The End of LARadio.com?

[emailfailed]

Lately Don Barrett has been strongly implying these are the waning days of LARadio.com and by the end of December LARadio.com will not be how we remember it.

That is too bad, it was an good way for the Southern California radio community to connect.

Granted breaking news or other industry news was often few, far and in-between, and more often than not it was an gossip site, and admittedly it seemed silly printing what songs were played on KRTH that morning, but it was enjoyable reading in the morning and I made some contacts through Mr. Barrett's site.

Mr. Barrett has said the reason for ending the current site is basically the model he is using is no longer profitable, along with password sharing.

[westfield60]

It is sad but I certainly don't blame him if it now takes more time and effort to produce and doesn't bring in the revenue.

But then again I can't imagine that the site would have that much overhead, hosting is real cheap these days and it doesn't seem like he has a webmaster since it does look quite plain and simple.

[radiojomo]

The newsletter may be local but with Radio-Info and All Access, who would want to pay to get all their radio news?

[OCradiodude]

I think the problem is that there are now other sources for radio news.  At one time it was exclusively LARadio and radio boards.  But now with all of these email columns, such as Tom Taylor's daily column, the site may have become less relevant.  I've noticed a quality drop-off over the past few years.  Don has done a great job with the site, but maybe it's time to move on.

EDIT:
Radiojomo is right on the money.  Why pay when you have free news now available?

[Jim Hilliker]

The problem has been, for several years, too many people are stealing passwords to get onto the web site and not paying the subscription fee. That is the main problem.  Why pay for it?  For me it is simple.  I don't subscribe to any newspapers or magazines, and Don Barrett's LARADIO.com website is far and away simply THE BEST when it comes to telling the everyday stories of what is going on in the Los Angeles radio market. Not only that, but he has the archives of the web site going back to 1997, many photos and stories of LARADIO stations and personalities, plus a list of thousands of names of L.A. radio people that have worked in the market since the '50s and some even further back, telling their history and what they are doing now or if they are still alive, etc.  As a radio journalist, Barrett provides a much-needed fact-filled column 5 days a week, giving not only the present state of L.A. radio every day, but also tells of other radio markets at times, and preserves the past history of L.A. radio and even at times looks at the future.  That is why I pay for it, and I don't see anything out there that's better. It will be a huge loss if his website goes away, with all the work he has put into it for 13 years and all the information he has provided and continues to provide about L.A. radio at this time.

Jim Hilliker
Monterey

[michael hagerty]

The problem has been, for several years, too many people are stealing passwords to get onto the web site and not paying the subscription fee. That is the main problem.  Why pay for it?  For me it is simple.  I don't subscribe to any newspapers or magazines, and Don Barrett's LARADIO.com website is far and away simply THE BEST when it comes to telling the everyday stories of what is going on in the Los Angeles radio market. Not only that, but he has the archives of the web site going back to 1997, many photos and stories of LARADIO stations and personalities, plus a list of thousands of names of L.A. radio people that have worked in the market since the '50s and some even further back, telling their history and what they are doing now or if they are still alive, etc.  As a radio journalist, Barrett provides a much-needed fact-filled column 5 days a week, giving not only the present state of L.A. radio every day, but also tells of other radio markets at times, and preserves the past history of L.A. radio and even at times looks at the future.  That is why I pay for it, and I don't see anything out there that's better. It will be a huge loss if his website goes away, with all the work he has put into it for 13 years and all the information he has provided and continues to provide about L.A. radio at this time.

Jim Hilliker
Monterey

Amen. Don fills and exceeds the role the L.A. Times used to play with Don Page, James Brown and other dedicated radio columnists in the 60s and 70s.

As for the overhead...consider the amount of time Don has to devote to gather, write and maintain LARadio.com and then ask yourself...what's his time worth? What could he be doing with that time that might make money?

[Pronkie]

I notice that he is on  hiatus for a week...........

[westfield60]

Don could always become a talk show host. For crying out loud, everybody and their uncle seems to be a host these day. Doesn't seem like you need much skills except how to talk loud and generally be overweight and hide behind a microphone.

Speaking of overweight, the ones that readily come to mind are Limbaugh, Frosty Stilwell, Bryan Suits, Tom Leykis, Wayne Resnik, Dennis Prager has been getting plump lately, who else am I missing?

[michael hagerty]

Don could always become a talk show host. For crying out loud, everybody and their uncle seems to be a host these day. Doesn't seem like you need much skills except how to talk loud and generally be overweight and hide behind a microphone.

Don's too intelligent, reasonable, thoughtful, well-spoken and slender.

[emailfailed]

It will be sad seeing LARadio.com going away.

I know in my original post I dismissed the site as gossip, but truth be told, for a few years LARadio.com was the first site I checked before my email and other personal online matters.

There was one time when I visited LARadio.com and first learned an job I held was in jeopardy.

While Don Barrett's site may not appear fancy, just relatively simplistic in its design, it is quite an bit of work putting together those stories and chasing sources.

As well the process of putting together his two books on L.A. Radio People is just mind-boggling. Just think of all the effort he, and perhaps an couple other people, came up with in tracking down the thousands of people who have come through the L.A. airwaves. (Mind you his first book was in 1997, before Google made researching much easier.)

For those who may not recall, LARadio.com was designed purely to promote his new book.

Then small radio updates were provided.

What will fill the void I am not sure.

It seems at the least Mr. Barrett has hinted at maybe updating LARadio.com once-an-week.

It is also possible Mr. Barrett may just be looking for an new role and challenge in his life.