Article in Wall Street Journel about Opry
Posted: 9 Jun 2000 3:26 pm
Wall Street Journal
June 7, 2000
Grand Ole Opry Aims to Put
Old Tune Into a New Key
----
By Will Pinkston
NASHVILLE -- Pete Fisher is messing with the Grand Ole Opry.
Since assuming the general manager's post at the venerable Opry a year
ago, he has ejected some longtime performers so that he could replace
them with new ones. He is trying to broadcast the long-running show,
which turns 75 this year, on the Web.
And this Saturday, in what may be the most stark symbol of a new era,
Mr. Fisher is replacing the old red barn that has served as the Opry's
backdrop since 1978 -- an effort to update Opry's image and improve its
stagnant TV ratings.
"The Opry is always having to deal with the issue of staying relevant,"
Mr. Fisher says, explaining all the changes.
The Opry, a live-broadcast music-variety show that first aired on AM
radio in 1925, once was an integral part of the country-music industry,
turning performers such as Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl into major stars.
But the Opry's importance has waned in recent decades, mirroring the
decline of AM and the proliferation of entertainment options such as
cable television. Recording and touring also became increasingly
lucrative for country stars. Big names appeared on the Opry less
frequently, and a once-treasured piece of Americana lost its luster.
Now, Mr. Fisher is trying to re-energize the flagging Opry, which
despite its troubles remains Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Co.'s
best-known franchise. One major focus: luring back country's
contemporary artists. Years ago, "appearing on the Opry was the best
thing you could do for your career," says the 37-year-old former artist
manager and music-publishing executive. "Nowadays, there are many other
things that compete."
But traditions die hard, and the Grand Ole Opry has a lot of tradition
behind it. Fans aren't shy about letting Mr. Fisher know. Some gripe
that he is overhauling a cultural institution at the expense of older,
established artists who have kept it going. He also faces obstacles in
persuading Nashville's influential recording industry, long detached
from the tradition of the Opry, to get involved. The Opry's fortunes are
tied, in part, to country music's kismet, which lately hasn't seemed
bright. The genre accounted for 10.8% of U.S. record sales in 1999, down
from 18.7% in 1993.
Still, Mr. Fisher believes he can re-establish the Opry as country
music's "premier entertainment event."
Gaylord, which acquired the Opry in 1983 along with Nashville's Opryland
Hotel and a now-defunct theme park, has been stumped in its attempts to
heighten the program's image and make it more profitable. The Opry's TV
ratings on CBS Cable's TNN, for example, have been in a holding pattern.
During the first three months of the year, the program reached an
average of 1.03 million U.S. households during its half-hour segment
each Saturday, according to Nielsen Media Research -- slightly less than
in the same period in 1998.
Steve Buchanan, Mr. Fisher's boss and president of Gaylord's Grand Ole
Opry Group -- a division that includes the Opry, Nashville's historic
Ryman Auditorium concert hall and two Wildhorse Saloon nightclubs --
won't say how profitable the Opry is. (Because the show represents only
a small share of Gaylord's $510.8 million in revenue last year, the
company isn't required to proffer details to the Securities and Exchange
Commission.)
People familiar with the business say box-office receipts at Gaylord's
4,400-seat Opry House represent the show's single-largest revenue
source. Annually, the Opry draws an estimated 500,000 people, many of
them Nashville tourists, at ticket prices ranging from $20.50 to $22.50.
(Prices went up $2 a ticket earlier this year.)
Based on those numbers, the Opry probably generates $10 million to $11
million a year in ticket revenue. The show also collects income from
broadcast, sponsorship and merchandising deals.
Mr. Buchanan, who took over the Grand Ole Opry Group in 1998, hired Mr.
Fisher last June as the first full-time general manager of the Opry in
several years. Mr. Buchanan says he believed it "deserved someone who is
living and breathing the Grand Ole Opry."
The two first met in 1994 on a community-business panel dedicated to the
local music industry. Mr. Fisher previously managed creative services at
Time Warner Inc.'s WarnerSongs publishing venture, and most recently was
a partner in Fisher Raines Entertainment, an artist-management firm.
