• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

a strange question?

A

AtlBanker

Guest
In baseball and football and every other sport there are scouts out there looking and recruiting talent. Does radio have that? Does CC, Cox, and others have people that actively search for talent in smaller stations to bring to a big city or is it just whomever they receive a resume from they consider? Are there people on the payroll that do this?
 
Talent? That's not what they want. There are so many people with experience who are out of work and so many young turks who want to be computer jockeys that they receive hundreds of job apps daily. It all boils down to "who you know" and how cheaply you'll work.
 
a "scout" heard me on a station in West Palm Beach, as he was flying into Miami. He told the program director in Charlotte, NC about me.

The PD there contacted me and the next thing you know I'm the APD, MD & doing afternoons!

But now-a-days I agree with knozall: "Talent? That's not what they want. There are so many people with experience who are out of work and so many young turks who want to be computer jockeys that they receive hundreds of job apps daily. It all boils down to "who you know" and how cheaply you'll work."

People with talent, knowledge, experience and proven results records are being discriminated against in favor of young turks. It disgusts me.
 
Talent scouts for radio? ::)

Not in this day and age. However, there are signs the tide may be turning thanks to, of all companies, Clear Channel. Take Project 961, for instance. Derided by so-called radio people [re: this board], it is a station that, for the first time in recent memory, has been allowed to evolve on its own without the meddling of consultants or regional program directives. Another Clear Channel example is Radio 1045 in Philadelphia. A station programmed by former 96rock APD, John Allers (Johnny Turner).

A recent job posting for Radio 1045 details the new paradigm for the industry -- it is (as dave fm says) about the music. Liner jocks with their goofy, out of place, dialog are being replaced with music presenters who are skilled in other areas of the business. The promotions director and music director are expected to be on-air talent. A radio person's first thought might be negative, that CC is just being cheap, but think about it a bit...

Sure, it may save some money, but it allows the promotions director / music director to be an integral part of the on-air process, and those folks are usually far more creative and interesting than some guy who plays Monty Python or Simpsons drops every ten seconds.

Radio has to change to survive, and we're living amid the upheaval. I believe we're in the rebuilding phase, having survived consolidation. When Clear Channel, Citadel and Infinity are done purging the hangers-on from the late 80s / early 90s era of zoos and shock-jocks, you'll see streamlined, good-quality stations appearing all over the dial.

Hopefully.
 
I remember a time when I station would hire away the competition. When WXRT, then a small station, was waxing powerhouse WLUP, The Loop hired away 'XRT's most popular jock, Bobby Skafish. He had a 10-yuear run as OM drive host on the Loop.

In addition, big companies would hire away the competition from a major market. Howard Stern was kicking ass in Washington D.C., so much so that NBC wanted him out of the market because he was killing their station. That's how he ended up on WNBC doing PM drive.

The issue now is syndication/voice-tracking, which has been discussed ad nausea. Why hire young talent doing mornings in Macon to do afternoons for you, instead VT the guy from Tampa to do afternoons. Big Radio is already paying him $40,000. They can have him VT for another $5,000. Thus Macon guy stays in a small market and doesn't get noticed.
 
Oh, but Neil, you forget one thing. The SMALL markets have been invaded by CC and others, so the SMALL market jocks are being voice tracked out! You have small market stations being run by two or three people. The future of radio looks bleak!
 
From what I understand, CBS has a Head of Talent Development, and there is also a guy, who I believe is out of Atlanta, that is like a talent head hunter for radio stations.
 
JohnAllan said:
Oh, but Neil, you forget one thing. The SMALL markets have been invaded by CC and others, so the SMALL market jocks are being voice tracked out! You have small market stations being run by two or three people. The future of radio looks bleak!
Click to expand...

How do you expect small-market stations to compete with TV, iPods or satellite radio? This is a business, not a farm team. Plenty of opportunities exist to hone one's skills: College stations, podcasts...If one really has ambition, then get to a major market and jump into promotions -- or board op in a medium market.

Radio isn't dead, they're just no longer looking for DJs.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom