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Is Anybody.....
- Thread starter Tom Woods
- Start date
N
Nokmo True
Guest
How do I like it?
The life has been sucked out of it by penny-wise, pound-foolish managers who know nothing about broadcasting and only slightly more than that about accounting.
Couple that with program directors who are afraid of their own shadows and don't trust their own instincts but rely instead on overpaid, out of town consultants who tell them what they should be playing and how they should be promoting and who re-cycle the same BS every eighteen months and you have the current situation.
I'm looking for anything else to do every day. Not a great time to look for a job but I'm looking and if anything halfway decent came by I'd leap at it. Leap!
You?
The life has been sucked out of it by penny-wise, pound-foolish managers who know nothing about broadcasting and only slightly more than that about accounting.
Couple that with program directors who are afraid of their own shadows and don't trust their own instincts but rely instead on overpaid, out of town consultants who tell them what they should be playing and how they should be promoting and who re-cycle the same BS every eighteen months and you have the current situation.
I'm looking for anything else to do every day. Not a great time to look for a job but I'm looking and if anything halfway decent came by I'd leap at it. Leap!
You?
YOUR ALL RIGHT.. corporate has taken over. they have managers who never did air work, and if they did.. they had a real radio guy run the board for them, and tell them what to do. good radio people did it all, and knew what to do in case of an emergency. people who are going to college for broadcasting... heres some advise,from a guy whos been in it for over 40 years. save your money. radio isnt radio anymore. it doesnt pay, you have g.ms and p.ds who cater to salespeople, and again, know nothing about radio. they will dismiss you in a wink, and its always near a holiday. whens the last time you knew a real talented radio guy, who worked his, or her way up the ladder, get a g.m. job with corporate stations? most of the g.ms who run 4 or 5 radio stations dont even know what the formats are.
I still work doing fill in at a pea shooter am over here in ny; 500 watts daytime, 57 watts at sundown. 50's and 60's oldies only; 1400 cd's and I get to do my own programming and music selection. It'll never be the mighty 590 but its the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Robin Ward- "wonderful summer', Barry and the Tamerlanes, "wonder what she's doing tonite", The Exciters "do-wah-diddy-diddy"; Janie Grant with "Triangle"...oh yah....
Gene Forbes , anotther WARM fan, gave me a cd with some classic nuggets with the WARM jingles between the tunes; the hair was standing up on my neck. An intro with The double G.....priceless
Don't forget the WARM reunion with the Pocono DRag lodge reunion in august 2010....gonna be great, lots of personalities coming...date to be announced as soon as I have one
have a warm day...
oldies4ever
Gene Forbes , anotther WARM fan, gave me a cd with some classic nuggets with the WARM jingles between the tunes; the hair was standing up on my neck. An intro with The double G.....priceless
Don't forget the WARM reunion with the Pocono DRag lodge reunion in august 2010....gonna be great, lots of personalities coming...date to be announced as soon as I have one
have a warm day...
oldies4ever
A
Aramondo
Guest
What's your take on all this Tom?
Aramondo said:
Well...First of all let me say that I love working at WILK..I'm only part time. I've always loved radio .
It's too bad that things have changed and it's all corporate now. If you step back and look at the whole scope of things....Corporate America has taken over everything. Look around and see all the small businesses closing because of competition. I know I'm working for a large corporation but you wouldn't think it. They treat me very nice at WILK and I can't complain. You have to remember I'm retired with SS and a pension..so..I'm not doing that bad. It's tough for a person raising a family and depending on a solid job in radio.
I can't honestly advise my students to do radio for a career, unless it's sales and maybe some weekends just to keep the inner fire going. Much of the announcing is done by a guy in Utah or Texas or somewhere who v/t's a hundred stations and then goes out for coffee.
It used to be so much fun when it was you, a mic and a stack of records. Digital ruined the fun; the computer can't cue of side 2, cut 4 of a vinyl and read a commercial at the same time as you are loading a cart machine and looking for the weather.
It used to be so much fun when it was you, a mic and a stack of records. Digital ruined the fun; the computer can't cue of side 2, cut 4 of a vinyl and read a commercial at the same time as you are loading a cart machine and looking for the weather.
