Late Night - Early AM on WBZ-AM is now Mr. Computer

[Ron Bello]

PS - Punching buttons on my car radio on Woolbright   Rd in Boynton Beach,
FL recently produced a listenable WBZ on 1030 about a mile from the ocean.
Why bother with the internet and the ability to listen to almost any radio
station ?




On Saturday, January 18, 2020, Kevin Vahey <kvahey@gmail.com> wrote:

> For what it's worth Morgan White is on WBZ early Saturday morning
>
> Back in the glory days of the 50K blowtorches, there was no way for these
> stations to monetize their signal as there was no way to measure the
> audience.
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 18, 2020 at 1:15 AM Ron Bello <rbello@belloassoc.com> wrote:
>
>> Prices of radio stations went up until the internet drained ad $$ from
>> radio, newspapers and other traditional media
>>
>> Listeners across the country never generated ad $$ for WBZ.  As margins
>> have narrowed, the luxuries of  old time radio can no longer be paid for.
>> Even in Larry Glick’s day the volume of advertising was small in the over
>> night.  The world has and will continue to evolve.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Friday, January 17, 2020, A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Funny, I thought the price of radio stations was getting higher and
>> higher
>> > after the Telecommunications Act.
>> >
>> > On 1/17/2020 1:28 AM, Ron wrote:
>> >
>> >> but up until about 1980 the focus in such companies used to be the long
>> >>>>
>> >>> term.
>> >>
>> >> And it was in radio as long as the value of radio properties was going
>> up.
>> >>
>> >> But when the value of radio stations started to drop, and advertising
>> >> revenue dropped, people become more focused on the "short term" (and
>> >> survival).
>> >>
>> >> That is true, but the pressure on Congress and the FCC to change those
>> >>>>
>> >>> laws and regulations was applied by Wall Street.
>> >>
>> >> And it was up to our elected leader to read the bill, a bill that most
>> of
>> >> them thought was all about cell-phones.
>> >>
>> >> (This appeared to be one of those:  " "We have to pass the bill so that
>> >> you
>> >> can find out what is in it" moments.)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: Rob Landry <011010001@interpring.com>
>> >> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 2:21 PM
>> >> To: Ron <obrienron2@gmail.com>
>> >> Cc: 'Kevin Vahey' <kvahey@gmail.com>; 'bri' <BRI@bostonradio.org>
>> >> Subject: RE: Late Night - Early AM on WBZ-AM is now Mr. Computer
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, 16 Jan 2020, Ron wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Wasn't Gannett, Westinghouse, Hearst, CBS, NBC, ABC, Metromedia and
>> >>> the rest "publicly held companies driven, as usual, by short-term
>> >>>
>> >> financial goals"?
>> >>
>> >> They were publicly held companies, sure enough, but up until about 1980
>> >> the
>> >> focus in such companies used to be the long term. Remember when AT&T
>> had
>> >> Bell Labs, and other companies like IBM had similar divisions,
>> >> experimenting
>> >> with new technologies and the like?
>> >>
>> >> I'm sure stock price, dividends and such drove all those companies as
>> >>> well, yet somehow they were able to service their communities, right?
>> >>>
>> >> The narrow focus on "maximizing shareholder value" was originally
>> >> proposed,
>> >> if I remember right, at Harvard Business School in the mid seventies.
>> It
>> >> didn't catch on generally until about a decade later, and the
>> deregulation
>> >> of the radio industry during the 80s and 90s allowed it free reign in
>> our
>> >> industry.
>> >>
>> >> Smaller, privately owned stations aren't doing much better.
>> >>>
>> >> We are all blown by the same economic winds.
>> >>
>> >> I think this has to do with the realities of the financial world,
>> >>> where once valuable properties (assets) are now worth a pittance of
>> >>> what they were purchased for.  Blaming "publicly held companies"
>> >>> driven by their fiduciary responsibilities is an easy excuse.
>> >>>
>> >> Publicly held companies have obligations that privately held companies
>> >> don't
>> >> have; everything they do has to be reationalized in terms of
>> shareholder
>> >> value. A publicly held company can't, for instance, build a big rocket
>> and
>> >> send its CEO's car to Mars, as Elon Musk's privately-held SpaceX can.
>> Nor
>> >> can it employ people for their own sake, the sake of the communites
>> they
>> >> live in, or anyone else's sake but shareholders.
>> >>
>> >> I think when the FCC allowed and Congress removed the ownership caps
>> >>> (through the "Omnibus Telecommunications Act") set the stage.  (Always
>> >>> watch out for anything with the adjective "Omnibus" attached.)
>> >>>
>> >> That is true, but the pressure on Congress and the FCC to change those
>> >> laws
>> >> and regulations was applied by Wall Street.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Rob
>> >>
>> >>
>> > --
>> > A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1340+Centre+Street,+Suite+103+%C2%B7+Newton,+MA+02459?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> > 617.367.0468 · Fax:617.507.7856 · http://www.attorneyross.com
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ron Bello
>> 160 Speen St - Suite 303
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/160+Speen+St+-+Suite+303+%0D%0AFramingham,+MA.+01701?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> Framingham, MA. 01701
>> 508.820.1100
>>
>

-- 
Ron Bello
160 Speen St - Suite 303
Framingham, MA. 01701
508.820.1100