Clear Channel Broadcasting Sucks!

“I have seen this coming for years, but Tom Petty was able to pin it down poetically in his latest hit, "The Last DJ." Well, now it falls into the category of current events. Clear Channels brilliant, board-room driven genius idea of eliminating live disc jockeys from the air is coming to light. They are proposing substituting 'voice tracking' announcments for live disc jockeys on their stations. Canned announcers. An abomination, to say the least. Is there an art left that these corporate swine haven't bastardized yet? Here's the link...


cc”

“Yep!

Jukeboxes with transmitters attached.”

“Being a former disc jockey, this drives me crazy, Tilt!”

“Is that what happened to my favoite morning D.J.s? I used to listed to KQXR (Q102) here in Reno, but then one day, and ever since, I haven't heard anyone doing live broadcasting. No more silly call in contests, no more laughing at whatever they were talking about that day, nothing. They do play the same stupid advertising spots over and over, but with no D.J. to make fun of the ads, it just isn't the same.
I mostly listen to NPR now.”

“That sounds like it! If I am reasing you correctly,that's what they called voice tracking, a nice term for a horrible concept that is poised and ready to render an art form impotent...”

“I guess you saw the article about how they heavily contribute to the Republican party and sponsored pro-war rallies through their radio stations... usually the Country & Western stations... Dixie Chicks CD burnings, etc.

They are lobbying to have FCC regs changed to allow ownership of a greater percentage of the stations in any given market (along with television stations and print media). Supposedly they own more stations than they are allowed to in various markets, but are dragging their feet about selling them... hoping they can get the regs changed instead.

The corporate headquarters is in Texas and they've backed Bush since he first entered politics.”

“I did read it when you posted it, Tilt. They are high on my s--t list over their practices. De-regulation of media ownership and catering to the desires of pigs like that are what is making a shambles of the radio industry. Thank goodness for the smaller station ownership and some of those folks not losing their artistic integrity as well as NPR and other listener supported outlets around the country.”

“40% of a local market isn't enough for them. They want 50-59-70%...

And the TV, and the local paper.

Pretty surreal.”

“I'm all for it. We have a lot of little stations here and when they get up and running they start out with no DJs and I prefer it. Shut up and play the music. If I want talk I'll switch over to AM. But back to how bad Clear Channle sucks...they are the worste distibuter of cookie cutter music. No matter what the genre it's the same 20 songs over and over and over and over...”

“AMEN Nigal to that!!


I say, go internet! thats what I listen to durning the day.
it's an Alaska Staion.
Then at home I listen to Satellite
Radio!

In the car im at there mercy

grrrrrrr!”

“Nigal, if it were not for the radio, treebeard and myself would never have met.
you see, im a groupie!!!!


(we met while he was a DJ. I called and requested a song, then we started talking and 17 years later, I still love to listen to his voice!)”

“That's the point, Nigal. They have no concept of radio as an art. You gotta bear with me though. I spent over twelve years doing this for a living and I worked very hard on the creative aspects of my radio shows. There is too much chatter sometimes, but that is due to the fact that morning radio has become a forum for cheap sexual innuendo at times. That is not what I am talking about. A disc jockey is supposed to be the bridge between the product that you are selling and your sponsors, station biz, etc. The product you are selling is the music, of course. But, you have a definitive function in this chain. Personality can be a very appealing part of it. Always has been. Just as the lack of personality can be a major liability...”

“It real seems like a small step for CC to faze out DJs because the programming seems so set in stone anyhow. There's no deviance from the schedual or the programing. If I had the extra bucks I'd have XM Radio (satalite radio) in my car and in my house.”

“I agree. The programming is a formula that used to be confined to Top 40 radio. Repition and bombardment of a limited scope. That was initiated a while ago. The only places I used to be able to program my own music was the listener supported stations I was on and a limited amount of programming on some of the commercial stations I worked for...”

“NPR is the last bastion of radio as we knew it.

Anybody catch "The Show" with Harry Shearer on Sunday? I love the segment "Apologies of the Week," introduced by McCartney singing, "We're so sorry, Uncle Albert ..."”

“Clear Channel is terrible. The monopoly power they are building with concerts, radio stations, etc...

Like Nigal says, they have already wiped out any discretion on the part of DJs - eliminating them seems like a pretty small step (except to the DJs who get laid off).”

“A Prarie Home Companion is the greatest thing on radio followed by "Caw Tawk".”

