A shooting outside of Hot 97 in New York.

Maybe the station has nothing to do with the shooting directly, but it seems interesting that this is an interesting place to be. Interesting as in “My you live in interesting times” kind of interesting.

Not that this is a first for Hot 97, mind you. Either first controversy, or first shooting. There was the first shooting in 2001, which is what started the mess that got Lil’ Kim in trouble. (Note to Lil’ Kim: Baby, you can’t lie under oath, unless you can invoke Presidential Privilege. Just sayin’.) The evening DJ came to fisticuffs with a DJ of the cross town rival Power 105.1.

There was the complete lack of a sense of propriety when the morning show on Hot 97 played a parody of “We are the World” about the tsunami disaster that included racial slurs.

But cross-town rivals in the morning time slot, Star and Buc Wild, aren’t any better. Their racial comments have raised some ire, although the outcry has been less.

Incidentally, this pisses off Hot 97 to no end. Star and Buc Wild were fired from Hot 97 over a year ago, and now the station is holding them to a non-compete agreement. What could have possibly gotten them fired? Oh, the little things of assaulting fellow employees, insensitivity to the death of singer Aliyah, stuff like that. Lawsuits were mentioned as a means of keeping them off air.

Damn. Seems like Hot 97 is in deep shit. Again. And what exactly will be done about all of this?

Nothing.

See, since the deregulation of radio with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, radio has become very, very corporate. Scales of economy, and all that. Just four companies own a 49% share of the radio listening audience. In news broadcasts, it’s worse with four companies holding a 67% share. The result? Failing stations are snapped up and integrated into larger corporate empires. Which is fine for making use of common resources to reduce individual costs.

The problem lies in the fact that these companies could not care less about the employees or the audience. They are driven by bottom lines, which are fed from advertising dollars, which are based on market share. So far, so good. But the pursuit of market share, that is, making people go “I have to tune back in to hear [insert the blank]”, comes not from content, but from shallow antics.

But what about the consumer? If they are tuning in, aren’t they culpable? Yes, except for two things. One: what is the alternative? A vast majority of the stations are owned by the same oligopoly. Two: they are turning off the radio, and it is beginning to show. Alternatives exist in the Internet and on satellite radio. Revenues are down. Fines are up.

So what is a radio company to do? Well, squeeze more from the employees. Don’t like it? Quit. I know, it’s a tough business and job market, but if you can’t take the sweatshop, then you need to go. Sweatshop being the operative word here. Think it’s a hostile environment? Tough shit, get on the air with the racist anyway. That is the situation that Minya Oh (a.k.a. Miss Info) is facing. Seems that in the Hot 97 tsunami flap, the highly paid lead host, Miss Jones, berated Ms. Oh and made less than harmonious comments. Why? Ms. Oh expressed displeasure for the parody thinking that it was in bad taste. The result? Get on air with the same scum bag, don’t talk about anything, or you’re fired. Minya Oh is considering a civil suit.

Now, should a flap occur, respond only when advertisers pull out. Then, muddle around only enough to make a token effort at apology. Like, firing the producer of the segment and maybe one DJ. But only because he said he was going to “shoot all Asians” which probably panicked the legal staff. The racist can stay because a public flogging is only a hostile work environment, which is harder to prove than terroristic threatening.

Since the market is tied up effectively in the hands of the few, there are limited options for either on air talent, or consumers. Keep in mind that the producer of the tsunami segment is formerly of the Opie and Anthony show. (That would be the same show kicked off air for having a contest that involved listeners, sexual relations, and a church in New York City.) The station knew what they were getting with Rick Delgado. There was no way that they could not know what to expect. It’s only after there are protests led by a New York City Councilman that Emmis Communications (owner of Hot 97) goes “my bad.” And a token donation is made to smooth over hard feelings. But the show goes on.

Other than that, The Suits will go out of their way to protect a racist with the intention of protecting their investment in air talent. Hot 97 is locked in a statistical dead heat with their rival. All for declining ad dollars. There is never so vicious a fight like one over shrinking resources.

Content is king? The king is dead. Long live the king.

What else can a communications company do to make a few dollars in a declining market? Payola. Pure and simple. Well, one step removed, but simple none-the-less.

New York District Attorney Eliot Spitzer is looking into payola with some of the larger broadcast companies. Say what? Isn’t that, like, so 1950’s or something?

Here’s how the new shell game works: Instead of paying the station or DJ directly, the record labels pay an “independent promoter.” It’s the promoter that pays the broadcaster directly. Did the (former) Iraqi Information Minister think up of this operation? “Nope. No payola here. Haven’t seen any all day.”

Now, to be fair, some places like Clear Channel have claimed that they distanced themselves from this kind of thing. In April of 2003, which would be not quite two years ago. But the implication is that they did in the not too distant past. And so did Radio One. New revenue stream indeed.

Also, as an aside, Spitzer is slow on the uptake. 20/20 aired a program on 2002 on this. Timing? Anyone?

All this extra money has got to make the analysts on Wall Street Happy. Actually, no. Stock ratings are down. Share prices are down. Damn internet.

Oh, and the 50 Cent thing? Disloyalty. Someone else said “ya know, I don’t think that I’m going to play with your silly shenanigans.” Kind of like Ms. Oh. Maybe 50 Cent and Hot 97 really belong together. They seem to be cut from the same cloth.