Everyone took a
deep breath, sighed, and moved on, as if over-the-air free broadcasters should
really care. The satellite merger is old news by now. We've got bigger fish to
fry.
I hope someone is keeping a tally of all the "things" which spelled
the end of radio as we know it. The past couple years and the next five. Let's
get back together here in five years and see how few of them really happened.
It's not so much because of what radio did to prevent, but rather it's more so
the continuing wave of new technology made the new "things" obsolete before any
firm business foundation for the new "thing" could be established.
That
is what radio has going for it. The newspaper business and TV business have
going for it too. It's a huge and financially-successful business model which
needs to be adjusted and modified. But even if it stood absolutely still, it
would take decades to kill off. Think back how long ago an afternoon daily
newspaper was a great success. I bet it has been 25 years. They are still dying
off.
This is in no way suggesting we don't need to be on top of all the
changes and determining what our industry can change and can't change but
someone has to keep their eye on the fact that as we exist today, we reach well
over 90% of the American public each and every day. That's not about to change
drastically unless someone starts appropriating too much of our resources to the
search of what we can change, should change and what we shouldn't change.
This industry has always needed people who are out on the cutting edge,
seeking new paths and new ways of doing things, and then it has always needed in
the background people who are examining these ideas and putting every day common
business sense to the concepts. Typically the large market operators are the
ones who "test things." Unfortunately we have a bunch of number crunchers
running those outfits now and they only know how to cut costs and how not to try
something new. But that may be changing too, even not by choice, then certainly
by what the markets will dictate.
--Douglas "Art" Sutton is
president/CEO of GA-Carolina Radiocasting. The opinions expressed are his own.
He can be reached at sutton@gacaradio.com.
--All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied
or changed without written consent of Inside Radio/M Street Corp. For
permissions, email: genemckay@insideradio.com
