WBZ cuts Leveille, Cuddy, Dyett, poss. Desmarais

[Donna Halper]

At 12:46 AM 1/3/2009, Kevin Vahey wrote:

>One other thing. We saw how NAB fought hard to prevent the satellite
>merger and lost. What surprised me was not lobbying the FCC to make it
>mandatory that all future satellite radios must also have the AM-FM
>band.

The NAB, as Bob Bittner and I discussed on the late lamented Let's 
Talk About Radio, has truly lost its way.  (That sound you hear is 
John Shepard 3rd spinning in his grave.)  When the NAB was designed 
in 1923, its purpose was to help the small stations survive in the 
face of corporate efforts to stifle them.  Back then, the 
corporations were the music publishers (who didn't want radio to be 
allowed to play their songs without paying huge royalties for the 
privilege) and then there were the big chains like NBC and CBS that 
were eager to drive the smaller stations off the air entirely unless 
they affiliated with one of the networks.  the NAB really did make an 
effort in those formative years to defend the small and medium sized 
broadcasters.

But today, the NAB's biggest clients are the Clear Channels of the 
world, and what matters most, it seems to me, is the needs of the big 
guys.  If the little guys (and gals) can't function, hey tough for 
them, let 'em sell their station or go on the satellite.

And owners continue to kill the goose that laid the golden egg-- live 
and local stations with interesting and useful programming still can 
get listeners.  The Dick Summers and Larry Glicks and Arnie Ginsburgs 
understood that.  Today, owners seem to believe everyone is 
disposable and everyone can be replaced.  And they wonder why they 
are losing listeners.  I mean, Rush Limbaugh is still on over 600 
stations, while the industry fails to develop new talent.  Now, I 
don't like Rush and I don't find his show interesting (it used to 
be), but even if he was my absolute fave, each city needs somebody 
who is unique to that market, somebody the audience feels understands 
them and can reach out to them.  It ain't brain surgery.  Live and 
local really does work, even today.  That's why what WBZ is doing 
utterly mystifies me. It's gonna save them a few bucks, but it's 
sooooo self-defeating.... >:-o