Music-industry observers considered Gaylord's hiring of Mr. Fisher a
clear attempt to reach out to Music Row, the Nashville district where
country's biggest record labels are based. Many on Music Row had come to
consider the Opry an outdated institution. The Opry, meanwhile, stood
aloof as well, often believing that country stars should come knocking
if they wanted to play the revered stage.
"The Opry and Music Row had not been in touch for several years," notes
country star Bill Anderson, who joined the show in 1962.
Over the past 12 months, though, Mr. Fisher has begun to gradually
change the relationship. Earlier this year, for example, he pitched the
head of Warner Bros. Records in Nashville on a promotion involving the
Opry, Warner's various Hawaiian-cowboy artists known as paniolos, and
Hilo Hattie, a Hawaii-based retailer that recently opened a store in
Opry Mills, a new mall next to the Opry.
The deal hasn't come together yet. But "it's the first time I've been
called by somebody from the Opry where they initiated an idea," says Jim
Ed Norman, longtime president of Warner Nashville.
Mr. Fisher also is reaching out to his former contacts among the agents
and managers, trying to attract more young talent and today's biggest
stars. The Opry for years has relied heavily on 70 or so permanent "cast
members," most of whom are older performers who haven't had hit songs in
awhile. Meanwhile, newer acts like Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Trisha
Yearwood seldom visit the Opry, which pays performers only union-scale
wages.
One tactic Mr. Fisher is using to try to draw newer stars back: catering
to their schedules by maintaining computer spreadsheets to match their
open dates with holes in the Opry's calendar. Mr. Fisher has no
statistical evidence to tell if such ploys are working. But with
increasing frequency, he says, "artists, publicists, management and
agents are calling us."
But longtime Opry fans complain that Mr. Fisher is changing too much,
too fast and with little regard for the older performers. Some fans
congregating in Internet chat rooms have labeled him "Pete the Dragon"
for his aggressive moves, including the November firing of several
house-band members. "We all worry about the Opry," says Maggie
Smolkovich, a federal employee in Nashville who goes to shows about
twice a month.
At least one music-business person in Nashville is upset over what he
perceives to be grossly unfair cast changes, including the April firing
of The 4 Guys, a quartet inducted into the Opry in 1967. Its two
remaining original members recently retired, so Mr. Fisher let the
others go.
"This is what I call disrespect to the elders of country music," says
Marty Martel, 61, who manages Opry member Johnny PayCheck and maintains
a Web site that's highly critical of Opry management, including Messrs.
Buchanan and Fisher. "Their mothers and fathers ought to slap their
hands."
Mr. Fisher shrugs off the Internet buzz. "I used to read that stuff," he
says. "I just had to tell myself, `No, Pete. You´re doing the right
thing.´" Still, Mr. Martel´s comments have aggravated Mr. Fisher to
the point he banned Mr. Martel last January from visiting backstage at
the Opry.
Most cast members have reserved criticism for now, knowing that
balancing the business and politics of the Grand Ole Opry can be
difficult. Management obviously has "a very narrow line to walk between
the past and the future," says Mr. Anderson, known as Whispering Bill to
his fans. "It's probably a pretty thankless job."
In part to help keep cast members happy, Mr. Fisher has created
confidential "town hall meetings" where they can vent in private, if
they want. The first was in November, at a catered dinner in the Grand
Ole Opry Museum. Mr. Anderson says the get-togethers have helped morale.
Separately, Gaylord has met some resistance from the Nashville chapters
of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the
American Federation of Musicians in its efforts to launch an Internet
audio-broadcast of the Opry. Union officials had demanded higher wages
for their members before Gaylord begins broadcasting the Opry on
additional media beyond the company's WSM-AM radio and CBS Cable's TNN
(formerly a Gaylord property). Some Opry performers intervened, though,
telling union leaders that they'll forgo increased wages temporarily to
first see whether Gaylord can turn a profit with Internet programming.
Despite the Internet's promise, Gaylord and Opry officials still view
television as the key to bringing the Opry to a broader audience. But
apart from the set redesign to be unveiled this weekend, little about
the show has changed since it began appearing on TNN in 1985.
TNN is required to air the Opry until September 2002, under a $1.55
billion deal in which Gaylord spun off the channel to CBS Corp. What
happens after that is unclear, considering that CBS has been pushing the
network away from country-music programming. Opry and TNN officials say
they're both happy with the arrangement for now.
