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Creative differences for how a station sounds?

tall_guy1

tall_guy1

This might be between PD, MD, and upper management. Do they ever have different ideas as to how a station sounds or which songs to play with each having different visions for the station?
 
tall_guy1 said:
This might be between PD, MD, and upper management. Do they ever have different ideas as to how a station sounds or which songs to play with each having different visions for the station?
Click to expand...

All the time.

Here's how that works.

First, skip the MD. That person (to the extent the position exists anymore) has no actual power. They are there to free the PD from having to listen to music and take calls from promotion people. The job is to bring the PD new music that fits the sound of the station. The MD can certainly make a case for a different-sounding record, and hopefully the MD and PD have a good working relationship, but the decision is the PD's.

Back in the day (mostly the 70s), it could be different. There were powerful MDs (Alene McKinney at KMPC, Alma Greer at KSFO, Dave Sholin at KFRC, Mardi Nehrbass at KHJ and absolutely Rosie Trombley at CKLW). Some of us (I was one of the lucky ones) worked for PDs who trusted our ears. In all but one case, my first promotion was from MD to MD/Assistant PD. In one of those cases, the PD became more of an operations manager---making sure the machine ran smoothly but leaving the sound of the station to me.

So now it's the PD versus the GM. And how this works depends entirely on the GM. Some GMs give the PD all the power to shape the sound of the station. They'll be held accountable when the ratings come out. Others are micro-managers. Some actually try to dictate individual songs (play more X, play less Y). Those guys are deadly---but, as in all business, a tie goes to the guy with the biggest title. If push comes to shove, the GM wins any argument with a PD.

If we're talking about the big chains? It may not even be in the GM or PD's hands. Some corporations have format captains...guys who say "This is what a (insert chain name here) CHR/Classic Hits/Country station sounds like." The PD is just there to execute it...make sure it comes out of the speakers the way the suits want it to.

And that's nothing new. If you were a PD for RKO in the late 1960s, Bill Drake had already determined what your radio station would sound like. Your input was which jocks you hired, how much Gold you played and what new records got added that week---and Drake signed off on all that. Same with Buzz Bennett and the stations he consulted in the 70s and Mike Joseph's Hot Hits stations in the 80s.
 
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The PD/MD role is commonly done together as well. It has taken less importance with the rise of “format captains”. I’m glad that major market stations still take music calls and meet with record labels. It’s the way it should be done.


The big chains? Outside of major markets they use the same playlists. Imaging and voice guys can be identical too. The GM may not have any say either, Corporate launched a new national morning show and you are going to air it. That’s the way it is. Many other stations are just a server in the rack room that is voice tracked out of market.
 


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