TANGENT SUNSET CLUELESS RADIO by Alex Cosper

Clueless Radio is a fictional story about an alternative station failing in ratings and sales but experiences occasional flashes of success. At one time the station had great ratings and dominated the market but a new regime with a new focus has erased the station's influence in the market. What could they be doing that is so wrong?

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Chapter 9: "Corporate Crackdown"

"We need to do something about Clueless Radio," Consolidated Broadcasting CEO/President Larry Moiyer told his VP of Programming Jack Krushman. "That's our only station that we haven't really groomed to fit our corporate culture. Yet Clueless probably needs the most help. It's got poor ratings, poor revenue and far too much overhead. I'd like to trim the fat out of that station immediately. I also want you to restructure the station's programming."

"I'd be happy to," responded Krushman. "I don't think Heichman has a grip on the situation and I'm not too fond of the people he has been promoting."

"On top of that," the CEO said, "I received an anonymous letter recently from someone who says Heichman has been in trouble with the law. It seems he has been convicted of drunk driving and other charges. He now has to attend an alcohol treatment class. It's even been published in the local newspaper. The letter came with a newspaper clipping that confirms it. I don't like this type of notoriety."

Krushman added, "And I don't understand the indie he's dealing with. Some guy named Rosswick or something like that. This guy is bad news. Wally hasn't seen a dime from this guy who's been adding dozens of records on Clueless. We need to find someone to represent the whole chain. I suggest that we get our investors to create a new promotion firm under a completely different parent company name. That way there's no conflict."

"Are you close to anyone that can run the firm? Someone who's not greedy and can be trusted?"

"Absolutely. I've got plenty of friends who may not know music but they certainly understand business."

"Then it's agreed," said the CEO. "But this conversation is between you and me. Let's keep our hands clean on this. The press is starting to investigate industry practices. So when you talk with our investors, make sure no lines get crossed."

Meanwhile, Rosswick was on the phone to Heichman, explaining to him that Clueless needed to flex its muscle and start boycotting labels that weren't "coming to the party" on the Clueless festival. Heichman agreed as he was staring into Jennifer's eyes. She sensed an uncomfortable connection with him, but he was too self-absorbed to realize his flirtations had a negative impact.

Heichman offered to take Jennifer to lunch but she declined, saying she already scheduled lunch with her boyfriend. Heichman tried to hide his pain as his infatuation with the PD somehow continued to escalate.

"Am I ever going to be able to make decisions about the music?" she asked.

Heichman knew he couldn't answer the question directly...or truthfully. His reply was, "As soon as we get past the show we won't need Rosswick's help as much. Right now he's like a band-aid. His job is to clean up the damage from our former programming people. I want you to learn as much as you can from Rosswick."

The following Tuesday Clueless stunned all the labels by not adding any records. Even the two most added records across the country were ignored by Rosswick, who was certain the move would bring someone to the table. Clueless still needed a headliner for the show and ticket sales were still alarmingly low. The thought of Mr. Peroxide headlining the show was repulsive enough to trigger a nervous breakdown for anyone whose job was to fill a stadium. Mr. Peroxide had no track record. Even though the record was played in high rotation on Clueless, it wasn't being played anywhere else on earth. This was a band that wasn't even supposed to be on the bill in the first place, but the label desperately needed to build some kind of story on the band or the label itself was in jeopardy of folding.

VP Jack Krushman had never stepped in to control Clueless because he really didn't know what to do with it. Krushman was unfamiliar with the alternative format. He was strictly a passive listener of adult contemporary radio. He figured since Clueless used to have incredible ratings that somehow the station would turn around on its own. Krushman didn't even have a programming background. He went from sales straight to corporate management. The only reason for his climb was that his father was a politician who represented CEO Moiyer's interests.

