There are rumors running through the radio community about the
possibility of a merger between Sirius and XM. I don’t think this is
going to happen. I‘ve read some where (and I wish I could remember
Where) that it is unlikely because of government regs and such.
My opinion of it is that there won’t be a merger but a buyout.
I think that what will happen is that XM will buyout Sirius. Sirius
Paid or is paying Howard Stern 500 million over 5 years and just
gave him a bonus of somewhere around $80 million which I believe
is more than they can really afford right now. Also their stock
price is so low that it should be embarrassing. As of 1-17-07 the
price for Sirius is at $3.86 a share and XM is at $15.45 a share,
and I don’t know of any huge drains on XM’s finances.
I think Sirius bet too much on Howard and it hasn’t paid off.
Yet. Now it might in the future, but, will it be too little, too late.
Only time will tell.

Enjoy This Wild Ride
Mike Dane

His Dis-Honor the Mayor

Well I see in the Beacon Journal that Akron mayor Don Plusquellic is
going to go whine to Nancy Pelosi over proposed cuts by the Bush
administration in subsidized housing.
The ABJ quotes the mayor as saying "And by the way, anybody that
picks up a Bible and shakes it and talks about this president being a
real Christian, well horse manure on that, too" "It's the biggest
hypocrisy that I've probably witnessed in my lifetime."
Evidently his dis-honor the mayor has forgotten about how he got
a parking attendant fired because of his very own over blown ego and
sense of importance. I have to be honest folks, if there is a list of
people in this town that I hate, Don Plusquellic tops the list. I think he
is a low life scum sucking politician and he is a very big reason I have
considered leaving Akron.
And he wants to run for mayor again. Wait didn't he say he wasn't
going to run again? Oh the lies and hypocrisy of it.

This is one Wild World I wish I wasn't on.

Mike Dane

the well a little dry this week?

I wanted to write about something radio this time since the last
entry was political, but it seems a little short on real news this
week. Of course I could do another political entry... Nah.
Is it possible that Clear Channel is seeing the light? According
to All Access CC has started an online station called
eChannelMusic.com. Maybe they see the end of old fasioned
radio on down the road. I don't think so but who knows.
And what is this about Howard Stern making an extra $83
million? Is Sirius operating in the black yet? They're already
paying him too much. If they were operating in the black it
would be one thing but not until then. Bet the share holders
are soooo happy.

Until later take care and go ride This Wild World

Mike Dane

One Pissed Tax Payer

The above title is not too unusual in this country. But it
just seems to keep getting worse. So what has my knickers
in a knot today? Well I read in Saturday's paper that Delta
Airlines, which is in bankruptcy, has terminated it's pilot's
pension plan with the approval of the judge and the Pension
Benefits Guaranty Corp. will take it over. The plan is
underfunded by somewhere around 3 billion dollars. Who
wants to bet that the Delta exec's plans are fully funded
and their golden parachutes are safe.
One of the things this means is that the pilot's will not
get what they were promised. The other is that we the
taxpayers are left holding the bag for Delta. From what
I've read, the pilots will get a max of almost $31,000 but
more than likely less and Delta skates. This is Baloney.
If the taxpayers are going to pay this then the
government needs to step in and tell Delta in no uncertain
terms that they will be required to repay every penny.
We can be kind enough to stretch it out to make it a bit
easier on them but pay it they should.
I don't mind helping out the present and future
retirees, after all that's just neighbor helping neighbor.
But I hate the corporate welfare. This is taxpayers
money that could be better used elsewhere.
In my opinion we should take everyone involved
in this from the president of Delta to the Judge hearing
this case and tie them behind one of those little tractors
they use to take luggage to the planes and then let's
drag them down the runway once or twice. Or better
yet, lets ship them all somewhere on Delta as luggage
and maybe Delta will lose them.

Mike Dane

The Future of Our Business

Lately I have been saddened, angered and alarmed all in one shot.
I keep reading about all the people being fired at so many radio
stations that I can't help feeling this way. Whole air staffs at some
stations are being let go and in some cases not replaced.
Some of this can be attributed to cost cutting to make the bottom
line look better. Clear Channel seems to be an example of this
prior to their LBO. In other cases it could just be getting rid of an
expensive DJ and hiring a younger and cheaper replacement.
With all this going on why would anybody go into the business? I
have been asked by young people about getting into radio and I
have given a standard answer: Go to college and minor in
communications and major in something else you like, that way
you always have something to fall back on.
If we don't straighten out our industry we will lose lots of fine
talent to others and eventually we may have about a couple of
dozen people voice tracking all the staions in the U.S. (I guess
that's one way to raise the pay scale). And the same thing will
happen to the technical staff. Where will we find all the engineers
we will need? I don't know what these people are thinking. Do
they figure since Ipods are so popular and that they don't have
DJ's so we don't need them either? or is it something else? I can
tell you why Ipods are so popular, It's because they're commercial
free and their music. Not because of no DJ's. A good DJ can
become a friend even though they're not seen. They reach out
and touch us. A cold radio station touches no one.

Mike Dane

WMJI and Oldies

Awhile ago someone who claimed to be part of WMJI complained
that The Sunday Oldies Jukebox made disparaging comments
about the station. I can't speak for the others at the Jukebox, but
I freely admit that I have in the past taken my share of pot shots
at WMJI both on and off the air.
I think Majic (and Clear Channel) suck, but that's just my opinion.
Their playlist has moved up in years to the point where I have no
intrest in it and in fact hate it. I prefer music from the 50's to early
70's and from there on I tend to cherry pick more. This is one of
the reasons I loved The Sunday Oldies Jukebox from the moment
I stumbled upon it 8 years or so ago as just a listener tuning up the
dial programming my new car radio. They didn't forget the 50's.
And the Play list was/is larger too.
Now mind you, even though I dislike WMJI (and Clear Channel)
that does not extend to the people employed there. I have met only
a few of them, such as John Lanigan and Ravenna Micelli and they
have all been very nice. The problems as I see them comes from
Corporate and not from the local GM, PD/MD and DJ. It's not their
fault. I believe they go to work every day and try to make a living
just like the rest of us.
So to the person who got up tight, relax and take a deep breath.
Because it's not worth getting upset over.

And if you like oldies, why not give the Sunday Oldies Jukebox a
listen on Sunday at 88.9 on your FM dial. I'll be on from 9pm until
midnight.

I'd also like to thank Cliff (also know as 74WIXYgrad) from WIXY's
Gone Bananas ( http://wixygrad.blogspot.com ) for the kind help
and tips on improving my Blog. I need all the help I can get. All the
good parts are thanks to him and all the bad are mine.
LOL

Now go and enjoy the ride on This Wild World of ours.

Mike D.