Radio Pros/Past Alumni: What inspired you to leave the radio business? On the contrary, what made you stick with radio for your professional career?

[davideduardo]

As I said, welcome to the real world. Nobody is going to pay you lots of money to do whatever you want and have fun.

A couple of times I was hired with the only instructions being, “Fix it”. I got to pick formats, staff, even my preferred call letters or station name. The responsibility of each was heavy as I had nobody to blame if I messed up.

Maybe they need to teach this in school.

Even the best text books for radio fail to emphasize how competitive commercial radio is and how nearly everyone in radio has no ability to make significant changes.

 

[Kelly A]

Fortunately we picked the “no thanks” option and are free to roam the planet, take courses and just watch the world.

You and your wife made the right decision.

 

[TheBigA]

Some years back my wife and I wanted to buy stations.

Which reminds me: Owning a business is a lot like being married. In a lot of ways.

 

[fordranger797]

I think my earlier comment may have been misconstrued. I wasn't trying to suggest that owning your own radio station is a walk in the park. All I meant was that there are many people out there who might erroneously be under the impression that ownership is an easier road than simply working in the business. As we know, that is not true at all. While you aren't going to risk being laid off during a period of low ratings, there are equal (and much worse) challenges that owners face. I can see pluses and minuses to both sides. Specifically, an employee might risk losing their job in the media business, but they are not going to lose their entire business if the station were to fail. Instead, they can just walk away and find a new opportunity. Likewise, ownership has some advantages, but there is significant financial investment and risk that the average joe cannot even imagine.

 

[b-turner]

Much of the success or failure depends on the community you serve and how you can carve out a genuine need for your station. I work for an owner that grew up in the area and started his career in radio at the local station. The station is expertly programmed (as if a major market) with ample local information. The station is always #1 and has a known and respected value among the local business community. When he took on the station it's glory days had long passed almost to the point the station was insignificant. In a dozen years it is universally known and most businesses that play radio or audio choose the station. When you choose to serve the community over your own preferences, create a good product that gives the community what it wants and then put people on the street to sell it, you can make it, even in 2021. We do some cool stuff. For example, at Christmas, some unidentified people get the station cash to give away to those in need via the Secret Santa name. Last year it was $20,000. With Covid, we arranged to have Santa welcome calls from boys and girls who didn't get a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted. We even run a tradio styled show. It's true hometown radio. You might say we're so well respected, our past dues are virtually zero and nobody has stiffed us in a couple of years I've been here. Sure, we're rare among stations but so is our dedication and likely the value the community has for the station.

 

[Kelly A]

As we know, that is not true at all. While you aren't going to risk being laid off during a period of low ratings, there are equal (and much worse) challenges that owners face. I can see pluses and minuses to both sides. Specifically, an employee might risk losing their job in the media business, but they are not going to lose their entire business if the station were to fail. Instead, they can just walk away and find a new opportunity. Likewise, ownership has some advantages, but there is significant financial investment and risk that the average joe cannot even imagine.

If one reads between the lines, I think there's a simple conclusion here: That those who became station owners back in the day and carved a niche, probably had a better chance of long term success, albeit still with a lot of work, than someone buying into the business today. The model just isn't the same as it used to be, mainly because consumers don't consume media the way they used to. Not that it's bad-different. Rather, a constant state of evolution.

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

When you choose to serve the community over your own preferences, create a good product that gives the community what it wants and then put people on the street to sell it, you can make it, even in 2021.

Well now that's just crazy talk. "Hometown radio" needs to be replaced by voice-tracked talent from bigger markets. A "social media monster" that is able to juggle a half dozen shifts on multiple stations while at the same time hosting a podcast or two and scheduling music for at the very least one regional cluster is in a better position to serve a "community" than your local host that actually lives there.

This is just the new reality. It is also important to remember that while you might be focused on what this "community" wants or needs, the more important part is whether or not the stock price of the parent company is able to keep pace with the expectations of the investors. Sure, your station has "dedication" and "value to the community," but if you don't hit your numbers, an executive could possibly miss their bonus. We can't have that, now, can we?

I'll admit I'm being hyperbolic, but there is a deeper problem at work here. The hometown radio model you're living used to be the "farm system" for bigger markets. Aspiring talent would hone their craft in local markets and work their way up. Build a bank of experiences and move up to the next level. Eventually (after a few more steps) get to the majors. That "farm system" is gone for the most part. Small and even medium or larger market stations are increasingly syndicated or tracked. Some kid who wants to get into radio doesn't have the opportunity they once had.