-----------------------------------------------------
------------------
Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047
June 7, 2000
Grand Ole Opry Aims to Put
Old Tune Into a New Key
----
By Will Pinkston
NASHVILLE -- Pete Fisher is messing with the Grand Ole Opry.
Since assuming the general manager's post at the venerable Opry a year
ago, he has ejected some longtime performers so that he could replace
them with new ones. He is trying to broadcast the long-running show,
which turns 75 this year, on the Web.
And this Saturday, in what may be the most stark symbol of a new era,
Mr. Fisher is replacing the old red barn that has served as the Opry's
backdrop since 1978 -- an effort to update Opry's image and improve its
stagnant TV ratings.
"The Opry is always having to deal with the issue of staying relevant,"
Mr. Fisher says, explaining all the changes.
The Opry, a live-broadcast music-variety show that first aired on AM
radio in 1925, once was an integral part of the country-music industry,
turning performers such as Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl into major stars.
But the Opry's importance has waned in recent decades, mirroring the
decline of AM and the proliferation of entertainment options such as
cable television. Recording and touring also became increasingly
lucrative for country stars. Big names appeared on the Opry less
frequently, and a once-treasured piece of Americana lost its luster.
Now, Mr. Fisher is trying to re-energize the flagging Opry, which
despite its troubles remains Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Co.'s
best-known franchise. One major focus: luring back country's
contemporary artists. Years ago, "appearing on the Opry was the best
thing you could do for your career," says the 37-year-old former artist
manager and music-publishing executive. "Nowadays, there are many other
things that compete."
But traditions die hard, and the Grand Ole Opry has a lot of tradition
behind it. Fans aren't shy about letting Mr. Fisher know. Some gripe
that he is overhauling a cultural institution at the expense of older,
established artists who have kept it going. He also faces obstacles in
persuading Nashville's influential recording industry, long detached
from the tradition of the Opry, to get involved. The Opry's fortunes are
tied, in part, to country music's kismet, which lately hasn't seemed
bright. The genre accounted for 10.8% of U.S. record sales in 1999, down
from 18.7% in 1993.
Still, Mr. Fisher believes he can re-establish the Opry as country
music's "premier entertainment event."
Gaylord, which acquired the Opry in 1983 along with Nashville's Opryland
Hotel and a now-defunct theme park, has been stumped in its attempts to
heighten the program's image and make it more profitable. The Opry's TV
ratings on CBS Cable's TNN, for example, have been in a holding pattern.
During the first three months of the year, the program reached an
average of 1.03 million U.S. households during its half-hour segment
each Saturday, according to Nielsen Media Research -- slightly less than
in the same period in 1998.
Steve Buchanan, Mr. Fisher's boss and president of Gaylord's Grand Ole
Opry Group -- a division that includes the Opry, Nashville's historic
Ryman Auditorium concert hall and two Wildhorse Saloon nightclubs --
won't say how profitable the Opry is. (Because the show represents only
a small share of Gaylord's $510.8 million in revenue last year, the
company isn't required to proffer details to the Securities and Exchange
Commission.)
People familiar with the business say box-office receipts at Gaylord's
4,400-seat Opry House represent the show's single-largest revenue
source. Annually, the Opry draws an estimated 500,000 people, many of
them Nashville tourists, at ticket prices ranging from $20.50 to $22.50.
(Prices went up $2 a ticket earlier this year.)
Based on those numbers, the Opry probably generates $10 million to $11
million a year in ticket revenue. The show also collects income from
broadcast, sponsorship and merchandising deals.
Mr. Buchanan, who took over the Grand Ole Opry Group in 1998, hired Mr.
Fisher last June as the first full-time general manager of the Opry in
several years. Mr. Buchanan says he believed it "deserved someone who is
living and breathing the Grand Ole Opry."
The two first met in 1994 on a community-business panel dedicated to the
local music industry. Mr. Fisher previously managed creative services at
Time Warner Inc.'s WarnerSongs publishing venture, and most recently was
a partner in Fisher Raines Entertainment, an artist-management firm.
Music-industry observers considered Gaylord's hiring of Mr. Fisher a
clear attempt to reach out to Music Row, the Nashville district where
country's biggest record labels are based. Many on Music Row had come to
consider the Opry an outdated institution. The Opry, meanwhile, stood
aloof as well, often believing that country stars should come knocking
if they wanted to play the revered stage.
