On August 26, 2024, WCBS-AM will no longer exist.
Even after writing about media change for more than 15 years, that sentence didn’t seem real as I was typing it.
It’s tough to come up with an analogy to fit this situation. A corporation emerging from bankruptcy has killed the nation’s first all-news radio station. It was often the top-billing radio station in the country, covering the news 24 hours a day in the nation’s largest market and employing many of the top professionals anywhere in broadcast journalism. And soon, it’s just going to go away.
I won’t wax on about the greatness of the product (but listen to this). Or about the afternoon in 2013 I spent inside the WCBS studios and newsroom, talking shop and marveling at the talent and skill up close. Let’s leave emotion out of this and cut to the chase on what this means to you if you’re a media professional of any kind:
Nobody is safe.
If WCBS can be wiped off the map, it can happen to anyone.
The near future of the media business is looking historically scary. This is the beginning of a wave. Once election money runs out, we could see losses like we’ve never seen before. It won’t just be venerable radio stations disappearing, it could be much more. Cable channels you’ve known for decades could fall off the lineup. The local TV station you “grew up watching” could decide it will no longer do news. The local newspaper that has been hanging on may not be able to hang on anymore.
And before you point the finger, it’s not just broadcasting or news people that could be affected by all of this. There could be PR firms that won’t be able to make it, even those with the biggest names (which often have the biggest overheads to fund). There could be ad agencies that can’t survive on digital alone.
There are many reasons for all of this. In short, the profits that used to come with the business of news aren’t there anymore. Only a pinchful of companies have figured out how to thrive in the current environment. The pandemic accelerated trends. We’re at a place we haven’t seen before, not even during The Great Recession.
What is a communicator to do? It’s tough. But a moment like this, try to figure out how to be even more nimble. Be honest to those you serve about what it’s like “out there.” And be thankful for what you have, while you have it, both as a professional and a consumer.