Well...this is the time of year when folks get turfed out the door as the management prepares for September 1...coming in under budget...and getting that gawdless bonus.

A pox on ALL who do or did that...a HEAVY [and might I add a well earned] P O X.

For those of you who will be replaced with younger...WAY less talented and cheaper...at least know that YOUR audience, which you've cultivated for those morons, will miss you...and miss you badly until their pain subsides.

As for you?  Join the club.  And good luck.  Sometimes you'll go on to discover that you CAN land with your butt in the butter.

Don't forget to SUE for wrongful dismissal.  Those a-holes OWE you.

They don't mow down successful morning shows Quiz-man.  They're not so stupid that they'd toss out the bread and butter.  Stability counts ALL day though.  They're TOO stupid [greedy] to get THAT.  And it's not downsizing to replace well-honed talent with young and cheap.  So yes.  Sue them for wrongful dismissal coz that's exactly what it is and you WILL win.  Let managament do their job?  No.  They do it ever so poorly and they put people's careers and their families at risk with their single-minded quest to run it as cheaply as they possibly can.

For me it is only about the audience.  If you don't do it all for them...you will ultimately frtitter away.  That's the future for radio as we know it in this day and age.  Shareholders and management bonus's come first.  Trailing far back of that are the advertisers.  Then finally...just ahead of the staff who provide the actual product [but they pretty much don't count after 9:00 am as being important to the overall operation/presentation] comes the audience.

NO product?  No listeners.  No audience.  No sales.  No profits.  No bunuses...and ultimately LOADS of fleeing shareholders.  And flee they should from any company which doesn't hold the listenership up on the highest pedistal.

That so few do is painfully obvious.  If they did the product would be CONSISTENTLY better than the barely acceptable which serves as the norm.

[Oh...And cheese boy...go grill yourself.  What you know about radio would fill a thimble and there'd still be room for your finger.]

Last edited by Old Codger (June 23, 2016 9:02 am)

RadioQuiz wrote:

Old Codger you kill me.
 .... Hitting budgets, and reaching goals are part of the business. Maybe these cut backs wouldn't happen if staffers like Old Codger spent more time learning about how they can help the business succeed on a daily basis rather than living in an "it's all about me" world.

What a crock. 

The joke about Bell and Corus etc. and their "downsizing" is that they continue to "upsize" middle management and HR while starving out the creative end of the business.  Unfortunately these middle managers aren't uselessly inert, they are actively destructive.They are attempting to run radio stations like they were building widgets (or providing cell service etc.) There is no concession given to the special needs of creatively engaging a local/regional audience. They are following a template of throwing cookie cutter formats across a network, a template very similar to Clear Channel in the US which has had them teetering on bankruptcy for years.

Why would they do this? Because this generation's crop of idiot MBA pantywaists chase this quarter's numbers
($ not ratings) like they are the absolute most important thing. The fact that achieving a good quarterly number might cost them long term viablity of the business is apparently too complex an idea for them to grasp. They can't differentiate between straight commodities/services and media. Radio is not pork futures.

Bell Media laid off people last fall when they were having record revenues. Management got their bonuses in spades, in part for the savings that those cuts brought. But the long term future for Bell as a Radio power in this country is not bright. I know because I am on the ground at a Bell radio operation. Here's an example of the brilliant management of Bell's endless number of VP's: We must bump local spots that paid $150+ a throw to accommodate some "nationally sold" commercial that is paying $22. Not only do we lose the $128, we also lose a local client, who is pissed that we don't deliver what we sold them and what they paid for. Once local relevance is lost, radio is lost.

The way they cook the books is laughable, and their respect for the magic and talent that actually makes radio work is non-existent. After firing hundreds of people, Bell Media created a new position for Randy Lennox paying X million as their new "Head of whatever-the-F*@k". Six months into his gilded gig he issues an update saying they are looking at a "streaming service" and forming a "think tank". Wow. There's some value for the dollar. Of course, Randy Lennox's resume highlight is firing 90 percent of the staff at Universal Canada, so maybe that's the qualification that caught their eye.

