A Reader Writes About Radio

Hi Lisa, I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.  

I live in London, and drive truck for a living, meaning I get to listen to various radio stations through out SW Ontario. I listen to stations from Toronto, St Catharines, and some stations out of Detroit when I’m down that way, and Free FM.

One of the stations I listen to is out of Detroit. It’s operated by Clear Channel. They let 2 of the announcers go today. One was a mid-morning 10-2 host. The other was a 2-6 host. I learned about the firing via Facebook today, when the afternoon guy broke the news.  By the response on his Facebook page, he was well loved, and his listeners didn’t take it well. He didn”t even get the chance to say goodbye to them.

In doing some research, I found out that Clear channel is in financial trouble and is cutting costs. It appears they terminated around 100 or more people today across there 1500 stations. Would clear channel actually save that much money by terminating these people? Some one needs to sit in the host’s chair, don’t they?

So here’s my question(s)…why would anyone get involved in radio? It appears that its a ticking time bomb for the hosts to be replaced. And you never know when its going to go off. This particular station has only been a classic rock format for than a year, give or take a few months. The midday announcer had moved from Los Angeles. She’s now without a job.

I look at the changes that have gone on in London’s radio stations in the last 1-2 yrs. I would have never guessed that Mark LaPointe or Chris Harding would be off their former stations. It even seems funny to hear Chris on the weekends on a different station.

Do radio people take it personally when they are removed from the airwaves? Or do they realize its just a fact of the business.

Hope to hear from you soon, thanks.

And this was my response: 

Howard Stern calls radio “the lowest form of showbiz” and like any show business, your performance is assessed in ways that, say, an accountant would never be judged. You can be a hero one day and out of work the next. Even good ratings don’t guarantee job security.

But most of us – I hope – go into the business knowing it’s unstable and uncertain. Why do we do it? Because we love it. It’s the same reason a kid who’s got theatre in her blood moves to New York City to be a star and ends up off-off-Broadway her whole career…if she’s lucky. It’s love, pure and simple. And there are those who “make it” and those who dream they’ll be one of the lucky few who make it too.

I haven’t been fired yet but I have gone through my whole career knowing it could happen because of a format change, a managerial change or cost-cutting. Clear Channel isn’t alone; the big radio companies in Canada do the same thing. If they are not returning top dollar to their shareholders they will toss out enough people to make sure that they do. It happens all the time, as you’ve noticed.

Bottom line is: radio is a business. It’s all about the dollar. I am lucky enough to be working for a company right now that truly cares more about ethics and people than it does, money. But make no mistake – money is very important! And this company has also trimmed some staff this year, in other divisions in other markets, for reasons other than performance or lack thereof.

Radio gets in your blood. If you love it like many of us do, you can’t imagine doing something else because you’ll always wish you gave it a shot. It’s highly competitive, hard on the ego and as businesses go, pretty immature. But it’s also some of the most fun a person can have. Those people who were let go are probably looking hard for another gig because that’s just what they do. A bad day in radio is better than a bad day doing something you don’t even want to do.

I hope that answers your questions.
Lisa