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Paying Air-Talent

Cedric said:
ok walters said:
There were no million dollar on air talents EVER in Tampa or central Florida. Not even close, including Bubba and all the others.

4 hours per morning x 250 mornings per year = 1000 hours. That would mean Bubba was paid $1000 per hour - really? His show would need to generate $3-4 million per year, or $3-4K per hour every hour, and then someone at corporate would have to decide to pay him that much while laying off people by the droves. Not a chance.
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Bubba's contract with with Sirius was for 1 million. You're thinking about this all wrong, when Bubba and MJ were riding high... so was the cost to advertise with them. We're talking major dollars. These days though, it's much harder to sell airtime, even for the Bubba's and MJ's of the world. Why do you think MJ isn't on in the morning anymore? Simple answer, it wasn't profitable anymore. You have to remember Bubba and MJ & BJ used to be HUGE. When you're that big, you make money that IS NOT proportional to what other on-air guys are making hourly. But again, Bubba and MJ aren't as HUGE as they used to be... sooo...
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Just as I said - no central Florida one market guy was ever making anywhere near a million. A contract with Sirius is another matter as he is then nationwide. They were never taking in enough money to pay that locally - not ten years ago, not ever.

How could they go from a million a year to not profitable? Easy - they were never at a million a year.
 
I was including talent fees and base salary when I came up with these numbers. I know Steve Duemig and Cowhead have agents and agents can take at least 5 to 15% per year. I also believe agents wouldn't represent anyone making less than six figures. Most talent in Tampa also have car dealerships as a sponsor, and they rarely ever have to pay for vehicles. I know Bubba is sponsored by Elder Ford, and I believe Ron Diaz is sponsored by Elder Jaguar.
 
I think your numbers are too generous. Bubba is/was worth 3 million, and that's nothing to sneeze at... of course, MJ has money too, he hasn't let us forget. But I bet if you saw the rest of these guy's checks, you'd find most of them are making 50k or less. Look at all the big name talent that is unemployed right now. How about Skip Mahaffey. Not that long ago he was pulling in a mil easily. Now where is he? It's kind of sad when you think about it... all the great talent who've been pushed out and are now either off the air or dead. Bob Lassiter, Mark Larsen, Skip Mahafffey, BL, Mark Beiro, Sharon Taylor, and the list goes on... meanwhile Drew Garabo, Spice Boy, MJ, Jesse Cage, Dan Maduri, etc all have jobs. WTF?!? The only thing that comforts me is that I'm pretty sure they aren't making much more than I am.
 
None of them are or ever were making a million a year without being at least regional, and even then there is no way there is enough revenue to pay absurd figures like that.

You claim one of them has money but he is producing Saturday morning shows now? Really?
 
ok walters said:
None of them are or ever were making a million a year without being at least regional, and even then there is no way there is enough revenue to pay absurd figures like that.

You claim one of them has money but he is producing Saturday morning shows now? Really?
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CC likely told Schnitt to pick up the phone and sell some time or GTFO. Now in order to keep his job in this crappy economy he has to co-host financial infomercials. Anyway, the fact is Bubba did make 1 Million + for at least one year. And while that was from his satellite contract, he was also doing a terrestrial show at the same time, and he WAS raking it in. The rest of these guys are nowhere near the league that MJ and Bubba were once in. I mean they were genuine local celebrities. You couldn't ignore them if you wanted to. How many people in Tampa even know who Rich Herrera or Drew Garabo are???
 
Fewer people know who Bubba is than you think. I would have no clue who he is if I wasn't in the business.
 
You know what..if you love what you do...money doesn't mean that much. Yes, there are some of us, who at the time, worked for whatever they paid because we loved it. Sure, some owners took advantage of that attitude, however, speaking for myself I wouldn't trade those years of being in the biz for anything. To get up every morning and not say "oh crap, I have to go to "work". Yes, the business has changed and become corporate for sure and maybe there are no more Scott Robins types anymore. Guys who would rather be in a radio station than any other place on earth.
 
