Resentment, anger, frustration, anxiety, and a lot of commiserating. It's not at just all the Cumulus outposts. Take a good look around your co-worker and their office mates---see the angst? Yeah, everyone's on edge. Even at the happy places where the cume is high; the ratings are good, the boss is still a pain in the ass and you just get the feeling he's about to call you in the office and give you that dreaded news.
"We're moving in a new direction, and you don't fit into our plans, but I want to wish you the very best in your new pursuits...you'd make a great addition to any company." Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to go to, here's your check, and good luck."
Ah, meetings, what would they do without meetings? If they were paid by the amount of meetings, they'd have Buffet money. Say hello to the new world.
A new world that cares little about people's livelihood and morale. Did it ever occur to them that most people want desperately to work hard, take care of the shop, make sure the guests arrive on time, all the required front line labor so carelessly taken for granted. But that's an afterthought today. They don't care. They never have--they have faint memory. Hell, even their jobs are in jeopardy. Isn't it such a fine culture?
Have a lovely Friday.
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After all the reports you did of the hard workers getting no raises at KNBR-Radnich couldn't wait to announce "Larry got a big two year contract"..with that evil Gary smile. Of course its probably filled with exemptions to drop the guy in a moment's notice. It's not like Larry Kruger could even get a job at another station-of ANY kind.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that all the KNBR execs Radnich has spent years trying to make sound as if they are great guys are hated by KNBR staff..if Radnich praises you-you have to be an asshole,conservative,or he needs you near to make a buck (Pam Moore) and the like for his career. I never heard him say much about the real good people. Just the dollar sign people.
Wow! Solid post. Very true. It's all for one and one for all. Look out for Número Uno. F%^* everyone else. It doesn't matter if it's in media or anywhere else. What a wonderful world huh?
ReplyDeleteYes, you're certainly right Rich....these days are a far cry from the times when local radio was actually a great place for bay area listeners to go to hear music, information, entertainment, and talk. The Bay Area has had a rich history of venerable stations:
ReplyDeleteKSFO, KCBS, KGO, KNEW, KFRC, KJAZ, KQED-FM,
Live 105, KFOG, KSAN, and so many others!
Wonderful voices telling stories, connecting with people, becoming a major part of the fabric of the bay area....we just don't get much of that anymore.
Certainly corporate radio has changed the atmosphere, but I think it's more than that, don't you? I think the country unfortunately seems to have accepted workplaces that feature hostile, toxic environments run by slow-witted, insecure, unimaginative people who would rather hire bootlickers and ass-kissers than valuable employees.
In local radio, there used to be a lot of really good
intelligent, entertaining, talented broadcasters out there who sounded like pros and had respect for the industry. Now so many stations want 'hip' or 'edgy' types who have annoying voices and like to pontificate and make crude, juvenile remarks instead of taking part in interesting and compelling discourse.
I guess it's just the times we live in. Those of us who remember 'the good old days,' are not just wistful folks who long for a simpler era; we loved it when radio had class, was responsible to the local communities, and didn't put people on the air who simply wanted to use the medium as a cheap way to become a local celebrity.
But in this dumbed-down corporate world we now live in where people snipe and back-bite and try to climb over each others backs to get ahead, there's little accountability anymore. It's all very sad!
Yeah...I've also noticed a major fall-off in quality in Bay Area radio, especially since the early parent of the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteDeregulation and the emergence of cut throat companies such as Cumulus and Clear Channel has much to do with that, but t hey never would have been allowed to 'dumb down' our airwaves had the 1996 communications act not been passed by the Congress and signed by the president back in 1996. Since then, deregulation has gutted the radio industry, as it has many other American industries.
I always find it so hypocritical when conservatives decry about 'government regulation,' and they push for the opposite...and guess what....this is the result: Fewer quality workers, inferior services being provided, smaller salaries, and employees who usually are fired or leave to move on to 'greener pastures' within a couple of years. Don't try to tell me that this kind of a work
environment is good...BECAUSE IT ISN'T!
It's truly as un-American as the 'Gilded Age' of the late 19th century was...when robber barons like Rockefeller, JP Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt ("The public be damned!") ruled our country. Shame on all of us for letting this sordid chapter enjoy a reprise here in the 21st century!
Don't forget to put Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick (Meet you in Hell) into the mix!
DeleteMy husband got laid off on Wed. :-( The economy isn't getting better in my neck of the woods...
ReplyDeleteYou people are so full of it. Radio has always been a cut-throat business where sales and programming were at war and people were fired around Christmas because of the Fall Book. What world are you from? The "good ol days" is an escape from reality.
ReplyDeleteThat is certainly true...Radio has always been an unstable and insecure profession, but never more so than now because of the 'dumbing down' and deregulation. It used to be that you lost your job because of poor ratings, a change in management, or a major disagreement with your boss. Now people are more apt to lose their jobs because companies want to save money and don't care about quality anymore..,.This is not fiction..it is a a FACT.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has been around radio and understands the medium knows this. The world I'm from is not an 'escape from reality' as you put it, but I'm merely reflecting on what is unfortunately happening today. I have worked in major markets and been in radio and TV since the mid 1970s, so I think I know what I'm talking about!
