Well, if anyone were to have to suck the pipe for reasons of being a total and
complete sack of bastards, the short list would have to include the Clear
Channel bunch. The analysis on Buzzmachine indicates that they are in full-on panic mode, because the trend in media is all towards niche & local
– and Clear Channel’s entire raison d’etre is that
they took
over small local stations, fired everyone above janitor and spent the rest of their time beating the shit out of anyone who dared to anything that didn’t fit in with the corporate strategy of reducing the playlists to a staid, flavorless bowl of
audio oatmeal and library paste. Yum yum.
Here’s the rather pungent Buzzmachine take:
This is why I have not feared media consolidation. Clear Channel, the
poster child for evil media conglomerates, bought up stations and
sucked cash out of them but now there’s not much left to suck.
Consolidation is the act of a dying industry. Well, broadcast won’t
die. But it sure as hell won’t grow.
So
now they’re thinking about going private, eh? What a surprise.
Guess that’s the response when the stockholders actually get their mitts on the
listenership numbers and see a steady year-to-year decline of 5-14%.
Nice. Make that work as a business model. In 8-20 years the company no
longer exists. Congratulations Captain, and the crew of the Titanic hails
your insightful decision-making process.
"[Clear Channel’s] shares are down 20% since the announcement of its
first share-repurchase plan (March 2004) and down 2% since the
announcement of Less Is More (July 2004)," she advised analysts.
"Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has risen 23% and 26%, respectively. It is
understandable that management is frustrated with this underperformance
and is looking to make changes that would reverse this trend."
Meanwhile, the migration of the audience to the web will 
continue, because who in their
right minds willingly listens to the schlock put out on the airwaves these
days? Why else are we putting iPod docks into the dashboards of our cars?
The only audience you’re left with is the people too poor or stupid to adapt to
the digital future. Which explains all the ads on the radio for low-cost
car insurance for DUI convicts, experimental meth addiction treatment centers
and sales at the 99 Cent Store.
If Clear Channel can find a big(ger) idiot to take it over they might get out of this
with a whole coat. Most likely, not. Boo hoo.
Technorati Tags: radio, media, Clear Channel, implosion, web business
