The Cumulus War Against Itself

Cumulus Media -- the 64 cent stock is all Harvard grad Lew Dickey, Jr. has to show for 13 consolidated years of radio -- is at war with itself.

This is my opinion.

When a company has to revert to tactics that inhibit productivity at a crucial time and dissipate the good will of their employees, it can only be due to desperation.

Cumulus is in free fall.

The stock price is in the toilet. The value of the company worth less than ever. The future mortgaged by overspending and now the employees in a sense pistol whipped because they need their jobs and the ruling Dickey family needs cheap labor.

It's not just about Cumulus or the Dickeys for that matter.

Clear Channel does the same thing. You don't earn the name "Evil Empire" by handing out gold watches. Hell, Clear Channel doesn't even give out Timex's when they're kicking employees to the street.

Citadel has flushed so much talent out of its company that it has no choice but to recycle its programming and run infomercials.

There's also a group of what I call bottom feeders who want to be Clear Channel and get their mean off by playing John "Slogan" Hogan (heaven forbid!).

Let me put my Dr. Phil hat on for a second.

These failed CEOs have self-esteem problems.

They must because they don't seem to like the people they hired (unless in Cumulus' case, they previously worked for a uniform company).

They are cruel -- cutting off lives, livings, careers - hurting families. You might counter that they really have no choice but to let these folks go and I would add, "but they do have a choice as to whether they take raises, bonuses, perks and the others things they all do even while they are firing employees".

They have anger issues -- I'm still being Dr. Phil here -- because why would you continue to hurt careers and families when you don't have to -- and when you absolutely don't have another option but to dismiss employees, compassion is missing in action.

My point is that most consolidation CEOs have run their companies from the beginning. Had virtually all the power. Puppet boards of directors. Until now, money flowed in from Wall Street banks to refinance and cover up the suspiciously overvalued prices they paid for their assets.

Clear Channel people are ticked that the founding Mays family took the money and ran -- twice -- while mixing the Kool-Aid employees were asked to drink.

Citadel employees have complained to me (and I've documented it in this space) that their leader Farid "Fagreed" Suleman was getting rich while the company was tanking and that his minion, Judy Ellis, was more than tough in her dealings with fellow humans.

Saga CEO Ed Christian -- although brilliant for avoiding running up company debt -- is criticized by some of his employees for making them take a 5% pay cut while he takes a pay raise.

What the hell is going on here?

But the Dickeys are presently number one with a bullet (to borrow a Billboard term) when it comes to waging war against itself.

You already know they "spy" on their employees with cameras installed at their radio stations. The sales meetings conducted via Skype appear to discourage the attendees more than inspire them to higher sales.

The Dickeys are being aggressive in trying to put down the employee unrest that threatens the company’s financial production at a critical time.

Here are their latest tactics:

1. Email surveillance
One employee reports “on the just completed Market Manager weekly beating conference call, John Dickey of the Dickey Ding Dong management team informed us all that Richard Denning the corporate counsel was creating a disclaimer for the bottom of all corporate emails, that prohibits them from being forwarded and or copied.” By the way, to show you how well watching employee email has worked, you’ll note all the corroboration from Cumulus workers in this piece are presumably from personal email accounts. Guess you can't keep people behind the Berlin Wall try as you may.

2. Sales meetings that employees fear
Cumulus employees that have contacted me definitely don’t appreciate the tenor and tone of the weekly half-hour spy sales meetings. Some say these meetings are enough to make you cry. Meanwhile, it never occurred to the Harvard-trained Lew Dickey that the best sales meeting may be no sales meeting at all. When I worked for the Dale Carnegie organization, they taught a meeting concept where all participants remained standing and the “business” was conducted more swiftly with less time wasted. Hey, it’s an idea.

3. Gaining needless unfair advantage with non-competes
It’s bad enough that Cumulus has every advantage over its employees -- a bad economy, a declining radio industry with fewer jobs available at other companies, etc. But it continues to make employees sign non-competes sometime up to one year making leaving even harder if they could find a job in the media business. It’s arguable as to whether these non-competes would even stand up in court but who has the money for court? Everything is stacked in the favor of Cumulus.

