CC-SD Traffic hires John Monti, and Mark Zegan

[SDRadio]

I talked to Mark Z today; and John and him are at CC-SD traffic working part time. Mark was previously at KiFM/98.1 and Monti-man was traffic at 760 KFMB. Both are heard on most of the San Diego Clear Channel stations.

 

[Bob_Hudson]

Good to see those two good guys working, however little it may be. Both are talented veterans.

John Monte was part of the old Shadow Traffic which was later swallowed by Metro (which then spit out John and all the other Shadow folks who were still covered by the AFTRA contract). John has a great set of pipes (talent, experience and great pipes: do they still allow that in radio???????).

Likewise Mark Z brings talent, experience and zest to the table. He did traffic for us on the Z-90 morning show way back in about 1990-91 and made it more than just a cliched recitation of the same old problems on the highways and byways.

 

[mr_arbitron]

So is Cal Walker out?? Kinda like mike Nolan, KFI in the sky?

 

[Bob_Hudson]

So is Cal Walker out?? Kinda like mike Nolan, KFI in the sky?

If you're in radio, over age 40, and not making Jeff and Jer money, you are probably better off if they force you out while you're still young enough to have some slim chance of starting a new career. Imagine being say 55 or 60 and all you've done is traffic reports or DJ'ing. When the inevitable ax falls what do you do? In the old days you might go across town to another station, but with so many stations in the hands of one company when you get fired these days you get fired not from one station but from eight or more. Also "back in the day" aging radio folk could often go find a comfortable gig in some smaller market: less money, but a cheaper cost of living and you could often find job security that might carry you along until Social Security kicks in. Now the small stations automated carrying programming from the big city station that just fired you.

While I am glad to see guys like John and Mark working again, I always urge 40+ radio announcers to try as hard as possible to resist that temptation for just one more radio gig and instead do whatever you can to transition to something else. It ain't easy but it's got to be better than being a 60-year-old unemployed announcer whose only hopes for new work is putting on a mike and headphones at the drive trough window and announcing "Welcome to McDonalds. May I take your order?"

 

[machinehead]

The line suggesting those hovering around the 40+ mark who have been shown the door to "resist that temptation for just one more radio gig" is, unfortunately for this day and age, pretty good advice.

Well said Bob, I agree. If you can find something else to transition to, do it. Radio is a great gig while you have it, but the sooner one can find a hopefully-lucrative gig for oneself outside radio, the better. Resisting the temptation to get back on is tough, especially if radio and being behind the mic is something you itch to do when you're not doing it. We've all been there.

That having been said, congrats and good luck to John and Mark Z. Both good guys who deserve more, and frankly, better.

 

[doublecashkgb]

I would agree, too many 40+ jocks stay with radio and never really learn any other skills. This wasn't always the case. If you study the early Top 40 jocks for instance, they were hustlers. Often owning a night club or promoting concerts, they saw radio as a stepping stone. Somewhere in the 70's it became more of a lifestyle, with jocks well into their 30's living basically the same lifestyle they did when they were 20. While the sharper jocks went into running or managing stations, leading sales departments or owning their own business, the radio is my life type knocked around station to station and market to market.

The next biggest change I've seen is in the last 15 years a lot of jocks that would adopt the lifestyle and attitude of their target audience. These folks usually don't know how to present themselves outside of the context of their present format. They are loud, don't dress well, & lack the manners needed in today's business world. Its great fun when your 27, at age 37 it is a little sad. This is especially true in rock, Alternative and CHR/Hip Hop formats. The jock tats up & dresses in his prison garb jeans at an age where his peers are managing banks or heading up marketing for high tech companies.

What I am seeing now is veteran jocks when they are out of work start believing they are all voice-over talents. I am not saying there aren't opportunities, but there is also tremendous competition for this work (especially the higher end stuff). Its also requires tremendous self-marketing skills and persistence. Its a business, not a lifestyle. I am not saying that those with on-air skills only can't be successful in other fields. On the contrary, good jocks are creative, think on their feet, usually are extroverted and have excellent computer and often times presentation skills. There is life after the air shift, don't give up.

 

[jimmythebassett]

Double Cash, what do you make of old radio mainstays like Jim Clay and Don "The Cretin Bastard" Layton? - They were Mexican radio mainstays in the 70's and kept it going into the 80's with their consultancy. Because of XEROK, Wolfman Jack and others, they never got any kind of top billing.

 

[doublecashkgb]

Jimmy:

I am suprised you would mention your junkie friends from that ill-fated Mexican flame thrower.
One of those guys was up on a weapons and attempted murder charge the last I heard.