Hi, I’m Peter Shurman. No big baritone announcer today, no theme song today either. Just me. I’m here to give you a piece of news. The Shurman Report began in early August with gusto. I decided to do the show daily on four video platforms plus release the audio as a podcast immediately afterward every day. I’m proud of the work that went into it because we have fulfilled that dream…we’ve even generated a reasonably sized audience, considering how long the show has been around. However, The Shurman Report comes to an end today with this message.
Let me take a moment to explain my decision to those of you who have stuck with me and watched or listened daily. The funding of radio and television in Canada is either by the federal government (which means YOU) if you listen to CBC radio. For their television service and all other private operations (like CTV, Global, Rogers, and Bell) it’s private funding derived from the sale of commercial time. The same is true of podcasts…but only a few can make it big…Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly, Alec Baldwin, just to name a few. If you’re Peter Shurman (and there are literally hundreds of thousands of shows like The Shurman Report), you need to invest your own money for at least three years before you can even hope for any financial return with no guarantees.
But it’s much more than financial return…because I knew about what the stakes were when I developed this show between late Spring and Summer earlier this year. I am no spring chicken anymore. To create The Shurman Report was pretty much an all-day business in which I found the guests, wrote my talking points, operated the equipment, posted the show on line, appeared on camera…in other words, this was a one-man band! I figured it all out and made it happen but have had to conclude that a full time job for zero pay in your mid-seventies just doesn’t work well – at least not for me. I did it because I needed to feel relevant and have a hard time not working. People don’t get “old” anymore…they just get “older”. I am pretty certain that I am as sharp, witty, and good at broadcasting as I used to be. But I don’t have the time or energy to be a one-man-band.
I used to work for a Program Director in radio who thought if he blew everything age-related out of the station, he’d be able to attract younger listeners. He was wrong and, looking at radio or television ratings these days, wrong about much more than just the one station. The conventional broadcasting industry is 20thcentury technology and a 20th century consumable. Which explains why pretty well nobody under 45 or 50 bothers much with radio and has a flat screen TV but only buys the streaming component. They don’t watch regular TV. I set out to appeal to older people and I did that. But, as I’ve mentioned, I am an older person. So, while I can relate, I can’t do this alone and unfunded.
If there are further opportunities that I can manage, you’ll find me on the air or the web somewhere. But it can’t be what I’ve been doing. I have adult kids but also a 3 year-old grandson. I want to see him more. I hit some golf balls this summer after two years absence from the game due to joint surgeries. My ability to hit them straight and long was there. But I had to turn down requests to actually play the game…too much time and not enough left for the Shurman Report.
I won’t say goodbye…I don’t believe in that. I’ll say “farewell” and hope to re-appear somewhere sometime soon. Take care of yourself as I am doing…that’s the most important thing. And thank you for your support. Good night.
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