Lew Dickey, Cumulus' notorious, penny-pinching CEO, views "listeners" much in the same way as Walmart views labor unions. Ditto outgoing Citadel leader, Farid Suleman--although, to some degree, Suleman makes Dickey look like a modern day Walter Haas.
Take this statement from Dickey on his company's pending takeover of Citadel: "The acquisition should give our company 'the national scope and financial strength necessary to make critical investments in content and technology necessary to compete in today's rapidly evolving media landscape.'"
How nice.
And this statement, from Suleman, perhaps giddy that his flailing broadcast empire was overpaid by a cut-throat, soulless megalomaniac like Dickey.
"Citadel's board of directors has been focused on maximizing stockholder value--'We believe this transaction appropriately reflects the value of the company's assets and is in the best interests of Citadel stockholders.'"
In. the. best. interests of. Citadel. stockholders. That pretty much explains how these guys view business. Damn the local community, the listeners, programming--gotta take hold of our stockholders.
What does this mean here?
As I have said repeatedly, expect wholesale changes at KGO. KSFO too, but to a lesser extent. Get used to the advent of a ton of non-local, mostly syndicated programming that is cheaper and more 'bottom-line' friendly to the corporate goons like a Lew Dickey.
Think KGO's cancellation of its "Cure-a-Thon" is bad? That's only the beginning. Although that move was made before the Cumulus purge, it had all of Lew Dickey's finger prints all over it. "And that's only the beginning, " said a local broadcast media veteran. "They're going to cut a lot more."
The changes will be incremental. It'll take about six months for this deal to be completed, what with FCC approval and other peripheral issues to be dealt with, but gradually you'll begin hearing the changes.
News, talk, community-minded programming and content--everything's on the board. Which means damn the public, take care of the stockholders and maintain the bottom line. Listeners? Who are they?
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Rch, in simple English what will this do to the average viewer?
ReplyDelete408er
I could see the Radnich show moved to KSFO. He then could cry tears Beck like,for those poor NFL owners. On KNBR he's sheepish about his pro wealthy agenda. At KSFO he could be the hater I know he is of any social progress. Although,I dont know how well his hip hop and R&B Jones will go over with fellow rightists. Imagine Radnich explaining to Barbara Simpson or Brian Sussman,all about Rap culture.
ReplyDeleteI kid-but anything's possible with lowest denominator Dickey.
Then why should we bother to listen?
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Barbara, she always had a hot body, world class legs, but a manly, chiseled featured face. Now 25 years later,she added a wildly shocking blond haircolor that doesn't just say look at me-it SCREAMS stare and point at me,from MILES around!
ReplyDeleteShe really needs to tone that 'do down.
the duty of any corporate CEO...is to serve the best interests of the shareholders..Giving the listeners a quality 'PRODUCT" may or may not be the best way to fulfill fiduciary duties to shareholders..and that of course is the problem.
ReplyDelete@Bubba: I recall when KGO was owned by ABC and Disney, it was a cash-cow money maker AND..."served the best interests of its shareholders."
ReplyDelete408er: Just listen and you'll hear the changes...sooner rather than later.
News, talk, community-minded programming and content--everything's on the board. Which means damn the public, take care of the stockholders and maintain the bottom line.
ReplyDeleteAs they are well within their rights to do!
Quickly then...to the local blogs and podcasting (there are a TON of really cool alternatives that don't require listening to a format that no longer suits you)....and away from their advertisers. Most of KNBR is unlistenable (Barbieri...cough....cough!) anyway!
Listeners? Who are they?
If you want to feel that you're having an impact plan on writing letters to those who buy advertising and tell them that you won't be buying their products and services because their chosen station has decided freely... to suck.
You have no other recourse.
Rich, Wasn't this the same story you ran 6 months ago when Luckoff quit? Kind of an evergreen for you.
ReplyDeleteCumulus Purge? When did that happen?
This isn't 2 stations Rich...it is 225 stations and a radio network.
Lew and Company can't touch a thing till the FCC Licenses Transfer and the Check is handed over. Why don't you ask the "Law Expert" on the next Bar Stool...He's sitting next to the well informed Broadcast Expert you are fond of quoting...Or maybe it is just the Vitriolic Voice you hear in your head that you are fond of quoting.
Karma is gonna nail your ass someday Lieberman.
The professionals in The REAL Media can't wait.
Razor voice hurts my ears.
ReplyDeleteRich, et al., does this include a possible scenario where Mickey Luckoff-Ronn Owens-Dr. Dean-et al., and investors, buy that rumored radio station with low ratings?
And then re-create a better KGO, which would take on the old KGO?
Could they even mix up the format, and bring in Michael Savage?
I honestly do not know what the big deal is here. Listeners mean money...Dickey and any normal head of a company is charged with making money. They will do whatever is necessary to do that. If changes bring in more listeners that is good. If changes lower the operating cost while not hurting the listening numbers, that is good. Quit whining and open the door to the real world. A business has to make money. If not, it should not be in business or the business has to change.
ReplyDeleteCould they even mix up the format and bring in Michael Savage?
ReplyDeleteIf I had the means I would pay Mr. Wiener to remain silent.
it's not quite that simple ..You can get significantly fewer listeners and make more money..if you spend less in the first place
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteI am listening to Marty Nemko as I type this. He said this is his next to the last show. Do you know why? He is so darn smart, creative, helpful and daring. He will be missed.
Thanks.
Shareholder interest is served by maximizing cash flow, which requires advertisers, which requires listeners, which requires programming. You can go with the low programming cost business model, requiring less revenue to generate cash flow. That works sometimes, but I think that would cause a business melt-down for KGO. Even the Cumulus people can't be that stupid. If they are, then Cumulus will be the next takeover target, probably selling the stations off in market clusters rather than as a national group. But the station needs to get it's on-air team firmed up and not continue being a collection of fill-in hosts.
ReplyDeleteRich -
ReplyDeleteA Board of Directors is required *by law* to act in the best interests of its stockholders when approving a merger, and that language always appears in disclosures of transactions. They're not permitted to put the interests of listeners or the community before the interests of stockholders. Not that they can't consider them, but the stockholders always have to come first. That's what happens when you're a corporation in America.
To Anonymous at 6:51 AM
ReplyDeleteNo argument about what the law requires of a shareholder owned company. However, time was when broadcasters were required by law to operate in the public interest.