Largest US Radio Company iHeartMedia Files For Bankruptcy (reuters.com) 159
The largest U.S. radio station owner, iHeartMedia, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it "struggles with $20 billion in debt and falling revenue at its 858 radio stations," reports Reuters. The company has reportedly reached an agreement with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt for a balance sheet restructuring, which will reduce its debt by more than $10 billion. From the report: Cash on hand and cash generated from ongoing operations will be sufficient to fund the business during the bankruptcy process, said iHeartMedia, which owns Z100 in New York and Real 103.5 KISS FM in Chicago. The filing comes after John Malone's Liberty Media Corp proposed on Feb. 26 a deal to buy a 40 percent stake in a restructured iHeartMedia for $1.16 billion, uniting the company with Liberty's Sirius XM Holdings Inc satellite radio service. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, and its units did not commence Chapter 11 proceedings. The company had 14,300 employees at the end of 2016, according to its most recent annual report.
Monopoly won't help you now (Score:5, Insightful)
ClearChannel is one of the reasons people don't want to listen to terrestrial radio anymore. They have a near monopoly in so many regions, and instantly make radio bland and corporate. I'm a bit surprised their attempts at payola with their awards and festivals haven't saved them.
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This is so true. My spouse and I took a cross-country road trip. We played a game on the way down as we drove. We kept finding that one station in each city that played the exact same feed. Once the radio started breaking up, we would start changing channels to find what station was playing the feed. Didn't have a city that didn't and playing the same 12 songs (or at least it felt like the same 12) made it real obvious. Luckily, when not on the edge of broadcast range, there were plenty of unique stat
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Entertainment is not like making cars.
-You wants cars of the same model/year to be identical.
-If have 100s of stations that play the same EXACT songs you get ClearChannel / iHeartRadio. About 75% of the stations should go.
And running the SAME advertisements within an hour makes that ad extra annoying.
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When I saw the headline I thought "I'm pretty sure I'm happy about this."
Re:Monopoly won't help you now (Score:4, Insightful)
iHeartAttack (Score:3)
This is why it's baffling that they are so much in debt.
iHeartMedia is basically a advertisement platform that just happens to play music and talk shows once in awhile. Most of their "studio's" are empty since most of their stations are run off of nationwide feeds. Everything they broadcast is tied to advertising, IE (product) digital studios, (product) Sportdesk, (product) news center (prouduct) weather center, (product) traffic report, then to top if all off each broadcast is brought to you by (product).
Radio is not dead. Corporate radio is dead. (Score:2)
Yes.. corporations, specifically Clear Channel/iHeart killed terrestrial radio.
On today's corporate radio, controlled by computers from a central location in New York, with no local programming, no local DJs, ever playing anything even remotely interesting or controversial? You never hear protest music. Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie would never get airplay now... hell, Bruce Springsteen is considered "controversial" by iHeart and if he wasn't a big star, they wouldn't play him at all. Rage Against the
echoes to the sound ... of salesmen (Score:2)
So no Stanley Jordan, The âDead, Little Feat, or that band from the college down the street?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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It gets better (or worse). Advertisers only pay for the on-air ads, since most radio ads are local ones. When listening online, almost every single ad is for their music festival or the streaming service you are already listening to.
The music festival is hilarious. Who the fuck wants to go to a show with both Ozzy Osborne and Katy Perry? What is their target demographic?
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Is Ozzy going to bite her head off? I'd pay to see that.
iheart (Score:1)
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I have a love hate relationship with iheart. I love the streaming service,
If you really love music then I would suggest you ditch iheart and sign up with spotify. You can have it with or without commercials.
But if you really want to go back to the days before clear channel get a app like Xiialive and explore the world of shoutcast and icecast. Any one can set up a icecast or a shoutcast station and you can fine lots of independent artist. Lots of crap too, but there are some really good stations that have a shout cast stations. If you like jazz, ie music, its hard to beat
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this is one of the worst Radio monopolies in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
I remember when they switched 96.1 in Atlanta over from rock to a Top 40 station (since already having 2 or 3 Top 40 stations in the same market isn't enough). Listening to rock music in my truck before refereeing a football game. Hopped in my truck after the game and it was Top 40. They never put out any warning, and from what I remember they didn't even warn the staff about the switch over. Haven't had good rock music on the radio since. The closest station we have now, every other song has a mandoli
As a businessman... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am just shaking my head. They own 858 stations and have $20,000,000,000 in debt?
