Whats up at Gap?

[DG]

...My point is that in a time when times are tough, it is an interesting concept that banks are still investing in radio...

I don't think banks are so much "investing" in radio as much as they already DID invest in it, and are now stuck holding tons of DEBT (ex: Clear Channel).  I see GAP's creation of new divisions as a standard tactic to try to invigorate a stale brand and keep the debt-holders at bay.  The current radio investment financial institutions hold has most likely lost quite a bit of its value vs a few years ago.  That's not the sort of thing investors like to see, and in many cases in this industry, all they are seeing is red ink on the balance sheets.

...and that the medium that we all are very passionate about is not dead...

...but certainly appears to be on life support before the plug gets pulled for some of those media groups.

...Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business.  I am a fan of great radio...

When has the broadcast industry ever NOT been a business?  I'm of the opinion that the paradigm of "business as usual" in radio in the late 20th Century is the reason why things are looking so bleak financially in the 21st Century.  I too am a fan of great radio, but one thing I learned in this biz is that what's good for the investors is most certainly NOT what makes for great radio.  It seems to me that you can keep the investors happy or the listeners happy, but not both...

[cspotrun]

...Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business.  I am a fan of great radio...

When has the broadcast industry ever NOT been a business?  I'm of the opinion that the paradigm of "business as usual" in radio in the late 20th Century is the reason why things are looking so bleak financially in the 21st Century.  I too am a fan of great radio, but one thing I learned in this biz is that what's good for the investors is most certainly NOT what makes for great radio.  It seems to me that you can keep the investors happy or the listeners happy, but not both...

how TRUE! right now for GAP and the Clear Channel's of the world it is ALL about keeping the Investors happy, layoff's, cutbacks does not make the listener happy but the banks and owners don't care about listeners, or employees, so we have what we have. it might be better for everybody if these owners just went under and closed the door, they're not serving anybody's interest. and open the door to those who can.

[crow]

What we have to remember is that we are in a recession.  Revenues are down and does not look to be coming back anytime soon.  My point is that in a time when times are tough, it is an interesting concept that banks are still investing in radio (ex: GAP East...STILL...and that the medium that we all are very passionate about is not dead.  People always come and go and thruout my long career I have seen some talanted people unfortunately treated unfairly. In some of those cases, those casualties were not willing to change with the industry or wear that extra hat required in todays environment.   Remember in the 21st century this is now more than ever a business.  I am a fan of great radio...

First off... I appreciate you taking the time to fill us in on how you see GAP etc... Even though I can't agree with you... at least now we know where you are coming from. With that being said... when it comes to a company like GAP or any other radio company that is acting in the same manner. They are simply acting just like the BIG BANKS. What I mean is this... you have these BIG BANKS who took millions and millions of tax payer dollars... and then you would read about these same BIG BANKS buying private jets and handing out bonuses and spending tons of money on retreats etc...

What I mean by all this is that the BIG BANKS didn't get it and didn't simply care and that's how companies like GAP etc... are as well. Yes, I know GAP etc... didn't take tax dollars. That's not the point. The point is... that these companies continue to act irresponsibly, spending money in the wrong places etc... They are only interested in what makes them money NOW and not what the long term results are. You would think these MINI-ME's would see what happened to CC and other LARGE RADIO COMPANIES and learn that's NOT the way to operate. There is nothing positive at all with GAP expanding. Look at what they and other radio companies have done to the markets they have already bought. They come in... give speeches about how they get radio and understand that radio NEEDS to be local etc... then months later they start swinging the axe. Removing most of any local aspect that those stations DID have. What do you think they are going to do to the new stations that they will acquire? They aren't going to just stop cutting people etc... What happened to LOCAL being the way to go? I mean, this isn't something I just made up... this is something that GAP and many other companies like them continue to preach and preach while cutting live & local air staff.

[johnqdoe]

I'm actually looking forward to the day CC, Cumulus and the other "evil empires" fail. I don't wish ill will on the hard working folks that will be out of  ajob...but the Mays, Dickey, Hogan types...I hope they rot in hell. The big guys WILL fail. They WILL have to sell stations. But...we'll never see 24-7 live and local again. Even the "radio guys" that buy up these stations when the big companies fall will wanna make as much $$$ as they can. That means VTing...short staffs, etc, etc. I hope I'm wrong....but I doubt it.

