Go to the Clear Channel website and you’ll see a statement from Lowry Mays the founder “We believe Clear Channel's people are our most important asset. Our teams make the critical difference in how we perform and their skills, talents and determination separate us from our competitors”
Clear Channel Radio’s “last round” of layoffs resulted in the elimination of more local radio personalities. A move that left many of their major market stations with only a local morning show and in many cases not even that.
I called one of their Sales Managers to inform him that it would be difficult for my advertising agency to continue to justify investing advertising funds with a company that clearly no longer understands the core business they are in, LOCAL RADIO.
Never mind the minor detail that Local Terrestrial Radio is licensed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to “serve a local market”.
John Hogan Clear Channel Radio President and CEO is famous for his statement “Radio is no longer tall antennas in big fields” He is right! It’s satellite dishes on the top of buildings and voice tracks recorded from other markets.
Clear Channel has lost sight of their core business and I hope that other media agencies who add terrestrial radio to a media plan will join our position and invest the money with companies who understand their core business. Invest your advertising dollars with a company that invests those hard to get dollars in their core product.
Don’t just ask questions about ratings and prices but more critical questions which shows are Live and Local? If you are a competing media who still invests in Live, Local people in control rooms then challenge anyone investing in Clear Channels non live products.
After I delivered the news to the sales manager on how I was struggling investing any more dollars with his properties his arguments were:
“Technology has changed everything”
My reply was “everything and nothing. Everything, in that Pandora reaches more people during midday’s in certain areas than you do. Nothing, because people still tune in to hear a local voice in a globalized world”
He said, “let me get you on the phone with our Program Director who can help you understand”.
To which I replied, “Your Local Program Director …..who works out of Los Angeles”?
He said “BUT we still have this Big Name Local Morning show ”
I said, “we don’t buy one daypart”
He said “our listeners don’t care about hearing voice tracking they just Love Big name syndicated TV personality Mr X”
I said, “really? What happens when his run is over? The TV shows ratings are already slipping”
“This is Great for superstar content, we’re now a content provider ” he said,
My reply “your listeners need to listen to terrestrial radio to get big name national star interviews?
WHAT ABOUT real time local conversation Like ……who’s going to cover the Earthquake?
He said “but”
I said “STOP! The reality is we wouldn’t be having this conversation if your company wasn’t 21 Billion dollars in debt, would we?
21 Billion in debt due to a failed plan to take the company private. A plan that the financial institutions who are recipients of federal bailout money had to be forced by a judge to fund.
The resulting outcome according to a recent New York Times story "Clear Channel must pay 1.3 BILLION a year just on their debt". I doubt when you take their current “stock price” and number of shares they are even worth their debt.
The sad part is that some extremely talented individuals remain in the increasingly empty Clear Channel hallways. Unfortunately those that lead them are in many cases “good ol’ boys” devoid of vision and leadership. They tell the remaining troops on conference calls “they are the chosen ones” at least one Market President actually said there will be no more cuts.
Maybe the solution isn’t the elimination of local personalities ….. maybe someone should be looking at the Clear Channel Board, Executives, Regional and Market Presidents.
One thing is CLEAR John Hogan is right “Clear Channel is no longer a business of tall towers in big fields”
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