I have to hand it to Bob Pittman.
He does better than sell ice to the Eskimos.
He sells AM Radio to Major League Baseball.
Exactly what they DON’T need.
The Snake Oil Salesman-in-Chief of iHeartMedia has somehow wangled a way to get the LA Dodgers to take an undisclosed equity position in a shitty AM property that only exists because of baseball.
Of course, the Dodgers need an FM station but let’s not quibble about such minutia.
Then, SpongeBob Bossy Pants does another one of his patented meaningless partnerships and comes up with a deal where the Dodgers can contribute content for this shitty little station that no one listens to and save him even more money.
A ZERO point nine or as I like to write it 0.9 in the latest Nielsen’s rating for KLAC-AM just a few days ago.
KLAC is a conglomeration of cheap shows from Fox Sports that can’t seem to attract a local listener and Pittman still gets this deal done.
Question.
And be honest.
If the Dodgers had insisted on an FM signal, does this deal get done?
Come on.
You know the answer.
Pittman sold another bottle of Dr. Good to frickin’ Major League baseball and judging from their joint news release they are both excited and soiling their pants.
Even the attraction of Vin Scully calling the games on KLAC – and that is a legitimate attraction – can’t get this station a 1 share.
When KABC had the Dodgers in what seems to be ages ago, they both owned the town.
But that was before 95 million Millennials started coming of age.
So what Pittman really did for the Dodgers was no great favor.
Because no one under 65 listens to AM radio. Bad enough listeners are turning to their own digital devices rather than stick with FM.
The other day while on the treadmill I saw a CNBC interview with Jessica Alba.
She was on with the CEO of her company The Honest Company.
They spoke of being authentic and how important it is to Millennials, as my readers already know.
But being authentic is not what Bob Pittman does and he runs the largest radio company in the world.
I mean, media company.
No, corny bighearted media company like in iHeart.
Jessica Alba has already mastered the subscription pay model (thank you very much) and Pittman is out waxing eloquent about taking the Dodgers for bums.
Weren’t they bums in Brooklyn?
That’s a cheap shot from a disappointed Phillies fan.
Still, The Honest Company principals talk about getting it right and doing right because they know how important that will be – not just the optics, but the deeds – to attract Millennials.
The Dishonest Company – iHeartMedia – can’t be trusted to do anything for the public good.
So thanks for nothing SpongeBob.
You pawned off a shitty AM station you couldn’t run on “partners” who deserve better and when they figure out that they will never attract a listener under 65, you lose.
Radio loses.
And you’re on your yacht drinking Casa Dragones tequila which he has a position in.
AM is dead.
Consolidators like Pittman are still killing it off. Notice how they are putting their best Premiere talk talent on AM stations that guarantee that those shows will not be in the money demo?
In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out.
In consolidated radio, it’s three strikes and you hit it out of the park for the greedy bastards who own the stations.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the many thousands of media executives who pay for a subscription to get honest and insightful commentary. Every time I reveal another one of their scams, the folks at iHeartMedia like to say I’m just angry and well, they are right.
Angry that they ruined a perfectly good business with foolish, selfish moves like sticking The Dodgers with an old folks home instead of an even chance to attract the money demos they so badly need.
I guess that makes me madder than hell and not going to take it sitting down.
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