Has there been any layoffs in either one of these markets?
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Citadel Presque Isle & Augusta clusters
- Thread starter Andy Taylor
- Start date
They have laid off some people in another N.E. market.
In the Portsmouth/Dover/Rochester market, Director of Sales Ken Hoffman was let go as well as WOKQ MD/Middays Dan Lunnie, Evenings Joyce Danas and on-air Mornings at (The Shark) WSAK/WSHK Rob Connolly. There were other sales cuts as well. A VERY painful holiday surprise for many. Both Danny & Ken were there 20+ years. Evenings will now feature the syndicated 'Big Time' with Whitney Allen.
I guess it's only a matter of time right? Only a matter of time until eventually EVERY RADIO STATION in this country is either voice tracked or running syndicated programming. Slowly but surely the suits are changing the very foundations on which this great medium was built on.
That's enough outta me. I could rant for 50 pages on the state of radio today.
In the Portsmouth/Dover/Rochester market, Director of Sales Ken Hoffman was let go as well as WOKQ MD/Middays Dan Lunnie, Evenings Joyce Danas and on-air Mornings at (The Shark) WSAK/WSHK Rob Connolly. There were other sales cuts as well. A VERY painful holiday surprise for many. Both Danny & Ken were there 20+ years. Evenings will now feature the syndicated 'Big Time' with Whitney Allen.
I guess it's only a matter of time right? Only a matter of time until eventually EVERY RADIO STATION in this country is either voice tracked or running syndicated programming. Slowly but surely the suits are changing the very foundations on which this great medium was built on.
That's enough outta me. I could rant for 50 pages on the state of radio today.
yes - very painful. Truth of the matter is - and we all know this - with the state of the economy, business has slowed down. If there isn't enough $$ coming in to keep everyone afloat (and this is all radio stations), we're like any other business out there and you need to cutback which can also mean laying off folks (unfortunately). It wasn't a move to keep stockholders happy like another corporate group we all know did. As far as WOKQ and The Shark goes, all prime dayparts, 5a-7p are still local and live.
When I started in radio, we played records on turntables, some of commercials were on 16" records (some playing at 16 RPM), other spots were recorded and played back on Ampex 601s and "pitching" was reading live copy on the air. Yup, times have changed. I lived the good old days of personality radio along with "Woo Woo" Ginsburg, Joey Reynolds, Murray the K and WNEW's Ted Brown, so it's sad to see the state of radio today.
How NNE Jocks Can Keep Their Jobs
Let me preface this by saying I'm on the side of every hard working radio person who's been laid off or is fearing getting laid off.
This economy sucks. And that won't change right off.
But if you now still have a job, do this. As Dylan himself says, "You've got to serve somebody". True dat. Doesn't matter who you are. Hell, if you're one of the radio owner fatcats who's been criticized on this forum, even YOU got to serve somebody. Your stockholders. Or your bank, who's financing your operation. Hey. Even those "fatcat" bosses whom we think are all set... are not. They're trembling, too. Believe me.
So instead of throwing darts at your boss or bosses, why not expend that energy in a more self-serving way?
Here's the thing, ladies and gents. If you want to keep your job, there's only one thing you need to do.
MAKE YOURSELF IRREPLACEABLE.
Most bosses who have hiring and firing capacities couldn't unlock the front door of their own radio station, let alone keep its programming on the air. Or do the traffic. Or program the ENCO or Prophet or Scott Systems. So how can you exploit that power? You've got to convey to your corporate hangman that you are the one who knows it all.
If you still have $20 in your pocket, do this. Ask your boss out to lunch. A hamburger kind of lunch will do. And ask him or her about what's stressing them out the most, and what can you do to fix that?
Think about it. Who could fire somebody like you if you did that?
Honestly, I really truly don't want to seem like I'm dissing anyone who has lost his or her job up to now. I'm familiar with many of those people's track records, and I know that they gave 100% or more, but still got the shaft, and in 99% of the cases, it's probably not their fault.
