If their kids aren't interested in keeping it in the family, selling it to the highest bidder seems like the best option, I would think.
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
- paterson1
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
Depends on whether the next generation wants to inherit a radio station or not. I can't totally fault an owner who's worked hard all of his or her life and wants to have a nice little nest egg for their retirement. If their kids aren't interested in keeping it in the family, selling it to the highest bidder seems like the best option, I would think.
PJ
I agree with Paul. Likely many in the next generation of the family business didn't want to be involved with the station that the family started. Could be that many stations were on the slide when it came time to for the kids to take over. Much better to inherit a Home Hardware which is a growing business and much more stable.
- The Weed
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
Depends on whether the next generation wants to inherit a radio station or not. I can't totally fault an owner who's worked hard all of his or her life and wants to have a nice little nest egg for their retirement. If their kids aren't interested in keeping it in the family, selling it to the highest bidder seems like the best option, I would think.
PJI agree with Paul. Likely many in the next generation of the family business didn't want to be involved with the station that the family started. Could be that many stations were on the slide when it came time to for the kids to take over. Much better to inherit a Home Hardware which is a growing business and much more stable.
The original CHUM Group sale is an example.
- kevjo
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Re: Radio Is Its Own Worst Enemy
How about we blame the greedy old station owners instead, who took the big easy corporate payout instead of selling to the next generation.
There's a lot of blame to go around, but you're not wrong. I've read tons of stories over the years that suggest the giants buying out stations is the day radio died, removing the local content from a lot of them in an effort to save money and maximize profits. So you can also blame the FCC for this - at least in the U.S. - for allowing these guys to get bigger - and greedier.
The result - radio that wasn't for listeners. It was almost inevitable this would happen.
While they can't own as many stations here, the Rogers and Bells in Canada essentially did the same thing.
I beat the drum about this all the time and continue to do so - don't expect any different behavior from any of the big three. It's not about the product, it's about increasing the dividends. Homogenizing playlists, formats, brand names and out-of-market voice tracking are the easiest ways to achieve that end.
In Ontario, check out independent companies like Durham Radio, Bayshore Broadcasting, Blackburn Radio for instance where being locally focused still matters. Yes, they are businesses but they also understand that people are what help make a station successful.