"The Opry and Music Row had not been in touch for several years," notes
country star Bill Anderson, who joined the show in 1962.
Over the past 12 months, though, Mr. Fisher has begun to gradually
change the relationship. Earlier this year, for example, he pitched the
head of Warner Bros. Records in Nashville on a promotion involving the
Opry, Warner's various Hawaiian-cowboy artists known as paniolos, and
Hilo Hattie, a Hawaii-based retailer that recently opened a store in
Opry Mills, a new mall next to the Opry.
The deal hasn't come together yet. But "it's the first time I've been
called by somebody from the Opry where they initiated an idea," says Jim
Ed Norman, longtime president of Warner Nashville.
Mr. Fisher also is reaching out to his former contacts among the agents
and managers, trying to attract more young talent and today's biggest
stars. The Opry for years has relied heavily on 70 or so permanent "cast
members," most of whom are older performers who haven't had hit songs in
awhile. Meanwhile, newer acts like Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Trisha
Yearwood seldom visit the Opry, which pays performers only union-scale
wages.
One tactic Mr. Fisher is using to try to draw newer stars back: catering
to their schedules by maintaining computer spreadsheets to match their
open dates with holes in the Opry's calendar. Mr. Fisher has no
statistical evidence to tell if such ploys are working. But with
increasing frequency, he says, "artists, publicists, management and
agents are calling us."
But longtime Opry fans complain that Mr. Fisher is changing too much,
too fast and with little regard for the older performers. Some fans
congregating in Internet chat rooms have labeled him "Pete the Dragon"
for his aggressive moves, including the November firing of several
house-band members. "We all worry about the Opry," says Maggie
Smolkovich, a federal employee in Nashville who goes to shows about
twice a month.
At least one music-business person in Nashville is upset over what he
perceives to be grossly unfair cast changes, including the April firing
of The 4 Guys, a quartet inducted into the Opry in 1967. Its two
remaining original members recently retired, so Mr. Fisher let the
others go.
"This is what I call disrespect to the elders of country music," says
Marty Martel, 61, who manages Opry member Johnny PayCheck and maintains
a Web site that's highly critical of Opry management, including Messrs.
Buchanan and Fisher. "Their mothers and fathers ought to slap their
hands."
Mr. Fisher shrugs off the Internet buzz. "I used to read that stuff," he
says. "I just had to tell myself, `No, Pete. You´re doing the right
thing.´" Still, Mr. Martel´s comments have aggravated Mr. Fisher to
the point he banned Mr. Martel last January from visiting backstage at
the Opry.
Most cast members have reserved criticism for now, knowing that
balancing the business and politics of the Grand Ole Opry can be
difficult. Management obviously has "a very narrow line to walk between
the past and the future," says Mr. Anderson, known as Whispering Bill to
his fans. "It's probably a pretty thankless job."
In part to help keep cast members happy, Mr. Fisher has created
confidential "town hall meetings" where they can vent in private, if
they want. The first was in November, at a catered dinner in the Grand
Ole Opry Museum. Mr. Anderson says the get-togethers have helped morale.
Separately, Gaylord has met some resistance from the Nashville chapters
of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the
American Federation of Musicians in its efforts to launch an Internet
audio-broadcast of the Opry. Union officials had demanded higher wages
for their members before Gaylord begins broadcasting the Opry on
additional media beyond the company's WSM-AM radio and CBS Cable's TNN
(formerly a Gaylord property). Some Opry performers intervened, though,
telling union leaders that they'll forgo increased wages temporarily to
first see whether Gaylord can turn a profit with Internet programming.
Despite the Internet's promise, Gaylord and Opry officials still view
television as the key to bringing the Opry to a broader audience. But
apart from the set redesign to be unveiled this weekend, little about
the show has changed since it began appearing on TNN in 1985.
TNN is required to air the Opry until September 2002, under a $1.55
billion deal in which Gaylord spun off the channel to CBS Corp. What
happens after that is unclear, considering that CBS has been pushing the
network away from country-music programming. Opry and TNN officials say
they're both happy with the arrangement for now.
-----------------------------------------------------
------------------
Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047