All I'm saying here is: if you still have your job, know your boss, and know his or her biggest fears. Find a way -- a true, non-BS way -- to allay those fears.
If they can go to bed tomorrow night thinking that they can't lose you, you're going to be okay.
Every situation is different, so your mileage may vary, but as a true veteran of the radio biz, I can promise you that my basic advice is right on target. Promise.
Ray
Let me preface this by saying I'm on the side of every hard working radio person who's been laid off or is fearing getting laid off.
This economy sucks. And that won't change right off.
But if you now still have a job, do this. As Dylan himself says, "You've got to serve somebody". True dat. Doesn't matter who you are. Hell, if you're one of the radio owner fatcats who's been criticized on this forum, even YOU got to serve somebody. Your stockholders. Or your bank, who's financing your operation. Hey. Even those "fatcat" bosses whom we think are all set... are not. They're trembling, too. Believe me.
So instead of throwing darts at your boss or bosses, why not expend that energy in a more self-serving way?
Here's the thing, ladies and gents. If you want to keep your job, there's only one thing you need to do.
MAKE YOURSELF IRREPLACEABLE.
Most bosses who have hiring and firing capacities couldn't unlock the front door of their own radio station, let alone keep its programming on the air. Or do the traffic. Or program the ENCO or Prophet or Scott Systems. So how can you exploit that power? You've got to convey to your corporate hangman that you are the one who knows it all.
If you still have $20 in your pocket, do this. Ask your boss out to lunch. A hamburger kind of lunch will do. And ask him or her about what's stressing them out the most, and what can you do to fix that?
Think about it. Who could fire somebody like you if you did that?
Honestly, I really truly don't want to seem like I'm dissing anyone who has lost his or her job up to now. I'm familiar with many of those people's track records, and I know that they gave 100% or more, but still got the shaft, and in 99% of the cases, it's probably not their fault.
All I'm saying here is: if you still have your job, know your boss, and know his or her biggest fears. Find a way -- a true, non-BS way -- to allay those fears.
If they can go to bed tomorrow night thinking that they can't lose you, you're going to be okay.
Every situation is different, so your mileage may vary, but as a true veteran of the radio biz, I can promise you that my basic advice is right on target. Promise.
Ray
Ray,
I'm sure you mean well, and your comments make a lot of common sense. This is something I would do (if I were in the position to).
However, all your suggestions may only delay the inevitable. Take Mr. Manno's plight, for instance. He seems to have an intrinsic value to radio, but yet he was still laid off. Was that the fault of his not letting people know his worth? I doubt it. Seems like he did all the things you recommended but those words fell upon deaf ears... at least the ears of those in direct control.
You can do everything right, but if you've got a boss who just doesn't want to hear it, no matter how hard you try, you ain't gonna get anywhere with it.
All the same, you should never stop trying. :-\
I'm sure you mean well, and your comments make a lot of common sense. This is something I would do (if I were in the position to).
However, all your suggestions may only delay the inevitable. Take Mr. Manno's plight, for instance. He seems to have an intrinsic value to radio, but yet he was still laid off. Was that the fault of his not letting people know his worth? I doubt it. Seems like he did all the things you recommended but those words fell upon deaf ears... at least the ears of those in direct control.
You can do everything right, but if you've got a boss who just doesn't want to hear it, no matter how hard you try, you ain't gonna get anywhere with it.
All the same, you should never stop trying. :-\
Mark Decker,
Good man. You're right. There are no guarantees. But as you said, you should never stop trying.
As for Louie Manno, I'd hire him in a New York minute if I owned a radio station. Every radio station needs at least one superstar, usually in the morning, to stay on top and continue to kick butt.
I guess that the point in my earlier email was this. In times of "war", it's not enough to just fulfill the terms of your contract. You've got to go above and beyond and know that the person with the hiring and firing decisions sees that you're doing so.
Be IRREPLACEABLE.
Just a humble opinion from someone who's been there and survived with it.
Good luck to all who are still in the biz. Don't give up yet. Radio is good. This too shall pass.