4. Romper room sales tactics
Here’s how a Cumulus salesperson describes the situation: “No one should be allowed to speak to their employees the way they do. It's never enough ... and the big wheels in Atlanta can't figure out why we are not closing 4 new accounts a month. Lets see, make 80 calls, 40 contacts, 20 appointments and close 4. That's the formula. With 12-18 sales people tripping over themselves calling the same people who are screaming at us to take them off our "list" ... try to find a number not called … and, oh, make sure to find elephant accounts ... is this a safari? Oh, and how (a) … veteran who is subjected to managers listening to their calls and evaluating them? If I don't know how to prospect by now, I should not be doing this.. I was told I said too many ummms, and not following the script to the letter .. lets see, for years a million dollar plus a year in sales with great client relationships, and doing all the things it takes to be a good account exec but suddenly I need to be re-trained?”

5. Commission cuts
One Repeater Radio Reporter checked in to say, “I have a friend who sells advertising for Cumulus, and she is severely suffering financially since the most recent pay cut where 'corporate' took 4 clients off her list. (This equals about $1200 a month off her commission.) Also, a couple of months ago, 'corporate' fired 7 people in the Savannah office. This is a travesty, and I truly feel that this company is EVIL!” When the seven people in the Savannah office were fired, it was actually 7% of the entire Cumulus workforce. Furthermore, they cut back all part time employees to minimum wage and cut out their benefits. Lew Dickey then awarded himself the half mil... and his BROTHER was given a bonus of 150,000 dollars!”

This is war.

Not with new media.

Not with Google.

Not with competitors.

Civil war within the borders of Cumulus.

The generals have dug in for the long haul – if from now until the next broken bank loan covenant is what you call the long haul.

The loyal soldiers have nowhere to turn but the unemployment line.

Every once in a while someone will say why do we care so much about the way consolidators run their companies?

Radio CEOs have had all the power they could ask for and now look where it got them.

There are lots of ways to look at the results of radio consolidation.

Penny stocks.

Loss of local radio.

Mass exodus of talented radio people.

Inability to keep up with generational preferences for new media.

Handful of CEOs dominating the markets like dictators.

Mortgaging the future of radio to investment banks.

But the sorriest, saddest and most representative indicator of just how far radio CEOs have fallen is to see this and other examples of how they routinely get away with abusing their employees and creating toxic workplaces.

Radio people know the industry's problems and know how to get started solving them.

It's employers like Cumulus who are standing in the way of their own survival.

Wall Street couldn't save a consolidator.

But radio people can't save radio CEOs from themselves.

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Iverson interviews Jarrett

Very interesting BBC online interview with Keith Jarrett by Ethan Iverson available for the next few days. You can listen to it for the next five days, after which it will be available as a transcript on Ethan’s blog


It’s fascinating in particular to hear Jarrett talk about his early days and his work with the American Quartet. For someone so famously temperamental Jarrett sounds very relaxed and it’s definitely one of the best and most lucid interviews of his that I’ve heard. I’m sure he was aware that he was being interviewed by a high level musician rather than the usual jazz journalist type and he responds very well to a discussion about music as opposed to being questioned about things peripheral to the music itself.

For me, I enjoyed the first part of the conversation more than when it got into a discussion of Jarrett’s own solo concerts. After a while I just find Jarrett’s self-absorption to be wearing. He seems to have little or no interest in anything or anyone outside his own music and his now tiny musical circle, and as you can hear in the interview, he never lets a compliment go unaccepted! That’s why I found the earlier part of the interview so much more enjoyable, his discussion of his interaction with others and with the music of others just seems so much more interesting than than his fascination with his own doings. For example he describes in the interview how he discussed with DeJohnette and Gary Peacock the ‘privilege’ of being a sideman – yet as far as I can tell the last time he indulged himself in this ‘privilege’ - even on record – would be in 1975 when he played on Kenny Wheeler’s wonderful ‘Gnu High’, a recording he subsequently completely dismissed and was very scathing about in his biography. As far as I know that’s the last time, bar one recording with Paul Motian on drums instead of DeJohnette, he’s played with anybody outside his own European Quartet and his Standards Trio. As far as I can recall his European Quartet disbanded in 1979, so for the past thirty years he has only played with two other people – DeJohnette and Peacock - an extraordinary piece of self-isolation for a jazz musician.

