Gawker
Radio people tend to be very weird, and over at struggling Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell is putting them in charge of everything, so the whole place is turning into some kind of clown show. There are batshit crazy emails, bizarre newspaper makeover ideas, pinball and an actual buzzer, like on a morning zoo radio show, used during meetings. Put on your LSD glasses and take a Hunter Thompson-esque ride through the freaky new Tribune Co.
The new radio guys at Tribune include:
- Randy Michaels, number two at Tribune
- Lee Abrams, Chief Innovation Officer, formerly of XM Satellite Radio, started last Tuesday
- Brought in over the past few days, all from radio powerhouse Clear Channel: Jerry Kerstin, Marc Chase, Steve Gable, Dean Compton
The Times reported for tomorrow's paper that Abrams' "long, rambling, excited" emails are scaring the crap out of everyone:
"If we can morph the Soul of Dylan ... with the innovation of Apple and the eccentric-all-the-way-to-the-bank of Bill Veeck, the WORLD will be a better place," he wrote in one missive.
How would Abrams improve Tribune's struggling newspaper? By composing "front pages primarily composed of colorful maps," according to the Journal.
He also wants to shake up meetings with a "'cliché buzzer,' to ring when colleagues offer tired ideas."
Abrams' boss, Michaels, is only slightly less insane. Keep in mind this man is second only to Sam Zell at Tribune. Said the Journal:
He once arrived at a radio broadcasters' conference carried on a litter and dressed in the garb of an Egyptian pharaoh to underscore in a speech how powerful consolidation would prove for radio.
Michaels is now installing pinball machines and a jukebox at Tribune corporate headquarters in Chicago. Because there's nothing like pinball when you have $12.8 billion in debt, deteriorating credit and are worried about missing payments.
There are different theories as to why Zell is bringing these radio guys in. One is that radio was once seen as a medium on the way to extinction, like newspapers are seen now, but was revived. Another is that he wants to emphasize the broadcast side of Tribune, which produces only about 25 percent of revenue but 50 percent of profit.
Times: Tough Guy in a Mean Business'
Comments
I like this new Tribune. Maybe he can hire a midget and insert him into an actual Major League game or have the right field wall on rollers and move it in when the Cubs are at bat or what about a Hip Hop Sucks Night! (Steve Dahl is till around) and of course move the damn office to the Billy Goat and sell the gothic tower to the Archdiocese...I got a million of them.
guess i should be glad that i was laid off by him.
Sam Zell reminds me exactly of this batshit crazy bar owner on my old block - looks sort of like him, talks like him and tells people to fuck off all the time. And to think of him with money and a media empire is just scary.
@VoxPopuli: Maybe someone should make a Batshit tag? Though it might get more tags than intended.
@bess marvin, girl detective: Sorry to hear it. I really hate what's going on with the industry right now. There's so many layoffs and buyouts, it's just frightening.
@LeGagneur: I'm amazed there isn't one already.
I've said this before on Gawker, and I'll say it again: Dave Marsh (himself not entirely un-batshit, even when he's right, which is a lot of the time) has often blamed Lee Abrams for turning FM rock radio into slush. This is one thing he wrote about him: [www.blazemonger.com]
That picture up there is of Jimmy Fallon in a Hawaiian shirt and wig, right?
@In Other News...: Yes it is, you fucking idiot.
@In Other News...: Okay, stop being so MEAN!
At least in print they remain behind the curtains. All the jocks at the stations I used to work at were frumpy and oily and smelled like old frat-couches.
wait wait -- radio was revived?
dear newspapers,
we love you but your desperate quest to return to the past is embarrassing. also? if the most exciting ideas you can come up with are coming from radio guys, you are in way more trouble than anyone thought.
work it out. it's the 21st century. and our "democracy" probably depends on you. unless you can live in a world run by sweaty bloggers and blowdried newsmodels.
kthxbai, ed.
He once arrived at a radio broadcasters' conference carried on a litter...
Carried on a litter of what? Puppies? Kittens? Marmots?
I was going to try to say something about "how does this fit into the professional elite vs. the messy democracy ongoing national debate framed back in the 1920s by Walter Lippmann and John Dewey?"...but it's too much effort for a Monday, so I'll just say that I actually really like the idea of a cliche buzzer.
So does this mean we can all go back to doing coke at work, like when I worked at all those Q, Power, and other Burkhart-Abrams stations?
He also wants to shake up meetings with a "'cliché buzzer,' to ring when colleagues offer tired ideas."
To be fair, that is a damn good idea. I'd like to purchase one and zap people who indulge in commonplace communication.
Randy Michaels and his cohorts destroyed radio in the pursuit of a better quarter. What a mess radio is. Good work assholes.
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