Holy. Shit.
That's more than $23,000,000 per station. In debt. Radio stations do not cost $23,000,000.
I cannot figure out how they've managed to run up $20,000,000,000 in debt. That takes a special kind of talent.
And, I mean "special" as in "special ed".
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That's more than $23,000,000 per station. In debt. Radio stations do not cost $23,000,000.
Given the capital cost of building an HD radio transmitter, maintaining the transmitter site, the studios etc... maintaining a radio station isn't cheap either.
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IHeartMedia has struggled with debt that was taken on to finance a $17.9 billion leveraged buyout in 2008 of what was then Clear Channel Communications Inc...the company spent $1.4 billion on interest payments last year
It's not hard when you pay $18b for a company that isn't profitable enough to pay the interest on the junk bonds.
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The typical value of the spectrum for a radio station (just the rights to broadcast on it) are worth more than $23 million. And then the transmitter, etc...
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The typical value of the spectrum for a radio station (just the rights to broadcast on it) are worth more than $23 million. And then the transmitter, etc...
Around $100m in the LA area some years ago. That’s the cost of the spectrum of The Sound 100.3 when the station was created. The station was recently sold off for $18m.
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While the station sold for $18 million, you have to ask what debts it had. After all, Newsweek sold a few years ago for a single dollar. The domain name newsweek.com is worth more than a single dollar.
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The typical value of the spectrum for a radio station (just the rights to broadcast on it) are worth more than $23 million. And then the transmitter, etc...
Around $100m in the LA area some years ago. That’s the cost of the spectrum of The Sound 100.3 when the station was created. The station was recently sold off for $18m.
I should have qualified my statement better. Yes, you can find a radio station that has at some point sold for more than $23,000,000. But not 858 of them. Clear Channel has stations all over the US, so while it's possible and even likely that they own a couple of stations that are worth more than that, they also own a bunch of stations in the middle of nowhere that are priced at a couple of orders of magnitude less.
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This isn't about radio. This is a company whose business was buying and selling IOUs. Like any derivatives market it will eventually catch up, but not to worry, all the bosses still got paid, took their money and ran.
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Perhaps even Clinton was able to monetize this move since he kicked it off.
You do realize that iHeartMedia is a conservative media company which was known for filtering criticisms of George W Bush, right?
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You guys should get a legislature, perhaps call it something like Congress, have the people vote for members even. Seems it would be better then having a series of Presidents passing whatever laws they feel will make them rich.
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Why not just use the FM radio in your phone?
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Kmart has two store less than an hour drive from me, Toys R Us has one and a second about about 1.5 hours away. I was under the impression they declared bankruptcy shoveled off a bunch of old stores and debt kept the locations that made good money.
Who lent free radio $20B with a B? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Who lent free radio $20B with a B? (Score:4, Informative)
IHeartMedia has struggled with debt that was taken on to finance a $17.9 billion leveraged buyout in 2008 of what was then Clear Channel Communications Inc. That deal led by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP closed just as a financial crisis began to undermine the U.S. economy.
Yes, "Thomas H. Lee Partners" is there as well, but you either missed Bain or are being obtuse.
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Toys r us had that debt as a result of a leveraged buyout from Bain and friends.
Banksters strike again.
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Toys R Us went bankrupt, they had only $5B debt but plenty of stock and store property and we're still selling items. How does any radio corporation get to the point that they are $20B in debt, they basically own nothing of any real worth. Even the stations themselves are small and limited tech. iTunes has been out for years. Napster. Writing has been on the wall for years. Who was loaning or lending this company money? At $10B or $15B in debt people didn't stop to think, hmm, may even we should cut them off? $20B is what it takes. Insane.
I can answer these. My response is meant to be an example and the numbers I mention are not meant to be representative of actual amounts involved.
