No, WRKO's new morning team is not Peter Blute and Aerosmith, but the conservative-leaning WRKO is about get an injection of a rock 'n' roll attitude to its morning schedule very shortly. He's expected to finish his WAAF gig on Friday, May 25th, then fly out to Vegas for a long weekend and be back for WRKO's new morning show launch on Tuesday, May29th. Media companies from New York Times to Time Inc. have been downsizing to deal with the advertising downturn, but some Boston radio stations are airing ''Help Wanted'' signs on their airwaves. With the advertising industry going thru a momentary slump, local radio cluster managers are under greater pressure to wring more money out of the local radio market. Radio stations are cutting discount deals with buyers and generally getting more aggressive, trying to push their revenues near the inflated levels reached during 2000.
Salespeople usually work on commission, making it a cheap way to increase volume.
Many trades report that national ad rates for spots on even the most popular programs, such as The Howard Stern Show and Rush Limbaugh, are already taking a pounding. Stern's program is reportedly going for half of last year's price. Locally, stations around town are in varying stages of discounting, depending on demand. The situation is particularly tough for the publicly traded radio operators like the giant Clear Channel, Viacom and Entercom that need to increase revenues quarter after quarter. Industry consolidation over the past four years left a handful of big players controlling most outlets in Boston.