All of you "Quality" Folks and "Golden Age Folks" and "Remember When" folks, It's Time to climb down off the Cross and High Horse. It's Over OK. Profit, Cash Flow Shareholder returns that is now radio and TV...
ReplyDeleteThe younger B'casters are not smarter or better they are just cheaper, and fear rules the landscape of radio & TV. We are surounded by mediocrity...and the ones who don't want to get fired slap each on the on the back and tell themselves they are brilliant. It's why everything sounds the same. No Creativity,
just finger pointing, and spread sheets. It's Over Folks...Nothing to see or Hear! Stop complaining, Buy an I-pod, read a newspaper, Stop worshiping NPR and PBS, they have their hands out too, or do you think those Funding Credits For Sleeptrain and Big O Tires are because they belive in great broadcasting...No Spots...Kiss my Ass. They are Advertisements...
Radio and TV Don't live here anymore. You wonder why it sucks? Because you told Corp America that "We love Stupid" "I thik Fear Factor is a Great Show...you cast your vote for Snookie, and American Idol...You think Colbert and Stewart are journalists, You think Ryan Seacrest is the new Dick Clark, Well folks, Corp America was listening and said "If they like this CRAP, then lets give them CRAP, and since it's already CRAP anyway, why should we spend much money or give any thought to WHAT and WHO we hire or what they do. We can use the Glamore of Broadcasting to suck them in, pay them nothing, and fire them if they complain...And what Happened? They lined up around the block to be "STARS" Talentless Ego Maniacs...Ego, As powerfull as Crack, and just as Destructive.
It's Over, stop beating the dead horse, Call Purina and tell them you have somthing you can feed to the Animals...We used to call it Information and entertainent, we used to call it radio and TV...Now go read a book, or make a difference in someones life.
Be you own entertainment.
Have you tried to find a good book lately? It's not easy. First IF you CAN find a book store, books have turned into crap too. Far too many, MAY have a good first chapter, then it's downhill after that. Leaving a whole lot of other books, that are just the same old lame empty crap, as now found on TV and radio.
DeleteSometimes it's challenging to figure out who on this board actually has any radio experience,and who doesn't,except maybe as a listener. The "get over it" crowd disqualifies itself from either category.
ReplyDeleteI always prefer to yell "Oh Yaaah??" to "Get over it!" Works better for me when I can't think of an intelligent response.
DeleteI'm in the newspaper business, 33 years now, in production. The internet these last 5-6 years has dealt us a huge blow, and we're on life support. Our union has given management everyting and some to stay afloat, and it's still may not be enough to survive. The 80's and most of the 90's were great, with healthy raises, overtime, and relatively labor peace. Now it's 3 tier cheap help, reduced pension and medical, pay-cuts, and furlough days. 6 more years till early retirement. I hope I make it!!
ReplyDeleteIt is also a provable fact that the number of owners of radio stations has plummeted since the 90's... another way of saying that is... a few companies now own most of the radio stations now, and run them strictly from the numbers, without either a real understanding of the medium, nor much of a care as to quality: all they care about is the bottom line. While it may also be true that there has always been tension between talent and sales... in this environment they barely even acknowledge one anthers' existence. Unfortunately -- and especially in a digital age when we have many options for media consumption -- this is akin to a parasite killing the host on which it feeds. If radio is sufficiently dumbed down and soulless, then there isn't much reason for an audience to gather, which means there won't be much to sell. The commercial radio biz is well into this death spiral, which started under Reagan, and then was clinched under Clinton with the Telecommunications Act of '96, which many of us believe sealed the fate of the industry.
ReplyDeleteDid you say "change in management"? Isn't that what this is? The fact is there are too many radio stations and not enough listeners. People are finding other ways to get informed and entertained. This has been true in this market and others for a long time ( I too have been around since the 70's so don't pull that one on me.) Radio started with centralized networks and expanded and got spread too thin...it is retreating/contracting back to more centralization. Get used to it. There is no evil empire called Corporate Radio.
ReplyDeletespeaking of the news industry and the Mirkarimi trial. The LA Times has just posted a story which links former chronicle biggie Phil Bronstein to critical phone calls between himself and his good friend Ivory Madison. Will Mr. Bronstein be called as a witness? Does this explain the odd coverage on this case in the Chronicle? They've compared a bruised bicep to murder, called for Mirk to resign and have missed exculpatory information published by both the New York Times and by the Wall Street Journal. what do you think?
ReplyDeletegolly gee..the chronicle's matier and ross lead off their column with the news that Phil Bronstein is on the defense witness list..next question: Will Mr. Matier or MR. Ross or both be called as witnesses also in the Mirkarimi case? Did MR. Bronstein tip them off re Mirkarimi..before police made an arrest? Mr. Bronstein says there was absolutely no conspiracy involving Ivory Madison.
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