Steve West's Blog
Webmaster’s Corner for March 14, 2009
The parade of listeners exiting radio and switching to their ipods and online sources is seeming to gather speed. We’ve known that CHR stations have been taking a big hit, now the rock format is in serious trouble. I say this because of a number of things: First, a listen to the average “Classic Rock” station has convinced me that the ’safe music’ approach that’s been in use for decades in AC, Oldies and Country formats has increasingly taken hold in the Classic Rock format. The format is now so stale its almost unlistenable. For instance, 99.1 WPLR New Haven has such a limited playlist, that one can hear Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Fat Bottom Girls” and “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” EVERY day, the only separation is in which daypart it plays. The same thing with Pink Floyd, The Who, and many other so called ‘mainstream’ Rock artists of the 70s and early 80s. There were thousands of great songs in the AOR format over the years, and yet most stations have reduced the playlists to only a couple hundred (maybe) songs in a 15 year period. Its KILLING the format! Furthermore, the format has become like every other non-CHR station, with jocks reading the same slogan every break. The boredom factor is so large a factor, one has to wonder how long the Classic Rock format will stick around.
So, with that, we note that Classic Rockers are now dropping like flies… if the demise of New York’s WXRK and Philly’s rumored flip of 94 WYSP to talk are any indication. Its happening all over. Ratings and revenue are obviously the motivating factors behind format changes, but if that’s the case, why then are these stations not going out of their way to create diverse, entertaining content with a wide playlist outside of morning drive? CBS, and the like, are destroying the viability of these stations. It doesn’t cost much money to tweak a format to keep it fresh, even if voicetracked. That radio is it’s own worst enemy is an understatement. When one observes the obvious dumbing down and implosion of modern radio stations with the loss of thousands of on air jobs, combined with the apparent incompetence, laziness or apathetic programming attempts at the various formats cloned to every market, one can’t help but feel that radio industry leaders have given up, and instead of attacking the problem of increased competition with creativity and local content, would rather make deals with RIAA, BMI, ASCAP & Soundexchange, using lobbyists from the NAB to push Congress into approving internet royalty rates that effectively price the competition out of business.
XM and Sirius merged in 2008, combining programming channels, thus reducing listener’s choices in satellite programming. Over the air broadcasters reduced on air talent positions in numbers that were unheard of, opting instead to voicetrack or implement satellite feeds to stations in multiple markets using generic liners and content. This has lead to a bland sameness from one market to another. And the industry wonders why the bottom line drops lower each quarter, as listeners abandon radio in large numbers. The product is watered down, boring to listen to, and has very little to actually SAY to it’s various audiences.
If radio is to survive, it’s going to either have to invigorate it’s various music formats, or reinvent itself completely. One thing I’m sure of, trying to price the competition out of business will eventually backfire. Radio business owners are already seen as Wall Street crooks, cheats & liars, at least on a corporate level. Scoundrels at best, what, so worried about their investors profits and how low to drop the bottom line at the expense of radio itself… you’d think they’d at least make an attempt to redeem themselves or save the industry. Perhaps someone (like advertisers) might actually come to trust them again. Or not.
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Every now and then, I feel compelled to share my opinion on something I’ve seen, read or heard. This time, its one of those radio help-wanted ads that set me off.
So, check this out, an ad from a well-known radio related website…
We are looking for real live bodies to be in our studios and out on the street.
Full time opeing(s)
Salary range: high teens to low 20’s.
Formats:Urban and Rock.
On air shift: To be determined.
We are very community oriented, and you must be willing to ‘live’ on the streets with us. Lots of appearances, production and voice tracking other stations might be included.
First full time position? Could be a great opportunity to build your resume.
Downsized? This could be your chance to jump right back in.
Please apply, in strict confidence, by submitting a resume, short demo and head shot immediately. prodjock@gmail.com
No calls please. We will contact ALL of you directly as we review your demo.
Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. EEO
You’ve got to be kidding. Salary in the upper TEENS and low 20s? Um, hello. We’re talking poverty level here. This isn’t 1990, one can’t pay the rent and feed his or her family at the same time on that salary. Oh, yea I forgot, this kind of job is really just for the young and single, right? And, by the way, you’ve got to have a positive attitude, great looks (hence, the need for a HEADSHOT), and you’ll no doubt be required to live the lifestyle of whatever format you’re working in. Did I also mention that one is highly encouraged to have a Myspace and/or Facebook account to stay in contact with his/her listeners?
On air jobs outside of major market have paid about the same for the last 15 years. In fact, real wages here have actually dropped significantly since 1996. Meanwhile, the pool of good talent has dropped, but so has demand for it. Radio has all but ceased being a medium based upon communication and has turned into primarilly a vehicle for moving product. On the programming end, that product is music, as radio is used by the labels to sell its formula-based music product (and this is directly why over the air radio stations do not pay royalties the same way that internet stations do). On the sales end, the product is whatever clients have to sell. That sales have dropped off a cliff recently as the economy imploded is not shocking, but what is painfully apparent is that sales have been in steep decline for a decade. All arguments about competing media (satellite, cable, internet) aside, one of the main factors that advertisers aren’t using radio to the same extent as in years past likely has to do with the fact that ad agencies finally have taken notice that radio listening has been dropping steadilly over the same timeframe. Is it really too far a stretch to equate the drop in listening and sales over the past 10-15 years to the drastic cuts in live talent, and GOOD talent?
Programmers long ago apparently forgot that it was NEVER about just the music, but rather what went on in between the records. Managers long ago forgot to remember that if you want to attract good entertainers (for all dayparts), which thus will attract a large audience, they actually have to pay the talent a wage that’s at least something the talent can live on. Even at 22,000 a year, one is starving to death in our economy in 2009. And now this vicious cycle is coming full circle: Radio has lost its audience to other media, and the very cost-saving tools stations turned to in the late 90s which are in increasing use today, computers, and voice-tracked liner card readers, are now costing stations dearly with the loss of revenue incurred because advertisers finally realize what we’ve known for a decade… radio is dead. It’s just going to take a little while longer for the industry to figure out that its time to shut off many transmitters, and close the proverbial nursing home. Its like radio is on a breathing machine but the brain is dead. Just takes someone to pull the plug, and I think it won’t be too much longer before much of the industry shuts down.
Don’t think just because the government bailed out Detroit… several times now, that they’ll be throwing a stimulus package at the broadcasting industry. Worse than the car makers, radio destroyed itself by destroying the product.
If music stations really believe that listeners just want the music with no voices in between except imaging, the managers of those stations should be fired. Those who want pure music without entertainment, announcers, etc, simply turn to their ipods and the internet. It is a simple truth, and one radio refuses to admit. And for that, the industry is doomed.
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