Krushman had no concern whatsoever for street hipness. He wore expensive suits and hung out with stock brokers, not "rock jokers." He had no interest in the lifestyle of America's youth. Even though he was in his forties, he completely despised young people, a complex he picked up from his ultra-conservative father. Krushman hated music with any hint of message or enlightenment, accusing such records as being "poison that corrupted youth into promiscuity, drugs and religious skepticsm." His family had a long tradition of supporting religious causes despite being heavily driven by greed. But he was hardly a spiritual person. It was never like him to turn the other cheek. Krushman was first and foremost an elitist who used religion as a mask to divert attention from his overtly aristocratic behavior. He was by all accounts a heartless penny-pincher who viewed the middle class and below as "the little people."

In many ways Krushman and Heichman had the exact same viewpoint on life. Both were "good ol' boys" but because Krushman had more of a reputation to protect, he was even more uptight than Heichman. Deep down both men were secret admirers of business corruption, but Krushman did a better job presenting himself as clean cut. He viewed Heichman as sloppy on details, which in all fairness was a downright fact.

Even though Krushman hated rock and roll, he had no problem making money off of it. At the same time, Krushman had an agenda to stamp out what he called "the devil's music" and replace it with a more restrained and polished type of bland background music. It was all part of his bigger dream to take credit for "cleansing society of immoral entertainment" should he himself decide to follow in his father's footsteps and run for public office.

Both Krushman and Moiyer supported the idea of leveraged buyouts of smaller radio groups as a strategy to become the biggest media company in the world. The idea was to form a new company called CABIN, which stood for Consolidated Associates of the Broadcast Industry Network. Under the CABIN umbrella would include television and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, billboards, sports arenas and concert venues. This way all the different media could cross-promote each other for free. CABIN would even attempt to skirt around the laws of legal ownership limits by disguising companies under various fictitious business names. Their ultimate goal was to "serve" an audience so huge that entertainment companies and advertisers were forced to spend millions of dollars with CABIN or risk being squeezed out of the market. Such a conglomerate would also have the power to manipulate elections and ensure that only candidates who supported media deregulation were elevated in the spotlight. That way, Moiyer once told Krushman, "media instead of government would assume the role of Big Brother."

Krushman picked up the phone and called Heichman. He told the Clueless GM, "Qualitative changes need to be made at Clueless. The numbers just aren't there for things to be continuing in the direction they are going."

"What kind of changes?" asked a troubled Heichman.

"We need to downsize to meet the budget," replied Krushman. "We have too many bodies at Clueless, especially on the airstaff. What we need to do is hang on to three announcers and let the rest go. These three announcers will be whoever you want to keep that's willing to work at minimum wage. No more live talent. Everything will be voice-tracked."

"But...but...," pleaded Heichman. "Our automation system doesn't work properly."

"Then it'll be your job to fix it or I'll need to find another General Manager. And another thing. What's going on with this indie guy you've brought in and why aren't we seeing any revenue from him yet?"

"Well, Rosswick's been busy working on the show for us."

"Oh yeah?" snapped Krushman. "How many tickets have we sold?"

"Not too many, but they've only been on sale for a few weeks. We still have plenty of time," said Heichman unconvincingly.

"I've got news for you then, Wally. You don't have plenty of time because I'm telling you right now to pull the show and get rid of Rosswick."

"But...but.."

"Excuse me?" Krushman popped in anger.

"Right, right," said a frightened Heichman. "I'll take care of it right away."

"And one more thing," demanded Krushman. "We need to change the name of the station. Clueless is such a worthless name. Let's talk next week about transforming the alternative format into something more appealing to national advertisers."

So Heichman called Jennifer into his office and held her hand, telling her that things were about to drastically change. She seemed shaken by the news as he told her that she could stay for a cut in pay and an increased work load. Everyone else except two others of her choice would have to be let go. He put his arms around her to comfort her. "Don't worry, honey. I'm looking after you." He kissed her forehead and continued to embrace her.

All along the only thought in Jennifer's mind was "breach."

End of Chapter 9. Continue to Chapter 10.

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