“True, Nig! I worked for an NPR station for several years and picked up on some great programming that they offered. There was one called 'Word Jazz' done by a guy (with an incredible voice) named Ken Nordine. Anybody ever heard of it?”

“Caw Tawk is one of my favorites, and I've listened to "Prairie" off and on for 20 years. You can tell if other drivers are listening to these shows when you crack up and notice the person in the car next to you is cracking up too.”

“There's a show they do called World Wide Afro Pop that is all African type music that is some good stuff. But then again I love World Link TV (anti American as they are)too. LOL!”

“clear channel is the microsoft of the music industry

the only difference between the two is clear channel got away with it”

“Automated announcers is nothing new. I remember when the technology first kicked in, about 1973. It absoutely ruined one of the best stations in the area. The bad news was that we lost a greta ststion to this automated c*@%, ther good news was that it was oof the air within two years. Supply and demand folks, the populace like a pulse on the other end of the mic.

I was a DJ in my college days (daze?) at my university station (The Sound 106.5 FM, WSMD, Ill State Univ) . A lot of fun, but a lot of work too.

I don't like Clear Channel any more than the rest of us, but I understand the mentality. They will get huge like the bloated corporatrion that they are then they will colapse under their own weight. Sadly they will take may great ststions down with them but in the end, once we rebuild, we will be better off for it.

And of course the Bush connection makes it even worse.”

“Afro Pop Worldwide is good, but it is on so late at night. I catch it from time to time if I can't sleep.”

“There is a solution ...Satellite radio..if you wanna listen to dj's..they have stations devoted to that. If you hate dj's and commercials(like myself) you have stations that are talk free. the radio display list the artist and song.

FM can suck a hairy one and i hope it goes the way of AM soon.”

“Maybe I just have a feeling for this having been so in tune with the day to day workings of radio. Sorry to disagree, but I still insist that I hate to see an art go by the wayside and become obsolete the way CC wants it to...”

“How about their contests?

Million dollar top prize!*








*payable in 40 annual installments of $25,000 or a lump sum of $400,000. To be run in dozens of markets at the same time. The chance of anyone in your market actually winning is slim to none.”

“Good point, V. But it sure does sound great from a marketing/promotional point of view, doesn't it?”

“Just try explaining this to my 14 year old daughter.”

“Of course if she does win...”

“I only listen to talk radio.

If I want to hear music I put in a CD.”

“She (and my daughter too) are primary target demographics. Giveaways have always been the life blood of radio promotion. Poeple just love getting something for free. Even if they hate the prize and don't even use it, the fact that they won something (combined with the recognition factor - having your name announced or your voice recorded for playback on the air) is enough to keep you tuned. You may say that this doesn't apply to you, but studies ( and they do plenty of these) have shown that enough people are influenced by this to keep stations running and competing for their numbers...”

“As little as you may think it matters, if you have gripes about your local radio stations and how they are run, send them an e-mail. Explain your frustrations. Don't be rude or mean or insulting. They ignore those.

Radio and TV managers assume that for every letter or phone call they get, there are something like 100 people out there who feel the same way and don't call or write.

I'm mixed on Clear Channel. I don't like them for all the reasons already discussed but they pay my wife pretty well. She's one of the few local DJs still working in the same market where her show airs. They also own a TV station here and don't treat those employees very well at all.”

“I am in occasional contact with the female midday jock at WAXQ (Q104) in NYC. She took an interest in the work Maple and I did post 9/11 and we struck up a dialogue as a result. These people are responsive to listeners on certain levels, but when it comes to programming and such, they know they are just a small cog in that giant corporate wheel. I'm betting this lady makes pretty good money and is thankful to Clear Channel for keeping her on and being high profile in the nation's top market. It's true that the number of people who contact them probably does not reflect the true feeling about their repititious programming. I wonder if (assuming you could actually motivate all the people who want some reform in a station's programming) it would actually sway them, or are they set on what continuing on the mission they are on and couldn't give a flying ____ about what we think...”

“It would take alot of people complaining to really make some sort of change. But it all adds up. If everyone who responded to this thread wrote in on the same topic, they might take notice. Also if you like something, let them know, too. If you have a favorite DJ or segment, let them know. They don't usually get rid of things that make people listen.

But, you're right, too. Alot of times they don't give a rat's @ss about what we think. They know better- just ask them.”

“Oh, and it helps to be in their prime demographic, too. Not many radio stations try to make 33 year old males who don't listen to commercials happy.”

“Did you say 'commercial'? <CLICK>”

“If you live in L.A., Orange County, or San Diego CA there isn't much else but Clear Channel. I hate the fact that all the same songs are played on just about all the stations.

