Post by Dr Demented on Apr 24, 2006 19:19:50 GMT -5
An article from
radio.about.com/od/opinionpieces/a/aa042406a.htm
From Corey Deitz
Your Guide to Radio.
Down The Rabbit Hole
So, the other day to my delight, a rabbit in a waistcoat with a pocket watch came across my path and beckoned me to follow him down a hole. I obliged and when I slid out the other side I found myself in a place called Blunderland.
To my left was a Mad Hatter with “CBS” written across the middle of his cap. When I asked him if that stood for "CBS Radio", he shot back, “Well, usually, but at the moment it stands for “Can't Be Serious”.
When asked why, he replied, “Well, if you had lost Howard Stern, mistakenly hired an overpriced David Lee Roth, and then taken Opie & Anthony back with your tail between your legs all in less than 6 months people would be saying this about you, too.”
"Oh, I see," said I.
CBS Radio owns 179 radio stations – many in Top 50 markets. How is it the company could make so many mistakes with some of its biggest properties?
From the beginning, the company's idea of how to make up for the Stern void was flawed. The first mistake was thinking he could be replaced. You don't replace success stories that have evolved over a long period of time.
The second mistake was thinking he could be replaced by three people, namely David Lee Roth, Adam Carolla, and Rover.
According to the CBS Radio corporate profile, “The overall mix of each radio station's programming is designed to fit the station's specific format and serve its local community.”
Well, then how are the local communities served by syndicated hosts sent on a mission to divide and conquer Stern's former empire?
I argued from the very beginning that each Stern affiliate should have been permitted to conduct a talent search for a market-respected personality to take over and rebuild each station’s morning show.
In a recent column, Robert Feder, from the Chicago Sun-Times, also alluded to the importance of local personalities in regard to two CBS stations in the Windy City whose fortunes have suffered because of CBS’ recent Stern and “JACK”-format decisions.
Now, CBS Radio has made a deal with the "enemy", XM Satellite Radio, which is no doubt smiling like a Cheshire Cat. XM has agreed to lend out Opie & Anthony who CBS fired in August, 2002 and subsequently kept off the air contractually for several years over the infamous Sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral stunt. (Incidentally, the idea of diluting Opie & Anthony by farming them out to Terrestrial Radio should be of some concern to subscription-paying XM listeners who thought they were forking over fees for the sole right to hear them. But, that's another column.)
Even though this latest juggling doesn't involve a local talent solution (except in New York City where O&A had a successful afternoon show before getting yanked off the air), at least CBS has reverted to hiring Radio professionals.
But, the core Howard Stern listeners are already at SIRIUS. There was no holding them no matter who replaced Stern. But, Opie & Anthony do have a unique opportunity to reach out to former Stern listeners and new ones.
If Opie & Anthony are successful in turning around the David Lee Roth debacle, it will be a huge slap in Stern's face, and a way for CBS to save face.
That being what it may, it still remains: if CBS Radio had put strong local-oriented personalities into each market to begin with, it would have been on the way to building new station foundations instead of sitting at a Tea Party.
How big of a stick does Terrestrial Radio need to be hit over the head with until it sees the competitive edge for the future is doing something Satellite Radio can’t: localism.
After a good 10 years of station consolidation, voice-tracking, and syndication ad nauseam, the real savior of Terrestrial Radio ironically emerges as that which it has tried to vanquish in order to save money: the local DJs, the local talk show hosts, the local news and information.
When Satellite Radio, Internet Streams, MP3 Players, and Podcasting were not a factor, Terrestrial Radio had the luxury of slashing costs and personnel by flipping the syndication switch. Everybody had to put up with it because there were no alternatives.
Technology has changed the status quo.
For anyone who thinks not being local is a truly viable alternative for the future survival of AM and FM, I know where there’s a large, blue, smoking Caterpillar who would love to share his hookah with you.
radio.about.com/od/opinionpieces/a/aa042406a.htm
From Corey Deitz
Your Guide to Radio.
Down The Rabbit Hole
So, the other day to my delight, a rabbit in a waistcoat with a pocket watch came across my path and beckoned me to follow him down a hole. I obliged and when I slid out the other side I found myself in a place called Blunderland.
To my left was a Mad Hatter with “CBS” written across the middle of his cap. When I asked him if that stood for "CBS Radio", he shot back, “Well, usually, but at the moment it stands for “Can't Be Serious”.
When asked why, he replied, “Well, if you had lost Howard Stern, mistakenly hired an overpriced David Lee Roth, and then taken Opie & Anthony back with your tail between your legs all in less than 6 months people would be saying this about you, too.”
"Oh, I see," said I.
CBS Radio owns 179 radio stations – many in Top 50 markets. How is it the company could make so many mistakes with some of its biggest properties?
From the beginning, the company's idea of how to make up for the Stern void was flawed. The first mistake was thinking he could be replaced. You don't replace success stories that have evolved over a long period of time.
The second mistake was thinking he could be replaced by three people, namely David Lee Roth, Adam Carolla, and Rover.
According to the CBS Radio corporate profile, “The overall mix of each radio station's programming is designed to fit the station's specific format and serve its local community.”
Well, then how are the local communities served by syndicated hosts sent on a mission to divide and conquer Stern's former empire?
I argued from the very beginning that each Stern affiliate should have been permitted to conduct a talent search for a market-respected personality to take over and rebuild each station’s morning show.
In a recent column, Robert Feder, from the Chicago Sun-Times, also alluded to the importance of local personalities in regard to two CBS stations in the Windy City whose fortunes have suffered because of CBS’ recent Stern and “JACK”-format decisions.
Now, CBS Radio has made a deal with the "enemy", XM Satellite Radio, which is no doubt smiling like a Cheshire Cat. XM has agreed to lend out Opie & Anthony who CBS fired in August, 2002 and subsequently kept off the air contractually for several years over the infamous Sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral stunt. (Incidentally, the idea of diluting Opie & Anthony by farming them out to Terrestrial Radio should be of some concern to subscription-paying XM listeners who thought they were forking over fees for the sole right to hear them. But, that's another column.)
Even though this latest juggling doesn't involve a local talent solution (except in New York City where O&A had a successful afternoon show before getting yanked off the air), at least CBS has reverted to hiring Radio professionals.
But, the core Howard Stern listeners are already at SIRIUS. There was no holding them no matter who replaced Stern. But, Opie & Anthony do have a unique opportunity to reach out to former Stern listeners and new ones.
If Opie & Anthony are successful in turning around the David Lee Roth debacle, it will be a huge slap in Stern's face, and a way for CBS to save face.
That being what it may, it still remains: if CBS Radio had put strong local-oriented personalities into each market to begin with, it would have been on the way to building new station foundations instead of sitting at a Tea Party.
How big of a stick does Terrestrial Radio need to be hit over the head with until it sees the competitive edge for the future is doing something Satellite Radio can’t: localism.
After a good 10 years of station consolidation, voice-tracking, and syndication ad nauseam, the real savior of Terrestrial Radio ironically emerges as that which it has tried to vanquish in order to save money: the local DJs, the local talk show hosts, the local news and information.
When Satellite Radio, Internet Streams, MP3 Players, and Podcasting were not a factor, Terrestrial Radio had the luxury of slashing costs and personnel by flipping the syndication switch. Everybody had to put up with it because there were no alternatives.
Technology has changed the status quo.
For anyone who thinks not being local is a truly viable alternative for the future survival of AM and FM, I know where there’s a large, blue, smoking Caterpillar who would love to share his hookah with you.