Undoubtedly his discussion of his solo work also has musical interest, but I found it so wrapped up in his own self-regard that it made it a bit off-putting. Of course he is a genius, and I number several of his recordings as being personal ‘desert island discs’ and he’s certainly got no reason to believe anything other than the fact that he is one of the greatest living pianists and improvisers on the planet. And maybe (or perhaps certainly) he needs this isolation and self-absorption to do what he does, but still it would have been nice to learn that his musical view and interests went a bit further than the four walls of his studio and the three corners of his trio.

One final thing I noticed about the interview was the almost complete airbrushing out of existence of the European Quartet Jarrett had with Jan Garbarek. For some reason the only mention they get is when Ethan, in discussion about the interview with the BBC’s Jez Nelson, imagines how a piece played by the American Quartet would have sounded if the European Quartet had played it - he describes it as probably sounding like ‘Smooth Jazz’ (!). In the interview, as far as I can tell (I was listening on a dodgy online connection in rural France) Ethan never questions Jarrett about this band, nor does Jarrett mention it. Whether this is by accident or design – or maybe lack of space – is hard to tell. In the interview the American group is lauded to the heavens as being very influential and one of the greatest modern jazz groups, but the European Quartet was also highly influential – especially in Europe. That group had a way of playing rubato together, through changes, that has never been equalled in my opinion, and there are some incredible recordings like ‘Belonging’ which surely deserve a mention in any overview of Jarrett’s work? And in the retelling of the story of Jarrett’s own groups I can’t imagine any history that doesn’t include the American Quartet, the European Quartet and the Standards Trio. It’ll be interesting to see if Ethan mentions the group in his blog, and why they were not mentioned when he posts the transcript of the interview. Did Jarrett not want to discuss them? Did Ethan prefer not to ask about them? Or was there just not enough time?

One amusing sideline to the interview – Jez Nelson, several times in the interview, thanks Ethan for taking the trouble to go to see Jarrett and interview him for the BBC. I know of very few jazz musicians anywhere who wouldn’t give their eye teeth to have a chance to meet Jarrett, let alone have the opportunity to go to his house and talk music with him!

More on Jazz Education

I've been amazed at the huge response to my post on jazz education. Not only has there been direct responses in the comments section to the blog, but there’s also been an avalanche of responses to my various email addresses, website etc. I really didn’t know that this subject would elicit such a reaction, but I’ve been amazed....

I got one very irate response from the writer Stuart Nicholson concerning the quote from his book Is Jazz Dead? (or Has it Moved to a New Address) that I used in the post. An argument I’ve often heard by boosters of European jazz is that American jazz has been ruined at least in part by jazz education – an argument which ignores the fact that most European jazz schools are very similar to their American counterparts. However Stuart has pointed out to me that the quote I used from his book to make this point is a misrepresentation of his position and he sent me other quotes from the book to show how I had erred in using the quote in that way. And he’s right - so my apologies to him for that – I’ve removed the quote from the post and rephrased it so that it has no reference to his position on this subject.

The purpose of these posts is always to discuss the ins and outs of creative improvised music, they’re never meant to personally offend people. I remember meeting Stuart several years ago and found him to be a very nice man who was kind enough to later send me a copy of his excellent biography of Duke Ellington which I enjoyed very much so I hope he’s not too offended.

Several other reactions have suggested other aspects of the whole jazz education thing which deserve further exploration, and I’ll come back to them in a subsequent post. Thanks for all the interest and reaction – of all kinds!

Options Ahead for FM Radio

It doesn't take long to conclude that the radio industry has a big problem.

Not the recession.

Or owing too much debt to repay it.

The listener problem.

Radio groups find themselves in an impossible position these days -- a sad situation of their own making.

You might argue that there was nothing they could do about the Internet, iPods, social networking, music discovery through bit torrent sites or the popularity of cell phones and text messaging.

Then again, radio CEOs could have seen these new technological and sociological trends as opportunities.

Nonetheless, the question of what shall become of FM radio as we now know it is a valid pursuit because operating radio stations as repeaters -- or cheaply voice tracked music machines is not very compelling, not even necessary given the alternatives and certainly is not a growth business.

One of my new media clients pitching a traditional radio client just two days ago was taken aback when the advertiser said they didn't want to buy radio and when asked why the response was that it doesn't sound interesting anymore. They must be hiring inexperienced people.

This is not good.

