BELL BUYS ASTRAL

I haven't had many days where I thought I'd like to jump back into broadcasting.  Listeners likely have felt the same way about me!

Anyway, today is yet another day where I look at people still in the broadcasting community and can't help but feel bad for them.  Broadcasting companies are like oil companies.  They start small, build into something a little bigger, and then sell out to the giant.  Astral is the most recent example of this as they are expect to sell for $3.38 billion.  Astral is Canada's largest pay and specialty TV broadcaster, owning 83 radio stations in 50 Canadian markets, and the third-largest outdoor advertising company.  Bell would acquire Astral's slate of television stations that include HBO Canada, the Movie Network, and the Family Channel, as well as radio stations under brands like Virgin Radio and EZ Rock.

Airchecker claims Bell will own 45% of corporate radio in Canada.

While smaller companies like Harvard, Goldenwest, and Vista are making some serious headway with what they are doing, it becomes almost impossible to resist a take-over bid after awhile.  It's a double edged sword for employees in the industry.  If your boss runs a bad business, you will be out of business.  If you run a good business, a company like Bell comes along and says "Here's a blank cheque.  Fill it in."  Make no mistake.  Mergers/take overs/whatever you want to call it will ALWAYS result in job loss.  In fact, it's my understanding Astral was already trimming fat before this announcement; but I haven't been keeping real close tabs on that situation to know if that is 100% accurate.  It's, merely, a couple of comments I have heard from broadcasters still trying to make a living in the industry.

Announcers should, if they haven't already, take this is a big time wake up call. Your employer, while maybe holds you in high standard, isn't going to hesitate to look out for number one.  As an announcer you can do the same.  You have a vehicle to promote yourself for a future opportunity, potentially a lucrative one that isn't even in the field.  Make sure important people, no matter what industry, know who you are.  Don't forget you are making an impression every minute of the day and being on the radio or television gives you a leg up on the average person.  And, while you may not know as many people as you want, you will always run across people who feel as though they know you.  And, that's a good thing when promoting yourself as a valuable person to have in a work force somewhere.

Who wouldn't want to spend the rest of their life in broadcasting when that's been your goal all along?  But, the reality is that there is a great world out there for you in communication fields like public relations, sales, government, and other various forms of customer service.  And, in some case, they pay extremely well.  In this day of the internet, the ones that are able to communicate verbally are becoming a smaller and smaller group.  Take advantage of this demand in society.

I'd write about what I think the CRTC should do here, but that's a waste of time.  They are a two-faced organization that looks out for the Bells of the world.  Not listeners, viewers, small businesses, and employees.