Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Beginning of the End

About two months before my dismissal from KWNR, I remember a meeting that Mark Stevens (my morning show partner) and I had with Clear Channel's market manager. The market manger is essentially the boss of the building, and this gal oversees the four radio stations that CC owns in Las Vegas. Our ratings had not been all that spectacular and she wanted to know what we could do to improve them.

Now, bear in mind, when the numbers were good, we were never hailed, lauded or complimented in any way. It was never to our credit for good numbers, but it was always our fault for bad numbers. She wanted answers.

Mark talks a good game, but when push came to shove it was always me doing the pushing, and thus dealing with the majority of the shoving. I mentioned that when I'm out at concerts or events, people complain that 1) there are too many commercials, and 2) the same songs play over and over. These are always the two biggest complaints that a radio listener has.

Market manager went off on me.. If you've ever seen the movie "Ghost Rider", go back to the scene where Nicholas Cage's head first bursts into flames. Now you understand what I was seeing. Obviously, my suggestions were the last things that she wanted to hear. God forbid, I actually say that we play too many commercials. I realize that the money a station makes is based on the ad time the station sells. In a wicked case of irony, while the revenue derived from the sale of ads keeps a station chugging along, it's the very same slew of ads that makes a listener tune out. Hence, the ratings go down and the station makes less money. A vicious cycle and in the end, the jocks lose their jobs as the listeners lose their patience.

I was merely stating something that one listener after another had told me, and it was tossed back in my face like a manuscript from a hack writer. Essentially, this is what the higher ups think of the average listener. You're no more than a pimple on a flea. That meeting was the beginning of the end. The last two months at KWNR was like having a prostate exam on a daily basis.

Oh, I'm just getting warmed up.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Mitch it's GREAT to know you're still around and KWNR was stupid to let you go. I miss you waking me up during the week. KWNR found themselves removed from all my presets as they don't deserve my loyalty since they showed you none.

Wishing you all the best! And yes people are reading your blog.

Mitchy said...

They ARE? How'd you find it? Hope you enjoy reading it. I've got lots more to say. Thanks for the kind words.

Unknown said...

I googled your name and found it. In fact there appears to be lots of people wondering what happened to you.