Can you hear the Cricket's........

[radiotruth75]

It's like a ghost town over here in Hoppy Valley....is anyone awake? Is anything going on? Does anyone care? Hellooooo!

 

[Beatlesfan64]

I think that the people who manages the radio stations has for the most part killed FM radio with the lack of good programming and the loss of such stations as B -94 out of Pittsburgh.

For the most part, if you want to listen to radio today, you either have to settle for country music or you have to live close enough to Sykesville PA to pick up 95.9 ZDB

All the Clear Channel Crap and all the sat radio music has gotten old and the people have moved on to XM / Sirius radio and Ipods.

I guess unless all you want to do is listen to a Nascar race or baseball / football game - there isn't even a reason for the radio to be a part of society anymore. The internet has taken it's place, along with cell telephones.

 

[edarmsttrong]

Someone else on this board said "it's tough to get excited about a radio station that is just a computer in a darkened studio."

 

[radiotruth75]

I am one of those satellite radio junkies with Sirius/XM. I am such a huge fan I couldn't live without it at this point. I was in radio not long ago, and a big believer of FM at one point. The reality is, when jobs are lost to cut costs, and the focus is on spots alone and not the product being sold, ultimately everyone loses; the company(ies), employees, and the listeners. Listening to Stern, and many of the other channels such as Hits 1, the Hip-Hop channels, Octane....even Cousin Brucie, takes me back to the 90's when I thought radio was in it's prime and sounded great. And they all have that major market sound I like, without having to even be in NYC! The Forever's, CC's, CBS's etc of this world have truly turned radio into an almost non-existent medium. Computers, voicetracking and the like are killing newcomers. As these jocks get older as in the case with Froggy 98, it will be interesting to see who replaces them if anyone. No one is being groomed anymore, and most jocks anymore are talentless..due to consultants and narrow-minded PD's. Creativity? A thing of the past. The emphasis is solely on the money to be made as I said, and this will ultimately be the demise of entertaining radio....(at least with many smaller companies such as Forever, Connoisseur Media, First Media etc)

 

[AvgListener]

Is it the same with magnum broadcasting or is qwk rock holding it's own... Nah!!!

 

[joepa4ever]

I am one of those satellite radio junkies with Sirius/XM. I am such a huge fan I couldn't live without it at this point. I was in radio not long ago, and a big believer of FM at one point. The reality is, when jobs are lost to cut costs, and the focus is on spots alone and not the product being sold, ultimately everyone loses; the company(ies), employees, and the listeners. Listening to Stern, and many of the other channels such as Hits 1, the Hip-Hop channels, Octane....even Cousin Brucie, takes me back to the 90's when I thought radio was in it's prime and sounded great. And they all have that major market sound I like, without having to even be in NYC! The Forever's, CC's, CBS's etc of this world have truly turned radio into an almost non-existent medium. Computers, voicetracking and the like are killing newcomers. As these jocks get older as in the case with Froggy 98, it will be interesting to see who replaces them if anyone. No one is being groomed anymore, and most jocks anymore are talentless..due to consultants and narrow-minded PD's. Creativity? A thing of the past. The emphasis is solely on the money to be made as I said, and this will ultimately be the demise of entertaining radio....(at least with many smaller companies such as Forever, Connoisseur Media, First Media etc)

Don't forget Jay Thomas doing PMD on Sirius/XM Stars 2. Still funny as hell, but now he gets to swear.

Doom, gloom, doom, gloom. Sorry about you losing your radio gig, but a lot of people are still employed. It's a talent business, so it's always been cruel that way. Maybe your employer just couldn't see/hear your talent. Maybe you don't have quite enough talent. Hard to say. Kind of like a wide receiver who isn't making catches. Is it the WR, or is it the QB? Tough biz.

It's always been about the money, at least in COMMERCIAL radio. Now it's about the money in public radio and religious radio, too. It's always been about the money in EVERY business. Welcome to free-enterprise America!

Young talent IS being groomed, but maybe not on the stations you listen to. Try B94.5 or The Lion. Maybe Quick (not to my taste, so I can't say for sure). Most local air talents now seem to be 35-54, so they'll be around for another 10-15 years. As long as they keep doing a good job, they'll be tough to displace.

But, yes, digital automation and voice tracking have eliminated the overnight and evening jobs at most radio stations in America, leaving 3 of the 5 dayparts: AMD, mid-days & PMD. So 40 percent of all fulltime on-air gigs disappeared, along with weekend PT gigs.

That put a lot of people out of work, and they still compete for EVERY opening with all the newbies & wannabes. Eventually those old-timers will retire and/or die, and make it easier for the kids to get through the door. Great young air talents still break through these barriers, but it's much tougher than it once was.

But none of this is unique to Altoona/State College.

 

[Beatlesfan64]

As in television, so it also is in radio.

