Requiem Part I: Seinfeld

Of course everyone watched Seinfeld from the beginning.  Right?  Wrong.  It seems that most people are only dimly aware that Seinfeld failed to crack the top 20 during its first four seasons.  In fact, such groundbreaking comedies like America’s Funniest People, Love and War, and The Jackie Thomas Show, all surpassed Seinfeld during this time.  I suspect that most programmers imagine that they would be a Warren Littlefield, fighting for Seinfeld, knowing in his heart that if it can only find its audience it will succeed.  Bullshit. Most programmers are the guy who green lighted Madman of the People under the condition that the writers make Dabney Coleman more likable.

Cumulus has developed a successful business model by buying small to medium sized stations and cutting costs.  While that model has worked for them in the past, one doesn’t need a Harvard MBA to know that a company can’t cut costs for perpetuity.  Eventually, they will have to deliver a better product than their competition.

I’m not certain what the programmers at Cumulus perceive constitutes good radio.  Perhaps they say, “If we could only get someone like Steve McCoy, we’d be golden.”  My guess is, however, that they imagine themselves to be searching for a Seinfeld of the airwaves whom they can syndicate to all of their Radio stations.  Sadly, their predecessors let Jerry Seinfeld go 3 years ago, and Larry David is out the door by October.  Thursday night is coming.  Just not for Atlanta.