History allows us to take some context from what happened to AM radio when FM came into prominence in the 1970's.

What's AM radio?

Well, if you're under the age of 30 you know what I am saying. AM hasn't had much to do with your life.

AM was where the action was in music, talk, news, full-service entertainment -- you name it.

Until ... FM came along.

And while the FM band had better fidelity and stereo, consumers have long proven to be creatures of convenience not audiophiles.

FM radio originally had -- dare I say it -- fewer commercials.

No clutter.

No profit even -- at least at first.

Different kinds of jocks, production values and sometimes even longer playlists back in the beginning.

The radio industry liked to think it was FM's stereo capability that was the attraction. Ask my talented friend Mike Anderson what Stereo 92 meant to a Philly station we both worked at together called WIFI (really -- they were the call letters -- who knew).

It sure as hell wasn't the stereo in spite of how we rammed that "advantage" into our listeners ears.

It is significant that talk and news didn't start to migrate to FM until FM had long matured. And even at that -- AM is where the old people are (forgive me for that). But talk radio listeners are deep into their 60's. Gen Y doesn't do talk radio -- and there is 80 million of them coming of age.

They do new media. We keep wanting to make them radio listeners and they so don't need us to do that.

Then, once FM took off, radio worked its voodoo -- that is, cut the playlists, add AM top 40 formatics and there you have it -- too many commercials, no music variety and less music. Of course, we all knew how to handle that little problem: tell the listeners we played more music, fewer commercials and greater variety.

You wonder why radio is in a mess right now with listeners -- kind of a listening recession.

I got a kick out of the trades the other day when they reported new RADAR results as indicating that although there are more radio listeners, they listen for less time.

Radio was/is stuck with a diary ratings system that never fully reported the mediums full reach and now has to settle for the People Meter, a device you would never wear, that picks up any noise and reports it as listening.

PPM is better, but far from perfect.

Oh, and over all those decades when the industry could have pressured for a better audience measurement service, it failed to support even one adequately enough to survive which is why late in the game Nielsen will find out its chances of making it are slim to none with "slim" on vacation while his show is being voice tracked.

And, for decades while radio was red hot, it dropped its collective drawers and sold air time on the cheap -- a tactic it is paying for dearly right now when radio is not hot.

All of that is behind us.

Looking ahead then, what are the viable options for FM radio over the next five years? Beyond that I am unwilling to project for reasons I will disclose in a moment. Here's a sampling:=

1. Talk on FM.
Turns out Walter Sabo was right whether you like it or not. But instead of bringing over all those over 60 year olds (sorry, again!) try for some 40 year olds. To do that politics is going to have to get a rest. You're going to have to know your local region better. Abortion is not in the "A" list rotation. Nor are the usual political topics. But texting while operating a commuter train in your market -- notice how I said your market -- could be the replacement topic. Then, shorter discussions as all of our attention spans have shrunk. Add top 40 formatics and there you have it.

2. Local news.
This is a smash hit waiting to happen but it costs so damn much money. If you do it, it has to be local and live all the time and any shortcuts will not be appreciated. Stop with the garden reports and feature stuff -- make it compelling, now, cutting-edge. Live & Local 102 sounds compelling. You can no longer say, give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world. You'll have to say, give us 2 minutes and we'll give you your world. I wanted to include this although slim to none is back again on this option.

3. Discovery channel.
That's a name radio should have thought of first before TV claimed it. Except we were busy stroking the record labels and showing them how big our --- well, our -- egos were in return for all those gold records on the wall. We created the short tail theory -- after all, radio stations played very little new music. Same today. But if you're going to be in the hit music business on FM, realize that you will likely not be the first choice of listeners for music but will hope to be picked up on People Meters everywhere. Thus, you will have to channel your deepest urges to actually discover artists and bands -- local artists and bands. There is some growth potential here, but remember no young person is trading in a mobile device for a radio even if you put the radio into that device.

4. Help.
When I worked for the legendary Dick Carr at WIP in Philadelphia, we had a great afternoon personality, Dick Clayton, who did a humorous feature called "Mr. Help Me" which he ended by saying, "tune in tomorrow and let Mr. Help Me help you". Who knew that Dick was light years ahead of even his great self? There is a place for "help" radio if it isn't done in long shows. I'm hearing it in segments -- a few minutes long -- on different topics with referrals to listeners' phones to pick up more info, to your website to see a YouTube video and lots and lots of sponsorship possibilities. Steal this idea, please!

