Nothing But Static

Like a lot of people I was bummed yesterday when I learned that WFNX, the local alternative rock station, had been sold to media giant Clear Channel. Most of the staff was let go and the station will go off the air in a couple of months, at which point it will be reformatted and launch under the Clear Channel umbrella. Given that Clear Channel already owns the Top-40 and Hip-Hop stations in the city, I can only assume that when it is re-branded it will not be coming back playing alternative music. The news is hardly surprising as 'FNX used to be broadcast on three signals to cover more ground, but over the years had sold off two of them to larger communication companies to make ends meet. Then last year there were rumors going around that 'FNX was not going to be around for much longer. At the time it was smacked down by the people running the station, but where there is smoke there is usually fire. However, even with that impending sense of the inevitable, the station was nominated by one national radio publication for station of the year in February, so it is hard to believe it will be off the air by July.

This kind of volatility is one of the reason that I eventually had to give up on breaking into the radio industry after years of trying. There just aren't enough stations anymore and the ones that are still around are own by a few giant companies which have one person doing the jobs for all the stations they own. For example, normally if you have three radio stations you need three marketing departments. But when they are all owned by one corporation one group will work on promoting all three of those stations. It might be a testament to efficiency, but it doesn't exactly bolster the job market. According to reports 'FNX's problem was that they weren't bringing in enough you listeners. Unlike TV, which aims for the older generations with more disposable income, radio shoots for the younger crowd who are more likely to go to concerts. Well, now more and more of those young listeners are choosing to get their music through various internet sites and putting it on their iPods. Those that do listen to the radio apparently aren't tuning in to hear alternative radio stations, preferring more mainstream music. Moral of this particular story? Kids today listen to awful music and the rest of us have to suffer because of it.

One of the reasons this stings a little bit more than some other station changing hands is that 'FNX was one of the last independently-owned radio stations in the area, meaning it wasn't part of some larger conglomerate with stations across the nation. Listening to 'FNX still made you feel like you were in on some band before they made it to the big time. So, in some ways 'FNX being sold to a company like Clear Channel is like having a favorite local diner and then going there one morning to discover it has been converted into a McDonald's. There is nothing wrong with McDonald's, because we all enjoy the occasional McChicken, it is just that we already have McDonald's in the area and don't really need another one. It takes away some choice in the matter and fewer options are never a good thing. Now, the owners of 'FNX will still own all the rights and properties associated with the station, meaning that it could go on in some type of on-line station, much like what happened when WBCN went off the air a couple of years ago and soon came back as a HD station. However, I know several people who are very into their music and exactly none of them ever talk about 'BCN anymore. I don't know if continuing to exist in a format in which no one knows you exist really counts.

The entire situation is just too bad, in the same way it is always too bad when a good thing goes away. Also, because the decision seemed rather sudden, there is the extra whiplash which comes when an unpopular choice is made and there is nothing anyone can do to reverse it. Had 'FNX's loyal fans known the station was this close to being sold perhaps a rally concert could have been staged, but it seems like the time for that kind of thing has passed. People can sign up for all the online petitions they want but deep down they have to know they are fighting a losing battle, which makes it worse. In some ways, it ties in to the post I had earlier in the week about TV shows getting cancelled. It is one thing when you make the decision to stop watching a show or listening to a radio station, it is entirely another when the decision has been taken away from you and that lack of control can be rather frustrating. Ironically, I guess the only way I'm going to hear new alternative music now is to find it on the internet and then put on on my iPod. And people wonder why the radio industry is dying...