WHAT'S GOING ON AT COX JAX?

[preferprivacy]

Was told by someone that total market revenue is down almost 15% this year.

So even is everyone had a similar share of the pie from 2006, that's somewhere around nine millions LESS dollars going to radio stations, ouch!

Wake up!

It's not a Cox, Clear Channel, or Renda issue - all radio is flat (if lucky) or down (like Jacksonville).

Radio as we knew it is gone, probably forever.  Doubt we'll ever see live jocks 24/7 again - live 12/5 is probably the new reality.

Those companies that survive and thrive will be those that understand they are in the content business NOT the radio business.  Radio is merely an outlet for the content - and unless your content is unique and compelling (which most music stations are NOT) then you are doomed.






 

[JohnJax]

Your points are very well taken, Prefer Privacy. This situation is not something that happened overnight.  The way Cox Radio has operated is coming back to bite them. 

A major part of the problem with them is they have centralized decision making and with that lead to the death of local appeal and community responsiveness.  If you are in the business to attract advertisers there first needs to exist willingness for clients to do business with you.   Maybe on a national level, they could be OK but local may be a different story.

Cox Radio does not have a good reputation in Jax as far as I'm concerned.  And while I don't want to beat a dead horse, I'm sure there are local sponsors who no longer want to do business with them after they fired some very good people right on Christmas Day.  That event alone shows greed to be their God.  Hey, I'm a Capitalist just like the next guy but what they did was inexcusable.

Even when revenue was OK, their design was to slash talent payroll and minimize on-air interaction with the listener to a point where it no longer matters if anyone is on the air or not.  People turn to radio to be informed and to be entertained.  Both are lacking in their cluster. (WOKV excluded but that's a different story). So to your point about content, it's certainly not unique and not compelling.

I'm sure anyone who lands a gig with them and are in some type of management role such as PD, are aware that it's just a stepping stone to something else.  I can't blame their teams for not being loyal as certainly the company isn't loyal to them.  Once you outrun your usefullness (according to them) or cost a little too much - you are gone.  A heck of a way to do business.

When you think of the very fine people these guys have had on board and how in the past they were all over the community hosting events, charity drives and at their sponsors outlets drumming up business and you look at what we have now - radio is certainly a shell of what it once was.

Their motivation is $$$ only but in my book when you take the high road to achieve goals, the positives of a good reputation alone will carry you further and make you one of the most admired companies in the community.  Just my opinion but that helps attract business. 

I can't hide my feelings as you all know.  I don't like how these guys operate.  Again, they get what they deserve.   

[JohnJax]

Radio as we knew it is gone, probably forever.  Doubt we'll ever see live jocks 24/7 again - live 12/5 is probably the new reality.
 

A recent Forbes article titled "The Worst Jobs for the 21st Century" indicates that given the current radio environment, we can see a 5% reduction in employment for announcers by the middle of the next decade.  While not surprising, this strategy is just wrong - perhaps good for the bottom line in the short run but bad for John Q. Public.  Remember the times when radio served the public as a public trust? 

Anyway, Cox Radio and others want advances in technology and consolidation to continue along the way it's going.  Perhaps, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

While I've pretty much thrown my hands up at the overall ineffectiveness of the FCC, there is on the table a possible ruling by them regarding unattended radio (automation).  Here is the link in case you are interested.  http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.6992.html 

Let's keep our fingers crossed some degree of life can be brought back to radio and to attract talent back to it.  The big guns will fight this but even if there is compromise, things will certainly be better than they are currently.