A person trades a small portion of their lives - listening to commercials to compensate the station owners - for the privilege of listening to entertainment.

In all actuality, it is not free, by the same token, a person that subscribes to XM - pays for the privilege of being able to listen to commercial free music.

It does not mean that there is just a continuous stream of music, because I listen to a lot of Hair Nation - channel 43? or 6022 on the Dish, yet Dangerous Dan and the other V jay's are always yakking about something or another.

They try to make themselves sound as if they were a member of KISS or some other 80's rock band and act all cool and stuff.

That is probably the biggest thing that attracted me to 95.9 - because they had actual d jays. The night program with Alice Cooper isn't bad, but Alice is outdated and just talks too much and plays the music that he likes.

It would be like Ted Nugent having his own syndicated radio show and just playing the music that he likes to listen to. I could only listen to Cat Scratch Fever so many times before I would get tired of it.

 

[radiotruth75]

I am one of those satellite radio junkies with Sirius/XM. I am such a huge fan I couldn't live without it at this point. I was in radio not long ago, and a big believer of FM at one point. The reality is, when jobs are lost to cut costs, and the focus is on spots alone and not the product being sold, ultimately everyone loses; the company(ies), employees, and the listeners. Listening to Stern, and many of the other channels such as Hits 1, the Hip-Hop channels, Octane....even Cousin Brucie, takes me back to the 90's when I thought radio was in it's prime and sounded great. And they all have that major market sound I like, without having to even be in NYC! The Forever's, CC's, CBS's etc of this world have truly turned radio into an almost non-existent medium. Computers, voicetracking and the like are killing newcomers. As these jocks get older as in the case with Froggy 98, it will be interesting to see who replaces them if anyone. No one is being groomed anymore, and most jocks anymore are talentless..due to consultants and narrow-minded PD's. Creativity? A thing of the past. The emphasis is solely on the money to be made as I said, and this will ultimately be the demise of entertaining radio....(at least with many smaller companies such as Forever, Connoisseur Media, First Media etc)

Don't forget Jay Thomas doing PMD on Sirius/XM Stars 2. Still funny as hell, but now he gets to swear.

Doom, gloom, doom, gloom. Sorry about you losing your radio gig, but a lot of people are still employed. It's a talent business, so it's always been cruel that way. Maybe your employer just couldn't see/hear your talent. Maybe you don't have quite enough talent. Hard to say. Kind of like a wide receiver who isn't making catches. Is it the WR, or is it the QB? Tough biz.

It's always been about the money, at least in COMMERCIAL radio. Now it's about the money in public radio and religious radio, too. It's always been about the money in EVERY business. Welcome to free-enterprise America!

Young talent IS being groomed, but maybe not on the stations you listen to. Try B94.5 or The Lion. Maybe Quick (not to my taste, so I can't say for sure). Most local air talents now seem to be 35-54, so they'll be around for another 10-15 years. As long as they keep doing a good job, they'll be tough to displace.

But, yes, digital automation and voice tracking have eliminated the overnight and evening jobs at most radio stations in America, leaving 3 of the 5 dayparts: AMD, mid-days & PMD. So 40 percent of all fulltime on-air gigs disappeared, along with weekend PT gigs.

That put a lot of people out of work, and they still compete for EVERY opening with all the newbies & wannabes. Eventually those old-timers will retire and/or die, and make it easier for the kids to get through the door. Great young air talents still break through these barriers, but it's much tougher than it once was.

But none of this is unique to Altoona/State College.

I don't need to stroke myself as to why I know I am good at what I did or why I feel the way I do. My position was eliminated, so another PD could be the PD of 2 stations. Doesn't sound fun to me. I know how much work one was, and with no pay raise, it was a blessing in disguise.

I used to believe in terrestrial radio; I used to laugh at the guys who were out of radio and spoke so negative about it. Politics in radio, continuous cost cutting, and lack of focus on the product (with many if not all companies, the few that remain) make it difficult to have any respect anymore. Hard work used to pay off. Now it's who will do as much as possible for the least amount of money. Doom, gloom, is exactly where it is and gets worse every year. Fact: FM radio sucks. SC, Pittsburgh, and other markets (which used to be great markets) have turned stale. Kind of like when you're young, and everyone tells you things about getting older. You think they're full of it, but when you arrive at that point in your life, you see they were correct. Many employed? What planet are you on? And I know the average salary around these parts, is anywhere from 19-28k. Not much to live on..and the older you get, the more important that becomes. It's okay when you're 24, with no kids..but someday you wake up and you're 44, with a family (just an example) and life takes a turn.

Let's see..College radio like the Lion, is just that..college radio. B-94.5? Oh wait I already covered college radio.

