I have a question about being terminated from a radio job. So if an air talent is called in to speak to the management, & management says that one is fired, then it works just like any other business, correct? If one is fired, then one is expected to leave right away, with very quick good-byes.
But if an air talent voluntarily resigns, then one is free to give a couple weeks' notice, then one can create a good-bye show, correct?
For example -- on the internet, there's an air check of Dr. Don Rose, a famous Philadelphia DJ, doing a good-bye show when he leaves Philadelphia for KFRC San Francisco. He says on air that they made him an offer he couldn't refuse, so he is packing up and heading out west, then he thanks everybody in his circle of friends, associates, and so forth.
For example - When Wink left KRLA in April of 1962, he thanked everyone and said that he was going to work at Dot Records as their A & R director, and that he had really enjoyed his time in radio. I was quite young, but I remember hearing that show and thinking that I would really miss Wink.
In Sept. of 1962, Jim O'Neill voluntarily resigned in the same way, with a very gracious good-bye show, thanked everyone, etc., etc.
And I heard that show.
And......I think the same thing might have happened when Sam Riddle left KRLA - although I don't remember hearing his show.
So, if Wink voluntarily resigned from KFWB, then he would be allowed a good-bye show.......but if he were fired, or they came to a "meeting of the minds and wanted to move in a different creative direction" ( a euphemism for "you're fired"), then that person usually leaves immediately.
So, Wink must have wanted to leave of his own accord. ( which disproves my conjecture that he was fired. As you say, conjecture is not our friend).
But if an air talent is fired, then they pretty much are gone without any notice. By the way, this is difficult on listeners, who are just left hanging in the lurch and have no idea what happened to a beloved entertainer. Obviously, if the listener calls the station and asks, "Hey, where is so and so, who did a cool show", then the station simply replies, "We have no comment on personnel issues", so the listener has no idea.
As with everything, it varies a bit.
In the era we're speaking of, an air talent being fired would probably be allowed to gather up their belongings and say goodbye to a few people on the way out the door, but it depends on how they took the news and why they were fired. Criminal behavior, violations of policy or an antagonistic relationship with management is unlikely to buy the talent any favors at the end.
Today, the standard approach is to have a representative of HR in the office, explain what will happen next (severance, delivery of personal items by courier or station staffer to their home) and when the meeting is over, the talent is usually escorted directly out of the building (often by security), usually through the exit closest to the manager's office to avoid passing by co-workers and air studios. They're often escorted all the way to their car and the person doing the escorting waits to make sure the car leaves.
By the way, that last paragraph isn't just for firings---it's pretty much how modern broadcast management handles layoffs, too. Even if they hope to bring you back at some point, the final few minutes are pretty cold.
Recently (since COVID) I've heard of management conducting terminations off-site. It looks like lunch with the boss until you see the HR person in the booth too when you walk in the restaurant.
And in at least one instance I've heard of, termination isn't even in-person. In 2015, Charlie Tuna's doorbell rang and there was a messenger from KRTH with a letter informing him his services were no longer required and a check.
The rest of the staff finds out in a tersely worded memo..."Effective today, (name) is no longer an employee of (call letters). We wish (him/her/them) the best in their future endeavors." And often, that memo is held until the end of business, so productivity isn't impacted.
Now, the exceptions.
If we're dealing with a "soft firing"---a talent with very little time left on their contract, but they're unable to reach agreement on an extension---if the negotiations weren't acrimonious, management might trust the talent to work out the remainder of the contract on-air and say goodbye at the end (examples: Charlie Tuna at KHJ in 1972, though he jumped the gun, mentioned it at the end of the previous day's show and wasn't allowed back the next day; Geoff Edwards and Wink Martindale at KMPC in 1979).
The key word there is "might". It's just as likely that the talent will be taken off the air when the negotiations hit the impasse and the remainder of their contract paid off, either in a lump sum, or in continued paychecks even though they're no longer working.
Generally, the odds of a goodbye show increase with the importance of the talent to the radio station, how big their ratings are, and if it's a move out of town or a retirement.
Even then, though, management is playing Russian roulette allowing a full-blown "goodbye show". A great example, Robert W.Morgan at KHJ on his last show before going to WIND, Chicago. Three hours of rampant self-indulgence.
When Wolfman Jack and XEPRS came to a parting of the ways in 1972, management told Wolf to write what he wanted to say and submit it for their approval. It was shaped into a two-minute goodbye that was then pre-recorded and inserted into an otherwise normal show for playback, like a commercial break, every 30 minutes.
Even Dr. Don Rose, a pro and a lovely man who would never want to cause problems, was so maudlin on his final day before KFRC's format switch that it really was counter-productive. Don was so highly paid, with a contract that ran to December 31, 1986, that KFRC couldn't afford to pay him in a lump sum in August. So he was kept on in the new "Magic 61" standards format, both sides knowing that it was only for four months. But in November, RKO figured they had the money, and wanting to avoid another big, teary goodbye, just paid Don the remainder and told him to stay home.
One of the best examples, though, of why you don't let even big name talent do a goodbye show, comes from that same format change and Bobby Ocean, who has made something of an art of goodbye shows. This one, though....well, this one might be why very few jocks get to do it anymore:
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