Mapleton Communications, LLC. borrowed from the Lazard Group to buy a bunch of crap radio stations that they should never have purchased, and now, are having trouble payi
ng it back to Lazard, who now appears to have controlling interest in the company!Some listeners out there think this might be a good thing…that maybe Lazard knows more about running radio stations than Mapleton does!
Lazard is in the business of making money, for themselves and for others…and they are very good at it. I’m sure they have no interest in the day to day operations of Mapleton and it’s fabulous radio empire! (I mean, they left Adam in charge didn't they?...) However, if Lazard does decide they want to be hands-on, if they do decide they want to get jiggy with it, if they decide they want their money back anytime soon, they would be more likely to cut and hack away at the stations, and so, I do not have a very good feeling about all of this.
Why didn’t Mapleton just spend a little of their own money to fix up and maintain and promote the stations they already owned? Wouldn’t that have been a lot cheaper? It certainly would have been more beneficial to them and to us and to you the listeners.
I think this quote from one of my earlier blogs (originally found on the KPIG website) explains it pretty well…
“I think the problem with our corporate masters and, indeed, with most corporate masters, is that they have dollar signs burned into their eyeballs…which blinds them and causes them to make mistakes…the more money, the bigger the mistakes…mistakes that hurt people, including themselves!!
This morning on the porch of my fortress of solitude, I came across these verses in Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 (yes, that’s the Old Testament!) that made me shake my head and chuckle:
Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
Naked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand.”
Ralphie
Thanks for this new blog! I've counted myself a piggie since '96, and have felt the various corporate shockwaves come through in the music and tone...
ReplyDeleteWent back east in '06, came back in '07, and something just felt-- not right. Where was Dallas? Etc... Since I had become hooked on marvelous WNYC, and WFMU, I find myself listening online to NPR more (plus the political moment was too much to ignore).
This spring, every time I tuned in to KPIG, I would find myself changing the station after a few minutes... Trying the past few weeks to find my way back to that comfortable place that I KNOW is the Pig, and just now searched the boards to come to understand how the corporate clusterfuck has been mucking up the sty.
Am happy to say that with both ears open, I can hear the Pig loud and clear, even with all that! Wish you were on in the evenings, and Dallas in the mornings, but Ralphie in the mornings is better than no Ralphie at all!
QUE VIVA PIG RADIO!
Our favorite PIG needs a Charlotte in its corner. Anyone skillful at weaving webs (or at least a Webpage) that could galvanize lots of faithful listeners. Is it too late to Save The Pig?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's too late...but the difficulty level has increased ten-fold.
ReplyDelete