5. Sports.
Why do you think CBS Radio President Dan Mason is going crazy building sports stations where there once was music (think WBCN in Boston for example). But play-by-play sports is not necessarily the ticket. Big Tom Bigby is the expert on this -- as good a programmer as I know of in the area of Guy Talk (also known as sports talk). His top 40 formatics are incurable which is why Bigby's stations sound so good and make money. But where there is Guy Talk there can be Gal Talk someday. Sports and the lifestyle it embraces is still a good short-term use of FM radio.

Now rest assured that I am not saying all other successful FM stations should abandon their formats.

Far from it.

There is still some juice left in them. You see what B101 does in the Philly PPM and WCBS-FM's oldies station is truly on everywhere in New York (as everyone but former CBS Radio head Joel Hollander believed). CBS-FM is number two in PPM.

But here's the gut check.

You can't have a growth industry without the next generation.

Please re-read that line.

And you can't have the generation radio neglected now that their sociological needs are satisfied by new technology.

Therefore, consider using FM in the ways I described above or continue your successful live and local format as long as you can.

Do not voice track.

Voice track at your own peril. Only you and your accountant will like it.

Advertisers, as I pointed out earlier, are figuring this out.

You are hastening the demise of radio when you continue to water it down, make it less local, less connected, devoid of personalities.

And if all of this isn't resonating, please keep in mind that my clients, the former Grand Rapids number one radio team Dave & Geri -- fired and left for dead by their consolidator owners who worship the wrong numbers -- are within striking distance of equaling their radio quarter hour numbers after only five weeks of podcasting!

Never forget where the future of entertainment is headed -- and get there early.

Or at least before it is too late.

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Pandora Radio's Box of Royalties

According to Greek mythology, Pandora opened a jar referred to as "Pandora's box", releasing all the evils of mankind.

But recently, Pandora Radio released all the evils of the music industry upon the radio industry.

Pandora Radio CEO Tim Westergren surprisingly opened Pandora Radio's box for his competitors in terrestrial radio when he came out publicly for the repeal of radio's performance tax exemption.

The record industry is pushing for the ability to tax radio further for helping them sell music. Go figure.

I have known Westergren to be a good man and he's a musician so you can tell where his sympathies lie.

Nonetheless, the way Westergren did it and the timing appear suspect to some.

You may remember that Pandora Radio itself -- wildly popular among consumers -- came this close to having to shut down.

Westergren can thank the record labels for that. They wanted to tax him into oblivion along with other webcasters. In fact the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decree was tantamount to 100% taxation just for the right to play music online.

Of course, Westergren and other webcasters cried foul.

A group led by my friend Kurt Hanson (AccuRadio and RAIN) went to bat for them and came up with an improved if not very imperfect plan to pay money they really don't have to the labels for use of their music. But it saved Pandora's bacon for sure.

Westergren was mum on whether radio should be subject to more music taxes until last week.

That's when he issued his very own fatwa on what's fair is fair.

Disappointingly, Westergren backed the artists once he had his deal in hand and he was quoted in Taylor On Radio-Info as saying: “We, along with the artists whose music we play, strongly support the establishment of a level playing field, a truly fair system, as articulated in the Performance Rights Act, H. R. 848.”

What's worse, Westergren issued a jihad (sorry about all the militant Muslim imagery) for his Pandora Radio listeners -- who number more than Sirius and XM together -- to flood House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and fight for what is right, gosh darn it.

The timing is suspicious but he tells me his motivation is pure. Here is Westergren's rationale:

1. It’s right and fair for artists to get paid.

"In spite of the difficult negotiation we’ve had, we have never advocated that Pandora not pay royalties; only that the amount be reasonable and sustainable. You’re right, they did have us for lunch – might even say we got regurgitated! But we’ve never quarreled with the fundamental notion that performance fees are fair – even though we provide a tremendous promotional benefit to musicians. I’m a long time working musician myself, so this is near and dear to me (as it is to the other working musicians at Pandora)".

2. The bill addresses the parity issue which remains a serious problem.

"I know you know all about this structural problem, but it’s still seriously unfair. The bill contains language that would hold Pandora to the same standard in rate setting as other forms for radio. We compete, as you have written about ad nauseam, with broadcast radio everywhere. There’s no reason we should pay so much when satellite and broadcast pay so little... Or nothing".

