It sounds like a union shop. The funny part is that some associate unions with communism. There was a time when jobs and roles were strictly defined.
Some of that was featherbedding, but most was due to the complexity of the pre-Ampex, pre-cart machine era. Yet the huge number of new stations that came on right after WW II mostly ran with a combo operator who did local shows, backtimed into network features and programs and even watched the transmitter in the next room.
Even those directional stations that needed an FCC First Class Radiotelephone License found plenty of jocks who went to those 6-week courses that got you a "ticket" with little or no technical knowledge. With that, you could run a directional station with a single person on duty.
I've read stories about the rise of combo studio operations in the 60s, and there was a lot of resistance to it from unions and engineers.
Not so much from engineers, as studio gear was relatively simple due to two rapidly adopted technologies. The reel to reel tape recorder allowed for recorded programs to be easily run (and pretty much eliminated the need for disk recorders). The cartridge tape machine, which caught on rapidly in the 1959-1961 period allowed ads, jingles, promos, sounders and the like to be easily played with automatic cueing and simple storage in racks.
Meanwhile the equipment was getting easier to operate, and didn't require engineering knowledge. The FCC eliminated the 3rd phone license, and the damns exploded.
The elimination of the 3rd Phone only affected the ability / authorization to fill in the transmitter log; this was needed if the transmitter was at the studio location or remote controlled and logged from there. The 3rd Phone did not have anything to do with the operation of the "board" or playing records or anything else.
Ultimately we're at a point now where anyone can run a radio station out of a spare bedroom.
And you could have done that 60 years ago. In fact, some of the first independent FMs were basically a studio with record racks, a room with the transmitter in it and a tower outside or one the roof. Heck, my current living room is much larger than the whole facility at the station I started at, WCUY in Cleveland, OH, where me and my 3rd Class license for a while did the whole 16 hour Sunday show all alone by myself.
