I thought this particular article deserved it's own thread.
*********************
NY Post Report: Clear Channel Cuts Start Tuesday

Rumored Cuts Reportedly Start Next Week


According to a report in this morning's NEW YORK POST, CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS will next week begin implementing a massive restructuring plan that seeks to cut $400 million in costs at the company.

Three NY POST sources with knowledge of the plan, say the restructuring will include layoffs across the company's radio, outdoor advertising and international divisions as well as cuts to programming budgets and consolidation of back-office operations.

A precise headcount for the layoffs could not be obtained. CLEAR CHANNEL has about 30,000 employees worldwide.

Those sources told the POST, "The company is also likely to move toward a 'national programming' model that would require less local-level staffing, despite being criticized in the past for a similar action using centralized disc jockeys that made it appear as though they were broadcasting from local stations."

Sources said an initial round of layoffs is expected to commence next TUESDAY -- not coincidentally the same day President-elect BARACK OBAMA is to be sworn into office. CLEAR CHANNEL managers are hoping they can slip in the layoffs while the press is preoccupied with Inauguration Day festivities, sources said.

A CLEAR CHANNEL spokeswoman declined to comment to the NY POST, and ALL ACCESS sources would neither confirm nor deny the information in the report.

The NY POST story goes on to say: "CLEAR CHANNEL was built through a series of acquisitions that generally weren't consolidated very well," said one source, alluding to the late '90s buying spree that put more than 1,000 stations under the CLEAR CHANNEL umbrella, making it the nation's largest radio company.

"To be sure, BAIN CAPITAL PARTNERS and THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS took a hard look at CLEAR CHANNEL's expense base in the due diligence phase of their $17.9 billion acquisition, and identified hundreds of millions of dollars of costs that could be taken out of the company. While they always planned to restructure the company, sources said that the soured economy forced them to expedite the timeframe for the cuts."

One NY POST source added, "Nothing about our plans have changed except for the speed and timing of them," said the source. "There's no doubt we are in a horrible advertising environment, and we can't just sit there and take it."

The story continues, "The numbers bear out that argument. Radio ad spending fell almost 9% through the first three quarters of 2008, the second worst-performing category after newspapers, according to ad-spending tracker TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE. Fourth-quarter ad-spending numbers have yet to be tabulated, but many are expecting a low- to mid-double-digit decline."

Have a nice day! Geez

..... move toward a 'national programming' model that would require less local-level staffing.....

HELL, they alread have less local staffing!!!

Sure won't be able to poo-poo the accusation that refers to CC as delivering McRadio...

If this doesn't make the FCC take a hard look at re-implementing local content and staffing requirements and re-consider ownership limits, then radio will really been knocked into irrelevence.

How much more national programming will the listener tolerate and how can this keep the company from feeding on itself ala WALMART?

In many regions Walmart builds a store so close to an existing property that the new one's customer base comes partially at the expense of of the old store.

Newspapers have diluted their content to control cost, but the loss of quality also leads to the loss of readers. CC runs the risk of doing the same. I personally think the decline in listenership and ad revenue is in part due to the declining quality of the product they deliver.....

Paraphrasing the "Soup Nazi".......

"No Bail out for you!!!"

HERE'S WHAT LEE & BAIN/CC PROMISED THE US GOVERNMENT TO GET THIS DEAL APPROVED:

Again, we do not expect the merger to result in workforce reductions, and we do not want employees to experience undue anxiety. However, in the unlikely event some reductions are required during the one year period following the closing of the merger, we have developed a severance plan to assure that you will not be left without protection.

Any full time or part time employee of Clear Channel (or any of its subsidiaries) who is actively employed at the time the merger is completed, and who is involuntary terminated without cause during the following one-year period is eligible for the benefits described below. These benefits are also available to any full time or part time employee of a divested entity (such as a smaller market radio or television station), who is involuntarily terminated without cause, and who is not offered comparable employment with the new owner. However, any employee who is collectively bargained, party to an employment agreement or other agreement with Clear Channel or any subsidiary that provides for severance, or who is a temporary employee is not an eligible employee under this severance policy.

