Here we go again......

[FM radio 1 <FMradio1@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-04-22 20:58:12 EDT, dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
writes:

<< I believe that the life expectancy of a male aged 65 is 16 years. The life
 expectancy of a male aged 81 is eight or nine years. I assume that you are
 in your late twenties or early thirties and the idea that you may be alive
 and vital and contributing to society when you reach 60 is so foreign to you
 that you simply cannot grasp it. Unless you die prematurely (something I
 confess I fervently hope for each time I read many of your posts), you will
 one day come face to face with the fact that you have become an older
 American. Maybe then it will finally dawn on you that there is life for
 those over 30 and it continues for those over 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and even
 90. The fastest-growing age group in the U.S. today is centenarians--people
 over 100. The problem that older Americans face is not our advancing age;
 everybody's age is advancing--believe it or not, even yours is! Our problem
 is know-nothings like you, who would deny us the simple pleasures of life,
 such as finding something we consider worth listening to on the radio. Your
 generalizations about older Americans are repugnant. You get away with your
 brand of sloppy thinking only because so many people of your age are
 like-minded. You and your ilk have all of the depth and clarity of thought
 of puddles in a dirt road after a brief August rainstorm in central Kansas.
>>

Oh boy, here we go again--Dan beating his tired "old" drum about me being
prejudiced against older Americans.  You really don't get it Dan.  My point
was that full service AM radio is simply not profitable anymore.  If it was,
all these little AM stations around Eastern Massachusetts would be programming
it instead of leased ethnic or sattelite talk.  Guess what?  IT'S NOT
HAPPENING!!!  Get over it and move on.  

I understand that I, along with anyone else, am getting older.  I don't have a
problem with that, or with people older than myself.  I simply state a obvious
fact and since it might hit a bit too close to home for you, you smear me,
wish I was dead,  and call me a no-nothing.  GET A GRIP DAN!!!  This is
supposed to be a discussion about radio, not about your insecurities about the
younger generation.  I have stated in the past that I am taking a "wait and
see" approach as to the profitablilty of marketing radio to senior citizens.
Historically, radio skewed to the 55+ demographic has been a tough sell, but
maybe it will change as the population continues to age.  I'm keeping an open
mind about this subject Dan, more than I can say about yourself.

Tell ya what Dan, If YOU think full service community radio can still work,
why don't you BUY a little AM somewhere, upgrade the equipment, hire an
airstaff, a news staff, an office staff, and put your quaint little format on
the air.  Then go get some salespeople who would actually want to work for
you, and have them peddle airtime to all those businesses who have been doing
print and cable for the last ten to twenty years.  Then report back to us in
12 months and tell us about all the money you're making with your flea-powered
station targeting 55+.  I can't wait.

Mike Thomas, WERZ & Premiere Radio Networks

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