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We Heard Your Last Show - And It Was....
September 11, 2007
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There are many among us who feel that the Urban radio industry is heading down a dangerous road. I hope we spot the cliff before it's too late to avoid taking the plunge. The problem is that it's affecting so many of us and creating an environment that sends chills up and down our spines.
It's affecting air talent, programmers, consultants, morning-show producers, promotions directors, researchers, GMs and owners. Station trading is an opiate. It may seem as innocent as marijuana, but it's as additive as cocaine and as debilitating as crack. It's creating a whole new crop of "junkies." And it all started with the government in general and the FCC in particular.
When the minority tax certificate was repealed, the three-year holding rule suspended and deregulation instituted, it ignited an explosion in station prices fueled by an enormous rush to acquire as many of these limited franchises as possible before they were priced completely out of reason.
Many of these acquisitions were and are financed by highly complicated leveraging arrangements that require tremendous amounts of time and skill to negotiate and consummate. Since the final outcome can and does have a major impact on all our lives, we thought we'd take a look at where all this is going and how it affects our daily lives and careers.
First, let's look at some reasons for radio's high turnover and the differences between the people in charge and those they are in charge of. For the most part, the owners and managers come from three places: law, sales and finance. Oh, there were those of us who felt that once African-American owners got involved, the situation would change. For some, it did, but overall, it hasn't changed much. Some ebony owners were worse than those they replaced. Why? First of all, many made their money in other areas. They were lawyers, doctors, real estate brokers, bankers ... even street hustlers. For them, owning a radio station was like buying a new toy for their family and friends to play with.
I vividly remember one station which when its new black owners took over, immediately started going down. The new owner made his daughter, who had no background or training in radio, the music director. He hired his brother-in-law, who was a dentist, as the GM and asked him to make sure the station playing the kind of music the family liked -- not too hard, no rap and lots of straight-ahead jazz ... all this with no research.
In less than six months, the station went from being on top to an "also-ran." People were fired left and right, not because they did or failed to do anything, but because of the constant conflict with the owner and his management team -- none of whom knew the first thing about radio. They may have had some basic instincts, but radio is a different kind of animal.
When the pressure to perform by normal show business standards conflicted with the new radio analysis, the result was disaster. Soon the announcers were broadcast school drop-outs who worked cheap, but knew little. There was a lot of dead air, and mistakes were common both on and off the air.
I remember hearing a remote from a used car lot that was done in mono (on an FM stereo station) because it was cheaper. The fragile balance between tough, cost-consciousness and the freedom to create a product which builds bottom line was way out of line. The problem was that the product of radio, the programming, was thought to be less important than the sale of the product. All those who wanted to do it right were made to know that if they protested too loudly, their next show would be their last.
As more and more inexperienced owners entered broadcasting, it got pretty scary down here where the work gets done. You can look forward to changes and needless unemployment some time in your career. Now that African-American ownership has
severely diminished and in some cases, all but disappeared, a new problem has arisen: non-black ownership with an emphasis on quick profit.
The pressure on all broadcasters is tremendous. New technologies are giving people attractive alternatives to traditional broadcast offerings. Responding to this challenge takes tremendous drive, innovative thinking and discipline. Unfortunately, more and more of broadcasting's brightest have been lured and pressured to devote their prime energies and those of their best people to acquiring and trading.
Operating properties isn't as glamorous or profitable as buying and selling them, but it must be done. No matter how clever a trader you become, you can't achieve long-term profitability if the properties aren't sound operating entities.
While this nefarious practice may seem proper, the trickle-down effect can be disastrous. People are people and company culture is just people at work, so whatever is most important to the top manager in a company becomes priority to those working under them. They quickly realize that the people who are achieving positive visibility are those who are helping handle the myriad of details that each acquisition or disposal include. As the number of deals increases and become more complicated, the web expands.
Station-level management becomes involved as station managers win praise and strokes for helping with pre-acquisition surveys and planning for operational takeovers.
Remember those promotion directors we spoke about earlier? Many of them are now planning television buys and designing logos for other markets. Engineering managers find themselves called upon to evaluate the technical strengths and weaknesses of potential acquisitions.
Often the result is that good people are terminated and the excuse given is that the station is going in another direction. Yeah, right! Just what direction is that? Down?
What if this happens to you? What should you do?
The first thing is make certain what your rights and benefits are. Do you have a valid contract or letter of agreement? If not, then you are at the mercy of the owner and/or manager. They tend not to want to give you anything they don't have to give you. If you're at a union station, you certainly want to let the union know about your situation.
Then you want to begin looking for a new position That, in effect. becomes your full-time job. If you are doing an airshift, you should always aircheck. Edit down your best work periodically so you will always be prepared for the end when it comes. Unless you are extremely lucky, or your family "owns the store," it's coming sooner than you think.
There are many ways to go about looking for your next position. Some people call all their buddies in other markets to see if they know of something. Advertising in the trades, starting with All Access, can also be effective. Most folks who have scored have done both and actively pursued every lead. Some have even gotten involved with search firms, who offer to find you work for a fee, to be paid either by the new employer or by the job-seeker.
Our advice is to prepare several copies of a newly designed one-page resume, prepare some greatest hits audio presentations, attend industry functions, network effectively when you do and develop the callousness to cope.
Finally, never forget that radio is show business. Unless you're extremely lucky, it will have its hills and valleys. It's not for someone who values security over possibly being forced to do other things while waiting for a career opportunity. That can happen to even the most talented among us. I once talked to a morning man who believed that if he could just get into a major market where they give contracts, his worries would be over. He made it, got his contract ... and lasted one year, the length of his contract. Then he was released and another talented morning team was brought in. Some who make it to the majors often find problems and temptations they never had in smaller markets and those often take their toll in strange and frightening ways.
There are always those few great opportunities, and make no mistake about it: They are few, which last and provide continuing rewards and make the risks worthwhile. Then, too, nothing worthwhile is achieved without patience, labor and disappointment. Few folks, especially in our business, travel the road to success without a puncture or two. The real problem is that just about the time we think we can make both ends meet, somebody moves the ends.
Word.
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