Years of Service at Termination -- Amount of Severance
Less than 6 months -- 1 month of Base pay
At least 6 months but less than one year -- 3 months of Base pay
One to less than three years -- 6 months of Base pay
Three years or more -- 9 months of Base pay

“Base pay” means, in the case of a full time employee, the employee’s applicable base benefit rate in effect at the time of termination or, in the case of a part time employee, the employee’s average base wages over the immediately preceding twelve week period.

“Cause” means (i) intentional failure to perform reasonably assigned duties, (ii) dishonesty or willful misconduct in the performance of duties, (iii) involvement in a transaction in connection with the performance of duties to Clear Channel or any of its subsidiaries which transaction is adverse to the interests of Clear Channel or any of its subsidiaries and which is engaged in for personal profit or (iv) willful violation of any law, rule or regulation in connection with the performance of duties (other than traffic violations or similar offenses).

“Comparable employment” means a position which is offered to an employee where there is no reduction in base salary or scheduled hours, and where the employee is not required to commute more than 30 miles further than the employee’s present commute.

THE DEAL CONSUMMATED IN JULY, SO THE CLOCK IS TICKING THROUGH THE END OF JUNE 2009.

Many are encouraging lawsuits, lobbying the new administration, group lawsuits...Jerry Del Colliano is even offering expert testimony regarding the disemboweling of the once great broadcast industry.

If you're on the sidelines, you have nothing to lose. How about a government bailout of radio...not of consolidators...but of listeners
limiting broadcast ownership to 7AM, 7FM, & 7TV
nationwide?

> The NY POST story goes on to say: "CLEAR CHANNEL was built through a series of acquisitions that
> generally weren't consolidated very well," said one source, alluding to the late '90s buying spree
> that put more than 1,000 stations under the CLEAR CHANNEL umbrella, making it the nation's largest
> radio company.

Does anybody else remember, back in the late 1990s, when Clear Channel's corporate web page had a cartoon showing a group of kids at a candy store?

Hurricane CC... gonna leave a MASSIVE path of destruction again! Nice to seem them doing their part to help boost the economy...NOT! It all comes down to $$$ and the sooner the world realizes that money is the root to all evils, this world will become a better place.

Money is not the root to all evils.

"The love of money is the root of all evils."

Money would not be loved if it was not needed to make this world tick... so there is your root. LOL... Oh well tho... it is what it is and all we can do is make the best of it. The nest few months after this "restructuring" should prove to be interesting. Pity goes out to all those who are affected... some GREAT talents will be lost.

If you have contacts in the news media (outside of radio of course), you should pass this story on to them. I did and got quite a reaction.

how about Seven -Eleven -Ninety/??for MCRadio??
Radio Convienence Station?fast programming Radio!!

It's just a matter of time before we all have Wi-Fi in our hands and cars. When that day arrives, it'll be time to decide what to do with the FM broadcast band. Why have a bunch of obsolete-yet-expensive FM radio stations (or AM, for that matter) when a few servers can do the job cheaper and better? I mean, the programming's already syndicated. Here are a couple of interesting questions: How many 3G Wi-Fi users could fit in the FM broadcast band? How much would the FM broadcast band be worth if put up for bids like some of the analog TV frequencies were?

Bailout specialists - Bain Capital Partners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bain_Capital

Scary.

The difference between the broadcast bands and any of the up-and-coming wireless Internet access services (i.e. WiMax) will be that the Internet access services will require some kind of subscription fee. Whether people actually appreciate that broadcast radio is free remains to be seen.

Well, there goes "necessity"! Anyone want to try for "public interest and convenience"?

Whether people actually appreciate that broadcast radio is free remains to be seen.

Until Obama gets us out of the bush, free is a very good price.

