Saddening news (twice)

[lglavin@lycosmail.com]

As most of you know, "Let's Talk About Radio" on WJIB
opens with a statement that it's for people who listen
to radio as a hobby.  I'm not in the biz, but two 
incidents commented on this site are saddening to me
an outsider and must be doubly so for those getting 
their paychecks from broadcasting.  First, the move
to make WQEW, New York a satellite of Disney's 
Kids' radio network is unconscionable in a city like
NYC.  It's not my style (if I lived there, I'd 
probably listen to WQXR and WNYC), but in the home
of the Rainbow Room and other venues I don't know
about, a radio station of this type is a community 
asset.  Let's see the books, Times...is it profitable
or not?  More than half-a-million listeners would
make a station in Cleveland rich.  But rich isn't
enough today.  The other revoltin development is
the scheduling of program-length commercials in
prime-time access on CBS O-and-O's.  A couple of
months ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a story
about Mel Karmizan, and speculated that since he
was a businessman and not a programming man, would
he have a tin ear in his managment of CBS?  Now
we know.  Driving viewers away for short-term revenue
is not the way to compete today.  Will he bring about
the demise of CBS?  If so, perhaps we should call him
Mel Kamikazee.

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