Not that they're looking for such an opportunity. Their path lies not through broadcasting, but social media. Tik Tok. IG. You Tube. What use do they have for radio?

 

[b-turner]

That's another point. The "Hometown Radio" I speak of is voice tracked outside the morning show. And they're major market jocks. You'd never know it with all the local info they include.

Your point is well taken that this 'Hometown Radio" was once the farm team for the bigger stations. The only person hired without broadcast experience is a board op for our high school sports and live remotes.

The strange this is we come from that major market background (I never worked for a big boy), and we love not having people to report to, especially who have little clue about the business they're invested in

 

[gr8oldies]

No, you won't be moving to Fargo to play the hits on the all-night show, but you the up-and-coming talent of today are shining skills with YouTube and TikTok. As far as I know, Dan Bognino is in. his first live radio show in several markets in the strength of his podcast and Fox News appearances.

 

[TheBigA]

The hometown radio model you're living used to be the "farm system" for bigger markets. Aspiring talent would hone their craft in local markets and work their way up.

I hear that talked about, but it's mostly a myth. A lot of talent in small markets decided to stay in those small markets, raise their families there, and retire there. That "upward mobility" thing may have happened in the 60s. I'm seeing a lot of retirement announcements in the trades of DJs who were at these small and medium market stations for 25 or 30 years. They didn't play the farm system. They were living their lives.

Today the farm system is online radio and podcasting. That's where a lot of the talent is coming from. Dan Bongino and Ben Shapiro are podcasters who got regular radio gigs.

 

[Kelly A]

Today the farm system is online radio and podcasting. That's where a lot of the talent is coming from. Dan Bongino and Ben Shapiro are podcasters who got regular radio gigs.

And that's actually a good point: Think you're talented? Have an interesting shtick? For a few hundred bucks worth of gear from your friendly broadcast or sound equipment supply house, and you too can host your own streamed talk show/podcast. If you're really good at it, a big fish might make you an offer to join them. Think of it as the world's largest audition tape.

 

[TheBigA]

Think of it as the world's largest audition tape.

Plus the money you make is the money you keep. But the catch is you have to do something unique.

And you have to do it without the crutch of music.

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

And that's actually a good point: Think you're talented? Have an interesting shtick? For a few hundred bucks worth of gear from your friendly broadcast or sound equipment supply house, and you too can host your own streamed talk show/podcast. If you're really good at it, a big fish might make you an offer to join them. Think of it as the world's largest audition tape.

But again, are they auditioning for a radio gig? Some of them might be (Bongino or Shapiro come to mind), but how many You Tube and TikTok up and comers are hoping that one day they'll get a radio job? I suspect that folks on the younger end of the spectrum might not even be considering that path. "Radio? Who listens to the radio anymore? I've got a million subscribers."

I enjoy watching car reviewers on You Tube. Most of the ones I watch are millennials. After watching a number of them, I noticed something...or rather, the lack of something. The reviewers that go into the greatest detail about the interior features never mention the radio. That thing in the center of the dash? It's the infotainment system. The questions they answer for the viewers are things like, does it have Apple Car Play or Android Auto? Is it intuitive? Touch screen or some other interface? How big is the screen?

Does it get AM, FM, and HD radio? That doesn't even factor into the equation. That's something to think about.

How relevant is the "radio" in the center of an automobile dash? Is a talented person under the age of 30 with an interesting shtick really thinking "I hope I get on the radio one day"? Is their audience really thinking "this content is great, but I wish it was on the radio"? I'm not so sure.

 

[Kelly A]

But again, are they auditioning for a radio gig? Some of them might be (Bongino or Shapiro come to mind), but how many You Tube and TikTok up and comers are hoping that one day they'll get a radio job? I suspect that folks on the younger end of the spectrum might not even be considering that path. "Radio? Who listens to the radio anymore? I've got a million subscribers."

It's more like auditioning for an entertainment gig. I'm sure if some radio group found them entertaining and a good fit to do a show on radio, then that group could make them an offer. The Internet, including social media and sites like YouTube, allow for much more exposure to a wider audience than the old days of blind-sending audition tapes to stations.