I think that the dominoes are going to continue falling for quite some time, but if there is a marked turnaround within the next four years, the Obama administration will certainly get the credit.

wi-fi only offers "NATIONAL PROGRAMMING" with added fees. It doesn't solve the problem of lack of local service. low powers aren't the answer either.

Break up the clusters, move the stations back to their local cities of license, reduce the number of stations. If some owners want to carry a day of syndie programming fine. If others want to run OTTO, fine as well. Many will opt for FULL SERVICE LIVE Local as a community based operation serving LOCAL listeners and ADVERTISERS!. The local Business owner will be better served on the local orientated station, rather than having his spot tucked into Tesh or Rush. McRadio can hustle the national ads. Bob's bakery is better served when the local talent is taking about how yummy the turnovers are.

Oh, did I mention LOCAL?

Skeptical wrote:
Whether people actually appreciate that broadcast radio is free remains to be seen.


A lot of things are free. The question is are they worth taking.

rule#1:free is a very good price!
rule#2:you get what you pay for!!Listening to commercials is a price to pay!!

A lot of things are free. The question is are they worth taking.

FREE SILVER DIME......

(just pay 2 dollars shipping)

FREE 30 day MEGA HERBAL FAT BUSTING SUPPLEMENT.....

(just pay 15.98 shipping and handling)

FREE probably NOT worth taking in these situations...........

Radio is, unless owners are buried in debt service.

hey some people don't mind listening exclusively to out of market programs, spots, nat news, with the pre recorded weather drop provided by the local tv station. That OK. but if that is spread across th dial with few LOCAL options, THAT is not so good.

radio listening taxand advertizing on radio tax might be coming soon to pay for tax cuts and the deficite spending!!!??

According to The Wall Street Journal today a lot of salespeople will be shown the door. Clear Channel has already been hammering the commission percentages paid in the past couple of years, and sales folks essentially write their own checks, so does this help?

So, no one speaking to the local listener.....

no one hitting the streets to sell to the local businessman.....

the few remaining having their percentages trimmed......

audio spots urging the business community to
"reach 500 thousand potential listeners, Call K*** radio and see how we can help your business...."

Passive broadcasting
Passive sales

There's a sure fire business plan to increase revenue.....

I remember when I was at Tektronix and the economy/sales were down, I was told by a high up manager that when sales are down, you don't get rid of your sales force. You might make some changes but you don't get rid of it or even pare it down. That is when you really need them out selling.
Of course, that was in the mid-80's when things were different. In fact, we started a program called "Feet On The Street" where they took some of their engineers and put them on the street selling (after some training) just to get more sales people on the street quickly. I know some who went into that program actually moved around the country and did do some good things.

You don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Just a comment on a couple of things said here. Roger suggested that stations that were moved be moved back to their original markets. That also dove-tails with the "Main Studio Rule" which had required stations to have an operating studio in their city of license. The rule was changed with the 1996 communications act, and this allowed operators to consolidate studios for several stations. This was good, because it helped stations that were marginal or losing money. It also improved service. Case in point:

I have a friend who owns stations in Sheridan, Wyoming. 25 miles from his town there is a town of 125 people with a full Class C license assigned there. Clearly a town of 125 people can't support a Radio station. But, he was able to apply for the license, build a full C facility and provide a new format for a large area of Wyoming where there was little or no Radio service by locating the studio for that station with his others in Sheridan. They sell it as a regional signal. There are a lot of stories similar in one way or another with this one. All consolidation wasn't and isn't bad. What is bad is some of the people doing the consolidation and the direction they've been taking our business.

Just got this (Monday) from a friend at Clear Channel...

"Got a memo this afternoon:

Mandatory staff meeting at 3PM tomorrow in the conference room.

It's interesting that the entire staff of six Clear Channel radio stations can fit into a conference room that is approximately 20 x 40.

There was a time when, even this market, it took 120+ people to staff six radio stations."

By Tuesday at 3 pm, they may be able to hold that meeting in station van.

How about a phone booth.