I don't listen to the radio for music much anymore (since they really don't play anything new or different). I've actually gotten into sports radio (some talk, but that's all the same too (liberals are ruining america, bush is god)”

“Clear Channel owns most of the stations here in Jacksonville.
They all suck.”

“When is your wife on, and which station? I'll listen in...

Gotta support the locals ya know..”

“anyone old enough to remember when DJs could actually PICK the music they played? i remember in the mid '70s when KMET in the LA area went "commercial". now that sucked.

the stations might as well go automated! hell thay just play the same old regugitrated crap over and over again anyway. the DJs really have no input on what's going on, how they can stand it i'll never know.

anyhow this kind of stuff isn't just happening in radio. corporate america is using a combination of technology and cheap labor in other countries to make obscene profits, so the fat cats can live decatant lives.

i wonder where they'll be when the general population is finally all unemployed, or working such low paying jobs no one can afford to buy their products. there's no doubt they'll be fine, but america will be changed for ever.

but then again we where talking about music, weren't we? ROCK ON!!”

“She's on KISS 97 in the mornings. She goes by the name 'Mercedes'. Another Clear Channel thing, they made her change her name at the start of the new year. Thanks for your interest.”

“Pitt, PA's classic rock station, WDVE 102.5 FM, has been announcing Clear Channel news and crap. The morning disk jockeys are so funny and their skits (probably syndicated to all CC stations) are hiliarious.

I'd hate to see those DJs removed.”

“Hey Buddur! I used to work with a guy who came from that station in the early 80's. His name was Jack Robertson, but he may have been out of the limelight for a while now...”

“You poor souls. In NM we still have some live DJ's.”

“Fvck 'em. Broadcast radio is dead anyway. The internet is where it's at. Anyone with a computer can play DJ, produce their own music, etc. Same for television. People can make and produce their own movies, TV show, etc. I'm hoping things are gonna be waaaaaay different from a broadcasting standpoint in the next 10 years, I think.”

“Primetime Payola for Clear Channel

By Stephen Marshall, In These Times
April 10, 2003

A feverish, corporate-sponsored nationalism has taken root in America at a time when the public depends on a vibrant communications culture to sustain its institutional democracy. Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio chain.


In the outrage that followed the Floridian scandal and George Bush Jr.'s appointment by the Supreme Court to the Oval Office, many in the media missed an equally alarming familial maneuver. In one of his first bureaucratic decisions as president, Bush named Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. That the son of one of the nation's most decorated and politically entrenched former military officers should be given control of the agency that regulates the domestic news and entertainment networks – indeed the whole telecommunications industry – is something that is more imaginable in ... well, Iraq.


The FCC is composed of five commissioners, one of whom is appointed chairman by the president. Typically, commissioners ride out their terms and retire when it suits them. But in a rare move, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) used his considerable influence to block the 1997 re-appointment of a sitting Republican commissioner. Powell replaced him on the FCC and four years later he was chairman.


Powell took over as chief regulator for a corporate communications industry in the throes of a radical transformation following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which opened the door for deregulation and sparked widespread condemnation from media activists who saw the act as an attack on the public interest function of the FCC. The existing television and radio networks launched into mergers of unprecedented size, while new players with deep pockets were able to claim previously unthinkable levels of market share. One of the act's most prominent benefactors was Clear Channel Communications, a relatively unknown broadcaster based in San Antonio, Texas. Led by L. Lowry Mays, a rancher and one-time George W. Bush business associate, Clear Channel has ridden a wave of acquisitions, spending more than $30 billion to become the world's largest radio broadcaster, concert promoter and billboard advertising firm. Clear Channel owns more than 1,200 radio stations (approximately 50 percent of the U.S. total), five times more than its closest competitors, CBS and ABC. Considering the fact that prior to the Telecommunications Act, a single broadcaster could not own more than 40 stations in the entire country, it is hard to see the behemoth as anything but a creation of the act itself.


But while Clear Channel's unhindered expansion is the result of the deregulation media barons crave, its growth has not been viewed favorably by the rest of the industry. Other would-be monopolists, anticipating the next phase of deregulation, fear that they will be adversely affected by Clear Channel's gluttonous horizontal consolidation. Recent lawsuits and congressional hearings regarding the brutish tactics and political influence of Clear Channel have thrown a spotlight on the FCC and its abandonment of regulatory restraints. Led by articulate critiques by digital journalists such as Jeff Perlstein of Corpwatch and Eric Boehlert of Salon, the mainstream media have been prodded out of complicit somnambulism. With the FCC scheduled to review the last remaining set of protections on media diversity this spring, Big Media is worried that the upstart Texans will ruin it for everybody.