Imagine you owe $10,000 on a car and your neighbor, who makes a similar salary, owes $20,000 on his. But imagine he pays $400 a month and the interest rate is 3%. Imagine you have to pay $1000 a month but $900 is interest (you got a terrible loan which we will pretend is even legal) and $100 against the principle. By the time your car is paid off, you wil
Re: Who lent free radio $20B with a B? (Score:2)
Radio has been dying for a long time (Score:5, Interesting)
I seem to recall that radio stations were already failing left and right before the Internet was a thing. It’s hardly surprising that a large corporation whose main business model is the purchase and consolidation of cash-strapped radio stations would in turn fail at some point. It’s basically the old “we sell everything at a loss, but make it up in volume” model.
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Lessee, shitty music, twice the commercials, all local DJs canned for someone thousands of miles away. Gee, why don't people listen to the radio anymore?
Another victim of an LBO (Score:2)
Just like Toys 'R' Us was bought out by KKR and Bain in 2005, ClearChannel was bought by Bain and Thomas H Lee in an LBO in 2008. In both cases the company was saddled with more debt than they could pay off and had to file for Chapter 11.
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I want to know who the chumps where. Who bought the (Toys R Us/I Love Radio) bonds? Those people are the 'king of the idiots'.
How can we get in on this? How did these fools ever get together with their money in the first place? It would be immoral for us to leave them with their money. An 'attractive nuisance'. Might lead some righteous man astray. Best we take it all.
Good, go die in a fire (Score:2)
iHeartRadio purchased all of the local independent radio stations in the Seattle area. Each of these stations at one point had their own unique niche. Now they're just generic top-10 playlist genre stations. There is no longer diversity within the market.
Also, iHeartRadio and Clear Channel are that closely related? I didn't even realize. Clear Channel is one of the most hated companies locally. There was a 20-year dispute between the city of Tacoma and Clear Channel over their lack of maintenance of their b
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Also, iHeartRadio and Clear Channel are that closely related?
Iheartreadio is clear channels bitch application.
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Good article with history of Clear Channel\iHeart (Score:2)
http://www.expressnews.com/bus... [expressnews.com]
> iHeartMedia financial troubles embedded in 2008 leveraged buyout ....
Their recent telephone conversation, though, focused on the news that the company, with different owners and now called iHeartMedia Inc., was conducting pre-bankruptcy talks with lenders and bondholders after declaring that the company by February may not be able to meet some of its maturing $20.4 billion in debt.
The company’s daunting repayment schedule, stemming from the 2008 leverage buyout by
I was genuinely shocked (Score:2)
Meanwhile Radio is chock full of stuff like Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones. I don't need that in my head.
Market is gone (Score:2)
That left just talk radio. Talk radio's biggest money maker was Rush Limbaugh, but they paid him so much, the company did not net anything.
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Who needs iHeart ? (Score:1)
CLASS,Venice,:174.36.206.197:8000/,,,
CLASS,WETA,:38.100.128.106:8000/fmlive,,,
CLASS,WSHU Baroque,:wshu.streamguys.org:80/wshu-baroque,,,
CLASS,WCLV,:audio1.ideastream.org/wclv.mp3,,,
CLASS,WKSU-3,:66.225.205.8:8030,,,
CLASS,WBAA Perdue,:purdue.streamguys1.com:80/wbaa-classical,,,
CLASS,Prague,:icecast5.play.cz/croddur-128.mp3,,,
CLASS,Strsburg,:str0.creacast.com/accent4,,,
CLASS,VPR Classical,:vprclassical.streamguys.net:80/vprclassical128.mp3,,,
CLASS,WCPE N.C.,:audio-mp3.ibiblio.org:8000/wcpe.mp3,,,
CLASS,Guitar,
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When you ask "Who needs iHeart ?", you're effectively asking "Who needs radio?". I, for one, don't want to have to rely on Internet infrastructure for music and news. I don't have Internet in my car, and I specifically plan NOT to. I seldom have data enabled on my cell phone, and I plan to continue that practice. I like radio because I often hear new stuff that I really like - that keeps me out of the musical 'echo chamber' that results from playing only music I already have. I also hear tuff I don't like -
Finding radio stations worldwide (Score:2)
I don't know where I came across this link. It may even have been SlashDot.
http://radio.garden/ [radio.garden]
A Google Earth type globe with radio stations lit up as little green dots, zoom in, select radio station, and play it.
haha good! (Score:2)
oh good (Score:2)
More consolidation (Score:2)
Sadly, I think this will likely result in even _more_ consolidation in the terrestrial radio market.
