I have heard on excellent authority that everyone at Clear Channel Portland received an iPod for their Christmas bonus.

Every time I think of this, it makes me smile.

I don't get it. Are you smiling because iPods represent the death of radio to some people, or because the value of an iPod amounts to a lousy Christmas bonus?

Call it giving your employees the same option as the listener. It's show prep!. Do what the listener does. Instead of turning the dial, just fire up the pod.

Symbolic actually. Showing the employees the future of their jobs!

Sorry I still think MEGA-RADIO hastened the demise of the medium they killed the fatted calf...........

I think it's pretty intriguing. It shows the employees there's an alternative out there, but one that they can be part of themselves through podcasting. And it demonstrates the limitations of the iPod, namely, the lack of immediate local content or live interactivity--which shows how you can compete with the pod. It's certainly a reality check, and a lot more generous than $20 in Safeway trade and a ham.

Turkey at Hubers makes me obscure, as well as sleepy. I was smiling because I do believe that the iPod will be seen historically as the tipping point in the demise of the radio industry as we knew it.

Having worked for NBC (oft rumored to stand for No Bonus at Christmas)it struck me as a decent value bonus. I too have seen too many 20 pound turkeys stacked in the conference room.

By late this afternoon, I reverted to 1984 and decided CCU will probably now require all employees to download podcasts from the head pods. They can nod off at night to motivation speechs from headquarters.

"I think it's pretty intriguing. It shows the employees there's an alternative out there, but one that they can be part of themselves through podcasting."

Major radio entity builds aggragation portal and client software (or deal with Apple and iTunes).

Content creators can get distribution and some air time through both the portal and selected stations, where it makes sense.

Listeners get aired content for free. Listeners either want it commercial free, or more of it, or both and subscribe.

Enter the subscription podcast.

Paying users get it delivered as soon as possible, commerical free, etc... maybe they get bonus material, that is otherwise filled with spots.

Non paying users get the broadcasts, delayed archives are are denied automatic daily / weekly update capability. They get spots, etc... Maybe reduced bit rates. Something to differentiate the two.

Now stations have pools of content to choose from, content creators can get paid, radio gets paid, and ends up not having to build it's own content, maybe freeing up dollars for quality people to promote / add context, relevance, etc...

Daily iPod programming differs little from live programming. Sure, sports events, etc... work best live, but most everything else works either way!

I've got mine set to grab several shows each week. At most it's a one day delay. For talk, it's an annoyance. For music programs, information, humor, etc... it's just great! In fact, it's better because it can be consumed on my time.

Frankly, that's worth paying for. The trouble is too many distributed payment centers. An aggragator can collect for numerous shows, make some money, and more importantly, make recurring show fees affordable and easy to manage.

Lots of value add potential too.

Imagine your favorite talk show, including the text data associated with their show! One can read the articles and information while listening, or after the fact.

New artists introduced on your music program. Host plays tunes, gives context, etc... uploaded along with the show is artwork, background info, bios, short videos, etc...

The beauty of the pod is having video, text, audio all in one device! I regularly read novels on mine, while listening to lots of different music. Music comes mostly from new artists willing to let me sample some tracks, my CD's and the occasional digital purchase. (only if DRM free!)

Bought a number of albums and books this year, I would have never considered otherwise.

This is what radio used to do... it still can, but it does need to invest in ways to leverage these portable media players.

Imagine the above, quickly uploaded with your morning coffee! Pay an extra buck, get news, reviews, maybe a sample book, new tune, etc... maybe get some for free, maybe just upload your subscription right then and there too.

Ink a deal with Starbucks. They are moving into content distribution. It's a perfect match! Each store gets a networked device that can quickly upload data to portable media devices, memory card, something... Maybe just the iPod, because it's characteristics are known.

The pod works in the car, office, on the go, walking, late, early, whenever. Filling it is where the vacuum is.

People fill their own pods, but they know what is on there. Having it filled, is essentially the same value proposition radio brings. Too good of a match to ignore, IMHO.

Think about it: What's the difference between a VT, uploaded early in the morning for airing that day, and a multi-media package delivered in the same fashion, to be consumed later that day...

Nothing, but perception. Manage that perception and everything else, being done every day, right now, works! Given that then, the iPod is no longer a competitor, but something to be leveraged.

Oooh...sounds like "Nightmare on Macadam Avenue" to me!

More egg nog? Certainly...thank you...

Clear Channel are idiots, if they were smart, they would give everyone a ZUNE. A Zune has a radio on it, IPODS do not.

I would rather get the Turkey.

Me too Rog! I liked getting the turkey. I haven't got one or anything for years now.

Ya, you can even get 'all white meat turkeys' or all dark...cause of * technology *!
Just like the IPOD.

I have some 300 tunes on my IPOD that aux plugs into my radio and works great , but on a long trip I might get tired of hearing them , so when I am traveling in the Columbia Gorge on the way to Portland, I dont bother with listening to Goldendale, or the Dalles broadcast stations, I just turn on Sirius and punch what ever I am in the mood for.

