Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Be Still "i Heart"

As a former radio sales person, manager and broadcast devotee for 28 years, Clear Channel Radio is, to me, a dirty word name.  The original "one size fits all" radio station conglomerate led the way in the destruction of original radio programming, unique on air voices, the promotion of new artists while defining radio formats as narrowly as possible and depriving listeners and advertisers of diversity.  Additionally, their hate mongering syndicated radio voices,  Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity have been a consistent source of revenue...until recently.

iHeart Radio or iHateRadio? Fans ‘Rush Out’ After Seeing Limbaugh Ad In Their FB Newsfeed  Liberals Unite   8/22/14


Clear Channel Radio was one of the first conglomerates to gobble up huge market shares of radio stations in major and middle size markets across the U.S, thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  Clear Channel squeezed the life out of live broadcasting by reducing the 24/7 live radio broadcast to a handful of pre-recorded dee-jay voiceovers that simulated a live broadcast.   Program Directors, once the heartbeat of  most radio stations began to go the way of the dinosaur.  They were primarily responsible for the sound, the look, the style and unique individuality of a station through their choices in music, on air personalities and promotional approaches.  Corporate cost-cutting relegated PDs to regional jobs or market jobs (1 guy for multiple stations) and disc jockeys to .  Do you ever wonder why no matter where you travel in the U.S. all  formatted stations sound the same?   Do you miss the great jazz stations, classical stations, news stations?  They weren't profitable enough.  They had to go.

It should be noted since 2006, Clear Channel has been co-owned by Mitt Romney's Bain Capital Partners & thomas H. Lee Partners.  Remember, "corporations are people, my friend."
The company, which has laid off thousands of employees in recent years, announced that it would move to more centralized programming and lay off 1,500 employees, or approximately 7% of its workforce, on January 20, 2009. The reasoning was bleak economic conditions and debt from its transition to a private company.[37] Later on January 20, the company said that the total count of employees to be terminated would be 1,850, or 9%.
Between January and May 2009 Clear Channel eliminated 2,440 positions.[38] On May 20, 2009, Clear Channel announced an initiative to help its radio station listeners who are seeking employment to market their skills and unique features on the air to attract the attention of employers with available positions.[39]   Wikipedia

Clear Channel has been steadily losing ad revenue and market share in their brick and mortar stations thanks to contracts with the above-mentioned broadcasters, particularly since Rush Limbaugh's  malicious attack on Georgetown student Sandra Fluke in 2012 resulted in a "Boycott Rush" campaign. 

Apparently, people are continuing to boycott, complain and condemn the man for his wretched tactics and Clear Channel Media lost $309.2 million in 4th Q 2013.

With a song in my heart, that makes me feel good.



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8 comments:

The Silver Fox said...

Me, too. :)

injaynesworld said...

I worked in radio in San Francisco in the late 60s. What a time. Clear Channel is the anti-Christ. Glad to see it losing its sorry ass.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Good to know that CC is losing money. May their channels be so clear there's nothing at all on them.

California Girl said...

jayne, there are many anti-Christs in broadcasting today. so sad. you were there in the heyday.

California Girl said...

Bliss, haahhahaha!

California Girl said...

Foxy, just off the phone with my first radio sales manager. He really set me on the right path. We worked for Group W Westinghouse & they were a GREAT company. First radio station to receive a license, in 1921, was KDKA Pittsburgh, owned by Westinghouse.

will said...

Radio generally sucks and has since Tom Donahue died.

from Wiki: "Donahue wrote a 1967 Rolling Stone article titled "AM Radio Is Dead and Its Rotting Corpse Is Stinking Up the Airwaves", which also lambasted the Top Forty format. He subsequently took over programming for a foreign-language station KMPX and changed it into what is considered to be America's first alternative "free-form" radio station. The station played album tracks chosen by the DJs on the largely ignored FM band. This one move introduced progressive radio to the U.S."

California Girl said...

Will, thanks for visiting and commenting. I grew up in L.A. during the Donohue period. Teenagers were THRILLED when FM began playing the "long cuts" from albums. The Doors, "This is the End" was, I think, the longest song on the airwaves at the time. It was, in fact, the last song played on KBLA-AM, the first alternative radio station in L.A., preceding KMET & KPPC etc. As an AM they had stricter FCC rules and they didn't last long in the format, switching to C&W in 1967. We all loved that station, mourned its passing and I remember it still after 44 years.

Christina

Christina
by Cole Scott