RadioBanter - View Single Post

David Kaye · April 20th 10, 04:01 PM posted to rec.radio.broadcasting

(Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Well.... yes.... but.... I don't think I'd want to interest someone in a
career in radio today.

Times do change. I wouldn't want to interest someone in blacksmithing as a
career, either, even though those who are willing to weather the vagaries of
the profession and who are at the top of their game can make 3-figure incomes
doing it.

But I might want to give them a tour that would make them think about how
messed up the whole radio industry is....
--scott

I'm not necessarily convinced that broadcasting is messed up. Small owners
retired, died, or sold out for big bucks to the larger owners, as happens in
just about any industry (drug stores, car dealerships, auto parts). The
larger owners have notes to pay down, and have the choice of either boosting
revenue or cutting expenses to do it.

And while all this was happening, along came the Internet, which took both its
advertising base and its entertainment base in just a matter of a few years.

The new world order isn't just happening to broadcasting. 2006 was the Postal
Service's biggest year. 2009 was one of its worst. The USPS has to turn its
huge passenger liner around on a dime in order to keep from sinking in a
mountain of debt (forgive the mixed metaphors).

I think the radio industry is trying to give the audience what it wants.
Certainly, Clear Channel spent a lot of resources with their Format Lab
website, trying to see what music formats would work for what demographics and
then trying to incorporate them into those stations that weren't doing well.

But the audience is moving on to other media. If stations can establish a
presence in those other media, fine, but they might not be able to do it the
same way as they've done as broadcasters.

Some radio stuff works well in the transition. I know lots of folks who
listen to "Fresh Air" and "This American Life" via podcasts instead of or in
addition to via their local NPR station. But I don't know if KPIG's
subscription service will work -- I think it's $5.95 a month for unlimited
streaming of what is a remarkable playlist. It's clear that many people
listen to KGO's talkshows online in real time, but is it enough to compensate
for the number of listeners they lose by being an AM station in the days of
diminishing AM listening?