This week’s announcement that Bubba the Love Sponge is returning to commercial radio (on WHPT/Tampa and WFYV/Jacksonville) will elicit the usual response – from happiness to shock to dismay. After all, Bubba’s "shock jock" persona always generated lots of talk and buzz.
It’s noteworthy that at the end of 2007, Bubba and Don Imus have come back to the business that put them on the map, despite the controversy and outrage.
At the same time, radio personalities are being let go, left and right, in markets big and small. In what can only be called a "radio recession," many owners and managers are clearly concluding that highly paid personalities – especially in so-called music dayparts – just aren’t worth the freight. Thus, big names are hitting the streets at a particularly crucial point in radio’s lifespan.
R&R/Street Talk’s Kevin Carter has been lampooning Clear Channel’s term for this talent exodus – "Re-expression." One of CCU’s managers defined the thinking behind these firings in this way: "We are re-expressing our assets to achieve greater results." How’s that for double-speak, but as Carter and everyone else on the content side knows only too well, it’s not funny. And it is beginning to say volumes about how this business is mortgaging the future in order to "re-express" better results this quarter.
Content is a two-way street, and it’s clear that while the Talk format is healthy, music jocks could become an endangered species if revenues don’t turn around. It’s a challenge that both talent and management must meet. For ownership, radio cannot slash its way to success by cutting research, marketing, and talent. There are just too many great and diverse media choices available to every American consumer.
But talent has to step up, too. The clichéd "4 and out the door" will not get it done in this environment. Jocks have to get out of the studio, make appearances, participate in revenue generation, learn new skills, and in many cases, redefine their roles in radio.
Hats off to Jay O’Connor, Bob Neil, and the Cox Tampa team for bringing Bubba back to the airwaves. Music no longer creates buzz on the radio, but personalities sure do. But beyond these big, bombastic, headline-grabbing returns to broadcast radio, what IS radio’s long-term plan for personalities?
Full disclosure: We consult both WHPT and WFYV.
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