So good on ya, Old Codger. And Radio Quiz: you sound an awful lot like another boot-lick apologist who used to post similar drivel under the moniker of Ziggy.

Radio isn't dying because of new tech or market fragmentation or any other BS. It is dying because the suits are killing it.



 

Last edited by Eliot Rosewater (June 23, 2016 3:54 pm)

Hang on.... Bell made record profits..... But Bell radio didn't.  There is a difference.   If they replaced a $150 spot for a $22 then that is stupid, unless that $22 spot is $22 because someone bought EVERY station, and in that case it was smart.   Again, there is a difference.    Also, I'm sorry, but I doubt they would replace a paid avail - more likely they would drop a promo or squeeze it in.   

Radio is not pork futures, but it is the same as Staples, Home Depot, Disney and many businesses that are bought and sold on the stock market.   Your comparison while correct is off base.

Also, your reference to Clear Channel makes ZERO sense.   IHEART or Clear Channel actually has good revenue and audience - why they are in trouble is their balance sheet.   Simply put - they owe too much money and they are servicing too much debt.   Their cuts have been to survive.  If they didn't have the debt, they would be in really good shape w/ their properties and cash flow.   

Here's the thing.... You don't have to like it, but you want to change the game by posting on a board, instead of learning the actual business of radio. It's not all commercials, jocks and music - there are real decisions that have to be made.    I don't agree  w/ the leadership practices of Bell, Corus or Rogers because they're not radio driven companies, but hey, that's the game.   You know how I solve it?    I don't work for them.   They don't own me.   You want everyone to agree w/ YOU.... Yet you chose to work for a shareholder driven asset.    It's like if a fireman complained he had to deal with fire.   

You say you work for Bell, and all you do is shit on them?   Nice employee.   Want to make change - learn, grow and make change... The first is the most important.... Learn - know of what you speak.

Also.... Radio is not dying.   The audience has changed very little over the last few decades - all demos.  Revenues have grown.  The number of stations has increased.    The story of radio is a good one.... It's just changed... And people hate change.... I get that.    All talent think they are stars.  I get that.   Creative jobs are important.  It get that.  Everyone wants to blame someone else why they aren't successful... It's life.   Stress out about it, or learn how to play the game and then make the changes you so desire.   

I'm not Ziggy.... Let's not say things we can't take back.

RadioQuiz wrote:

. Also, I'm sorry, but I doubt they would replace a paid avail - more likely they would drop a promo or squeeze it in.



I'm not Ziggy.... Let's not say things we can't take back.

I'll respond to your first and last point and hopefully cover the middle tangentially.

Go ahead and "doubt it" oh wise one, but I live the scenario I described all the time. We thought it was a matter of not communicating the situation to head office, we were finally told: shut up, do it. Local clients paying full rate card are bumped for BS national buys. We have lost big clients over it, clients who were loyal for decades.
Go ahead and pretend you know better, you seem to excel at that.


As for "saying things you can;t take back": uh, ok, you're not Ziggy. I was just saying the "apologist for management" rhetoric you use sounds familiar to what I recall from him. And how do you make the leap to this idea that I want everyone to agree with me? I'm stating my opinion. I've been through a nightmare with Bell, they took a very successful radio operation that a dedicated team of pros turned into a profitable and creative powerhouse for 20 years and hobbled it within 18 months. I dont know the numbers for Bell radio nationally, but I know our numbers were excellent. They still came through and fired great people who contributed daily. All while making room for more middle management navel-gazers in Toronto and Montreal.

You think you have the exclusive knowledge of "business"? Your snowed understanding of Clear Channel tells us differently. Know of what you speak.

I do learn and grow and make change, thanks for the tip. I work diligently to teach my children not to become arrogant know-it-all pricks.