That and probably a bunch of smaller market or fully saturated markets transmitters shutting down.
Again, less voices, less venue.
List of iHeartMedia stations (Score:3)
For anyone looking for a list of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, you can find it on their website: list of stations. [iheartmedia.com] They even have it broken down so you can search by City, State, and Genre.
Good (Score:3)
Re: Not surprising. (Score:2)
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I don't think the companies behind broadcast TV are in trouble, though I do see broadcast TV as a medium declining.
In broadcast radio, the record labels asserted control over the content, and as such broadcast radio companies were not particularly advantaged to compete with streaming companies.
The broadcast televesion networks, conversely, fund and own most of the content. This is the same model Netflix, Hulu, Amazon are transitioning to: being masters of their destinies, as the broadcast networks are sta
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I don't think the companies behind broadcast TV are in trouble, though I do see broadcast TV as a medium declining.
This I agree with. The appeal of broadcast TV is that it's "Free" (advertising supported).
I'd imagine that there's a time in the near future where just publishing an app with a free stream of the same content (also ad-supported) would be cheaper than them building massive transmitters in every metro area - if that time isn't already here.
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TiVo offers versions of their OTA devices with lifetime subscriptions included.
You're still paying for it, but it's included in the purchase price.
(Actually, it looks like that's the only version they sell now.)
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Re: Not surprising. (Score:4, Informative)
Not that, nobody is listening to premium radio station. IHeartMedia and Sirius bet big on premium digital radio streaming or subscription based radio. They sent me a advertisement for a "deal" for $5/month once (for 3 months, $24.99 after). That didn't pan out for obvious reasons and they got their lunches served by Pandora and the like.
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Not that, nobody is listening to premium radio station. IHeartMedia and Sirius bet big on premium digital radio streaming or subscription based radio. They sent me a advertisement for a "deal" for $5/month once (for 3 months, $24.99 after). That didn't pan out for obvious reasons and they got their lunches served by Pandora and the like.
32 Million subscribers to SiriusXM most recent quarter. That's a far cry from "nobody". While the growth rate is approaching 0, every quarter has had more subscribers than the previous one.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/252812/number-of-sirius-xms-subscribers/
Re: Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
Note that almost every new car is a SiruxXM subscriber. More than half of their subscribers are likely the trial subscribers from new car purchases.
Beyond that, despite never haven given them a dime, they have frequently given me new free trials.
At least in my car, the audio quality is crap for satellite radio, compared to HD radio or a streaming service. Even if I liked the programming, the quality would have killed it for me.
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I was thinking the same thing I recently bought a new car and got a free trial. I didn't even use it but they keep calling wanting me to buy it they haven't started offering me free months yet like dial up services used to do when everyone was switching to broadband.
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A few years back I was buying a new vehicle. It was supposed to come with a free trial subscription to one of those satellite radio companies. Being an adult and knowing how free trials work, I refused to complete the purchase until they had disabled that crap.
I pay for SiriusXM (Score:3)
I pay for it because I still listen to Howard Stern (when he's not on vacation or working his 3 day "flexible" schedule). I also don't mind the live DJs that the stations have. They say a few words and maybe news about upcoming concerts and that's it. Plus they play specials and have guests do their own playlists. I've heard a lot of good music that way. I also don't have to worry about cell coverage or docking my phone and loading an app.
Re:Not surprising. (Score:5, Interesting)
I dunno, my car's radio is permanently stuck on CBC Radio 1 when in Canada, or the local NPR affiliate when in the US. But then, I'm a left leaning socialist (at least based on some people's political spectrums). I enjoy the various shows for being thought provoking, topical, and exposing me to ideas and things that I often do not agree with. If I was just snarfing down podcasts, the chance of me listening through something that I don't agree with are significantly smaller. But doing that is good for my well being.
