[BC] FCC greenlights Clear Channel deal

[Rich Wood]

------ At 10:45 AM 1/28/2008, Mike McCarthy wrote: -------

>I happen to disagree with the generalized throwing good money after 
>bad conclusion.  In homes, the fastest and most economical manner to 
>sell a house as high as possible is to sell with a fresh paint job 
>and new carpet.  Sure, you'll never use the carpet to it's 
>value.  But if it gets you asking price versus a 10% discount due to 
>all the smells, engrained traffic patterns, furniture dents, 
>etc.  I'll take that to the bank in a heartbeat.

That's far too logical. The sales I've been involved with virtually 
shut off money for anything but emergency repairs. They were in good 
shape and a deal had already been struck. They were waiting for FCC 
approval, which at the time, could take forever. Any improvement 
wouldn't affect the sales price.

This has now extended beyond sales to general operation with the 
recent announcement by a big consolidated company that there will be 
no more marketing, advertising, hiring or non-emergency expenditures. 
I expect to see more of that as radio stocks plunge.

We tell advertisers that hard times warrant more marketing, not less. 
Yet our own industry is reluctant to promote beyond their own signal 
and cut back on what little merchandising they do whenever they don't 
meet a goal. It's a vicious circle. By cutting back they ensure the 
next quarter will be even worse.

Rich