The first step in eliminating engineering was the dropping of the First Ticket requirement and the allowance of remote controlling directionals. That was way before the 80's.
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From Radio World:
Part of the Reagan revolution. The next big step was Docket 80-90.
I understand both of your points. I worked at a company that sent music to stations and clusters with automated systems. For all I know, my job probably aided the letting go of some staff somewhere.
Computer (and other) technology obviously reduced staffing, as did consolidation, as did the Recession, and probably a bunch of other factors that I am not aware of.
Computer (and other) technology obviously reduced staffing, as did consolidation, as did the Recession, and probably a bunch of other factors that I am not aware of.
But long before that they eliminated the requirements for on-duty 1st Ticket holders at directional and high power AMs; I got rid of all the 1st Class operators at directional station WQII in 1975 (1140, 10 kw, DA-1). With one 1st Ticket person (me) as chief operator we were totally legal. Seven guys who sat at the transmitter, did nothing, and drank beer were gone.
The change in 1981 was elimination of the license itself as for a decade it had really not been needed.
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That's always a concern that I've never seen actually happen. If anything, curious listeners frequently check back in to see if one of their favorites has returned to the air.
In a crowded marketplace, I think listeners have so many choices that if one fails them on repeated days, they say, "screw it" and don't waste time going back. This is one of the issue that has been seen in research to even affect talk stations that do infomercials on the weekends; listeners punch in a couple of times only to find such tripe that they can even not return on the next weekday.
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Groove1670
Guest
I know several owners who have never spoke to the SBE. I couldn't tell you where a chapter is in our state. I think the membership has dwindled and chapters have folded due to engineers retiring.
I had a spirited discusssion with some great engineers that demand full time, 100k a year, benefits, etc. I've always hired contract engineers and now this is going to be the industry norm in all markets with budget cuts and revenue declining for the most part or full time engineers that are willing to travel such as the new iheart plan. Like some DJ's (talent) they are not going to accept this and blame the industry for the cuts or retire.
The reality is if you have basic engineering skills (no the high power RF suff) most repairs can be done in house. A lot of this stuff is diposable, plug and play, or IT related. I had a network problem that was impacting some computers and I solved it in 30 minutes. Yes there is a You Tube Video for that
and I replaced our playout system on one of our FMs this week in a few hours.Antennas and high power equipment will still require the service of a engineer. For the most part new transmitters are reliable and require very little maintenance.
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Harvey_Dogg
Guest
I have a cousin who was also a broadcast chief engineer. He left radio in the late 1990's and went to work repairing cell sites for Verizon. They made him a millionaire and he hasn't used a soldering gun in 20 years.
There are 2 active chapters in Alabama - check with the Alabama Broadcasters Association. Mississippi has one SBE chapter (#125) that hasn't been very active recently. I'm acting chapter president in Mississippi, but everyone (including myself) has been so busy that chapter meetings are on the back burner now. Even finding time for online meetings has been a challenge.I know several owners who have never spoke to the SBE. I couldn't tell you where a chapter is in our state. I think the membership has dwindled and chapters have folded due to engineers retiring.
I had a spirited discusssion with some great engineers that demand full time, 100k a year, benefits, etc. I've always hired contract engineers and now this is going to be the industry norm in all markets with budget cuts and revenue declining for the most part or full time engineers that are willing to travel such as the new iheart plan. Like some DJ's (talent) they are not going to accept this and blame the industry for the cuts or retire.
The reality is if you have basic engineering skills (no the high power RF suff) most repairs can be done in house. A lot of this stuff is diposable, plug and play, or IT related. I had a network problem that was impacting some computers and I solved it in 30 minutes. Yes there is a You Tube Video for that
Antennas and high power equipment will still require the service of a engineer. For the most part new transmitters are reliable and require very little maintenance.
K
kenglish
Guest
That seems to be what happened to our chapter. One-man band operations don't have a lot of time to spend on meetings and training. Sleep is another thing that often goes by the wayside.... I've had conversations like that with other engineers. I found myself keeping study materials in the car, and reading at traffic lights.
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Harvey_Dogg
Guest
I know a few owners who survived to this day, starting stations after 80-90. They were engineers. They didn't spend money they didn't have. They didn't borrow money. They didn't try to live like a king. They were willing to work like a dog.
This is the reality from an owner. He's right.I know several owners who have never spoke to the SBE. I couldn't tell you where a chapter is in our state. I think the membership has dwindled and chapters have folded due to engineers retiring.
I had a spirited discusssion with some great engineers that demand full time, 100k a year, benefits, etc. I've always hired contract engineers and now this is going to be the industry norm in all markets with budget cuts and revenue declining for the most part or full time engineers that are willing to travel such as the new iheart plan. Like some DJ's (talent) they are not going to accept this and blame the industry for the cuts or retire.
The reality is if you have basic engineering skills (no the high power RF suff) most repairs can be done in house. A lot of this stuff is diposable, plug and play, or IT related. I had a network problem that was impacting some computers and I solved it in 30 minutes. Yes there is a You Tube Video for that
Antennas and high power equipment will still require the service of a engineer. For the most part new transmitters are reliable and require very little maintenance.
Regarding SBE, here's my opinion: I'm an SBE member along with SMPTE, but have not pursued any of their certifications. Over the years I've found there are really good broadcast technical people without any SBE Certifications, and just as many that have completed the certifications that like to put CPBEWTF... ahead of their name on a business card, that I wouldn't trust to plug in a toaster, let alone work at a transmission facility.
Here's what I've learned: If you depend on the accountants and lawyers to save the engineers, you'll be waiting a long time. The accountants and lawyers are looking out for themselves. The reason the author wrote this radio world article is because he foresees a problem. Engineers have to look out for engineers. Part of that means organizing. If you do it through SBE or the union or whatever you want, that's what you do. But people in other lines of work aren't looking out for engineers.
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kenglish
Guest
What it all boils down to, is:
Does anybody have a clue what an engineer does?
As long as people (owners, managers, talent, co-workers, public) don't know what you contribute, you won't get recognized.
Does anybody have a clue what an engineer does?
As long as people (owners, managers, talent, co-workers, public) don't know what you contribute, you won't get recognized.
Quite a few years ago, a Michigan radio station had its tower cut down by a vandal who evaded security by walking from his home about a half mile through a field and broke in far from security cameras. The station had an old site they could have used as an STA with some good old fashioned ingenuity, but they decided they would lose more income from the hobbled signal than they would gain by implementing the catastrophe clause in their insurance policy. They were off the air a good month to more.
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