Non-commerical and public radio stations breeding grouds for great talent?

[kingcreole]

I have feeling that I may get some negative comments for this but public radio stations and noncommerical stations are great places for commerical radio stations to start looking for talent. I have heard some great producing, voices and over all talent on some public radio stations. Although 85% of public radio is synidcated, the other 15% is locally produced shows with locl small town talent with actual personalities. Some of these personalities would sound great on some stations. Kevin Sanders of WUWG 90.7 Fm in Carrollton is a oerfect example. He has got some golden pipes.

 

[taylorengineer]

> I have feeling that I may get some negative comments for
> this but public radio stations and noncommerical stations
> are great places for commerical radio stations to start
> looking for talent. I have heard some great producing,
> voices and over all talent on some public radio stations.
> Although 85% of public radio is synidcated, the other 15% is
> locally produced shows with locl small town talent with
> actual personalities. Some of these personalities would
> sound great on some stations. Kevin Sanders of WUWG 90.7 Fm
> in Carrollton is a oerfect example. He has got some golden
> pipes.
>
Kevin is good....used to work with him at WPPI, in Carrollton. He comes from commercial radio......got that great Geogia Public Radio gig (WWGC) several years ago.
About 1 in 10 non comm DJ's have commercial potential....there are some real personalities at the college stations in Atlanta.
Ryan Cameron started at WWGC in Carrollton. Willard came from WRAS. Richard Belcher was WRAS's first GM. There are many, many more.
Where else can you get started these days??

 

[ssnake]

> About 1 in 10 non comm DJ's have commercial
> potential....there are some real personalities at the
> college stations in Atlanta.
> Ryan Cameron started at WWGC in Carrollton. Willard came
> from WRAS. Richard Belcher was WRAS's first GM. There are
> many, many more.
> Where else can you get started these days??

Rich Shertenlieb and Ross Brittain started at WREK. Not too many Tech students want to work in radio though.

There is a strong feeling of anti-corporatism at college stations, and many students who become involved feel contempt for commercial radio and music.

I had to deal with a student program director who thought it would be better for the station to be off-air than to run automation when it is unattended. The same dude forced a three-day marathon of noise upon us, despite several objections. And he'd discard any music that he felt might be programmed on any commercial station (or WRAS). Needless to say, when this kind of personality is running a station, professionalism cannot be cultivated in the DJs.

 

[Casual_Observer]

> There is a strong feeling of anti-corporatism at college
> stations, and many students who become involved feel
> contempt for commercial radio and music.

Ssnake is correct. I too am a c/o 2000 product of WREK radio. There was a long line of folks with that attitude, and very few dissenters. It ticked me off, so I spent most of my WREK years thinking of how I would change things... I had to move from Atlanta to semi-rural Mississippi just to get a cheap station. Now we're community-minded AND commercial and doing quite well (even building a new and improved tower this Fall at WYAB), despite training under the old WREK mindset (I don't know if philosphies have changed over the past five years). I have always said that WREK needed to be a "talent factory". 40 kW over the 11th biggest radio market. It was such a wasted resource for years. I hope that attitudes have changed, especially given that the studio has moved recently.

--- Casual Observer

 

[ssnake]

> I have always said that
> WREK needed to be a "talent factory". 40 kW over the 11th
> biggest radio market. It was such a wasted resource for
> years. I hope that attitudes have changed, especially given
> that the studio has moved recently.

Attitudes have changed somewhat, actually. But enough of the "old guard" remains that most of the format is as good as carved in stone. Nonetheless, WREK has made many subtle changes, including a schedule shake-up recently, and the block formats are more listenable. Recruitment is up at the new facility, but they need people who will become more deeply involved.

For anyone (who is a Tech student) who wants to get into radio, the barriers to entry are very low. At other stations (like WUOG), a longer training period and an overnight shift are required. Even WRFG has stiffer requirements.

 

[suzukidirtbike]

> > I have feeling that I may get some negative comments for
> > this but public radio stations and noncommerical stations
> > are great places for commerical radio stations to start
> > looking for talent. I have heard some great producing,
> > voices and over all talent on some public radio stations.
>
> > Although 85% of public radio is synidcated, the other 15%
> is
> > locally produced shows with locl small town talent with
> > actual personalities. Some of these personalities would
> > sound great on some stations. Kevin Sanders of WUWG 90.7
> Fm
> > in Carrollton is a oerfect example. He has got some golden
>
> > pipes.
> >
> Kevin is good....used to work with him at WPPI, in
> Carrollton. He comes from commercial radio......got that
> great Geogia Public Radio gig (WWGC) several years ago.
> About 1 in 10 non comm DJ's have commercial
> potential....there are some real personalities at the
> college stations in Atlanta.
> Ryan Cameron started at WWGC in Carrollton. Willard came
> from WRAS. Richard Belcher was WRAS's first GM. There are
> many, many more.
> Where else can you get started these days??
>


I got my start at WWGC, working with Kevin Sanders. I was his production manager when we flipped to public radio. He really is talented. Not just on the air, but his management skills are second to none. To run a station effectively when your workforce is 100% new to broadcasting says a lot for his character. What first impressed me, was his voice, but once I got to know his personality I knew that there was no better person to do his job.

Nowadays, I do the news in Tampa. But not a week goes by that I don't recall something that I learned by watching and working with Kevin.