Thursday May 17th, 2007 - Flint, MI

Up early this morning to do two radio shows. One good thing about the consolidation of the radio business is that they were both in the same building. Most towns have a building that has a group of stations and it’s called a ‘cluster’. What happened today was also one, but there would have to be another word after cluster to fully describe what took place.

I could see it coming when I was in the station but I didn’t say anything. I’ve been in the same situation before and it amazes me how radio doesn’t change at all. The names are all different and the towns are too but the malfunction and dysfunction are exactly the same.

The first station I did was a country station called ‘The Bee’. What bumble bees and the country music industry have in common escapes me but that’s what their moniker is. I am still at a loss to know why radio stations have to name themselves after animals but it’s as common as rappers having the word ‘ice’ somewhere in their name. It’s overused and old.

Actually the morning guy was very cool. That is usually never the problem. He’s just an underpaid button pusher who doesn’t have any say in anything. No offense, I was that guy a number of times myself. He’s just trying to feed his family and we got along just fine.

The problem came when there was an all day charity radio-thon remote broadcast from a local mall. The station was supposed to be taking callers for a guest list for the show but it fell through the cracks when everyone at the station was at the mall blowing up balloon animals and passing out stickers and Frisbees. Nobody answered phones at the station and as a result there were hardly any people at the show tonight. This was supposed to be their station night and it was a bust. Ron from the club was fuming and I can’t say I blame him.

We had about 35 people and they were very nice but the station dropped the ball and the night was ruined. Ron asked me if I’d go back on tomorrow and make another appearance and I told him of course I would but the sales rep sure got an ear full. This is why radio is such a slimy business. Did they care about Ron? NO. They just wanted his money. It was a half baked radio event as it usually is and I don’t miss these mangled stunts in the least.

I remember time after time of having to sit in a rocking chair in a mall or go out and do a remote broadcast from a car dealership, parade, rodeo, turnip festival, or some other ill conceived lame brained ‘event’ nobody cares about just so we could fulfill the demented vision of an ego starved sales rep who has never been on the air and isn’t even a listener.

Bitter? No. Frustrated? YES. This kind of stupidity has gone on in radio for years. I’ve seen it, participated in it and am still seeing it today. It didn’t affect me but it took people away from the show tonight and that is not good for anyone. We still had fun but fun isn’t what pays bills. I felt bad for Ron and totally saw why he was angry. I hope I can go back tomorrow and drum up some business but there’s no guarantee of that at all. I also have a different show to do first so hopefully they’ll be a little more on the ball but I doubt it. It’s a different station and a different company but it’s STILL radio so I’ll cross my fingers.