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Former Radio hosts - What they do when the gig is up

S

Skynet74

With the sour state of radio these days, what happens to all those radio hosts? All the names you remember from years past. Some have quit. Others fired. But Where do they go? I think of people like Carolyn Fox and Amy Hagan. How about Pro-FM's Jim Halfyard and Nancy Grimes. Those are only four names out of the thousands across the country who went from "ON AIR" to "VANISHING INTO THIN AIR". Do you think most of them just switch to a whole different career (or) do you think they still contribute to broadcasting in behind the scene roles?

After I left radio I still did my best to stay involved in the entertainment field. I love show business and I still wanted to stay involved somehow. So I did everything from standing on the streets of Hollywood handing out free TV show tickets, to being an independent writer for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Then when I returned to the East coast I got involved in voiceovers. I've even influenced prominent radio shows by accident. I phoned Howard Stern one day and called Stern's producer a silly nickname (Mama Monkey). The next thing I know people started writing songs about it. Here's a clip of me on the air followed by what happened afterwards. It's craziness which still continues to this day.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/704211276c5ed55d/


So once again.... where do most radio hosts go once the gig is up? If you've worked in radio and no longer do, you will be able to answer the question better than anybody. Are you still influencing the business in an unknown way (or) are you mainly just moving around some seashells on the beach?
 
When there are no on-air gigs around radio people would always try to stay connected to the media in some way. Now with the economic climate being what it is, not only is it hard to stay connected to the media but it's hard to start fresh in a new career. It's just a bad time. I think some of the ones on the beach who really do have talent are just hoping somewhere something will open up. I mean, sooner or later somewhere someone has to get canned from a live drive time slot. The rest of the out-of-work radio world that falls in the category of just your plain average worker bees are going to have problems. A lot of people have been out of work months and months and months if not over a year and it has to be depressing.
 
Tee Man 82 said:
You're asking people to give up their status as celebrity?
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No... I'm not talking about celebrities. I'm talking about people who work on the radio. So this celebrity lingo you use might be a bit of a stretch. ;)
 
Skynet74 said:
With the sour state of radio these days, what happens to all those radio hosts? All the names you remember from years past. Some have quit. Others fired. But Where do they go? I think of people like Carolyn Fox and Amy Hagan. How about Pro-FM's Jim Halfyard and Nancy Grimes. Those are only four names out of the thousands across the country who went from "ON AIR" to "VANISHING INTO THIN AIR". Do you think most of them just switch to a whole different career (or) do you think they still contribute to broadcasting in behind the scene roles?

After I left radio I still did my best to stay involved in the entertainment field. I love show business and I still wanted to stay involved somehow. So I did everything from standing on the streets of Hollywood handing out free TV show tickets, to being an independent writer for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Then when I returned to the East coast I got involved in voiceovers. I've even influenced prominent radio shows by accident. I phoned Howard Stern one day and called Stern's producer a silly nickname (Mama Monkey). The next thing I know people started writing songs about it. Here's a clip of me on the air followed by what happened afterwards. It's craziness which still continues to this day.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/704211276c5ed55d/


So once again.... where do most radio hosts go once the gig is up? If you've worked in radio and no longer do, you will be able to answer the question better than anybody. Are you still influencing the business in an unknown way (or) are you mainly just moving around some seashells on the beach?

Don't know where Nancy is, but Jim Halfyard is still in the East Bay. Prior to radio he was always handy, and now, and for years since leaving PRO-FM-WSNE has worked as a Cabinet Maker. Seems happy and doesn't miss the politics of radio. "Smilin Jim" continues to smile,.
Click to expand...
 
jimmyone said:
If you've worked in radio and no longer do, you will be able to answer the question better than anybody. Are you still influencing the business in an unknown way (or) are you mainly just moving around some seashells on the beach?
Click to expand...

Speaking only for myself, when I gave up on radio I got into sales/marketing. Got to travel much of the world and set myself up for comfortable early retirement. Yes, radio provided an excellent background for those new fields. I still do some pro-bono radio - both voiceover and engineering. But only for free and the expenses are tax-deductible since the work is for charitable organizations.
 
I think it's different with each person.

There are the 'has-beens' who spend the rest of their days lamenting that they are no long on the air and will never be as big as they thought they were "back in the day", or worse still, those who think what they did back in the 80's could be big again ... blagh blagh blagh...

Then there is the 'Never Was' group which clings to the dream that they could be the one to save a floundering station, who have no clue how radio is really run...

Interesting question
 
I agree... I guess when you're still on the air though, it's easier to keep the illusion alive. It's the ones OFF air who are most pitiful!
 
MissAM said:
I agree... I guess when you're still on the air though, it's easier to keep the illusion alive. It's the ones OFF air who are most pitiful!
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Don't get too carried away with tears of grief for those of us no longer on the air. We find new illusions to chase and sometimes we learn they, too, can be cruel. You can become a lobbyist who can brag for the rest of his life about the ONE SIGNIFICANT BILL you got passed, and then face the cold cruel fact it was THE ONLY bill you got passed.

You can become the leading marketer of a particular product or service in your state only to wake up one day that you have a choice: keep your business or keep your marriage... but not both.

And you can finally work your way up to the dream job of your lifetime and be ushered out the door one day along with everyone else as your corporation goes down in flames otherwise known as bankruptcy.

There is happiness and there is heartbreak in being a broadcast host or personality. But, the world has a plentiful supply of both happiness and heartbreak for people in every imaginable line of work. Welcome to life.
 
Many of us no longer on the air are just as happy now, if not happier than when we were working in radio. Either way there is no harm in coming here and "playing radio". This board is a great outlet for both information as well as for stating our opinions on the current state of the business. Some of the most successful people in the business didn't even get their start in radio until later in life. Michael Savage was 52. The rejection of his 1994 manuscript prompted him to record a demo tape with a mock radio talk show about illegal immigrants and epidemics. He mailed this tape to 250 radio stations in an attempt to change careers and become a radio talk show host.

So it doesn't matter where you come from or where you've been. It doesn't matter if you were a nobody in the 80's 90's or yesterday. A persons past does not reflect on what a person is capable of in the future. Todays nobodies can be tomorrows shining stars. The only pitiful ones are the people who believe that a persons past dictates their future. Those are the people I feel sorry for.
 
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