N
Nokmo True
Guest
So can't a half dozen of us throw in (or borrow and throw in) 50 grand each and buy some little pea shooter up in the woods someplace and sell enough ads to pay the electric and some livable salaries and tell these a _ _ holes who run things in this market to knock themselves out? A pipe dream?
I am sure, any young person going into radio now does not know what a cart machine looks like. The computer does all the work. Music, liners, IDS, and the commerials. I have to say WSPK and WHUD in Poughkeepise, New York are live 24 / 7. They are owned by Pamal Broadcasting / Albany Broadcasting. They are always looking for part timers to cover for the full timers. www.pamal.com
It is sad to hear many of these stories, and I'm not questioning their validity. I'll take them as they are written. I must say, however, that there are still terrific careers in radio. I agree it is in a difficult time, and I will acknowledge that it's never been tougher to get started as an air talent.
Personally, I am in radio for well over 30 years.Never unemployed a day since 1977. I started as an air talent, and will agree those formative early years in my career would be hard to fulfill today.
I also acknowledge that for most of those years I have been in station management, so many of you will automatically disregard my opinions from this point further.
But I am a career radio broadcaster who still loves his work, does it every day , and employs many others who also have chosen this life.
My advice to a young aspiring broadcaster looking for a start would be to consider some of the other ways into the business and get themselves started down the road. Information Technologies is growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of positions have been added that come from this emerging platform. Marketing, promotion,engineering, accounting and ( yes the dreaded) sales are all viable ways in.I have personally hired in all these categories recently, even in a crazy one-of-a kind year like this has been.
Maybe it's the market. While I really love NEPA, it's a tough town.Perhaps even more so in media. But just about 100 miles south or Due east are two top 10 markets where these opportunities most certainly exist.
So , while the business is different, it IS NOT DEAD. And you CAN find your way, it might be a different way, or start differently, but Radio is viable and strong. Who'd ever think we'd live to see it stronger financially than daily newspapers?
So, think about my observations. When a young aspiring broadcaster with a spark in his or her eye crosses your way, don't snuff out their dream .Think about the different paths out there.Our business has changed, but there are many of us who are hard working , dedicated career broadcasters doing great radio day in and day out.And we need young adults that share our vision to keep our business viable. We will emerge from this slumping economic period and our industry will be as vibrant and viable as it ever was.
Personally, I am in radio for well over 30 years.Never unemployed a day since 1977. I started as an air talent, and will agree those formative early years in my career would be hard to fulfill today.
I also acknowledge that for most of those years I have been in station management, so many of you will automatically disregard my opinions from this point further.
But I am a career radio broadcaster who still loves his work, does it every day , and employs many others who also have chosen this life.
My advice to a young aspiring broadcaster looking for a start would be to consider some of the other ways into the business and get themselves started down the road. Information Technologies is growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of positions have been added that come from this emerging platform. Marketing, promotion,engineering, accounting and ( yes the dreaded) sales are all viable ways in.I have personally hired in all these categories recently, even in a crazy one-of-a kind year like this has been.
Maybe it's the market. While I really love NEPA, it's a tough town.Perhaps even more so in media. But just about 100 miles south or Due east are two top 10 markets where these opportunities most certainly exist.
So , while the business is different, it IS NOT DEAD. And you CAN find your way, it might be a different way, or start differently, but Radio is viable and strong. Who'd ever think we'd live to see it stronger financially than daily newspapers?
So, think about my observations. When a young aspiring broadcaster with a spark in his or her eye crosses your way, don't snuff out their dream .Think about the different paths out there.Our business has changed, but there are many of us who are hard working , dedicated career broadcasters doing great radio day in and day out.And we need young adults that share our vision to keep our business viable. We will emerge from this slumping economic period and our industry will be as vibrant and viable as it ever was.
A
Aramondo
Guest
I hope you're right about viable and strong but something tells me the internet is going to kick radio's ass inside of ten years. When "wifi hot spots" are no longer needed because the internet is everywhere? And car radios are computers? Everybody and their brother can have their own internet station? NEPA is lucky in this regard, we usually catch up five or more years down the road to the emerging technology. But it's comin'.