 

Ha, ha, ha.    I don't claim to have exclusive knowledge of anything.    Everything I know, you can know too.  The only thing stopping you is your attitude.   What I do have is actual experience owning and operating radio stations.    I understand the business of radio.     I get it your pissed at your company - go work somewhere else!    Maybe other radio folks will or won't back me up on this - but if you can't keep a client happy - you're shitty at your job.   In 20+ years of radio sales I have never had a client upset about a "bumped" spot unless it was in the Super Bowl.  There is more to that story of the client cancelling.  BTW - "National buys" are never BS - they help pay the bills.

As for IHEART - look it up.  Their debt is killing them.    If you think it is different, great whatever.  You're right.   We'll send you a cookie in the mail.

Here's what you need to understand.   Talent is important.  Talent is KEY in all departments.    Replaceable talent is different.    Unfortunately, computers, the Internet and outstanding talent have made it easier to replace replaceable talent.    Let me give you an example, I've seen research where 20 yr market jocks DON'T show up!   So, if you have a 20 YR guy/gal, and the research says NO ONE cares (that's the audience speaking by the way) - What would you do?   I'd try someone new and put the savings on the bottom line.  If a kid in creative is a great writer, but an "internet complainer" and head office told me I have to downsize someone but I could use another markets talented writer.... What would you do?   I would cut the cancer and save the dough.   Reversely, if I have a 20 yr pro that people love and can't live without.... I would find my savings elsewhere.  If I had an great kid writing with a positive attitude that I could see has a great future, I would fight for him too.    However, because it is a business.... Sometimes you don't have a choice and YES that sucks.   That doesn't make your managers or company bad.   If Bell Radio makes more money this year than last - you should be proud you're part of the success.  After all they kept you, so maybe you're one of the talented people I spoke about?   Always remember, when you don't own the ball, you don't make the rules.

It's weird, you seem to know-it-all.... So good luck with those kids.

RadioQuiz wrote:

 We'll send you a cookie in the mail.

Thanks for the cookie.

Upon reflection, I concede that I've been a bit strident. I have never owned or managed a radio station and am outside  my expertise when talking about financials and the like. I am a creative through and through. In fact, my real love is music. After my first decade, I realized working in radio because you love music is akin to working in a butcher shop because you love animals. So I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder no matter what, I admit that.

That said, the whole notion of "internet complainer" etc being a "cancer"...wow. thank you Sir may I have another? We should all just get in line and tell the Emperor his clothes are lovely?  Leadership has a lot of perks, but expecting and taking criticism is part of the job.  Complaining about Bell is as Canadian as maple syrup, I'm not going to give up my patriotic identity just because the phone company decided they want to be content producers and bought my contract. Your invocation of the "kid with a bad attitude" reflects the divide between creative and sales/management really well. I've never met a great writer for any medium who had a "good attitude". Truly gifted creatives are always a handful. Get over it. Im not endorsing "complainers". Negative creeps are negative creeps no matter what industry you work in. But in the entertainment industry, questioning and ridiculing authority is the fuel for a lot of great (and profitable) content. 

My take on Clear Channel is that, regardless of wether debt is the thing sinking them, their product is canned and mediocre. Media consolidation is a terrible thing across the board in my opinion. It is good for corporations and entrenched power and bad for human beings. In radio, it has stifled creativity and exceptionality, killed employment and talent development and made most terrestrial formats a voice tracked bore of a wasteland.

Take your examples of Staples or Home Depot: you can go across the country, head into one of the big boxes and wouldn't know if you were in St. John or Victoria. It is tragic that radio has become similar, in my opinion. The homogeneity is disturbing and robs us of the richness of life. So shop at a mom and pop then, right? But what if the big boxes use economy of scale to obliterate any fair chance of mom and pops to compete? What if a successful mom and pop is simply bought out by Home Depot?