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I have my alarm clock tuned to WBEZ which is an NPR affiliate. The morning shows like "All Things Considered" can be very left leaning and stick to the liberal talking points. They only invite guests who repeat these talking points and you'll never hear from competing viewpoints. For example, the coverage of the Parkland shooting was all about gun control and how dumb it would be to arm teachers. There has been no coverage of things like the FBI not following up on leads, the school not contacting polic
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OMG - Marketplace Tech *USED* to be balanced... then they ran, like 70 episodes on "diversity in tech" before I unsubscribed. Just looking at the headlines now makes me glad that I spent my time elsewhere:
Hierarchy among researchers prevents women
Paraolympic games
venture capitol from white men
etc.
(3 of the most recent 5 podcasts)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:4, Insightful)
If I find myself cussing at the radio and/or disagreeing with them, which tends to happen on a fairly regular basis, then they're doing something right.
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I think you've got that backwards. Talking points are propaganda for the weak minded. In-depth investigation/discussion is for people who know there's more to every story than the talking points/headlines.
The problem is that the weak-minded outnumber the others by about 10 to 1. The GOP figured this out years ago, and more recently, the Russians. It's easy to mess with a "democracy" when the majority are dopes.
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I'm talking about the way some right wing hosts will patiently explain to their listeners how this means that and that leads to this and suddenly people are marrying donkeys.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
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I never use the CD player in my car, I exclusively listen to radio stations. That's because I basicly don't listen to music, and I don't listen to audio books at all. So there is no reason for me to use something that can only play prerecorded stuff.
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I don't have a long a commute any more and rarely am in the car for more than 10-15 minutes and the radio stations play commercial after commercial. I don't even bother with tunes in the car anymore unless I'm on a trip and then it's CDs or more likely paired with my phone.
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The TV broadcasters (and cable) will never believe it until it is too late. They will deny and deny right up until, and perhaps after, the bankruptcy filing. Their whole business model is stuck in some previous millennium long ago washed away in the sands of time. Their model is based on telling you what is the limited menu of programs and reruns you can watch, and WHEN you can watch them. You will watch it according to OUR schedule, or wait until it is in reruns, if it is a
It could have been fixed (Score:5, Insightful)
Had IHeartMedia kept the same programming that stations had before, or provided stations with some autonomy, things would have been completely different. People would be exposed to new bands and songs, the radio station would be a core pillar of the community, DJs could rally people for worthy causes, and musicians would have a place to get their hot tracks played.
However, this didn't happen. They took the quick buck route and destroyed their future. This worked well for a few years, but it killed radio as a whole as a viable medium. People have moved on to social networks and streaming sites. Only talk radio remains.
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Yea. Every station I listened to in Atlanta (when I lived there) got bought out and replaced with Top 40. So I stopped listening as I found something that replaced my original station. Eventually I gave up and just streamed Pandora with a cable...
Re:Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
I hate to break it to you, but broadcast radio listenership is doing just fine. With 93% reach, 271 Million listen weekly, and for a well run station, it's still a license to print money.
https://www.newsgeneration.com... [newsgeneration.com]
The problem here is the debt incurred by iHeart (Clear Channel) with their overreach paying huge sums of money for broadcast properties trying to create their own little major market fiefdom. They are 10 Billion in debt. Honestly, it couldn't have happened to nicer bunch of duchebags.
One can only hope... (Score:2)
I hope this gives rise to decent radio stations again. I've tried over the years to listen to radio, but it's just a couple of songs in between commercials. Maybe we'll see a radio revival where you can hear something other than corporate prescribed music.
Re:Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
This network didn't die because radio is dead.
iHeart, aka "Clear Channel" killed terrestrial radio.
They took over thousands of local, mom-and-pop radio stations that actually served their local communities, and replaced them with homogenous, centrally-controlled corporate radio full of flag waving, auto-tuned crap music and ads for fake viagra and gold investment schemes.