I'm not old by any means but "old school" when I think back to radio when it was not just good, but made me want to listen and miss nothing. Radio today also doesn't pay what it did at one point. Less is best was something I used to hear from other PD's regarding on-air. Less is best..is what many seem to get paid. 30-35k to be on-air, PD, and everything else under the sun, is hardly worth it anymore. So why move all over the country to make peanuts, and play the crap shoot as to how long you'll last.

Oh by the way, not many actually retire from radio. They're laid-off wayyy before that my man..so good luck.

And before you get on my sh*t, for getting on yours....I used to be you

 

[joepa4ever]

I don't need to stroke myself as to why I know I am good at what I did or why I feel the way I do. My position was eliminated, so another PD could be the PD of 2 stations. Doesn't sound fun to me. I know how much work one was, and with no pay raise, it was a blessing in disguise.

I used to believe in terrestrial radio; I used to laugh at the guys who were out of radio and spoke so negative about it. Politics in radio, continuous cost cutting, and lack of focus on the product (with many if not all companies, the few that remain) make it difficult to have any respect anymore. Hard work used to pay off. Now it's who will do as much as possible for the least amount of money. Doom, gloom, is exactly where it is and gets worse every year. Fact: FM radio sucks. SC, Pittsburgh, and other markets (which used to be great markets) have turned stale. Kind of like when you're young, and everyone tells you things about getting older. You think they're full of it, but when you arrive at that point in your life, you see they were correct. Many employed? What planet are you on? And I know the average salary around these parts, is anywhere from 19-28k. Not much to live on..and the older you get, the more important that becomes. It's okay when you're 24, with no kids..but someday you wake up and you're 44, with a family (just an example) and life takes a turn.

Let's see..College radio like the Lion, is just that..college radio. B-94.5? Oh wait I already covered college radio.

I'm not old by any means but "old school" when I think back to radio when it was not just good, but made me want to listen and miss nothing. Radio today also doesn't pay what it did at one point. Less is best was something I used to hear from other PD's regarding on-air. Less is best..is what many seem to get paid. 30-35k to be on-air, PD, and everything else under the sun, is hardly worth it anymore. So why move all over the country to make peanuts, and play the crap shoot as to how long you'll last.

Oh by the way, not many actually retire from radio. They're laid-off wayyy before that my man..so good luck.

And before you get on my sh*t, for getting on yours....I used to be you

Nobody's getting on your sh*t, man. But it does sound like you're no longer working in radio.

The upper end of this Altoona/SC market for air talents is around $50K yearly, and because of that the average is more like the mid-thirties. That's slightly below the average-and-median annual earnings for all jobs in America, which is about $40K.

But before you start thinking about how terrible radio pay is here, remember that these are two of the smallest radio "markets" in the nation. To be precise, SC isn't even a "market" anymore, since its no longer rated. But before it bit the dust it was something like #252 out of 300 "markets"--and Altoona is even smaller than that.

So if you want to get a sense of how radio pay stacks up against all other jobs, start looking at markets somewhat above the halfway point--markets #150 and up. Got any pals in the York market (#112, I think) or Lancaster (#104)? Harrisburg is 70-something. Not LA or NYC, but "above the middle." If the WNNK morning team is making $30K apiece, you've made your point.

This has always been a lot like professional sports. The ATs who make it to the major leagues make a shitload of money. KIIS-FM in LA is paying Ryan Seacrest $38 million a year, this year. That's like LeBron and D-Wade together, man--in radio, not the NBA. The ATs who make it as far as State College and can't-or-won't jump to the bigs end up doing something else for a living--just like the guys who top-out with the Spikes.

Like I said before, just like all talent fields, radio is a cruel business. But it's also a business where you can get rich.

 

[radiotruth75]

I love the analogy, and I feel the optimism. The few that get "rich" however, is about as good a chance as winning the Powerball.

Salaries over the past 10 years have dwindled. Where as a night jock in a market such as Erie or Pittsburgh back in the day could make 30k plus; today it's dropped significantly. State College monring jocks making 50k? I can only think of one person that may make that much just because he's been around since the ice age.

There has been great talent over the years come and go, and very underpaid. Everytime someone would leave, get fired etc, the next one would make just a little less money. The bar has been continuously been lowered which is the sad state of radio. With that said, too much emphasis was put on "what we could get" for that small amount of money.

The demise of weekend air shifts be it board op or on-air has destroyed the potential for new talent to be groomed. I've been around and can say honestly from experience that college radio isn't a true "grooming ground". The entry level jobs in radio just to get your "foot in the door" become less and less constantly. When this happens in Altoona, SC, Johnstown it may be expected. When it happens in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and other Top 20 markets, you know somethings not going well.

Back to your sports analogy..I love it. But having been a radio fan, proponent, plus living, breathing, sleeping and eating radio; I've personally watched and experienced its demise over the past 20 years, especially since deregulation.

Oh and by the way I hear Clear Channel wants even more deregulation so they can own more. On that note, are you feelin' froggy?

Best,