And they have reason to be concerned. In January, Sen. John McCain's Commerce Committee held two hearings that targeted, among other things, the issue of media concentration. At the first hearing, Michael Powell and his four commissioners were subjected to intense questioning about their strategy to protect the public interest from "sky's the limit" deregulation. In a response that clearly surprised the committee, Powell, traditionally an unabashed proponent of the free market and loosened restrictions to ownership, said he was "concerned about the concentration, particularly in radio." Mediageek.com's Paul Riismandel explained: "Indeed, [Powell] didn't want much publicity or input ... But now the cat is out of the bag and yowling like crazy." Smelling the blood of a close Bush ally, partisan Democrats on the committee, led by maverick Republican McCain, called new hearings to specifically examine "consolidation in the radio industry." As the committee's star witness, McCain summoned Clear Channel's Lowry Mays.


Mays was systematically skewered by the hostile committee and those invited to testify on behalf of the public (and private) interest. Rep. Howard Berman (D-California) catalogued charges to the Justice Department and the FCC against Clear Channel. These include anti-trust violations, payola and a form of tactical extortion in which monopolies over local concert bookings are used to pressure record companies into buying radio spots, called "negative synergy." But, as we learned during the Enron hearings, lawmakers are less concerned with corporate criminality than they are with sustaining the corporate capitalism that perpetuates it. The committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-South Carolina), emphasizing more savory bureaucratic concerns, lamented, "Radio consolidation has contributed to a 34 percent decline in the number of owners, a 90 percent rise in the cost of advertising rates, [and] a rise in indecent broadcasts. If ever there were a cautionary tale, this is it."


While most of the congressional debate over media concentration focuses on the diminished health of the marketplace, Clear Channel has revived traditional progressive fears that media concentration will negatively impact the breadth of dialogue permitted in the public sphere. Indeed, since 9/11 and the advent of Bush's "war on terror," Clear Channel has been the most sycophantic and pro-militarist Big Media corporation, which is saying a lot.


Just days after the 9/11 attacks, slates of blacklisted songs, including Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" and John Lennon's "Imagine," were leaked to the public. But it was not until the invasion of Iraq that Clear Channel really kicked into high gear. Facing the massive public outcry and protests against the war, the network began sponsoring pro-war rallies called "Rally for America." Using its 1,200 stations, Clear Channel pummeled listeners with a mind-numbing stream of uncritical "patriotism." Finally, there was the recent and gleeful banning of Dixie Chicks songs from several prominent Clear Channel stations after singer Natalie Maines made derogatory remarks about George W. Bush.


Perhaps Clear Channel is simply exercising its right to free expression and supporting the foreign policy initiatives of the current administration. This is hardly the first time that a major media network used its power to marginalize political beliefs that contradict those of its owners. However, one cannot deny the potential for a conflict of interest. Clear Channel is currently facing a major congressional investigation of its business practices. The FCC has blocked two of its most recent requests for station transfers, something that the commission has not done since 1969. Clear Channel's share price is down nearly 50 percent from the value it held before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. All this is coming at a time when the FCC is about to rule on the existing barriers to consolidation, a decision that could dramatically affect Clear Channel's ability to further collateralize its massive debt by expanding its holdings.


Has the fact that the FCC chairman is the son of the nation's most politically enfranchised former military official had any impact on the fanatically pro-war stance that Clear Channel has taken with its recent actions? Or is the Clear Channel executive leadership, closely connected to the president, simply providing him with the kind of support one expects from political allies?


Whatever the answer, with Michael Powell, George W. Bush and Clear Channel, the lines between political, military and corporate media power have become blurred into one authoritarian impulse.


A writer and video director, Stephen Marshall is the creator of Channel Zero, the world's first global VHS newsmagazine.”

“Clear Channel pretty much owns the airwaves in Jacksonville. THey own what seems like most of the radio stations and HALF of the tv stations.”

“Clear Channel is great if your a rich member of the religious right, but fortunately I'm not.”

“Now, they are selling newsrooms to corporations, giving them the right to brand newscasts! Great idea, boys!!!! Your boardroom mentality never ceases to amaze me!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10440721/

Viva satellite and internet radio!!!!!
last edited: 12/13/05 8:28:39 AM”

“so much for unbiased news coverage.”