"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...

Dan Mason, when I started at Cook Inlet, said to me that getting to the
top was fun. BEING there is not as much fun as you think, so enjoy the
climb, because that's the most fun you'll ever have. I like much smaller
companies. And if I ever did get back into it, it would be for a smaller
shop with big aspirations.

I never met dan, but always heard good things about him. that statement
confirms them.

I have always liked building new stations, or creating "new" formats. That
is why I tend to move around. I build, from ground up, over a dozen in
Ecuador, and dozens more since them. It is staying at the top once you get
there that is toughest, but it requires a different personality than mine...
which is why I now like to work in teams of two or three in programming so
that we have builders, craftsmen and strategists all together so stations
stafy fresh and fun, but are always trying new things within the confines
of the format.

I do not think companies where the PDs never talk to the CEO or COO can
create this type of culture... which makes me think that a limit of maybe 80
to 100 stations would be the limit for a company to create really good radio
on a local level.

Was it Leader in an editorial in R & R about 15 years ago, or was it the
AOR editor...anyway, he said that his dream gig would be working a weekend
shift at the #2 station in LA. That would be sheer Heaven in Radio.

Maybe, because I am at the #1 and #2 stations in LA, that does not have
appeal! (tounge inserted in cheek here). I can see what he meant, though. e
on a good station, in a shift that has less pressure but makes you feel part
of that same sucess... would be pretty neat.

I gotta agree with him. Well, maybe not LA....but Chicago....

I can still remember hanging around the door of WLS to get a jock card
signed by all the talent... from Holman and Roberts to Biondi... I still
have it. Chicago had fun radio. Our traffic person in LA did traffic years
ago for Spuer CFL, and has lots of fun stories. That was a classic Top 40
battle, and I owuld have enjoyed being closer to it.

Oh, I know the benefits, the economics. But as you and I have bashed
each other in the face about over the years, I find the homogenization
boring. I like the smaller local outlets, with locally generated playlists
that don't follow the national trends point for point.

We are 70 stations, and every playlist is based on 100% local market
research. None are the same, except for our newest project which is an Adult
Hits network, out of LA, that is very personality based. In its case, we
dound the same songs research the same way in every one of the 12 markets...
so no reason to reinvent the wheel. the determining factor was, "were these
songs you liked as you grew up?" and ther eis 100% consensus. So there is
no single answer for local vs. national, and in this case, we have some
incredible talent no single station could afford and we bring it to places
like McAllen and Albuquerque! We even have an in house travel coordinator,
as all the talent goes to the different markets all the time, originating
from the local station and doing appearances.

I am having a lot of fun right now, in radio.


I have no doubt. And I find it heartening to know that it can still be
done.

Just stay away from the bigger players and it is still a hoot. Of course,
many other companies still exist.