Yesterday, when talking about Chris File appearing in the Up in the Air trailer, we said this, emphasis mine:

Is that Chris Files, host of The Toast which is the diamond in the rough that is ToastedRav.com, in the new Up in the Air trailer walking behind star George Clooney?

We forgot to mention that Chris isn’t the only diamond in the rough!  He has a buddy left in those charred remains of a media experiment: Their movie critic Roger Qbert!  We love his movie ripping articles!

You know, come to think of it…maybe we could use a movie critic here at PK….

In a press release from Bonneville Radio (who locally owns 101 ESPN, WIL 92.3 and 106.5 The Arch), emphasis mine:

In response to sustained, slow economic indices and market conditions that are producing below-projected revenues industry-wide, Bonneville International today announced to its employees a series of cost-reducing measures designed to trim operating expenses while at the same time continuing to produce high-quality products for its audiences and clients.  Among those measures implemented are salary reductions for its higher-paid employees, adjustments to vacation accruals and carryovers, elimination of company-participation health club memberships, and a reduction of holiday remembrances for employees.

“Our corporate management team and market managers,” said Bruce Reese, Bonneville president and CEO, “have looked at this very carefully and thoughtfully. We believe these adjustments are reasonable and necessary to maintain the health of our company and its valued employees. “While we’re privately held,” he continued, “we’re not immune from today’s economic realities. Our ownership is not short-term in its approach to our business. I know that Bonneville continues to be a leader in this industry, especially in terms of the quality of the people who work here and the products they produce”

Radio is coughing up blood all over and this includes the privately held (Read: Mormon controlled) Bonneville.  There’s no doubt that inside Bonneville is touting one thing and one thing only for spin on this suck-fest:

“Hey, at least we aren’t ClearChannel.”

We completely agree that Bonneville is probably the best of the radio companies in terms of stability and continued benefits, but they would be smart to stop comparing themselves to other radio companies and start comparing themselves to companies in general.  No one wants to hear your the most stable radio company, they want to hear that you are stable…flat out, with no qualifications.  If you aren’t (and let’s be honest, if you are cutting people’s pay, you aren’t) then say you aren’t and follow it up with plans to get there, don’t just feed your people a load of crap about how your dying grass is still a little greener than the dump of a house next door.

To turn and often-used internet phrase, “Being the best radio company is like coming in first in the special olympics…you’re still retarded.”

Source: Radio News Daily via STLMedia

Times are tough everywhere, especially in the radio biz.  So tough that one of the staff’s favorite work perks over at Bonneville (the company that runs WIL 92.3, 106.5 The Arch, 101 ESPN and ToastedRav.com), free Starbucks coffee in the break room, is going away.  We hear the machine itself might stay, but the staff will be expected to pony up for their morning joe starting as soon as next week maybe.

Granted, in the light of today’s other radio news, this seems pretty weak, but when you look at it like this is the last chunk of fat they could cut off before hitting meat (read: “people”) it gets a little scarier for those that work there.

[Full disclosure: The editor of this site works for Bonneville St. Louis.]