WBZ cuts Leveille, Cuddy, Dyett, poss. Desmarais

[Mark Laurence]

On Jan 2, 2009, at 10:09 PM, Howard Glazer wrote:
>
> If the selling prices dip low enough, I'd expect the stations  
> unloaded by
> the big corporate chains to go to the bottom-feeder chains rather than
> mom-and-pop local ownership, with programming being dollar-a-holler  
> religion
> or ethnic. It would be odd to hear that kind of programming on FM,  
> that's
> for sure, but if there's nobody out there interested in doing "real
> radio" -- or advertising on it -- what else could the future be?

There's no evidence that radio has lost its value for advertisers or  
listeners.  Cume ratings are almost as strong as ever.  Quarter-hour  
numbers are down but nowhere near as much as the audience for  
newspapers, local TV news, or network prime time.  I think people who  
would buy FM's and a huge AM like WBZ would take advantage of these  
audiences with good proven programming and some innovations.  The  
bottom feeders gravitate toward weak AM signals and daytimers.

We're likely to see bankruptcies for the penny-stock, debt-laden  
corporations that gobbled up local radio in the 90's.  With lower  
prices and new lending policies, the new owners won't be spending  
half their cash flow on debt service, and they'll have something left  
over for a programming budget.

Newspapers can be resurrected too with lower sales prices and  
bankruptcies for the high-debt chains.  Even with circulation losses,  
50 million papers a day are sold in the US, over a half million  
between the Globe and the Herald.  With less debt and a clean slate,  
there will be room for new publishers, just like there was room in  
the 1980's for USA Today to rise to the top out of nowhere.