Yahoo as a search engine used to be really good but it has gone way downhill.
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Deeper Issues?
- Thread starter SirRoxalot
- Start date
The folks still working for Yahoo disagree. There's nothing wrong. There are no underlying issues. Everything is fine.
You've still got that huge glass back window to work with.
I don't think change, per se, is the main focus. Rather, it is the absence of things which used to be important to the radio listener that have disappeared. There is little difference in listening to a stream versus OTA radio but when the stream is not somehow related to your local area and doesn't have on-air people you enjoy listening to then it becomes fatal in many cases.
Sure, your favorite DJs either got old, retired, or died. That's just what happens. Would you be as excited about a new DJ, no matter how talented, if he was 40 years younger than you, talking about things that relate to his age group? Probably not.
I may be exceptional but I have never put a limit on a DJ's age. I've enjoyed both older guys who tend to play the Oldies and the overnight guys who just try staying awake. A DJ, to me, is a lot like a stand up comic. If they are interesting and entertaining to listen to I've even crossed genres to catch their act. It's not that a specific DJ is no longer on air. It's that the whole experience is missing. I can listen to the same music on my USB stick or a stream but neither are as satisfying as the (talented) live DJ. The only music genre that seems to still provide some of that old enjoyment is on Country stations (and, unfortunately, I don't like modern Country).
How many young comedians do you like? Can you give a few examples? Because radio stations have hired professional comedians to act as DJs. Steve Harvey is one example. But I know of several others. The thing is those kinds of talents are expensive and require more than 10 or 15 seconds to do their thing. The only place for comedians on the radio is morning drive. So that's where they are. And typically they're playing current music. The people playing the music you like didn't grow up with it, so it's hard for them to connect with it they way you do. One of the last of the 60s DJs still on the radio is Cousin Bruce Morrow. He's doing a Saturday night show on WABC in NYC. Compare what he does now to what he did in the 60s.
You have to have millions of hits though. The old "Google is hiring! Make big money with Google ads" trope was technically correct, but getting views and tweaking your SEO is a multi year process.
Where's this 20 year old DJ? Probably on Tik Tok. Probably not on a radio station. The predecessors (in your words) "got old, retired, or died."
That 20 year old is not waiting in the wings to replace that classic radio DJ. They probably don't even think of radio as a career choice.
Radio could become part of a media career but not necessarily the focus. Morning show guys and talk show guys are all over other media.
Because, frankly, it isn't.
Unless you think "Starbucks barista" or "Costco stocker" are career choices, then "radio DJ" isn't either, based purely on the wages. If someone is fortunate enough to make it out of Grand Junction and into Seattle, that may be a different story, but those opportunities are very rare.
And that is the only place where I dare put stickers anymore! But station stickers are getting harder to find anymore.
The person I was responding to is in his 70s. So it's a 30 year old DJ. We have several. Would you like their names?
Remember, I still work in radio. I know radio people in their 20s and 30s.
Well, they should try searching for things and see how inadequate the results are.
When Rush Limbaugh died a few months ago, they replaced him with two guys in their 30s. Both have been in radio for about 10 years. The problems they are are: Replacing a legend, and establishing credibility with Rush's aging audience. Listeners in their 60s still see people in their 30s as kids. So it's hard to have credibility in talk radio if you're young. The other issue is young people speak faster than old people. That's what people say about Ben Shapiro. He talks too fast. They didn't have trouble with fast talking radio people when they were Ben's ago.
Not really. I see talents developing in smaller markets who are in their early 20's. Some come from clubs, some from new media, some just like radio.
Actually, they are. It's just not such a terribly overcrowded field as it once was. But overall, the talent is actually better and has a good grasp of new media as well.
I don't know the ages of everyone posting, so there's that.
And yes, I know you still work in radio. You've been quite the cheerleader, continuing to insist that there's nothing wrong. The original post was about the deeper issues of consolidation and downsizing. It's been a couple weeks since I read the article, so I went back and read through it again. The author talks about the challenges that downsizing has had on promotions, events, branding/imaging, lack of decent service to clients, and such things as HR and workplace diversity.
One of her suggestions is "reversing the massive consolidation the industry has experienced over the last several years," including investing in the product.
From what I've gathered, you seem to be on the side of "no, the massive consolidation has worked wonders", and that the industry has absolutely no problem attracting young talent or keeping young listeners. Doing "more with less" is the way towards the future, and anyone who dares question the path that the industry is taking is just a bitter "old timer." It's great that you're still working in the business, but you seem utterly unwilling to accept that there are "deeper issues" at all. Everything is fine. Nothing to see here. Move along.
People look at "media" as a choice. If radio offers a combination of new media and traditional, we find lots of people who see a career as covering multiple angles... a blog, a podcast, social media trendsetting, radio, club appearances, artist involved activities.
And if they can "do a Seacrest" where a daily 4 hour show only ties up five or six hours a week, they can do all that!
That's the most interesting thing: They don't send tapes & resumes. They email me a link to a personal web page that usually is their name.com. There I can see their experience, listen to mp3s of their shows, see examples of their writing, and watch videos of their news coverage. It's very impressive. These are the kinds of people I want working for me. The jobs they get are usually a combination of on-air and online work.
I didn't say DJ's WERE comedians or that their acts were similar to stand-ups. The point I was trying to make was that the good DJ's kept your interest in similar manner. They might have told jokes, described the background of the music they played or just took calls from listeners. There were many varieties.
I lived in NYC in the very early 70's and listened to Cousin Brucie infrequently but he was not a favorite of mine.
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