[wannabepd]

I know this idea of governement intervention sounds good to some, the reality is this...There always has been, and always will be unintended results directly related to government action. In a nut shell, GOVERNMENT control is never the answer. Radio operators should be free to fail without the Federal government getting involved. If the public is no longer interested in the product, you can't force them to buy it. In this case competition is causing big changes in the radio and television market place. Many have been shouting about local content or the lack of it on local radio. Consider the idea that the public is able to get what they want somewhere other than the local radio station. Maybe the public is not interested in the local chatter. There should be a role for government in the public market but telling operators how to operate is not the answer. If you owned a buisness selling paper clips and someone down the road came up with a staple that can be removed without tearing the paper, what would you do? You would be faced with competition, would you try to find a way to maintain your market share or would you go to the government for some regulation that would level the market for you? That is not a free market. Oldsmobile is gone. GM was selling Oldsmobiles for decades and now the brand is gone. It happens when there is competition for the market dollars. Some companies or even entire product lines can vanish. Remember those IBM word processors? When was the last time you saw an ad for a calculator? If you are in radio today and have not developed another skill you are taking a risk. It is not the role of government to save us from our own bad decisions. This is a free country to realize your dreams or fail. If local radio begins to gain more market share it should be the result of operators finding a new way to program and sell their product. If it is the result of some government regulation, it is built on sand and can change over night if the government wants to pander to some group. Looking to the FCC is not the answer. We clearly live in a time when more of us have no clue what a free market is. It's just sad.

[JaxRocks]

Well on a positive note....Congrats to Michele Michaels who has survived the madness at Cox Radio to make her way to Afternoon Drive on the EAGLE.......Perfect station for her and I wish her all the best!!

[BIG APE]

I'm curious Wannabe aPD.. What kind of radio experience do you have and was it or is it in Jacksonville?    BIG APE!

[wannabepd]

BIG APE...I worked in a top 50 market for many years as PD and air talent in several formats. I was average at best. I have moved on to a new career that is a better fit for me.

[JohnJax]

And while not unique to Jax, the total control Cox has over the talent - especially those in local management such as a PD - hurts them in the long run.  It's not surprising to see those who were shown the door have been successful elsewhere.  I'll just name two here.

Like him or not, Scott Walker - now in Detroit- appears to be moving the ratings onward and upward at his oldies station. Overall #5 in the entire market - not shabby at all.  I don't believe he is on the air - and that's a good thing.  But I'm certain he has a lot more latitude and control where he is now than when he was with Cox.  And it's making a difference.

Another alumni - Pat Garrett - went ahead of the power curve and developed an updated oldies playlist ahead of what most in that format were doing.  Pat can easily come back to Jax and given creative control make something out of a floundering station here.  But obviously it won't be at Cox Radio.  His biggest problem, not including himself, is he's with a station that lacks good talent.  IMHO, his skills are being wasted.

You have to empower your team to make decisions and be unique to the local market served.  Cox Radio doesn't follow this.

I'm still hoping that 2008 will bring about some more change in the Jax market even beyond WROO.  Oldies need to return here and if someone like Pat who knows what he's doing is allowed to do his thing - it will be a recipe for success and it certainly won't be happening in the Cox cluster. 

[mhsbroncos2005]

JohnJax...very good point on that about the need of Oldies to come back to market number 47 here. The latest trends show oldies heading upward and that is a sign that the oldies are not dead..not esp when its like in the Top 5 for formats. I wish Renda would try it again but this time do it the right way. The first time was just a miscue from the start. What talent do we have out there....well if I were one who had a station and was to go oldies I would be in contacts to Pat Garrett first to get him as PD/MD. I would also look at bringing in Dave Scott and Tom Murphy as well since the market knows well from these two highly regarded personalities as well. Those three mentioned would get a station up and going in a heart beat. But in all we need the oldies back here in JAX ASAP. The talent is there and the music is around us but where is the station?

[preferprivacy]

Sorry to interrupt a rant with facts,

FACT  - the format switch has been good for 96.9

dropping Oldies and going Classic Hits raised the ratings for the station considerably

I looked at A25-54, Spring and Fall, for:
COOL - 2003, 2004
EAGLE - 2005, 2006, 2007

EAGLE is up anywhere from 20% to 40% from COOL
and COOL was clearly trending down (exception
was Fall 2004 - when they went Christmas for the last
month of the book prior to the format change)

End of debate.....