Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 15, 2009 at 11:42:00:
The Loss Of A Friend Of The Family...
Marty Zivin
July 14, 2009
As one who worked in and with small and medium markets, I always appreciated the bonds these stations had with their communities. Many were built and operated by locals who made their stations a pillar of the community... a place to get information and to connect with what was going on in the area. Be it local weather and sports, ads for specials at the local market or simple, but effective programs like Swap Shop and Sponsor Wheels. The special ingredient was personality... names and voices that became intimate friends. It was this bond that led radio to enjoy decades of prosperity and popularity. Alas, I write this in the past tense as many of these stations no longer exist. "Deregulation" and the subsequent consolidation removed radio from Main Street Local service became an expense, not an asset as radio licenses became gambling chits in a national game of greed.
Some of the changes weren't radio's fault. In the 80's many down towns withered as malls became the focal point of local commerce. Mom and pops had to compete with ever-expanding chains. The action shifted to the malls. In many cases these chains felt local radio was a waste of their money; preferring to spend on big stations or networks.
Many stations were caught in the middle of this transition. As local revenue began to vanish, stations tried to save money by going "satellite"... doing away with most of its local programming outside of morning and afternoon drive. This move ended up creating more problems than it solved. In place of local advertising, the station began to air commercials for the large chains as part of their affiliation agreements. Many stations never saw a dime from these ads, but the local business community didn't know...they'd turn on their "local" station and hear spots for Wal-Mart and other big boxes that were driving them out of business. The station, in their desire to save a few bucks ended up alienating many previous customers; driving away the very people who were the station's lifeblood.
This slow death of local radio didn't get much notice as major market stations enjoyed bigger and bigger profits. Deregulation led to a flood of money for radio properties that inflated the bubble of their "stick values" rather than their actual earnings. The large corporates thought they could apply big market practices on Main Street; relying more on agencies and less on their own sales people. In many cases, for every solid, profitable station they purchased, they ended up with 3 or 4 operations that weren't as strong. By devouring their competition, the conglomerates then lost their hunger to reach out to the local listeners and business community
The loss of competition and local access turned many operations into aliens in their own communities. News departments were eliminated or outsourced and with it one of the most important and viable services radio could provide. The large corporates didn't care as they were making money off their inflated stock prices; detached from local revenues. Stick value meant more than the content on that stick or the people needed to make that stick have long-term value.
Today we are now confronted with a failed radio system... losing listeners and money with no end in sight. The corporates now face bankruptcy and their answer is more of the same wrong-headed thinking and practices that led to the collapse in the first place. In many areas of the country there are no longer local stations... just call-letters. Resources are being cannibalized by companies with several failing stations to keep one viable. With each move, more credibility and relevance is lost making the road back to viability that much harder.
While no one wishes for a natural disaster or major story to happen, these were the times radio shined its brightest. Some of my greatest days were managing a weather emergency. The stations phones rang off the hook and you could feel the entire community tuned in as you sat in the studio... the bonds were strong and the rewards high. It wasn't one you could count in dollars and cents but in common sense... it made the station more important the other days when the skies were sunny. It connected the station to the community; who knew their local station was a dependable source of relevant information to their lives.
In August, 1990, I was witness to a terrible disaster. A freak late summer storm spawned several killer tornadoes in our listening area. When the station lost power, our engineer fired up the gas generator and we were back on within minutes. Over the next days, we went wall-to-wall with coverage... our fax machines were cranking out copy from insurance companies, hardware stores and government relief agencies... extremely important and time critical information. The news trucks couldn't get where our signal did. We also opened up the phones... let the listeners call in with their stories and reports. It had a cathartic affect for listeners and station personnel alike.
Today much of this station's staff have been let go and in too many instances, station doors are shut after 5pm... running on auto-pilot. In operations that do still have a live body, few have a support staff that can mobilize quickly. This could lead to serious consequences for the station and their communities. While EAS systems are mandated, many operate from many miles away and can, as in the case of the 1990 tornado, not activate until it's too late. People tuning in to hear a live/local voice as all hell is breaking loose hear music and syndicated talk shows instead.
The silver lining are the intrepid few owners who never sold out and still work hard in maintaining bonds with their communities. These should be the rule, not the exception and a template if radio is to restore its credibility and relevance... and with it long term profitability.