"CLEARING THE CHANNELS"


It's made a lot of news these past few days, the events that ended with the death of an on-air contestant at Sacramento's 107.9, The End. The woman, who tried to win a new game system by drinking so much water that she died later of water intoxication, cleared the way for probably the end of the morning Rave crew's career in radio, and probably way for a hefty suit against the station. What interests me in this whole story is the larger picture for radio overall in America.

I won't go on my own rant about how the Rave is just another example of how radio continues to work against the public good. I'm not against shock jocks, per say. In fact, I learned of the story from O&A's morning show here in New York. What I am discouraged with is that markets are so homogenized and run by corporate offices in Dallas or Denver that the purpose of why stations are licenced public air waves seems to be lost. There's little attention given to what fragments of radio staffs still exist in this country, since the days of audimation. And I wonder if a locally managed station with more of a grass roots style of management, like the old days of FM, might have sat down and said, "You know what, maybe this isn't the best idea guys?" Or, maybe there wouldn't be that whole quiet "hush--hush, don't talk about it" vibe that goes on whenever station employees make big mistakes. And you can't make a bigger mistake than having one of your contestants go home and die due to your pourly planned attempt to get ratings.

Several years ago, when I was riding a Greyhound bus across the country archiving FM radio stations, 10,000 miles in twenty days, I remember passing through Sacramento and listening to the morning crew on one of their stations (not sure if it was the End or not, as radio was quite different then than it is just six years later). One of the stations had a contest where a person would win a limo ride to Nevada and lose his virginity. I remember thinking this is a bad idea, and wondering if I was the only one who thought this.

One of the problems with these "bad ideas" are that people who can actually say, "yeah, that's a really bad idea," live two thousand miles away in an office where all they're ever given are the Arbitron ratings, seldom raising an eye brow unless the share of their station actually falls. Well, I have a feeling they're falling now in sacramento.