Friday Funnies; malaise edition

Remember when there was an actual competition between radio stations for the coveted #1 bragging rights?  That was way back in the day when talented air persons were sought and compensated for their performances.

These days, when thinking about certain owners and their money men, a certain Fat Boy Slim album cover comes to mind:

cd-fat-boy-slim-youve-come-as-long-way-baby-chemical-brother_MLB-F-3935679143_032013

Ahhh, the 90’s, I never thought I’d miss you.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

3 thoughts on “Friday Funnies; malaise edition”

  1. I remember an old article in one of the trade magazines (1995ish maybe) titled something like “Number 2 and Loving It”. It was about a well programed station that had consistently been #2 or #3 in the market with little promotions but was coveting the #1 rating. They hired a consultant to tell them how to take over #1 from the highly promoted rival.

    The conclusion was that their promotion budget would have to increase by well over the revenue increase. In other words, they would be #1 but profits would be substantially lower. Hence “#2 and Loving It”.

    Now that the bean counters are in control at almost all stations… In most markets that I frequent, selling $40k more per year and firing a talented person has the same effect on the bottom line.

    Later,

  2. Sure, the short term effect is exactly the same. Long term the stations will all start to sound the same with no personality, no character and the audiences start to drift away to other, more relevant media.
    Oh wait….

  3. It’s not (say that fast) whether you’re #1 or #20, it’s if you make your budget projection or do better and how much off the top that gets to Corporate that’s more important today.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *