Week of January 26, 2009

What an amazing week! A new administration in Washington, and more change coming to the business we have loved all these years. I have the feeling the changes are just beginning to pervade our business. You will be challenged going forward in ways we can't imagine on this cold January day. Keep your eyes open for ideas, and your management skills sharp. The stormy seas of change are just beginning to build. Leadership, common sense, creativity, vision, and the will to survive may all play a role in your career. Things will eventually get better. But for now ... batten the hatches!

Two-for-Tuesday sponsors, typical remotes, and the usual sales packages are not going to motivate advertisers when at least 50 other stations in your market are offering the same thing. It's time to re-think the entire revenue model. Start with the programmers. Challenge them to be creative in revenue generation. The notion that the PD schedules Selector and approves vacation time sheets will not get you anywhere. They must become catalysts for new ideas that make money. Make them accountable for it or train them to think that way. Otherwise, the next round of cuts may have your (or their) name on the hot sheet.

Being a GM during this economic downturn is a very lonely position. You can't possibly manage the way you did last year, or even last quarter. Stay calm, not only to your staff, but also to corporate. No one "up there" in the corporate office is in the mood for your whining. They are under attack, too! The best way to avoid future cuts? Revenue generating ideas might be a way to start. Tomorrow: Where do they come from?

After the latest rounds of staff cuts have packed their severance checks and family pictures off the desks/cubicles, now what do you tell the living? Many must feel like they were one of the survivors of the plane ditched the Hudson River a few weeks ago -- lucky to be alive, but feeling a bit cold. This is the time to meet them, one on one, and show the leadership you were hired for. Explain that there may be more (cause there may be) and that you will need each person to do MORE than their share of jobs in order to get through this economic malaise.

Okay, so you made all the cuts corporate wanted you to make. Now what? Perhaps it's time to gather the staff and heal the wounds of the carnage. It's a new day in the world of radio and the revenue declines are continuing through the first quarter. Not knowing where the bottom is ... is ...very scary. Tomorrow, what do you tell them?