[OKCRadioGuy]

A little birdie tells me that Gap is wanting an engineer now.  Could it be they realize that no one is around to keep their automated crap and crappy equipment on the air?  Did they let the last guy go because he "cost too much" or for other reasons?  If it was a cost-savings then I hope they have a lonnnnnnnggggg wait before they find a new sucker.  In the mean time let's hope the local contractors in the area demand a lot of cash for their troubles...

[OKCRadioGuy]

Engineering help isn't exactly growning on trees these days ya know.  Maybe the 'devil' they did know might be better than the one they don't have. LOL!

[Old Nick]

Does anybody on these boards actually like radio?   Or do you just like being pissed off at radio?  Yeah, radio is changing, but so is retail, and farming and space technology and cake making.  Engineering is now becoming more of an I.T. job and less for the wire cutters, so some are going to fall by the wayside.  Air shifts are going to be held down by the people who can multitask or the position will be v.t.ed, G.M.s and P.d.s will be multimarket because they don't have to sit on top of half-assed talent.  Most of all, competition from other mediums will mean a smaller piece of the pie for radio.  You can dis Gap, Clearchannel, or whoever, but I'll support anyone who is willing to keep a dollar invested in our medium in the current BUSINESS climate (yeah, its tough out there for everybody). 

[johnqdoe]

Does anybody on these boards actually like radio?   Or do you just like being pissed off at radio?  Yeah, radio is changing, but so is retail, and farming and space technology and cake making.  Engineering is now becoming more of an I.T. job and less for the wire cutters, so some are going to fall by the wayside.  Air shifts are going to be held down by the people who can multitask or the position will be v.t.ed, G.M.s and P.d.s will be multimarket because they don't have to sit on top of half-assed talent.  Most of all, competition from other mediums will mean a smaller piece of the pie for radio.  You can dis Gap, Clearchannel, or whoever, but I'll support anyone who is willing to keep a dollar invested in our medium in the current BUSINESS climate (yeah, its tough out there for everybody). 

Radio isn't radio anymore. I wonder how many stations were hours late getting ANY report on Ft. Hood shooting on the air. Hell, even WBAP in Dallas was still running syndication at about 3:30. There are thousands of talented folks that CAN multitask, that CAN pull good ratings, and did whatever the company asked...and STILL got blown out. Major markets are 50-60% or more VT or syndication. Small markets are 80%+ syndication or VTs. That's not the "cream rising"...thats owners being cheap.

[Garrett]

It seems to me that people do not listen to the radio for that kind of information . Instead they are reading their iPhone and watching CNN fox and Twitter

[johnqdoe]

It seems to me that people do not listen to the radio for that kind of information . Instead they are reading their iPhone and watching CNN fox and Twitter

because radio doesn't give it to them. I was driving in Dallas yesterday and got a text about the shootings because I have a friend at Ft. Hood. I started flipping thru news stations for info and KRLD was the 1st one on it. WBAP and KLIF lagged miserably and kept the syndication chugging along. I heard Obama bashing continue for almost an hour as the biggest news story of the year was unfolding a couple hours down the road.
     In times of emergency, tornados, hurricanes, floods etc etc...iPhones, twitter, and CNN aren't usually accessible when the power is out. Radio is...but if there's nobody there to run the station, it doesn't matter. Nothing like hearing a jock from 1000 miles away give a "sunny and 95" forcast as the tornado sirens blare. REAL Radio is much more than 10 in a row or hitting the post.
        I realize the examples I listed are extreme cases...but they DO happen. And stations ARE caught with their pants down. When I was in Tyler years ago, we had FULL staff meetings to go over severe weather procedures and everyone knew exactly what to do. CC/Dallas has a notebook somewhere in the control rooms. That's the extent of the severe weather procedure. Find the notebook. They have 1 board op monitoring all the stations. That's why you hear the EAS just break right into the middle of the songs. #1, he can't get to and kill all alarms before they go out...#2...He likely doesn't know HOW to go live, much less in an emergency situation.