Listening to a Local Radio Station Struggle

As a point of disclosure — I used to work for Cumulus Media at their Reno radio station KKOH 780 AM. And I don’t like what I’m hearing.

It is hard for me to listen to a station being run by management in Atlanta, Georgia, which forces on-air programming so general in nature that it doesn’t service its listening area. It’s even harder still to hear local radio staff struggle to overcome such a handicap.

To make matters even worse, Cumulus Media has now broken its ties with ABC News Radio, which mean’s KOH will no longer air ABC News at the top of the hour.  Instead, CNN, which doesn’t identify itself during news broadcasts, will provide all Cumulus stations with content.

The new arrangement began this month as ABC’s agreement with Cumulus Media came to an end.  Furthermore, Cumulus has ended its partnership with the Associated Press.

Now KOH’s news staff will have to rely heavily on other media sources for content, including their news partner, ABC affiliate KOLO TV. Maybe Cumulus chief executive officer Lew Dickey thinks such tactics will make the listener think their local station is creating all of its own content – but he’s mistaken.

It’s not the first time he’s made a gaffe that damaged the quality of the on-air content and programming. Shortly after Cumulus purchased Citadel, rumors surfaced that both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were to be axed.

In the end, Hannity left only to be replaced by Michael Savage, while Limbaugh somehow managed to hang on.

Also causing uproar was the sudden dismissal of long-time KOH programming favorite, “Coast to Coast.” The shows’ 25-year-plus run ended when Cumulus decided to replace it with erudite New York talker John Batchelor and the overnight trucker-program, “Red Eye Radio.”

Memo to Lew: the listener isn’t stupid, but CEO’s who think they are – are.