It's not going to take mobile wi-fi to up-end radio, because it's no longer necessary to reach cars in real time to fight that battle.

If most radio outside morning drive consists of pre-recorded announcers introducing pre-recorded music interrupted by pre-recorded commercials, then radio has now opened the back door wide for podcasters to walk in.

In the past seven years, I've segued out of radio, into producing podcasts serving industrial niches. One is the resource/mining sector, which I no longer do, but I currently produce three daily podcasts for the aviation and aerospace industry. Many of my (20K-plus) daily listeners say they stick their iPods in the car, and listen on the way to work, so they can reach the office with a head start on their day. Think about the implications.

What happens when someone starts making car audio systems which can hop on your home wireless internet connection from the garage while you sleep, download content, and assign podcasts or playlists to the buttons now used for radio presets, or even mix presets among different sources?

You get in the car for the morning commute...

Button 1 is a local station (or recent feed sent either as a podcast or updated every few minutes via 3G) for traffic reports.

Button 2 is a tightly focused, 5-minute, general interest morning info package produced for your zip code, with sports, weather, no BS and light commercial load. (Or, maybe you opted for no sports - after all, it's custom.)

Button 3 is a 5-minute newscast specific to your industry.

Button 4 is a new music feature sponsored by the labels. (You KNOW they'll love this part!)

Button 5 is a playlist of favorite tunes synched from your home MP3 collection.

Button 6 is an FM radio station, but will you ever get to that button on a shorter-than-average Portland commute?

Instead of tuning into a morning radio show in the middle of a joke, or the start of a stopset, the content will start, at the beginning, whenever you push the button.

For that matter, with GPS receivers-on-a-chip now common, imagine driving this same car on vacation, and while it's parked at the motel or campground, it uses a wireless internet connection to download an audio tour of nearby historical sites or scenic attractions, and is smart enough to play them back just as you drive by each attraction, just like the parking shelter announcements on the airport shuttle buses.

Do you suppose we could also sell :10s to a restaurant or two along the way, with copy customized for time of day and today's menu special?

I was stunned when podcast listeners approached me at remotes in other cities, and told me that they're already using podcasts in place of morning radio. 60-year-old businessmen were ho-hum about the fact we were syndicated on radio, but very impressed that we were listed on iTunes, and these were not typical early-adopter types!

The time is at hand when radio transmitters and licenses that were bought for tens of millions of dollars ten years ago are now irrelevant, and will soon be for sale on the courthouse steps for pennies on the dollar. (Like their stocks are now.) CC and the other strip-miners have walked away from radio's unique competitive advantages.

There are about 59,000 audio podcasts in regular production. If 99 per cent of them are horrible, you're still left with 590 viable content "stations," all with no subscription cost. Eat your heart out, Mel!

Now, from a content producer's standpoint, if the reason you wanted to be in radio was to do something creative with that 120 seconds per hour the mic is open in a music format, how could you not be thrilled to have 5 or 10 minutes every day without all those stale Celine Dion records and Shane Company spots interrupting you? Who needs transmitters and music libraries?

Sorry for rambling, but I'm excited! It's begun, it's a rush to be a part of it, I'm already making a decent living at it, and my 2009 is on a pace to beat 2008 by 20%.

It's time to stop mourning radio's heyday and make some lemonade instead. The future for audio content producers has never been brighter.

From All Access this morning:
CC/PORTLAND, OR Online PD DAVE OSBORNE exits after 13 years with the company, handling five stations in the cluster, and working on interactive projects for CLEAR CHANNEL's national network and some even bigger projects for stations like KIIS/L.A. and WHTZ/NEW YORK.
More to come...

Just heard that they've just announced big changes at Clear Channel Tampa, word is a pd there is reassigned to mid-days now and others have been released. Not confirmed.

Egor....got the same email just minutes ago for all of the CC stations here in Fresno.....interesting, hoping I didn't move 800 miles for nothing!

