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Any KRUX or KRIZ d.j's want to disclose their salaries in the 60's and 70's ?

R

radiobum

As a kid I actually called Diamond Jim doing afternon drive at KRUX in the mid-60's and asked him how much he made ! He answered 'that's kind of personal' and declined to answer. Wonder what ever happened to him...or Joe Light of KRIZ for that matter.

My 2nd radio job was doing Midnight-5 at KNIX...for $1.65 an hour in 1972. I was probably overpaid-but Larry Daniels was always nice to me-even though I only lasted six months.
 
I made $3.50/HR at my first radio gig, $0.15 over minimum wage back in 1987! I knew one of the DJ's doing PM drive at a country station in SLC and he was making $25k/yr. Not bad for the time, I suppose.
 
Please keep this confidential, but in the late 60's/early 70's I got $3 an hour from KRIZ, then $900/month when I went fulltime. KRUX paid $4 an hour for weekends; a few years prior I seem to recall getting $3/hour from KRDS (when they were the only 24-hour country station @ 1190 AM.) By comparison, KNIX paid my friend $1.60 an hour (minimum wage at the time).

Anybody else?
 
KRDS was my first radio job, in 1975, working weekends/fill-in. I was paid $2.15/hr, which was minimum wage at the time.
 
I did pretty well in my smaller market gigs, it seems. $1.65 an hour to start at KIBS in Bishop in 1971...$400 a month when I got promoted to PD and middays in 1973. $500 a month for music director & overnights at KSLY, San Luis Obispo in 1974...$600 when promoted to morning drive six weeks later. $650 a month for PD/morning drive at KUKI, Ukiah in '76 and $750 to start for evenings and music director at KOLO in Reno in '77. which went up every six months. I was at $1200 a month by late 1980.
 
On my first radio job at KALJ in Yuma in 1977, I was making a little over $350 a month for overnights. By the time KALJ was sold and signed off on 12/31/1978, I was doing 6 to midnight and making $432 a month.

Second radio job was KROP/Brawley, California. I started there at $500 a month and finished at $650 a month a year later. Midday jock and sports director. I came to KOOL-FM for weekends and fill-in, and I think I made either $5 or $6 an hour 1980 to 1984.
 
I was just starting out in a long time ago at minimum wage and I asked for a raise and the owner gave me a phone book and told me to sit on it, that would raise me up.. that was WOKI and the same guy owns still owns it under different call letters. He really was and still is a nice man, just a very warped sense of humor
 
KRDS was much more of a player in 1970. I think they still country then, using the 1190 KARDS slogan? By 1975 they were just an afterthought, talk in the daytime and spanish at night.
 
In 1976 I was told by a KRIZ staffer that PD and Afternooner Jay "El Stonero" Stone was making 3 grand a MONTH! I was 16 and that just blew me away. Getting paid that much to be on the radio. At that time the overnight guy Ron James was making a grand a month. I guess Double Day was paying pretty well.

My first job doing weekend overnights on KXIV in 1978 I was making $2.75 an hour.
 
krizwannabe said:
In 1976 I was told by a KRIZ staffer that PD and Afternooner Jay "El Stonero" Stone was making 3 grand a MONTH! I was 16 and that just blew me away. Getting paid that much to be on the radio. At that time the overnight guy Ron James was making a grand a month. I guess Double Day was paying pretty well.

My first job doing weekend overnights on KXIV in 1978 I was making $2.75 an hour.
Click to expand...

Stone was a very strong, very popular jock with a good resume' (KCBQ, San Diego, 99X New York and a bunch more). Still $36,000 a year in Phoenix in 1976 was some serious money. The same year, everyone at KFRC in San Francisco (apart from Dr. Don Rose in the morning) was paid $37,000, according to John Mack Flanagan, who was doing afternoon drive there.
 
michael hagerty said:
(Jay) Stone was a very strong, very popular jock with a good resume' (KCBQ, San Diego,
99X New York and a bunch more).
Click to expand...

Wasn't that the other Jay Stone at WXLO?

Phoenix' Jay Stone (Jeff Colson) was also on air in Vegas.
Don't know which was in San Diego.
 
I am referring to the original "Jay Stone" Jeff Colson. He worked in Vegas, Dallas at KLIF and in San Diego at Magic 91 (910 AM), San Francisco at KMEL.

I'm not for sure he MADE 36 K a year in 1976 but that is what I was told. At 16 that sounded like Howard Hughes type money. Sadly in the state of radio today it sounds like Bill Gates type money in many many markets that still have local radio jobs.

One thing I always loved about Jay Stone, he always welcomed people like me that were smitten by radio. Gave me a tour of KRIZ and let me sit in the studio and watch him do his afternoon show. He had many a personal demons but was very nice to me. May he RIP.

Dennis King, Ron James, Long John Ball, John Sebastian to name a few helped me out studying for my 3rd class license when I was just 14. Some great guys worked there on Buckeye Road.
 
Jay Stone was very good to me as well, he let me use the KRIZ production room to practice in and make airchecks, which I eventually used to get a job at KRUX (oops). I went to high school with Ron James, who now resides in Las Vegas. The 99X Jay Stone was a different guy. Whatever they were paying Jay at KRIZ, they got their money's worth, the station sounded great when he was PD. Dennis King was very nice as well. I didn't detect the usual radio ego from anyone at KRIZ during that period. Art Webb, another Phoenix DJ who worked at KRIZ in two different era's was also very helpful, and a good guy.
 
Side Bar query. Anyone here remember KRUX newsman Joe Patrick? His moniker was "This -- is Joe Patrick -- taking a closer look." This would be around (whoops) 1962. Still around?
 
Hi, this is Susie Colson. I was married to Jeff Colson aka Jay Stone 1969 to 1976, do I know you or do you remember me? I met Jeff when he was working at KENO in Las Vegas, we moved to Phoenix, married and Jeff went to work at KRUX. Starting salary was $800.00 a month. I don't remember how much he was making in July 1976 when I left but $2,500.00 sounds more like it. I hope you see this!!
 
Interesting thread. Perhaps we should spread this question to other markets' boards for an economic reality check.

I can offer this: Morning drive in Pittsburgh circa 1978 was $25K/yr. And that was at an AFTRA shop. (HAS to be more now!)

In the late 1990s, voice tracking 6 days/wk for a full-powered Phoenix station (from another city) paid $25K/yr. (HAS to be substantially less now!)
 
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