Radio Ink's Eric Rhoads: How Citadel Media Just Raped Radio

Subject:

Comments:
: Loss Of Trust: How Citadel Media Just Raped Radio : A message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads : Before I begin: In the interest of full disclosure, Citadel Media (formerly ABC Radio Networks) is an advertiser of Radio Ink. : Imagine, if you will, that your local radio station has spent 15 years and loads of money establishing a local personality. We all know that the personal connection to the talent on our radio stations is one of the most important assets we have. Radio's value is not its signal or its tower. The value comes from the relationship we have with our listeners. : Our Worst Nightmare : When I was a programming consultant, our worst nightmare was having to find a way to take audience away from a heritage air talent who had a lifetime relationship with the listeners. We knew that if we could get that talent to jump ship, there was often more loyalty to the talent than to the radio station itself. If we could take the two or three most established personalities and move them to our station, we could have a much more successful start -up and destroy a competitor. If we couldn't get them to come to us, we would look for ways to get them hired out of the market. That's how important a strong local talent can be. : Sounding Local : Today, thousands of radio stations around the country rely on radio network feeds of formats and talent. The big sell is that you cannot afford to hire personalities this good in most small towns. Technology has become so flawless that local listeners most of the time don't know that a talent is voicetracked or coming from a satellite network. The ability to sound local has improved significantly. Therefore, to the local listeners, the talent they are hearing is local talent. : Sleight of Hand : Last night we received a press release about how Citadel Media had shifted some talent around. What the spin didn't indicate is that these changes were because of a bloodbath of network talent firings. Today my phone has been ringing off the hook from affiliates who are either immediately canceling their Citadel contracts or talking to alternative providers with the intent of canceling. Why? As one local manager I spoke with said, "Our stations success has been built around two air personalities who have been on our air for 15 years. Suddenly, they have been replaced. Our listeners don't know these are satellite guys. They are local as far as they are concerned." : Destroying Hundreds of Stations : Imagine the impact of this decision, which was economically driven. This casual decision to remove some high-priced talent on several formats is disrupting the competitive advantage on hundreds of radio stations in one fell swoop. One format alone may have several hundred stations that had built their entire businesses around those personalities over decades. Their competitors are popping open the champagne because the toughest talent to beat just got replaced by people who don't have a bond with listeners. Of course, doing this across several formats could destroy (yes, destroy) the businesses of hundreds and perhaps thousands of radio stations. All to save a little money on highly paid talent. : Self-Destruction : This cost-saving move, which corporate executives may see as harmless, could result in loss of ALL of their format affiliates. Citadel Media's competitors are on the phone today with every affiliate. In fact, while I was talking to one manager today, he received a call from Dial Global. : Killing Trust : Look, I would not want the debt, the pressure, the bankruptcy Citadel may be facing soon. And I too would be looking to save as much money as possible. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes (though I'll be one step closer when they cancel their advertising because of this missive). But don't make material changes that kill the trust of your customers. : If you want to do it at your own radio stations and risk losing audience and revenue, so be it. But today millions of radio listeners woke up to new talent, wondering where the people who have been their friends for decades have gone. Radio owners across America just lost their heritage brands, and that has to severely impact their business. Advertisers have talent loyalties too, and this move could kill these affiliates. : How Dare You? : Where is Citadel Media's loyalty to its affiliates? Without them, they have no business. How can affiliates trust Citadel Media now, when they've raped the airwaves in hundreds of markets that built their business on the heritage brands and air talent? Farid, how dare you treat your customers like this? : Broken Eggs : Corporate responsibility must go beyond financial responsibility to shareholders. Thousands of affiliate radio stations had all their eggs in the Citadel Media basket, and those eggs were broken over a decision to make the next quarter look a little better. The ironic thing is that this move will worsen shareholder value because of affiliates jumping ship, knowing they can never trust the company again. : Undo This Decision : If Farid Suleman were savvy, he'd call all those fired talent back, apologize to his affiliates, tell them this was a terrible error in judgment and that he did not realize the negative impact to his affiliates. This, and only this, will save his format business and might prevent a class action lawsuit. : Revenue Lost : I don't make a habit of cutting my own throat. I know I'll never see another advertising dime from Citadel Media. I know Farid will probably decide not to make his annual appearance on the group heads' panel at our Forecast conference. I don't care. I'm livid, and someone has to speak up and defend these radio stations, even at the expense of losing a substantial advertiser. : Hundreds of radio stations may be destroyed over this, millions of dollars in advertising may be lost, entire businesses may be destroyed because of this decision, which could impact the incomes of hundreds or thousands of radio station owners. This decision was simply irresponsible. : Best, : Eric Rhoads : Radio Ink

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code: