The JC "Mothballing" -- Commentary

Since I got the word of the latest Emmis "error in judgement" (just after 10:30 on Monday) things have been poppin' at STLMedia.

As you might imagine, the phones here have been ringing almost constantly (just now slowing down) and traffic at the STLMedia MB has been unbelievable. New subscribers are coming aboard by the bucketload to see if they can make some sense of this thing.

From sources at The Powerhouse, I hear that this move has motivated an awful lot of listeners to touch base with the Mothership, as well it might.  Summarily dusting off a 25-year veteran of the market's top rated radio stations was bound to generate some calls.  Word from inside sources is that the calls are about 85% in Corcoran's favor and the volume of calls is, to say the very least, high.

JC will be paid at some rate through 2010, so, presuming he tightens his belt, he'll be okay until the Next Big Thing comes along.  Carl and Katy?  Well, no word on their "outplacement deal," but Carl has family money to fall back on.  It seems that Katy, a single Mom, is the only one who really is relying on the Severance Fairy.  Good luck to her.

UPDATE:  Katy's been hired at John Scheper's Westplex 100.7, to partner in mornings with Beau Vighn.  This will probably last three months.  Good luck to Katy.

When I first heard, well, my reaction was likely the same as many of you:  JC, the market's leading lightning rod for controversey, said/did/ate/farted something that displeased the bosses and they tossed him off the bus.

But the more I thought about it, and the more conversations I had with folks in the business, the more likely it seemed to be that this was just another (and oh so typical) knee-jerk reaction to the first PPM numbers. This very same scenario has happened in market after market, where initial PPM renderings seem to be saying that all music=good, some music with talk=not so good.

Radio managers, pay attention:  this is the first round of PPM here.  Before you make any more rash decisions, you might want to let the methodology settle down. I would presume that, if this trend keeps up (we get monthly reports now, rather than every quarter), there will be more big-money makers tossed out.

John Ulett.  Radio Rich.  Guy Phillips.  In fact, anyone who sleeps more than four hours a night and is not double-, triple- or quadruple-tasking is at peril.  This is, of course, good news for the voice trackers who live in the tombs and catacombs, surviving on the bits and pieces of airwork they're tossed and for the newbies who are so enchanted with BEING ON THE RADIO!!!1+++1!!! that they'll do anything for ten bucks an hour, paid bi-monthly, with free Burger King sammies tossed in.

Two guys, both of whom I respect, and both of whom say it like it is, have had something to say about this.

Tom Taylor:

The PPM comes to St. Louis, and J.C. Corcoran plus two others are out at “K-Hits.”

Emmis says even though morning man Corcoran’s under contract through December 2010, “ours is a business driven by ratings, and those ratings indicate that we need to change in order to compete successfully in this environment.” Market manager John Beck says “J.C. has worked very hard to make this work.” But Beck says a classic hits station like KIHT (96.3) needs to feature music in the mornings.

Arbitron just dropped the first-ever People Meter numbers on St. Louis on October 8. Three weeks later, J.C. Corcoran’s Showgram is canceled. It's replaced by a music-intensive morning effort fronted by current Showgrammers John Ulett and Laurie Mac, plus market veteran Rick Sanborn. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the mothballing of Corcoran (who continues to be paid for another 14 months).

Also the axing of KIHT jocks Katy Kruze and Carl “The Intern” Middleman. K-Hits may be become the latest poster child for the “PPM-loves-music/hates-talk” school of thought – even though it’s just one particular station in one particular market. And one thing we’ve learned about the People Meter is that the effects can vary greatly from market to market.

Jerry Del Colliano:

It happened again yesterday.

Emmis pulled another fan favorite off the air at KIHT, St. Louis to become more music intensive or, in non-coded language, to pander to Arbitron’s People Meter.

If the radio industry only knew ten years ago that the People Meter would be a front for being able to save salaries while creating the fantasy of better ratings, maybe radio CEOs wouldn’t have given Arbitron such a hard time.

Heck, even paying the increased Arbitron bill makes sense for cost-conscious consolidators under the scenario that is rapidly developing.

In all fairness to Emmis, they are keeping J.C. Corcoran on the KIHT payroll until the end of next year (Don’t try this at Cumulus). The Corcoran decision may also be a strategic programming move. They are allowed.

But KIHT also fired long-time personality Katy Kruze and Carl “The Intern” Middleman as part of their imitation of “Follow what CBS is doing”.

It's okay for owners to responsibly save money, but I don’t think they are allowed to pawn this off as a programming improvement.

Read it all here.
 
I'm waiting for John "Rumbling Grumbling Man" Gorman to chime in and that'll be the Trifecta.
 
You know, I've not always been on the side of the air talent when something like this happens.  In my career I've seen plenty of radio people who truly deserved to get the pipe and in many cases I've cheered on management for taking care of business.
 
This time it's all about the immature PPM and that's a really stupid reason to shuffle the cards so thoroughly.