....DAVE OSBORNE exits after 13 years with the company, handling five stations in the cluster, and working on interactive projects for CLEAR CHANNEL's national network and some even bigger projects for stations like KIIS/L.A. and WHTZ/NEW YORK.

CUT THE FAT!!! NO ROOM FOR SLACKERS!!! IF YOU CAN'T PULL YOU SHARE OF THE LOAD, HIT THE BRICKS!!!

Obviously makes this cluster MUUUUUCH better!

geeeez! hope listeners vote by resetting radios nationwide to skip CC stations

It was just announced CC/Fresno GSM John Sterling was shown the door.

Hadn't he seen it before? What did he think of it?

1850 jobs at CC cut today........that is roughly 9% of our company! Ouch

Just heard second hand that as of the 10 oclock meeting at CC this morning, only the Z100 PD was let go from the programming side of the slate. Apparently there were a number of cuts on the sales and promotion side, including the national sales manager.

haven't been here in a while. but CC offices in minneapolis have let go a lot of people in every department. 5 sales people(1 national), 2 programmer/personalities, 3 promo heads, a handful of part timers, and a guy that pulls triple duty... so far. my predictions have been coming true, we'll see how much more happens.

http://www.redandnater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=71471

Three words to watch for:

"Got a minute?"

CLEVELAND RADIO WTAM host Mike Trivisonno mentioned on his show that about 50 people in the building got the axe... haven't been able to verify it other than BIG cuts at CC Cleveland....

So far, I know for sure that at least 10 of my friends in different markets are packing.....

This shakeout might make the company leaner, but certainly not better............

"Got a minute?"


Nope sure don't, gotta go!

"Just heard second hand that as of the 10 oclock meeting at CC this morning, only the Z100 PD was let go from the programming side of the slate."

Since this is the guy who has pitched up Z100's music to a ridiculous level, this move makes sense. Z100 will be in much better hands, with Tommy Austin back in control.

Those are the most dreaded three words in the world, Tom, a simple harbinger of certain doom. I have been summoned thus by the PD or GM more than once at more than several stations, and it wasn't pretty.

Two of the PDs wielding the ax were (are) my friends; their hands were tied and both were horrified and chagrined to have to carry out their duties. However, one doesn't shoot the messenger.

Then, there was the GM of a legendary, very successful and highly regarded radio station in late 2000. My pal. We'd known each other and worked together for 21 years, dating from the time when he was just another AE, or, actually, an outstanding one. (And that's how a sales person becomes a general manager.)

"Do you think it's time for me to leave?"

"Yes, I do."

Case closed.

Don't take it personally; it's business or a budgetary cut. Right. All bets and friendships are off when you hear "Got a minute?" When your number's up, there is a bullet in the chamber with your name on it.

I'd like to dedicate this next song to all the gargantuan radio corps that are faltering so badly now, even on the verge of collapsing, especially, well, you know who, the leader of the pack, the gold standard. They dug their own graves, in addition to those of many an innocent bystander. Collateral damage can be a terrible problem. Bonus Dead Dog Dedication to what the radio biz became in their hands, in the wake of deregulation, downsizing and consolidation, a ghost town, a vast wasteland.

It's The King with a very special version of Timi Yuro's "Hurt." If you are offended by the 7 magic words that the late George Carlin spoke of so eloquently, do not listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPmbSLEavL8

It's all in good fun. Don't take it personally.

Ahh, Jeffrey, you and I got the same one from the same hand-tied gent didn't we?
I remember the near tears in his eyes and I know it pained him greatly in both cases.
Wishing you all the best as usual!

Just got this report on Clear Channel Birmingham.......



Eliminated All Programming staff in Tuscaloosa and Gadsden

Eliminated PD at The Vulcan in Birmingham

Eliminated Marketing Director in Birmingham

Eliminated 6 sales people in Birmingham

All Tuscaloosa and Gadsden programming to be originated in Birmingham.

Eliminated some folks in Montgomery too with some of those job duties shifted to Birmingham.

