It’s no secret that most radio stations have seen a drop in revenue over the past couple of years. Market Managers, Program Directors and news talk radio hosts may be in a precarious position. Depending on your corporate structure, a show is judged on billing over ratings. That being said, ratings help drive revenue. In News/Talk, sometimes a host with subpar ratings drives huge amounts of money for the station.
Market Managers are under a constant barrage of pressure. The sales goals are a huge challenge. If your station group is missing the goal with 6 weeks left in the quarter, your Market Manager will be driving the salespeople to get all the money possible on the books. Ultimately, the Market Manager will be blamed if the cluster is not hitting their revenue numbers.
The other challenge involved expenses. As a Program Director, I have always attempted to pad the staff budget for the coming year. Your Market Manager may really drill into the numbers at budgeting time and will not allow this. More on my budget methodology later in this column.
If your cluster has an unexpected expense, your Cluster’s bottom-line expenses may exceed the budget. Your Market Manager is under enormous pressure to hit those numbers. Very likely, if you are the star host on a station, your salary may be one of the biggest expenses on the station. So, if your cluster or better yet your station is seeing a drop in revenue, you should believe that your expense is being discussed. Have you asked about the billing attributed to your show alone? Is that billing down? Are you asking for a raise with lower revenue?
Program Directors, you must evaluate and manage your expenses. With corporate debt, your department’s expense line may not be allowed to grow without considerable rationalization. If your station has expenses to do sports, special broadcasts and/or anything else, you must account for it ahead of time.
My second programming job, I started in March and due to sports and other special broadcasts we hit our yearly budget with 3 months left in the fiscal year. Even though I had nothing to do with the budgeting for the previous Program Director, I was required to submit reports on why the station had exceeded the staffing expense in the programming budget. I learned that it is much easier to come under budget than over.
You know the initiatives for your company and cluster. You also know that increasing pay for board operators is a real issue. If those people are not being paid more than a fast-food worker, you could lose them. You know your company; how far can you push your budget? You need to have your budget realistic and be prepared with rationalizations. If you are able to reasonably build in a padding, coming in under budget makes you a hero. Coming under budget also shows that you are an expert in managing your department.
You have been the premiere host on your station and in the market for years. You’ve received steady pay increases over the years. You have a history of driving revenue for the station. There is a yin and yang you must consider. Let’s say that your station’s year-to-year billing is down 3%. That is a very likely number from the reports that I am seeing across the industry. It may also be affecting your show’s revenue. Do you know how much your show is billing? Is it up? If down, how far has it fallen?
Do you like your job? Here is my advice, if billing is down on your station and show… Take a pay cut. Not only take a pay cut, request a reworking of your contract to lower your pay. Your company expects a certain return from your show’s revenue. In the last five years, if your salary has increased by 15% but the billing has fallen by 10%, your expense will seriously be examined.
I have a friend of mine who was a longtime host on an adult contemporary station. His show’s ratings had begun to soften, but the revenue had mostly held up. He kept asking for raises and getting them. At one point, his salary growth was seriously outpacing revenue. He was downsized. If you ask him now, he will tell you that he should have asked for salary decreases. He would have kept that morning show revenue going for several more years.
I hate being the bearer of bad news. You should seriously evaluate your show’s revenue track. If your show’s revenue falls by 3%, ask for a contract renegotiation. Ask for a salary decrease of 4%. This will extend your career. If you can’t fathom doing this, here is a real-life example. Big time host was downsized and couldn’t find another job. So, he was pushed into a new career.
This locally well-known radio personality is now selling life insurance. His office is adorned with radio memorabilia. He has pictures of his previous job as a local celebrity and influencer. Perhaps, you can be a blackjack dealer. What about joining the car salesman crew? I want you to work in this field as long as you wish. I know that asking for a pay decrease seems like a bad idea. But it might be reality.
Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He recently served as program director for WHO/KXNO in Des Moines, IA. Prior to that role he held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