Westergren is aware that it may appear as if Pandora is trying to hurt broadcast radio, but he insists it is really not the case.

Now that he can see Pandora's performance payment schedule for years to come, Westergren's main competitor -- radio -- would be hurt by imposition of more music taxes. That's like kicking an industry when it is down -- which is fair, I guess, in a capitalistic world -- but disappointing to those who hold Pandora to a higher standard.

When I was a professor at USC, Pandora was revered as Westergren well knew. He visited several times and felt their adoration. Since many music students attended his sessions, I suspect they might agree with his stance even if they noted that the timing is sketchy.

You hear me talk about the importance of generational media and this is a good lesson.

The next generation looks up to Pandora and expects that Pandora would do what is right -- which on the surface could appear to be -- help those poor starving musicians.

They probably would not like that Pandora decided to stick up for the artists only after it had its only deal safe and secure.

By the way, we know that the starving musicians will continue to starve because of the record labels, but it sounds better than "help those starving record execs".

What won't sit well with the next generation -- if and when they figure it out -- is any perceived ulterior motive, a quid pro quo, if you will, where Pandora gets its deal and radio gets kicked while Pandora is trying to compete with them.

The timing couldn't be better for Pandora.

Pandora Radio is trying to monetize its mass audience posting its best quarter in history and now that royalties are not going to shut it down, I guess Westergren is playing hardball with its competitor.

Except he didn't need to.

Radio is its own worst enemy.

He's making a serious strategic mistake to bloody his hands with the terrestrial radio performance tax repeal issue.

All he needs to do is let radio execs kill their own business off -- as they are currently doing.

The best thing radio stations can do is stop playing so much licensed music.

They don't have the guts. Not even, a little bit. Radio execs could announce their stations will respond to local interests by adding non-published artists and bands to their playlists and that effective immediately they are adding 15% of unlicensed music to their playlists and playing 15% less of licensed music.

That would send a message loud and clear.

Not just to the labels and SoundExchange, but to radio listeners bored with the same old same old. There's a lot of good music out there besides the handful of things radio plays over and over again -- irritating their listeners.

So in the end, it's certainly Westergren's right to get tough with radio although in my opinion it is none of his business.

Pandora made it by being one step above everything else in quality and concept.

Fortunately, Westergren alone does not have the heft to swing momentum to the label's side on repealing radio's royalty exemption, but nonetheless you'd expect better from a great guy with a great product.

What's tragic about all this is that John Simson, the SoundExchange head negotiating for the labels, Westergren and many artists just don't get that they owe radio as much as radio owes them.

The radio position is -- we played the songs that made the record labels rich.

The labels position is -- that they provide the free music that allows the stations to get rich.

Both sides will go down in flames until they sit down and sincerely learn to see things from the other's point of view.

Then compromise until it hurts -- not one side, but both -- because right now radio and the music industry can't live with each other but can't exist without each other.

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Clear Channel Screwing Its Listeners

It is disturbing to know in these difficult times that Clear Channel is treating some of its listeners no better than it has been treating its employees.

For example, take those 1,100 or so poor souls who got their cars stuck at the Ionia Fairgrounds concert staged by the very popular Clear Channel country station B93 in Grand Rapids.

Clear Channel's hapless Radio President John Slogan Hogan has single-handedly undone the bond this fine radio station has built up over the years with his corporate policies -- that's my judgment, but you decide.

What happened as some may remember is that B93 had its annual outdoor Birthday Bash a few weekends back on a Saturday -- the day after a huge rain storm swept through the listening area.

B93 reportedly aired the wrong weather forecast on concert day although the National Weather Service issued a warning they could have utilized. I heard a weather service spokesperson tell the local Dave & Geri podcast Friday, July 17 that they in fact warned of flooding that eventually saw the Grand River banks rise and force B93 to send 60-80,000 people home for their own safety. B93 denies that they had the wrong forecast on the air.

What happened next -- 1,100 cars underwater and eventually stuck in the mud. They needed to be pulled out and they were to be towed at Clear Channel's expense.

So how can I call this company the Evil Empire when it agrees to pull mud clogged cars from their concert site and pick up the tab?

It's easy.

