Anyone In Tampa/St. Pete Hiring?

[masterdarke]

Ohio's snow and cold are starting to get to me and my wife. Any stations have any openings? I'd prefer Classic or Active Rock.

 

[smedge2006]

You're joking, right? Or really in denial...

 

[Don62]

Read this.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article884454.ece

In a nutshell: Radio doesn't hire anymore. Nearly everything is outsourced. Air shifts are now syndicated.

But longtime area personality Tedd Webb worried such trends will close off the shifts and smaller stations where up-and-coming talent once learned how to entertain audiences.

"We don't have a minor league anymore," said Webb, who co-hosts the morning show on WFLA-AM 970. "It's cost prohibitive today . . . There's no place for people to go and hone their skills."

 

[Wazzie]

How many full time LOCALS jocks do we still have? 30? 40? 50? There are jobs but the help wanted sign hasn't been hung for a long time. I hear Bob's Carpet Mart is hiring.... :'(

 

[MusicMan11]

i hear the mcdonald's on kennedy is in need of an overnight fry cook.

ask the former jocks at WSJT if anyone is hiring.......

 

[RickSklar77]

For the love of Farid, will you give this kid a break? He/She asks a simple, intelligent question.

As representatives of the career path this person would like to follow (the real business world would call us mentors), why do we summarily dismiss the passion they have for working in the industry that we all love?

Honestly now… when you were thinking about getting into radio, did the negative crap you heard help you in your thought process? Or did you decide to forge ahead anyway?

Really?

 

[Don62]

To be honest, Rick, just where would a new applicant go?

Did you not read the link? The article even quotes Tedd Webb, who says there's no "farm league" anymore.
This business doesn't want new talent. Only money. That's it's only concern.

 

[RADIO geek squad]

Ohio's snow and cold are starting to get to me and my wife. Any stations have any openings? I'd prefer Classic or Active Rock.

Forget about radio. No openings. You'll have a better chance at a local dealership. Oh, by the way, don't go to Bill Heard Chevrolet.

 

[RickSklar77]

To be honest, Rick, just where would a new applicant go?

Did you not read the link? The article even quotes Tedd Webb, who says there's no "farm league" anymore.
This business doesn't want new talent. Only money. That's it's only concern.

I could argue the point that the definition of "farm league" has changed (2 or 3 more cocktails, and I might) but my point was, why are we so negative in our thought process? This job seeker asked a legitimate question, and we responded with negative negativity that was actually kind of negative.

Go to All Access and read Fig's great letter. Or better yet, read the great book Blue Ocean Strategy.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

I am not in radio, but these are my observations as to who might be hiring in this area:

WMNF--a few paid positions
WUSF--maybe
WFLZ----only if somebody leaves
WSJT----no
WWRM---only uses 3 local jocks
The Beat------doubt it
WTMP---------?
WSUN---------Seems to be fully staffed. Have no idea who is local
98Rock--------don't have a clue
WPCV---------maybe
WMTX---------only 3 jocks. Uses Joun Tesh about 11 hours a day
WQYK---------maybe
WPOI----------only station that had only one jock go to 18 hours a day with voices
103.5----------no clue
104.7----------maybe for people willing to work for less than current big name staff
WDUV----------autopilot 20 hours a day
WXGL-----------only two airshifts
WHPT-----------see WSUN

There are Spanish, religious,suburban, and AM radio. I imagine the opportunities would vary.

Now everybody tell me how much I don't know ??? ???

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I am not in radio, but these are my observations as to who might be hiring in this area:

WMNF--a few paid positions
WUSF--maybe
WFLZ----only if somebody leaves
WSJT----no
WWRM---only uses 3 local jocks
The Beat------doubt it
WTMP---------?
WSUN---------Seems to be fully staffed. Have no idea who is local
98Rock--------don't have a clue
WPCV---------maybe
WMTX---------only 3 jocks. Uses Joun Tesh about 11 hours a day
WQYK---------maybe
WPOI----------only station that had only one jock go to 18 hours a day with voices
103.5----------no clue
104.7----------maybe for people willing to work for less than current big name staff
WDUV----------autopilot 20 hours a day
WXGL-----------only two airshifts
WHPT-----------see WSUN

There are Spanish, religious,suburban, and AM radio. I imagine the opportunities would vary.

Now everybody tell me how much I don't know ??? ???

i bet Marvin Boone could fill any open on air positions...

 

[Don62]

She probably has conjugal relations with the said host. Either that or she's his mom. She mentions him in nearly every post.