The fact that we are even comparing radio, a once vibrant, 24/7/365 live undertaking that connected communities through airwaves that were a legislated "public trust" to big box retail systems and any "shareholder" driven enterprise kinda tells the story. That is the 21st century reality. The middle and bottom are bled dry to satisfy insatiable greed at the .01% top. Authenticity, which is expensive,  is replaced with an ever cruder simulation, which is cheaper. I'm not going to pledge fealty to the corporate masters. They are incompetent. And overpaid. Despite your inference, being employed by Bell in no way means they "own" me or that they are entitled to me being a silent witness to their incompetence. Especially on an anonymous internet forum. Let's relax and enjoy some reckless free speech.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said "radio is dying." I should have said, "good radio is dying. Iconic, character driven, world shaking radio is dying because the suits are killing it." It's cheaper to voice track. It's cheaper to eliminate local jobs. It will add to this years bottom line. What is the end game of this strategy, though? Eventually they will run out of bodies to cut, and the product will be so mediocre it will make terrestrial radio completely irrelevant to the culture. And maybe you say "so what?". But when it's completely irrelevant to the culture, it will not be profitable for shareholders. 

Essentially, the lack of long term vision that the "consolidaters" such Bell or Clear Channel or Corus display has ruined radio's creative advantages: local engagement, lightning responsiveness, regional character etc. 

I appreciated your analysis of "replaceable talent" and the way computers and internet have altered the landscape.
I tend to agree. I only wish the same expectations were applied to executive/corporate talent.
 

Past of Q107 Toronto & 97.7 HTZ-FM St. Catharines Jon Gonzo Mark and his partner on Boom  99.7 Ottawa mornings Sandy Sharkey are both gone

RadioQuiz wrote:

Ha, ha, ha. I don't claim to have exclusive knowledge of anything.

A wise choice.
 

ig wrote:

Shit.  Don't know Sandy to be honest, but Gonzo is a great talent and a great guy to boot.

On one of the weekend shows the editor of a magazine was saying she's been there for 18 years.  As I said at the time, that's about 6 different radio careers.
ig.

Are we getting the full story here? Sounds like Corus just decided to get rid of the bodies regardless of talent quality.
I'm thinking maybe Gonzo was offered another job at another Corus property, but turned it down because maybe he was not willing to move or relocate to that market.
(Just an optimistic compliment to Gonzo  )

 

And then there's this update:

Corus reports deepened losses from Shaw purchase

Here's my favourite quote from the story, so viewers and listeners can see where the new (old?) priorities lie. As if there was any doubt.

“Moving forward, our focus will be on the pursuit of revenue and cost synergies, strong execution on integration and advancing our strategic priorities, which will deliver value to our shareholders over the longer term,” [Corus president and CEO Doug] Murphy said. 

Translation: stay tuned for more job losses to come. 

Gentlemen/Ladies/Gentlemen!

God bless your passionate hearts.  Please, please, please do not resort to trashing each other with disparaging comments or similarly themed insinuations.  There's nothing wrong with pointing out facts that are in themselves, both negative and/or discouraging; nor is there anything wrong with a constructive exchange or identifying what's needing to be fixed in the industry or providing contrasting perspectives to another's comments - but one can do so in an objective manner, and fact check to strengthen one's case.

IG works hard to give us a forum that does not tailspin into denigrating each other - let's honour the time and effort that he puts forth on our collective behalf.  

Our attitude determines our altitude.

Last edited by Andy McNabb (July 14, 2016 8:23 am)

Andy McNabb wrote:

Gentlemen/Ladies/Gentlemen! . . . God bless your passionate hearts

At Reliance we aren't comfortable until you're comfortable, Andy


 

Tim Morgan, currently Afternoon Host and Assistant Program Director at Q107 Calgary, has announced that he is on the move to the Nation’s Capital to take over mornings at BOOM 99.7.

And this leaves Gonzo where?...

grilled.cheese wrote:

I think he's still working for Kermit over at CMUP. 

Illegal call signs. Nice Pirate station though.