I agree with you. However, I also believe that it will be the radio operators that dominate the internet radio platform. We need to look at ourselves as content portals. If our consumers come to us over our air, great. But we should be all now in development of our other platforms. Streaming, including capabilities to hand held devices like phones and other wi-fi capable electronics is a terrific was to extend our brands. The stations that seem "dead" aren't creating compelling, local content. That's it. Once the consumers know you are a local portal for content that matters in their lives, then they will seek it out. We utilize sponsored podcasts, synched banners with internet streamed commercials with links to the clients site( they are significantly more effective than audio only ads for lots of items like automotive, direct response, etc).
"If you build it they will come" is for real. I believe the digital applications of our business will surpass our over-the -air part of the radio business. But it will be broadcasters providing this content. Many of us are already.It's a big part of our business in the cluster I work in.It's where our exponential growth is taking place.We have the content creators and aggregators in place. We have the on-air part to attract attention to these technologies.
How is this different from the journeymen broadcasters that didn't embrace FM 35 years ago? Radio is a perfect fit for the digital age. It's our ticket to ride for the new world order.Why should we care about the new ways people listen? We should welcome it.We should see to it that we take them there and provide the best content they can find when they get there. Look at satellite. The radio nay-sayers called us DOA when satellite radio came on the scene. They still can't create a financial model that works.
"If you build it they will come" is for real. I believe the digital applications of our business will surpass our over-the -air part of the radio business. But it will be broadcasters providing this content. Many of us are already.It's a big part of our business in the cluster I work in.It's where our exponential growth is taking place.We have the content creators and aggregators in place. We have the on-air part to attract attention to these technologies.
How is this different from the journeymen broadcasters that didn't embrace FM 35 years ago? Radio is a perfect fit for the digital age. It's our ticket to ride for the new world order.Why should we care about the new ways people listen? We should welcome it.We should see to it that we take them there and provide the best content they can find when they get there. Look at satellite. The radio nay-sayers called us DOA when satellite radio came on the scene. They still can't create a financial model that works.
I have heard a lot of people saying that they are concerned or convinced that the internet is going to kick radio's sorry butt out of the content delivery business. To draw a direct comparison, in and around 1997, I remember everyone saying that in 10 years, there wouldn't be a retail store anywhere...because everyone would be shopping on the internet. 12 years later, there are actually more and more retail stores, and people are buying online too. If radio were to have it's butt kicked by the internet, the first part of the butt kicking would have happened with satellite radio....now, there are a few million people who have satellite radio, but radio's listenership actually went UP last year...the internet isn't going to replace radio folks....the internet didn't replace retail, television didn't replace radio, the florescent light didn't replace the 'old fashioned' incandescent light...and on and on and on....
Ben
WGMF/WNKZ
Ben
WGMF/WNKZ
Ben, you're right on the money. Radio is down right now...but certainly not out. Radio has hit rough patches before as well as competition from other types of media and has recovered. I think radio still has a viable future. Let's think positive.
I am fortunate that I worked radio up until 1990. Live jocks were plentiful and programing dealt with personalities along with the music THEY selected to play. I really think one of the major reasons why radio has taken a major dump is "deregulation" by the FCC by allowing companies to have more than one station in a single market. Also greed and their notion that what is working in New York City will always work in a small market with less than 50000. There are other reasons too (including automation, internet, and satellite radio), but I feel the ones I mentioned above are the main reasons. I am currently retired now from radio and unfortunately I am watching this industry continue to take a nose dive. For me, I wouldn't work for the wages they pay in radio today. 1980's wages were higher then in most cases than what they are now. Regardless if you have a degree in communications or not, you make more money slinging hamburgers at Mickey D's than watching computer automation at your local radio station. So....if anyone of you guys is still lucky enough to work at a live station at this time, BEWARE....the switch may come to your station without notice very soon!
PS: Sorry to get off topic somewhat.
PS: Sorry to get off topic somewhat.
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