 

[jmtillery]

Maybe someone will come up with the idea of creating the Marvin Boone Radio Network and placing Marvin Boone on ALL the Tampa Bay stations 24/7...

Mark Tillery,
Ocala, Florida
[email protected]

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Thanks

 

[MusicMan11]

what time is joun tesh on????

 

[Ferreri]

Tedd Webb, as usual, makes a very true observation. "Back in the day" the wise old veterans used to tell the starry-eyed kids to pay dues. Go to work anywhere, doing anything, for any money and learn the craft. There was no instant gratification. As Tedd puts it, you worked in the minor leagues. Then, if you were lucky and good enough, you may land a part time gig in the big leagues. Really a shame. Us old "war horses" have some great tales of those first gigs at the mom and pop stations.

 

[masterdarke]

For the love of Farid, will you give this kid a break? He/She asks a simple, intelligent question.

As representatives of the career path this person would like to follow (the real business world would call us mentors), why do we summarily dismiss the passion they have for working in the industry that we all love?

Honestly now… when you were thinking about getting into radio, did the negative crap you heard help you in your thought process? Or did you decide to forge ahead anyway?

Really?

Thank you. I was only asking because my sister lives in Sarasota and I wanted to move down to be closer to her and neice and nephew.

 

[jefflaurence]

Have you folks heard WRXB lately?

http://www.wrxb.us

That little old 1590 is now owned by a company called Polnet, and they are running local hosts..involving themselves in positive efforts in thier community and overall doing what radio SHOULD do. True nobody is getting rich, but it is about so much more than that when you take the big picture of WRXB. They moved to new studios and classed the place up so the people that work there now feel like they are in media instead of sitting, shirtless in that horrid, and hot transmitter building playng old-skool jams of cassettes and eating fried chicken.

NOW they have a real studio and an actual staff of jocks who relate not only to the music they play (Gospel, R&B and jazz) but relate to the listeners as well. They actually have a working and live streaming camera..and an active chat room. The hosts are encouraged to dress well, and look professional. They interact with the listeners, and they promote the clients that spend money on their station with suggestions to patronize them, and support the advertisers..

In an era where AM stations' licenses are being turned in and deleted in record numbers, it is SO refreshing to se a company and a staff of real humans run thier property to entertain, and interact with the listeners. Every one of the top 5 mega-companies could take a hint from them.

 

[NewsStud]

Polnet is notorious for buying small, wrinky-dink AM's for much more than what they're worth, only to pump through their Polish-language programming out of Chicago.

I give the current WRXB format a little more time before the switch is thrown.

About ten years ago... Polnet bought a 1000 watt daytimer AM in a NYC suburb with no reach into NYC proper. The polish speaking population in the suburban area was very negligible... but they told advertisers they had "a station in New York City."

As for working in this business... the "farm" system is all but gone. It's a shame too. Some of these people working at bigger station sound like they never had the benefit of spending their first time in front of a mic on a station in which nobody listened.

 

[naughtytalker]

Thank you. I was only asking because my sister lives in Sarasota and I wanted to move down to be closer to her and neice and nephew.

Masterdarke,

C'mon down to Florida... the Tampa Bay tradewinds and foreclosed homes with shattered windows echo your name. We just got a steaming pile of federal stimulus money and that fresh cash infusion has bolstered our food stamp and welfare roles to glistening new heights of sorrow. Rest assured, you won't be sponging off your sister for long, soon, you and the whole Darke family will have bellies filled from the ample teets of the taxpayer trough, administered by one of America's favorite RINO's. We love you, Charlie.

Just two weeks ago, News/Talk 820 WWBA rendered host Dan York homeless. His severence package was a grocery cart and cardboard box. In the sub-tropical warmth you don't need to sleep over a sewer grate and his new wire basket on wheels comfortably holds all life's little treaures for easy pushing on palm tree lined sidewalks. The station replaced York with syndicated talker Laura Ingraham, but 820 has forever bottom-fed from the ratings dumpster and the next desperate move could include you. Hurry, this opportunity won't last.

Clear Channel, CBS and Cox also operate radio divisions in Tampa Bay, but as always, the only way to get a job when something opens up is to already be here and apply. Don't look for any help getting here, radio managers have never financed a Mayflower move for anyone except themselves. And the old rule still applies - you will be paid in sunshine. But you'll never notice being broke with your farmers tan filling-in nicely and your toes tingling in 90 degree saltwater. Your biggest problem will be getting off that beach chair to convert your remaining food stamps to cash for another frozen drink.

Welcome Home, brother... we need you.