Computers Killed DJ's

[InSearchOfGear]

I think the jock should at least be allowed to choose 1 out of every 5 songs from the station's music library, either to fulfill a listener request or their own taste. It would give each jock a "flavor" on the station, yet keep to the format. And it would also make the listeners happy to hear their request. Pulse 87 was the only station that played listener requests, even if I requested a gold.

1. The listeners you speak of, what the biz calls "active" are less than 10% of the audience and more often than not diametrically opposed to the other 90% (passive).

2. It's not about the jocks. It's about the music. As a jock your mission is to present the station and it's music. It's not your stage.

3. If you fall into the category of active listener, by that definition alone your comments are rendered mostly irrelevant to any serious discussion of radio programming.

Yes, there are a lot of bad programmers out there, and good ones forced to do the bidding of bad ones at the national level, but there is so much more to it than you obviously comprehend.

As most of us in the business, who BTW started out as "fans" like you and long ago realized those we our clueless years, either get into the industry and see how shallow your perspective is, or get the chip off your shoulder and listen when those of us who know better attempt to educate you. Try starting off your diatribes like this: "I noticed that station XXXX does XXXX. Can anyone explain the thought process behind this?" Rather than: "You guys should do XXXX, or XXXX".

Just tryin' to help.

 

[bigtom101]

2. It's not about the jocks. It's about the music. As a jock your mission is to present the station and it's music. It's not your stage.

Damn right. Any jock who thinks its about them and not either a) the majority of listeners or b) the station needs to have a reality check. But by definition a jock should have some ego...this is a entertainment biz after all.

 

[hubcity]

2. It's not about the jocks. It's about the music. As a jock your mission is to present the station and it's music. It's not your stage.

If it's about the music, you lose that listener the moment they open the iTunes Music Store.

If it's about the *station* - that's music *and* presentation - you have a hope of giving your listener something they can't get anywhere else.

And what is "the station"? Imaging, and jocks. (And everything else the station airs - that includes commercials, by the way.)

 

[Dancerev889]

I think everyone is right with the who's it about the jocks or station. The main focus has to be the station, but the jock have to bring the station to life. With all the syndication like Ryan Seacrest and jocks voice tracking multiple stations in multiple markets, the stations dont have that local flavor. I think the other thing that is missing is a good radio war. When was the last time you heard a good one? They usually make for good radio

 

[InSearchOfGear]

I think everyone is right with the who's it about the jocks or station. The main focus has to be the station, but the jock have to bring the station to life. With all the syndication like Ryan Seacrest and jocks voice tracking multiple stations in multiple markets, the stations dont have that local flavor. I think the other thing that is missing is a good radio war. When was the last time you heard a good one? They usually make for good radio

Radio wars are a lot of fun.... for jocks and a handful of "fans". The greatest airstaffs are those who form a cohesive unit. A family that the listener wants to belong to. Your job as a jock is to bring the station to life and make it personal for the listener, as unobtrusively as possible for that part of the audience that isn't paying attention to air personalities. (90%) The ability to entertain and inform quickly, over an intro, is becoming a lost art form. Jocks are actually being encouraged by a lot of programmers to talk too much. You see the ads all the time: "I want a pop culture junkie who knows how to be interactive and work the phones". A toipcal/relatable once an hour is fine. a GREAT phone bit 2 or 3 times a show is fine. Being the radio equivalent of TMZ is not only unnecessary, but potentially damaging to time spent listening. (They get this stuff from the web, not you.) Many programmers are feeling pressure to make their jocks stand out for fear of losing them to budget cuts by managers who don't hear them "working hard enough". History has proven time and again that when stations do too much jaw-jacking, they lose TSL, and when they tighten back up, they recover.

Sure, ego is an important part of being a performer, but self-serving bloviation is, for the most part, interesting to no one but its purveyor.

 

[nd2023]

If radio was all about the music, why did I prefer hearing 87.7 through the static instead of just plugging my iPod into my car? The music was the same. The jocks gave that station a local flavor and I felt like I had a connection to them based on their on air presentation.

Please don't get into the fact that Pulse 87 went bankrupt, it didn't go bankrupt because of the format or live and local jocks.