They lump debt on the station but do not share in the risk. I find myself explaining Private Equity this way. Many ask “How is this even legal?” The consequences are hidden from the financial reporters (who often report the mergers as a good thing) because the firings happen over time as the debt matures and…
A possible new radio station called “Fayetteville Community Radio” held a screening of Corporate FM to motivate supporters behind the venture. The station is possible because new low power FM frequencies (LPFM) were legalized by bill in congress in 2010. “It fired them up” said organizer Joe Newman about the film. “It was a very…
Consolidation has displaced so many DJs from serving their communities. When SHORTY AND THE BOYZ worked at the Cumulus owned VIBE they were prohibited from playing local music or using speech that sounded too “urban” (a code word for black). Now gone from Cumulus, they have begun their own venture. Their internet show does not…
Radio used to make money through advertising. Radio stations had a motive to engage the public in order to sell their ratings to the advertisers. “We sold the advertiser [an] audience,” says veteran broadcaster Dick Fatherley. Here capitalism works because the station makes money by being relevant to the audience. Nowadays radio, like many other industries,…
No. This is why it is important not to just hate commercial radio and hope for the best. I got an email from a listener who was happy that Corporate radio was dying. He thought that we should “starve the beast”, implying that if it went bankrupt, the rats would jump off a sinking ship…
Unlike Facebook or web-based music sharing applications, locally owned radio reaches thousands of people across many incomes and ages in a single area at the same time with a message unique to that area. That ability is what once moved entire cities to unite around local bands, local charities, local businesses, and new ideas. The…
Some NPR and community radio listeners are happy that commercial radio sucks. They reason that the bland corporate programming drives listeners to them. They couldn’t be more wrong. Crappy commercial radio hurts public radio stations and the whole medium of radio itself. When a shopping mall loses all its best stores except one; there is…