Why radio is in the situation it's in; Chris Brown

I'm the first to admit that the views you're about to read are from the peanut gallery.  I have no first hand knowledge of any of this stuff.  It's just my opinions based on what I read and maybe have heard 3rd or 4th hand.  With that disclaimer out of the way, let's begin with....

Nick Cannon.  He just got hired to do mornings at 92.3 Now, which is the main Top 40 competition to Z100 in New York.  Nick Cannon?  Mr. Carey?  To be fair, the primary age group that Now targets probably doesn't see him as Mr. Carey.  They've seen him on Nickelodeon, MTV, and America's Got Talent among other things.  He's got a name with their audience, so it's not necessarily a bad call.  It could be a major win for them. 

I'm just of the opinion this sort of thing is really short sighted from this perspective:  there are a lot of radio dj's within the target demo (and more than a few who are older that could do it too) who live and breathe radio; men and women that would dedicate their lives to giving 92.3 the kind of morning show they're looking for.  The kind of talent who will put radio FIRST in their list of priorities...the kind who will go the extra mile for the listeners and the best interests of the station.  And the kind who, while they'd make good money, would likely be pocketing a fair amount less than Nick Cannon.

Just how dedicated can Cannon be to Now?  Consider the other things he has on his plate:  according to the write up at   http://tinyurl.com/nickatnow, this guy is pretty busy.

In case you didn't feel like clicking the link, here's a direct quote from the All Access article: CANNON's radio move accompanies his push into production with his N'CREDIBLE ENTERTAINMENT, which is working on a "JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS" reality and scripted project for MTV NETWORKS' TEENNICK, an MTV special, and a series for CARTOON NETWORK's ADULT SWIM. The company is also creating a book series with SIMON AND SCHUSTER's Children's publishing division in conjunction with NICKELODEON movie "THE SCHOOL GYRLS," written and directed by CANNON, with an album by the titular group on ISLAND RECORDS. CANNON will also continue as host of NBC's "AMERICA'S GOT TALENT."

Granted, I'm sure he's got employees in his company who spend more time worrying about some of these projects than he does, but can you really expect him to give the NOW morning show the kind of attention it needs on a daily basis to grow they way the station NEEDS it to? It's not impossible, but in my opinion, it's not probable, either. So why make the move to pay big bucks to someone who may not be totally dedicated to the cause?

It's not just a question posed to or about the folks who run NOW. It's a bigger question posed about those in power in radio everywhere. Why do so many executives feel it's important to make the big splash by hiring people who may not have the same level of commitment or practical experience at something when there are people who've dedicated their lives to this profession readily available to them?

Please don't think I say this to down Nick Cannon, nor do I have a problem with him taking the job. If someone wants to hand him a large amount of money to do anything, radio included, more power to him! Take the money and do your thing. I simply question whether he has the interest and commitment necessary to do morning radio on a consistent, long term basis...and do it well.

I had the same question about Whoopi Goldberg. There are some folks who absolutely won out as a result of that experiment. Whoopi, first and foremost. She was paid an ungodly amount of money to be carried every morning by Paul "Cubby" Bryant, who deserved twice as much as Whoopi for having the job of trying to make that show palatable. Whoopi also used that radio gig to get herself back on her feet and land the job at The View...at which time, she promptly ditched the radio job. Honestly, I suspect the radio folks were happy she did, but that's another story. It came across as though she couldn't wait to get out of dodge and did so at the first possible opportunity.

Cubby was also a winner; he got his own morning show out of the deal on WKTU and his show has done very well ever since. The guy did what he had to do with Whoopi, and when she left, the company turned to him and he ran with it. Before Cubby moved to WKTU for the Whoopi show, he was doing afternoons at Z100; if they had given him his own morning show on 'KTU, that would have been a big move in and of itself! They never needed Whoopi to begin with! Goodness knows how much money it cost the company to learn that.

I'm also quite wary of Steve Harvey. Granted, he's been doing radio for a while now, and quite successfully at that. But I remember when he was doing morning radio on a local basis for WGCI/Chicago in the 90's. He did it for a couple of years and was a big hit...but chose his other outside projects over radio and walked away. He came back to it in LA and eventually came to NYC, where he got his syndication deal off the ground. While the show does good ratings in plenty of places, it's been faltering the last several months in NYC. He used to be the top rated morning show in his target 25-54 demo with a bullet. However, the show's numbers have declined steadily over the last several months. Does that mean he's panic stricken? Of course not. But since he's walked away once before from radio, I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that he's keeping a close eye on his NYC numbers. If they continue to head in the wrong direction, would he consider leaving radio again while things are still relatively good? Who knows? And that's the point; who knows? He could get up on the wrong side of the bed tomorrow and decide he'd rather sleep in for the next 18 months. Or someone could swoop in with a great tv offer for him to do another show, and he could be gone.

I just want to know where the radio executives are who want to develop talents who'll be there for them for the long haul. Everyone wants to make the big splash. Sometimes it works out in the short term, and either doesn't last long term or never truly gets off the ground to begin with. If you're in business to make money, you're not in business to make great money for a couple of years off the back of some hot morning show and then go back to square one and have to start over, are you? Wouldn't you want to be in business to make good money over a long period of time? I think it's possible that you might do better going with that approach with talent who wants to be there for as long as you want them there, as opposed to those who might be more likely to jump on the next offer they get.

Hey, it's just one man's view of things from the peanut gallery. I don't have all the inside info on anything. But from out here with my binoculars, it appears as though those who run radio are so concerned with today that they've done very little planning or cultivating the things that could grow into big business for them tomorrow.

LOL....I almost forgot about Chris Brown! I think that's his problem too, based on that wacky Twitter rant he went on the other day. Getting rid of his Twitter account might be the first smart move he's made all year...and with a whole two weeks in the year to spare! I tend to believe the cd isn't selling well because he didn't lay low long enough. If you're not gonna give all the straight answers to every question when you do interviews about the Rihanna deal, then you gotta stay quiet for longer than you did. I just don't think there are a lot of people ready for him to go on about his public business so soon. If he had waited until summer 2010, he might have had a chance.