When I get to Troutdale I sometimes like to listen around to commercial radio in Portland, but the problem is when I dont get exactly what I want or come across some annoying spots, I go back to Sirius or the IPOD.

Its a wonderful life.

Well back to the subject of a bonus, at least they got something. I was working at a station about 3 years ago in a smaller market where we had been able to turn a million dollar loser to a nice profit maker. But when I turned in the paperwork for bonuses for the whole staff the ownership wouldn't do it. It was less than $5000 that I was asking for.....It made me realize what A**holes they were. I will never forget it. I did let the staff know what I had tried to do and that I had not been allowed to do it. To this day I know many on that staff that will run through a brick wall for me....

> Clear Channel are idiots, if they were smart, they would give everyone a ZUNE. A Zune has a radio on
> it, IPODS do not.

In my opinion, the selection of an IPOD over a ZUNE was a brilliant idea. IPOD is the name most associated with "MP3" players (note deliberate use of quotes here). By giving away IPODs, the point is made that all of the people that one sees using IPODs or hears talking about IPODs are in a world of personal entertainment of which broadcast radio is not a part. The young people who are growing up with these IPODs might not even have a thought of consuming Clear Channel's broadcast offerings because they have grown accustomed to the idea that audio programming is downloaded from web sites and played on IPODs.

To some degree, the message sent out to the Clear Channel employees is left up to interpretation. A person who sees all management as Ebenezer Scrooge might interpret the message to be: "Your job function will soon be obsolete. The employment office is down the street. Merry Christmas! (Bah, humbug!)" However, less cynical observers might see the message as: "The entertainment world is changing because of these new devices! Something has to be done to keep listeners from abandoning broadcast radio en masse. Otherwise, the billions of dollars of value contained in our broadcast licenses is going to evaporate and our company will go down the toilet! Marketing and programming guys take note!!!"

I'd like to share my own opinion on this. I listen to my ZUNE in my car when I get the urge to listen to a specific song or artist but not day in and day out. I prefer to listen to those stations which offer a live and local show/presentation of the music I like. I've listened to satellite radio and it is the same as my ZUNE, loads of good music but dry in presentation. The Show is the Thing. If you want to keep listeners listening them give them something to listen to and not some IPOD on shuffle, anyone can do that. Make the program entertaining and keep it live and local. IMHO

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thanks to my iPod, I've almost completely eliminated the need to listen to the radio. I've got just shy of 4800 songs, and I've got it hard wired and mounted in my car right at my fingertips for when I've driving, and when I want to listen at home, I take it out of my car and plug it into my home set up. In fact, last night as I was sitting in my jetted tub sipping on a sud, I turned on the radio in the bathroom for a little music, and it was nothing but commercials, every station. It cemented for me the fact that life is better with the iPod as compared to the old days of channel surfing to avoid the commercials. Although corporations like Clear Channel have done plenty to ensure the demise of their own industry, it will be the iPod that renders radio useless except for a niche base of listeners that will remain.

Radio921 sez "I did let the staff know what I had tried to do and that I had not been allowed to do it."

If I were management and I heard about this, I would have fired you. For cause. You chose to intentionally make management - your employer - look bad in the eyes of the staff. Totally unprofessional.

"unprofessional" yes.
cool yes.
Cool always trumps professional.
Go radio921, you are why there are still some good radio people left in this crappy biz.
I woulda given you a raise for creativity!

You know, if you give little spiffs out of appreciation throughout the year an end of the year "BONUS" isn't necessary. To do nothing at all shows the true nature of the beast.

Doesn't beat the time we had a christmas party. Management wouldn't allow it after hours at the station. The office manager set it up at a local restaurant. we all had to reserve and pay for dinner in advance. The night girl was fired the weeek of the party but was still invited to attend because she had already paid for dinner. I paid for dinner, but wound up working her shift the night of the party..... As Red Buttons used to say......

I never got a dinner..........

Tdanner what you don't know is how it was told. It wasn't "Hey everyone the company wouldn't give us a bonus..." So I understand what your saying. But I always believe you have to stand up for what you believe. If you don't then, you are less of a person. I have always stood up for what I believe. Thats why I have been forturnate to win everywhere I go. Because people know how I lead and they give me 100%....And I am unafraid to recognize them and reward them as best I can...

Tdanner what you don't know is how it was told. It wasn't "Hey everyone the company wouldn't give us a bonus..." So I understand what your saying. But I always believe you have to stand up for what you believe. If you don't then, you are less of a person. I have always stood up for what I believe. Thats why I have been forturnate to win everywhere I go. Because people know how I lead and they give me 100%....And I am unafraid to recognize them and reward them as best I can...

Absolutely agreed.

Why do anything other than what you believe to be the right thing to do?

If that costs one sometimes, well then it just costs.

Not doing the right things, really is just whoring. Ok, if you are up for that, otherwise, that has a much higher longer term cost than anything any employer can do.

