FRESNO - Would the Fresno radio market support a show like the Breakfast Club? Not the movie staring Molly Ringwald, but the morning radio show that ran on KKDJ from 1981 to 1993 staring Don Fischer and Dean Opperman. Has the Fresno radio market become far too conservative that it would no longer welcome a locally produced radio show with satire that might not fall in line with the messages of Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity Sunday on Facebook, Opperman posted a story he wrote for a newspaper about the old show. A few hours later he received a responds from his old boss Al Smith. With the permission of Mr. Opperman, we have reposted Smith's comment and Opperman's responds.
AL SMITH Reflecting on the immediacy of radio pulling together listeners to historical events is an attribute we are losing with today's corporate radio stations. What a service great talent like yours was to bring people together to cry, to rejoice, to celebrate and to just enjoy our day to day lives. Hopefully some one will understand that value and bring it back. Thanks, Dean
DEAN OPPERMAN: In response to former Fresno radio executive Al Smith's comments on my FB page regarding “the immediacy of radio pulling together listeners... is an attribute we are losing with today's corporate radio stations” and that ““hopefully some one will understand that value and bring it back,” I've responded as follows: You said a mouthful there, Al. As KMJ's former general manager and as a consultant to Peak-ed Broadcasting, you know the situation as well as anyone. BUT EXCUSE ME, AL, WHILE I BRING THOSE JUST TUNING IN UP TO SPEED.
Some years back, the caps on broadcast station ownership were lifted by a far right-wing dominated FCC. Whereas it had been against the law for any one company to own more than seven stations nationally, the repealing of the ownership rule suddenly allowed for giant conglomerates to buy TV and radio stations by the hundreds. Some, like Clear Channel, own something like 2000 stations. Thus came the death of the independent station owner, much akin to what Walmart did to the corner grocer.
These giant broadcast companies fired the local talent, decimated the news departments and began broadcasting the same satellite originated shows everywhere. The equal-time provisions were also repealed. It used to be the law that broadcast political opinions had to be offset by an opposing view. The repeal of that law made possible the rise of Rush and the nearly complete suppression of opposing voices (except for flaccid ones—think Alan Colmes). This, in turn, created Fox “News”-- a far right propaganda organ masquerading as a 24/7 news channel.
Millions continued to watch and listen, completely unaware that the press, once considered a vital part of the checks and balances system of American government, was moribund. With the death of investigative journalism (think Woodward & Bernstein), the country sunk into the morass of George W. Bush and his phony wars, blatant lies, and the ransack of the US economy. Anyone care to buy some real estate? How about some stock?
Last time I was in Fresno, I took a drive down Belly-Up Boulevard (oops, I mean Blackstone) and was shocked by the mass vacancies and closed shops. Over breakfast at BJ's, I perused the Fresno Bee which was about as thin as the old Fresno Guide used to be--- 25 pages maybe; there were hardly any ads, commercial or classified. With the rise of the Internet, newspapers are nearly as dead as radio and today my home town (St. Agnes-Class of 1954) is now (choose one):
A. The smog capital of the United States?
B. The Forced Home Invasion Capital of the United States?
C. The Stolen Copper Wiring From Streetlamps Capital of the United States?
D. All of the above.
And is anyone talking HONESTLY about these issues on local radio? I seriously doubt it because it's not compatible with doing business; Unfortunately, and without equal-time provisions or unbiased and healthy news departments, these issues won't be argued or acted upon.
If its not too late (and it may well be), it'll be interesting to see what KMJ does with the imminent departure of Rush to whatever Fresno Clear Channel station he's headed for. KMJ's current management claims “this will only accelerate their master plan to feature all-local programming” but, really, how much more Ray can they squeeze out of the tube? Its already KM-Ray, All Ray, All Day. And don't tell me they are going to counter with Huckabee.
Meanwhile, Don and I have been off the air longer than we were on. In spite of the fact that we were number one at every Fresno station we broadcast from (including, much to our mutual surprise, Al, Y94), no station will put us on, even to do our brand of gentle satire. Why? Because we don't espouse a far right philosophy TO THE EXCEPTION OF EVERYTHING ELSE.
And so we watch as the gatekeepers of Fresno radio mediocrity continue to feed the ever dwindling audience an all-manure-diet, apparently oblivious to the fact that the public has finally awoken from their Fox-Rush-KMJ induced hypnosis and rejected the “In Greed We Trust” philosophy of the far right wing. Meanwhile, the inevitable is obvious: local radio is eating its own tail and dying a slow death.
Of course, this is only my opinion and in the spirit of equal time, I heartily welcome opposing views.
Love to all, Dean Opperman.
PS:
For those interested in hearing how much fun Fresno radio used to be, I invite you to check out the new Dean and Don website: http://deananddon.bandcamp.com/