Surprisingly all Birmingham Sales Managers survived

But Tuscaloosa and Gadsden are gone!

............so it looks like some smaller markets really got axed!

How about Portland? I've got a few buddies that work there, at least I hope they're still there!

...2, 3, so what happened at 3 o'clock? I see that Tom Watson, Director of Operations, Cumulus Media/Southern California is out. Would that be OUR Tom Watson?

A few people where let go at RCR a few days ago.

Radioxpert: You'll be pleased to note that Z100's pitch has been dropped to 2%.

Drop me an email, I have a couple questions for you. It's mattjones at clearchannel dot com.

Matt: Thank you for the report! This is wonderful news! I'll drop you an email.

THEY FEEL YOUR PAIN

From All Access this morning:

Mark, Randall Mays Take Pay Cuts
Downsizing Salaries, Bonuses
A day after laying off 1,850 employees, CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS CEO MARK MAYS and CFO RANDALL MAYS presented the SEC with a public filing that lowered their compensation, trimming their base salaries by more than 40% this year and slashing the size of their bonuses.

The MAYS brothers will receive $500,000 each this year in base salary; before MARK MAYS was due $895,000, while RANDALL was due $875,000. After this year, their minimum base salaries rise to $1 million.

According to the WALL STREET JOURNAL, bonuses for each MAYS will based on earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization, instead of operating income before depreciation and amortization, noncash compensation, and gain or loss on disposition of assets. The new benchmark for bonuses is if the company achieves more than 90% of its earnings targets -- instead of at least 80% of its operating income targets.

The bonus will be $2 million for each if the company meets 100% of its target. The better CLEAR CHANNEL does, the bigger the bonus, with a bonus ceiling of $4 million. Under the old schedule, the bonus started at $6.63 million for achieving 80% of operating income.

The company called the move "an act of leadership during a time when the company is facing challenging economic conditions."

"An act of leadership?"

...more like a continuing act of terrorism on the public's airwaves and the Americans who had careers in the business. Remember, we're radio people, we know smoke and mirrors when we see 'em.

Note that next year their salaries will be over $100,000 more than they were last year. "After this year, their minimum base salaries rise to $1 million."

This is all being done to stop Obama from reinacting the "Fairness Doctrine". With the likes of Rush receiving a multiple year, multi million dollar contract they can't afford the Fairness Doctrine.

So to show time are in tough times they are cutting their wages for basically one year, "because the economy is so tight." There is nothing in their for reduction in perks, i.e. Super Bowl tickets, etc.

The one item that seems to be consistant in the layoffs is that the talent will be local, all of the programming will be national.

If you look at the list, I don't know if there are PD's anywhere left on the local level.

In addition the advertising seems to also going national. This part might make sense in that people were receiving commissions for locally booked ads, that were based on the Clear Channel national lobbying.

I have said in other posts that this shoe was always going to drop. Yes there are poeple out there in sales that love to hustle and take the challenge, but there are more that want those "mortgage company" accounts that run so many times that as long as the ads run they never really need to work another day in their life, and there was to much of that going on, but it appears not at Clear Channel any more.

To my Clear Channel friend, Dave Osborne, there is life after CC. Enjoy the time off with your wifw and family. You won't be on the beach long.

Thank you Val! Things are great and I'm enjoying some much needed time off. I can't believe how fast 13 years can go by. Hope you're well!!

SUPERDAVE! I LOVE YOU! To think that you started at CC when I WAS THERE! THAT was a long time ago!!

You'll find somethin' great, man...I know it!

S.L.

superdave...aka "dangerous dave" sorry to hear about your exit, but "stuff" happens. maybe now you'll come down to this end of the valley for a visit?

Lander! Loving you!

Captain Crunch!!! Great to hear from you! I'm going to try to get down that way sometime this week or next. My option is sleeping in...tough decisions these days :-)

Check out the latest National Syndication of CC stations on Radio-Info! Is it true? Who knows, but sounds about right.

