« I'll Tell Ya What I Want, What I Really, Really Want | Main | The Lovely, The Talented... »
May 26, 2005
Desperate Times, Desperate Fake Measures
If you listen to broadcast radio anywhere in the United States today, odds are very high that you listen to a Clear Channel station. The odds are also very high that you believe that radio in your town sucks.
Clear Channel's bland, homogonized approach and monopolistic business practices have eliminated all but the most overtested and focus-grouped formats and playlists in many markets -- a process exaverbated by the relaxation of regulation that now allows one company to buy up all of the public's airwaves in a market.
Within the last year or two, listeners have begun to revolt, abandoning commercial radio for satellite radio and loudly expressing a wave of frustration with the lack of options on the airwaves that didn't follow the tested-to-death formula. The criticisms are louder and more incessant that ever before. A potential sea change in the industry is brewing, and Clear Channel knows it. What to do? Simple: pretend to join the revolution against your own rule.
Recently, a "pirate radio station" popped up in Akron, Ohio -- complete with a Web site that rips on the state of radio in general and especially hammering Clear Channel stations in the area. The station started "bleeding" broadcasts into the frequencies of Clear Channel stations in town. The Web site rattled off a litany of complaints that, while never mentioning Clear Channel by name, were virtually a laundry list of everything negative that people say about the company.
Radio has changed. Gone are the days of big name personalities who weren’t afraid to play what they wanted. Gone are the days when we could hear a newsman deliver the news about what was happening in my town without follow-ups on runaway brides or stories about a Game Show host bedding a contestant.
Most importantly, gone are the days of multiple viewpoints and opinions. Instead we get corporate mandated opinions from talking heads. Corporate controlled music playlists, and so on.
Sounds great, right? It was... except that it was all fake.
The "rebels" behind the pirate station were none other than Clear Channel themselves. Not surprisingly, when someone checked the DNS registry of the Website for "Radio Free Ohio" and found it was owned by Clear Channel, the rebel site disappeared, replaced by a generic and static page promising an upcoming revolution.
While the stunt appears to have blown up in their face, and while I am one of Clear Channel's biggest detractors, the corporate communications guy in me has to admit that this was a pretty creative approach to a marketing campaign. Trying to appeal to your critics by endorsing their criticisms... that's just gutsy. I'll give them credit.
Of course, gutsy marketing won't change all the problems with Clear Channel, its stations and its business philosophy. But I'll still grudgingly respect their old college try.