Clear Channel reneged.

Now their listeners are going to have to seek help from their insurance companies. Clear Channel is calling it an act of nature and therefore they are not responsible.

Of course it was an act of nature, but they should have seen it coming -- everybody else did.

Evil.

Here's a report from local ABC affiliate WZZM TV:

"A Grand Rapids car owner says the insurance company for B-93 is refusing to pay for damage to vehicles caught in the flood at the radio station's Birthday Bash last month. "They aren't doing anything," says vehicle owner Kelsey Freybler.

And now a Grand Rapids lawyer is organizing a class action suit against Clear Channel to help the stranded vehicle owners get something back for their troubles.

As TV 13 reported:

Attorney John Tallman thinks he can prove B-93 knew or should have known the parking lot at the Ionia fairgrounds would flood and damage hundreds of vehicles during the country music concert last month. While she was in watching the country music concert at the Ionia Fairgrounds, Kelsey Freybler says the flood in the parking lot filled her car with several feet of filthy river water. Damage is at least $2,500, but she says the B-93 insurance adjuster is refusing to pay. "He said they decided they are not going to grant the claims because it wasn't the fault of Clear Channel," she says. "I got out of it they aren't going to grant anyone's claim."

Finally, Clear Channel has arrived in its comfort zone -- court.

But the evidence against them is pretty convincing when all those San Antonio lawyers show up (to settle, that is).

At 4 am the morning of the B93 Birthday Bash telephone tapes substantiate that a staffer at the Grand Rapids National Weather Service told an Ionia County 9-1-1 dispatcher that the river was already over its banks at the fairgrounds and was rising.

The dispatcher then promptly notified the Ionia public safety officer on duty in the command center at the fairgrounds.

Still, no Clear Channel. Maybe they believed their own weather forecasts.

Look, this situation is a tragedy for all involved.

B93 is a phenomenal radio station -- it still has the power to pull 60-80,000 fans to an event in this day and age of Repeater Radio.

The employees and talent at the station feel awful over this. Many of the station employees showed up at the fairgrounds for days trying to help their listeners and loyal fans.

Most of the fans who were seeing their cars towed out of the mud were very respectful of what had happened. There were no riots. Many asked if the station was planning to have the popular Birthday Bash again next year.

Of course, that was before it became known that Clear Channel slipped off to the restroom before the check showed up.

The morale of the story:

1. Never take your eye off Mother Nature even if today's radio stations are built for Repeater Radio.

2. If you're a corporate owner, stay out of the relationship your local station has with 60-80,000 fans and let the local manager handle it. If he or she thinks they should pay for the towing, back him/her up. Chances are he/she has made you more money than he/she lost you.

3. Never dis your listeners. Or your employees. Your word is only as good as your deeds. Make good on your word.

Clear Channel would rather screw the unwitting victims of their concert management that day out of the towing reimbursement than buy what would have turned out to be cheap good will if they had kept their word and made good.

Bad press.

Bad video images.

Lawsuits.

As has become their custom, no one pushes San Antonio around even if they wind up pissing on their own shoes.

Will someone please wake Congress up before this cobbled system of Repeater Radio fails us -- the U.S. -- during the next Katrina or 9-11.

Congress needs to know that the deregulated radio system it created is now a lethal weapon that can't even guarantee the safety or viability of a local outdoor concert. Elected representatives could lose their seats over a debacle like this.

Call your Congressional representative, email, Facebook, Twitter, write a letter or show up.

Clear Channel can run from their responsibility to their fans but they can't hide from any concerned Congressman.

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The Redickulus Cumulus Employee Spying Program

Recently, I wrote a piece called "The Dickey Ding Dong School of Management" in which I commented on a memo they issued to employees that seemed to me to be disingenuous at best and abusive at worst.

Then, I heard from a reader who said he worked for Cumulus and that at a subsequent half-hour corporate sales meeting (more commonly called a spy session) using cameras and Skype, a loyal foot soldier from Dickeydom supposedly addressed my comments one by one.

I have no way of knowing for sure because Lew Dickey has yet to wire my house or office for spy cameras. But he sure as hell has given new meaning to the term "Big Brother" at Cumulus.

This all got me to thinking that if Cumulus is going to dispute my critique of the way they treat, help and respect their employees, then it might be nice if I could provide a script for their next spy meeting.