It's on the Los Angeles board

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,119147.0.html

dave,
WTF? keep in touch.

WTF indeed. It's all good my brother! I'll be in town next week to say hi. I'd offer to do some gardening for you but I'm sure you have that covered :-) Miss you dude!

Hay andy do you have a good crop going. just kidding. how are you these days. regards steve taylor.

did they turn off the HD noise generators on the AM stations?that type of I think restructuring is a code word for majormstaff reductions???\

stevethedj,
pendejo!

SUPERDAVE?????

More like "Unemployed Dave".

> did they turn off the HD noise generators on the AM stations?

The HD Radio exciters would probably be amongst the least likely to get laid off at Clear Channel. They don't take days off, they rarely call in sick, and I don't think that they very frequently ask for raises. More importantly, they are very gun-ho about the "Digital Installation Plan."

"Bunsofsteel" (reeeally...I wanna see): YOU are a RAAAAZOR!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!! "UNEMPLOYED DAVE"!! DUDE...seriously! You have GOT to get into comedy. HA!!

Now it's TVs turn, word of cuts at KGW-TV/Channel 8 today. They're keepin' count at http://www.oregonmediainsiders.com/


Sounds like the helicopter is on shaky ground too!

Z100's promotion director was also let go a few days.

"Z100's promotion director was also let go a few days."
So, in a few days, he'll be back. Just had a couple days off.

wow, scott. what are you up to these days? i met you once when i was an intern at rosie, i probably made you feel old when i told you i listened to you as a kid.

and val, i met you once when i was a child. i just found my "booty slap" cd the other day, it blew my mind. are you still in radio?

I don't believe that we had an intern named "Specialed" at Rosie.

Oh...wait a minute...yes. We did.

620 plese needs to be restructured back into Super 62 oldies!!!!again!!!this coming tuesday?? Eenough of the so-called progressive talk shows!!wasn't the Mission Accomplished??

wasn't me. i started going by special ed in 02 when i worked in dallas. but i did try to get on your show a lot when i was 13-14 haha.

> wasn't the Mission Accomplished??

The missions are ratings and ad revenue. As long as Clear Channel is winning, they're not going to stop fighting.

As I said, not too facetiously, in another thread, let pirates show up on unused frequencies to do oldies or whatever.

1290--KKSL vacated this a few years ago. During the day, the frequency is clear. I would be pretty thrilled if somebody built an efficient antenna in his backyard for this frequency. If they played some 80s music in AM Stereo, it would be even cooler, as it would be like hearing WFBG (Altoona, PA) all over again.

1610, 1660, 1670, 1690, or 1700--take your pick. I left 1680 off the list because there is a station that often manages to skip in, albeit weakly, during the afternoons. Perhaps, some adventuresome HAM might put some extra loading on his 160m vertical for extracurricular activities in this part of the spectrum (as my buddy Brian did).

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle o' rum!!

Even though there is only one FCC person in town, what makes you think they wouldn't get shut down? I think the people running the Gresham Emergency station on 1610 would not be happy with your desires (not that anyone listens to it).

I'm sure that eventually, they would get shut down. Just ask the folks from 96.7 KPRA. It is just a question of when. KPRA lasted for over a year, despite having a regular schedule and letting volunteers into the station!

Wasn't it KPRA that got shut down only after they started getting media attention? Seems to me I remember Willamette Week or some other local paper doing an article on them. And I believe KPRA was the pirate soliciting donations on the air. I think in recent years the FCC has been reluctant to go looking for trouble in the absense of an interference complaint, but doing fundraising on the air and getting yourself written about in the paper is just felony stupid.

> Seems to me I remember Willamette Week or some other local paper doing an article on them.

Yep; I remember reading that article. Soooo, don't ask for money on the air. Don't try to get the attention of the Willammette Week. If you live in Gresham, don't transmit on 1610 kHz. But, above all, have fun.

I've heard quite a number of unlicensed stations in Portland over the years. The vast majority of them had quite small coverage areas and never hurt a soul.