If you don't have Live dj's putting on great talk breaks on your station I AM GONE!!!
I don't need radio to hear music because there are too many other choices I have like IPOD, satellite radio ect. In all honesty, I will still tune into Movin 1075 when Stacey Lynne is on the air because I know she is LIVE and she is a TON of fun to listen to. I can't stand most of the music on movin 1075 but Stacey makes the station listenable by adding personality. Stacey Lynne Rocks, by far one of the best talents in portland. Im glad Entercom is smart enough to give her a live show because she sounds great!!
Iris on KGON, one word "AWESOME" so much fun to listen to that station would be nothing without her. I may be a minority, but I love listening to great live air talent, it makes radio so much fun to listen to. Thank you Iris, Stacey Lynne and all the other live air talents in portland for putting on a great live product and for trying to keep radio ALIVE, which is hard to do, especially since this business is headed for the crapper!

I thought Movin 107.5 was a CBS station???

Vitalogy:
Just curious, why are you so opposed to advertising? I don't know what you do for a living, but I would guess advertising in some way provides you with a paycheck. And I bet that's how you first heard of your precious iPod.
If you tune in to the radio around :20 or :50, chances are several of the station will be in a commercial break. Commercials are the reason radio is FREE! Is your attention span really that short? Give it more than 20 seconds.

Hero: I'm opposed to advertising because there is too much of it and it is annoying. When I've got a choice to listen to uninterupted music on my iPod versus the radio station that goes to break every 5th song, the choice is clear (pun intended).

Radio should consider doing ads like Google does. They are there, but do not significantly detract from the experience.

Seems to me, that has all been escalated a little too much these days. SPOTS ARE LOUD, IN YOUR FACE, ANNOYING, LIKE JUST TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW ANNOYING!

TV has the same problem. It's bad enough, I no longer watch live TV ever.

NM---Bad Idea

Previous text deleted.

Do you have jobs for all the radio people you'd put out of work should that idea be successful?

Besides, nobody (advertisers or radio stations) would agree to putting that ID on spots.

Ya, Bad Idea. If you don't like the ad's I guess the seek button works just as good without the need for a different stereo or job loss. Some spot's are just horrid though but that's on another thread.

Hey Justin, get your facts straight. Stacey works for CBS not entercom. That being said, I agree with you, Stacey and Iris are AWESOME air talents and Its great they are still getting to do a live show everyday. As far as Im concerned Portland has some great air talents, and they are mostly female. Lets not forget Inessa, who I still hear on Kink once in a while, Daria (one of my favorite talents)
Portland is loaded with Awesome female air talent. CHICKS rule the airwaves in portland!
Here is how i judge a great air talent:

After listening to their talk breaks, I ask myself, "is this the type of girl/guy I would love to have a beer with."?? If my answer is yes, than they are a great air talent, and have done an awesome job connecting with me as a listener. ANYBODY can get on the air and crack a mic, but only a selected few can connect with a listener.
You can't have a great radio station without great LIVE air talents! PERIOD!

I don't want to veer too far off topic here, but everybody has bills to pay so that they can do what they do. Even most non-commercial stations run "underwriting," which is watered-down form of advertising (i.e. the station announces that a certain business paid to sponsor its broadcasting. By law, the station self-consciously avoids telling the audience to do business with the sponsor but instead gives information on how the sponsor could be contacted.) If you want to be free of advertising, you have to pay for that privilege, say by buying music, subscribing to HBO, buying concert/sporting event tickets, etc.

Having said all this, I think that a common problem today is that stations generally don't take any measures to insure that the commercials that they air are a good fit for their format. Non-commercial stations tend to fare better in this respect because they virtually always produce all of their underwriting in-house, due to the special FCC requirements of what can and can't be in underwriting.

I strongly agree with that.

It should be permissible to set format guidelines. Said guidelines should be inclusive enough to deal with bizzare audio processing that focuses a *lot* of energy in specific audio frequency ranges.

That one approach is why I normally do not watch live TV any more. Even when I ran a compressor on my TV audio, those ADS punched through, disturbing the overall atmosphere to a point where it simply was not worth it.

Too bad really. I actually enjoy well produced television ADS. Same for radio. We have not changed so much that entertaining somebody to plug a product won't work, just as it always has. It's almost as if that costs too much, so they lose the creative people, and install a brutal audio processor to brute force what should otherwise be a reasoned effort. Reeks of cheap ass, and that's an insult really.

Prior to getting a PVR, I just watched less overall TV. With the PVR, I watch only some very specific television now. I don't know that I'll ever return to regular viewing times and places.

This is relevant to the iPod, IMHO. Escalating the AD impact, compared to the overall programming impact, is at a point where significant numbers of people are struggling with the whole value proposition.

That means, even if program content is good, potential listeners are being lost, and that's not good.

It takes an effort to populate an iPod. Radio should be able to compete with that effort, and on spontaneity. You don't get a WOW factor from stuff you know is on the pod. You do get it, when said pod is regularly filled with programming for you, which is why I wrote the above ideas. Those things could contain well produced ADS and still work, for what that's worth. (Building the infrastructure necessary to manage subscriptions is a better longer term idea though.)

Right now, that's just future stuff, for the most part, so over doing it on ADS remains very relevant to the matter of people tuning out and using pods instead.