This week's podcast discussed the recent broadcasting mishap at CBS, where a live Billy Joel concert was cut off due to scheduling conflicts with The Masters golf tournament. This incident not only highlighted issues of automation and outsourcing in television broadcast operations but also served as a metaphor for larger problems in media businesses, including radio and podcasting. The key takeaway is the need for media companies, especially those in podcasting, to invest wisely and maintain a focus on sustainable growth and quality staffing.
This week's podcast addresses a significant issue within our modern media landscape, highlighting the incident where CBS cut off the final moments of a Billy Joel concert broadcast. This mishap, which occurred after a live broadcast of The Masters golf tournament, exemplifies broader industry challenges. Due to the golf event extending beyond its scheduled time, the subsequent programming, including the concert special at Madison Square Garden, was delayed. This concert was Billy Joel's 100th sold-out show of his monthly residency, a milestone that CBS intended to celebrate with substantial viewership.
The problem arose when the concert, scheduled to end at 11:30 PM, was cut off prematurely by many CBS affiliates. This was due to automated or remotely controlled master control operations—a result of budget cuts and staffing reductions in the TV industry. Some affiliates managed to continue broadcasting the concert until its actual conclusion, while others could not, causing frustration among viewers and a flurry of complaints on social media. In response, CBS apologized, investigated the incident with affiliate stations, and scheduled a re-broadcast of the concert.
The episode serves as a cautionary tale for the podcasting industry, particularly large companies that might be tempted to overly invest without sustainable strategies. The podcast emphasizes the importance of prudent investment in quality personnel and sustainable practices rather than unchecked spending. It warns against the potential pitfalls of rapid expansion without solid groundwork, suggesting that a thoughtful approach can help avoid the kinds of disruptions experienced by CBS
So audio only podcast this week – last thing I’d want is CBS to cut off the last minute of my video. Sunday night’s SNAFU was both inexcusable and completely predictable. It’s a symptom of our current media landscape and should serve as a warning to the big business side of podcasting.
If you’re not familiar, after weeks of promotion, CBS cut away from the last minute or two of their Billy Joel concert special, his 100th sold out show of a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden. It was going to be a huge night for the Tiffany Network. Few television moments carry the eyeballs and ad revenue like live sports. And The Masters golf tournament is one of the biggest examples, outside of course the NFL. CBS was to use this lead-in for his signature show, 60 Minutes, then use THAT lead-in for random cop drama #781, before getting into The Entertainer at MSG.
So the Masters ran long, as live sports often do, but CBS was able to end the green jacket ceremony by 7:30. Perfect, everything gets bumped a half-hour, Billy Joel airs 9:30-11:30 Eastern.Local news goes on a half hour late.And here’s where the real trouble started.
The Concert actually started at 9:31, after CBS network had given all its affiliates the times for their local commercial breaks and when to leave the network, to switch back to local news. There used to be a position at every television station called Master Control, which would coordinate when a station was in their local broadcast, versus taking the national feed from the network. Now depending on the market size, ownership situation, and other factors, that position has often been eliminated because of budget cuts. The TV industry is in rough shape. So for some stations, that role is now automated. And for others, it’s outsourced to a hub in a city hundreds – or thousands- of miles away.
So even though the concert SHOULD have ended at 11:31 or 11:32, the signal went out for everyone to bail out at 11:30. Some stations were powerless to switch back. A few lucky ones had someone in the building to override it. Others were able to speed dial their master control operator in another city to scream “take the network back!”
Now CBS seemed to do right AFTER this colossal screwing of the pooch. I’m told an affiliate relations person called each station overnight to find out what happened on their air specifically. One person I know who talked to her said she just sounded beat up and dejected. After all, if the overnight staff at a station was fielding angry viewer calls, I’m SURE this poor affiliate person had to hear about it. And after this lit up social media, CBS apologized, put out a statement, and agreed to re-broadcast the concert, in its entirety, this Friday. No big loss for them – traditionally, Friday night is a TV wasteland anyway. But if you’re DVR’ing it, you may want to DVR the next program too, just in case.
Here's the larger, industry-wide issue. Changes in the media landscape have led to dramatic cuts in television, radio, and even some companies who over-invested in podcasting and got ahead of their skis. Television and radio are having to find new revenue streams, and are constantly cutting staff in an effort to stay afloat. That’s how these things happen. On the podcasting side, a number of large companies have made cuts, again, after over-investing in the space.
For the major players in podcasting, don’t pretend this is a dot com business in 1998 and go nuts.Invest in good, quality people that drive results, and don’t throw hundreds of millions of dollars in cash around.And when there are good quarters and bad quarters, don’t cut the people that keep the trains on the tracks.