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Yeah... those bastards killed one of the great radio stations of all time: Rock 103.5 in Chicago. Historic radio station.
As far as I'm concerned, let these places fail. Sadly... what'll replace them is likely right-wing media ownership. Looking forward to that...
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I remember listening to the Rock back in high school. Didn't they play a 3 or 4 hour tape loop?
Speaking of historic radio stations, did you know WLUP is gone [radioink.com]?
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The Loop's last three songs were Shout at the Devil, The Number of the Beast, and Highway to Hell.
They got in one last jab.
Public Radio. (Score:2)
For the most part I have been listening to Public Radio, and my local Public Radio station had just recently did a 2 Million dollar fund drive in 2 days. I think it is because our habits are moving from listening to music, which is widely available on the internet. To listening to news, while widely available on the internet too, but more difficult to get local news, and obtain it passively by listening to it, while driving, or doing other activities.
I also find news from NPR and the BBC to be more reputabl
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Very few people actually listen to broadcast radio anymore. Only the people with commutes whose CD player doesn't work, or doesn't have any type of auxiliary input. Home listening? Nope.
Broadcast TV is next.
I haven't listened to radio in over 10 years, about the same time I cut the TV cable. I used a TV antenna for a few years but then installed Roku for a one time charge and now get my "TV" over a 100mps connection.
Congress mandates that cable TV stations must broadcast their signal over the air, so until Congress overrides that law we will still be getting TV over the air.
Not that there is anything worth watching on it that we all haven't seen at least 50 times and can recite the scripts from memory. My
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They can't get those patches from TV, snowflake.
Re:Once known as ClearChannel. (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately, those locally-run stations usually can't afford to survive on their own. That's why they mostly joined the big conglomerates in the first place.
I've worked at a local radio station. It's not a cheap business. Beyond the equipment costs, there are licensing fees that are essentially mandatory to keep content on the air. Even for talk radio, people want to be paid for their time. If you're going to avoid licensing by producing your own content, you need a studio, with facility expenses. Then, of course, you have all of the overhead of handling the technology involved, which today involves a significant IT budget, as well as the usual communications link to the transmitters, transmitter space rental, and so on...
My station was pretty much just the hobby of a few wealthy listeners. Some folks dump money into a boat-shaped hole in the lake, but these folks likes to burn their cash at the top of an antenna tower. Our advertising income barely covered the electricity costs.
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There is so much content online radio stations could license podcast content and make out like bandits.
I bet most podcast producers would love to have radio stations run their stuff for free.
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My station tried that for a while. We found that most podcast producers actually fall into three major categories:
First, there are the planning-limited amateurs. By far the largest group, these are the folks who buy a microphone and start talking. They product a dozen segments of precisely one hour... or maybe 43 minutes... or maybe 67 minutes. They don't leave slots for commercial breaks or other station announcements, they don't follow a consistent format, and they don't have a long-term sustainable plan
Re:Once known as ClearChannel. (Score:5, Informative)
OK, I spent nearly 4 decades in Broadcast and Network radio, worked all over the country, nothing under a top 10 market and eventually ending up in NYC in management in network radio and finally as a consultant based in NY, (retired from the biz now).
You are correct about the executive bonuses, same/same. Clear Channel/iHeart became a behemoth and ended up paying huge sums of monies for large market radio properties in big bundles. Hence the debt. As a very large company, they became slaves to the shareholders/Wall Street. They HAD to meet expectations and revenue every quarter to keep their share value. How did they do this, depleting staff, jettisoning higher paid folks who knew how to actually create a product and not just bean-counters. As pointed out here, creating also-rans all over the country with voice-tracking and other network feeds, Program Directors locally couldn't make local decisions because all edicts came from the mother ship in San Antonio. Of course there is much more, but it's exactly the same sort of idiocy that implodes many businesses.
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It doesn't solve the problem, it makes it someone else's problem. The people selling out may or may not be getting rich, but they will at least stop losing money.
Why ClearChannel keeps buying up space in a dying market? Who knows. I am sure someone thought that once they hit monopoly status they could just rake in the cash. I guess they forgot that people could do something crazy like... not listen.