Radio killed the radio star

Consolidation has resulted in 10,000 layoffs, the demise of a beloved trade magazine, and a decline in programming quality. But industry execs are fat and happy.

By Todd Spencer

Oct 1, 2002 | When I learned last spring that protesters were organizing demonstrations at the September convention of the National Association of Broadcasters in Seattle, I knew I should be there. The NAB-backed deregulation of the radio industry in 1996 helped sink the small but legendary radio trade magazine I worked at earlier this year, so I had a lot of time on my hands.

And I wasn't alone. As managing editor of Gavin magazine, I knew many of the program directors, music directors, promotions directors and on-air talent who had been handed their headphones and shown the door in the last six years -- 10,000 radio-related jobs lost in total, according to one estimate.

I was angry, but not just about being laid off. The consolidation of the radio business in the hands of a very few, powerful corporate owners has devastated the quality of commercial radio. Every year, radio programming is produced with smaller and smaller budgets by fewer and fewer people with more and more smoke and mirrors: cookie-cutter music formats, overuse of syndication, tighter, more repetitive playlists filled with inferior songs, one programming staff operating a cluster of stations and commercial breaks that never seem to end.

The National Association of Broadcasters' radio convention was booked into the Washington State Convention and Trade Center -- the same place the World Trade Organization had its ill-fated 1999 meeting. Calling the NAB "The WTO of broadcasting," activists created their own counter-event at nearby venues, complete with demonstrations, panel discussions, rock bands and keynote speaker.

So I thought I would go and stick my nose in. Find out what tear gas smells like. I wanted to shake my fist at the people who ruined radio for the rest of us. The problem is, I'm not huge into confrontation. So instead, I got a press pass. I didn't shout or perform radical street theater, but rather nodded my head in agreement as the activists spoke, and then booked back up Pike Street to the convention to talk with the suits and drink free martinis prepared by Hooters girls.

I was curious: Radio is in big trouble, and the demise of my beloved Gavin in March was only the tip of the iceberg. Did radio executives or NAB staffers know what they had done to radio? Did they hear the growing groundswell of protest, even faintly, whether it be coming from the streets or Capitol Hill? Or was it just business as usual, full speed ahead, to a world where Clear Channel rules all, and "local radio" is just a joke?

Next Page: Clear Channel and the demise of Gavin

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