It's kind of surprising because Cumulus corporate email blocks Inside Music Media every day so how is management getting it? Their employees can read it at home, but is Lew peeking?

Oooh! Never you mind.

I'll bet Cumulus employees would like my version of a 30-minute meeting and I'm going to give my blessing to Lew and his crowd to steal anything they like -- just change those abusive and useless spy-in-the-sky sales meetings.

How are they going over with Cumulus inmates who are forced to sit in on them?

Here are some comments from a reader who says he works for Cumulus:

"We all live with the fear from management..."

"Our managers seem to live in the same fear from Atlanta because its the only way I can explain their abusive nature."

"The F bomb is freely dropped and we were told to be on alert and watch what we say in case the camera is on. (maybe management should use Cumulus approved language)".

The abuse apparently doesn't end with spy meetings, one reader claims that when Gary Pizzati visited his station. Well, let me let him tell it...

"In one of his visits, he was going on about what we should do and how and he did not care about feelings or emotions and proudly announced that he is the man who 'makes women cry'... and was serious... how condescending can you get? He also said when he is watching on skype it drives him crazy when women twirl their hair and men scratch their head...it means they are not paying attention. Sr reps are dropping like flies we are all looking. Maybe the robots are good for them... (hey robots don't cry)".

Again, I wasn't there but nonetheless there appears to be no shortage of Cumulus workers who are not responding well to the apparent arrogance and harsh tactics being employed by the Imperial Happy Family.

So, let's give the Dickeys a new way to conduct their next spy-in-the-sky meeting. After all, if they are going to quote me by name at their meetings, quote this:

1. Open the meeting by announcing that Lew Dickey and brother John are going to relinquish their salaries and compensation plans this year and work for $1 (about what their management skills are worth to Cumulus shareholders currently). Other corporate CEOs do it before they ask employees to sacrifice. Come on, Lew. You'll have a very attentive, happy and responsive captive audience for the rest of your meeting.

2. Announce that Jon Pinch will be paid less than what he is worth -- after a round of hearty laughter, Lew can add, "but it is more than our stock price". You'll have them rolling on the floor, Lew. But you've got their attention.

3. Announce that effective immediately you will no longer be telling salespeople what categories to work or how many sales calls to make or how to role-play their skills. Instead, tell them you are going to be available to provide non-binding ideas, help, copy, talent sources and expertise in special retail areas. No more telling them what it's like on the street when you're behind a desk. Tell them, "we're here to help" not obstruct.

4. Next, inform them they will no longer be punished if a client does not pay on time -- meaning, salespeople who took a haircut on their commissions because of late pay in the past will simply get paid when the station does. I'm sure they will see this as fair. Nothing punitive from now on.

5. Rescind the corporate edict to increase ad rates for the best advertisers. Your sales staff may get up on their feet and even give you a standing ovation. Your best advertisers are also having a recession. Now is not the time to put a needless hurt on them because you overpaid for your radio stations and can't come up with the interest payments.

6. Reveal that each and every salesperson will now get a one-sheet from the manager which states clearly what is expected of them in terms of job description and revenue as well as your deal for them -- commission, health care, vacation, etc.

7. Apologize for complaining about corporate problems at your weekly meetings as you did in the "Ding Dong School" memo. You, Lew, got Cumulus into trouble not your talented people. Effectively immediately tell them you are going to be a big boy, grow up and take responsibility for your bad decisions and that you promise not to take it out on your employees again.

8. Go around the room (we know, you can see everyone) and thank each person one by one by name. If you don't include some evidence of what you are thanking them for, then it will be but mere empty flattery. If you don't know their names... see, what I mean?

Now, Lew, if you're not willing to do it my way -- then continue to do it your way even though it is going over with your employees like a lead balloon.

Or...

Tear down those cameras and treat your employees with the respect they deserve.

How would you like to have them spying on you?

Wait a minute!

Move over Jon & Kate, here's your new reality sideshow.

Maybe we can call it, "Lew Dickey: It's Complicated".

Or "Big Brother".

Or "American Idle".

The reason everyone is laughing at you is because you ran Cumulus into the ground, almost bankrupted your shareholders, made your people pay for it and now you look silly playing Donald Trump.

Wait!

That's it!

"Celebrity Apprentice".

And You're Fired!

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