Ray
Good man. You're right. There are no guarantees. But as you said, you should never stop trying.
As for Louie Manno, I'd hire him in a New York minute if I owned a radio station. Every radio station needs at least one superstar, usually in the morning, to stay on top and continue to kick butt.
I guess that the point in my earlier email was this. In times of "war", it's not enough to just fulfill the terms of your contract. You've got to go above and beyond and know that the person with the hiring and firing decisions sees that you're doing so.
Be IRREPLACEABLE.
Just a humble opinion from someone who's been there and survived with it.
Good luck to all who are still in the biz. Don't give up yet. Radio is good. This too shall pass.
Ray
What Ray said and Mark too! At the end of the day if you have worked as hard as you can and still get let go it sucks but you tried. We see these show and go people scratching their heads wondering what happened when they could have learned selector, picked up some promotions slack or at least came to the the table with something that helped instead of saying "I know I am going to get blown out". If you want to survive you better be out performing the station or out performing your co-workers and busting your butt, but still no gaurentee but at least you know you did everything you could to try and keep your job.
Re: How NNE Jocks Can Keep Their Jobs
Good advice. One small problem, if you're stuck in a corporate situation (which, like it or not, is the norm now)--you can do all of the above, and even if your market manager believes you're irreplaceable, if he/she can't plead your case successfully to the people that he/she answers to in San Antonio...or Atlanta....or wherever, it ain't gonna matter.
ray ting said:Let me preface this by saying I'm on the side of every hard working radio person who's been laid off or is fearing getting laid off.
This economy sucks. And that won't change right off.
But if you now still have a job, do this. As Dylan himself says, "You've got to serve somebody". True dat. Doesn't matter who you are. Hell, if you're one of the radio owner fatcats who's been criticized on this forum, even YOU got to serve somebody. Your stockholders. Or your bank, who's financing your operation. Hey. Even those "fatcat" bosses whom we think are all set... are not. They're trembling, too. Believe me.
So instead of throwing darts at your boss or bosses, why not expend that energy in a more self-serving way?
Here's the thing, ladies and gents. If you want to keep your job, there's only one thing you need to do.
MAKE YOURSELF IRREPLACEABLE.
Most bosses who have hiring and firing capacities couldn't unlock the front door of their own radio station, let alone keep its programming on the air. Or do the traffic. Or program the ENCO or Prophet or Scott Systems. So how can you exploit that power? You've got to convey to your corporate hangman that you are the one who knows it all.
If you still have $20 in your pocket, do this. Ask your boss out to lunch. A hamburger kind of lunch will do. And ask him or her about what's stressing them out the most, and what can you do to fix that?
Think about it. Who could fire somebody like you if you did that?
Honestly, I really truly don't want to seem like I'm dissing anyone who has lost his or her job up to now. I'm familiar with many of those people's track records, and I know that they gave 100% or more, but still got the shaft, and in 99% of the cases, it's probably not their fault.
All I'm saying here is: if you still have your job, know your boss, and know his or her biggest fears. Find a way -- a true, non-BS way -- to allay those fears.
If they can go to bed tomorrow night thinking that they can't lose you, you're going to be okay.
Every situation is different, so your mileage may vary, but as a true veteran of the radio biz, I can promise you that my basic advice is right on target. Promise.
Ray
Good advice. One small problem, if you're stuck in a corporate situation (which, like it or not, is the norm now)--you can do all of the above, and even if your market manager believes you're irreplaceable, if he/she can't plead your case successfully to the people that he/she answers to in San Antonio...or Atlanta....or wherever, it ain't gonna matter.
Corporate, of course, always specifies "how much," and sometimes "how many," but almost never "who," so irreplaceability (or, more accurately, replaceability) is therefore determined at the market level, and it definitely does matter.
maineengineer said:Corporate, of course, always specifies "how much," and sometimes "how many," but almost never "who," so irreplaceability (or, more accurately, replaceability) is therefore determined at the market level, and it definitely does matter.
Agree to disagree?
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