I am fortunate to have an aircheck of the day back in 1989 when Scott Robbins won the contest for favorite DJ in the area. As you say, his love of the business was evident in every word he spoke on the air. There is good wisdom in Frank Ferreri's statement that nothing beats loving your work.
 
ok walters said:
Fewer people know who Bubba is than you think. I would have no clue who he is if I wasn't in the business.
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Sorry I have to call you out on this one. If you only know about Bubba because you're in the business, then you been living under a rock. Long before the Bubba/MJ trial became a nationally covered event... those two were already huge. Back in 95 they were reporting about tampa's "shock jocks" on the evening news all the time. How many different times have they been in the paper and on TV for different reasons... the MJ/BJ/OJ billboards, the Britney Spears billboards, the pig incident, the deep fryer setting a van on fire, the hulk hogan sex tape, the Taylor Swift interview, Bubba leaving his gun in a restaurant, Bubba running for sheriff... I could go on for hours. If you don't know who these two guys are, and you live in the bay area, you just about have to be Amish or something. Sorry, they're two of the biggest local celebrities ever. Everyone has seen them on the news, and in the paper, and just about everyone has heard them on the air before. Not to mention that Bubba has/had a segment on the evening news every week... denying that everyone around here knows who these guys are is just a ridiculous and unbelievable statement. There are people on the other side of the country who were hearing about the damn trial on cable news.

Anyway, Frank is right. I could be making more money doing almost anything else, but I don't dread going into work everyday I when I wake up, and that is worth more than a few extra dollars an hour.
 
I don't live in the bay area, but shock jocks have little following in the over 45 crowd anywhere, which happens to be a large chunk of Florida. The TMZ type of celebrity you get for sex tapes, lawsuits and flaming vans may not translate well into dollars, especially in Florida.
 
ok walters said:
I don't live in the bay area, but shock jocks have little following in the over 45 crowd anywhere, which happens to be a large chunk of Florida. The TMZ type of celebrity you get for sex tapes, lawsuits and flaming vans may not translate well into dollars, especially in Florida.
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People who are 45 now were in their 20's when Bubba and MJ first came on the air... they've been doing this for 20 years now... they were very popular among young people here 20 years ago, and to a certain extent Bubba still is.
 
dwtpa97 said:
I am fortunate to have an aircheck of the day back in 1989 when Scott Robbins won the contest for favorite DJ in the area. As you say, his love of the business was evident in every word he spoke on the air. There is good wisdom in Frank Ferreri's statement that nothing beats loving your work.
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Scotty hired me a few times over the years when I was between gigs. At 96KX and also WHBO. When I left WHBO for the GM job at WLVU Scotty put out a memo of congratulations. In the at memo, which I've saved, he said "you can always tell when an air personality loves what they do and Frank sounds like that every time he opens the mic". Maybe the highest compliment in my life as Robbins was a radio guy with every bone in his body. Maybe there still are guys like that, however, seems there were a bunch of us back in the day. By the way, in my experience, the guys who belly ached the most about pay usually were less talented and ended up leaving the business.
 
I never listened to M. J. but I do remember listening to Bubba the Love Sponge on-air evenings 7 to 10 on The Power Pig (WFLZ) in 1993. Bubba had a huge following both on and off the air 20-years ago. The "Bubba" branding has made Todd Alan Clem millions of dollars over the years. I'm 52 now so I was 32 the first time I listened to Bubba and I obviously still remember him, even though I live in Florida and I also belong to the over 45 demo.
 
Key words - "was", "had", and "used to" - the one everyone left out except me was "never". "Millions over the years" from many different ventures as Dr. Tillery claims may be true, but a million a year in one market for one on air personality to be a radio jock just "never" happened. The calculator says that it would take being sold out at well over $100 per spot four hours a day every day to even get close to that number - and then someone at corporate has to agree to pay that much to the talent. Does that sound realistic for something with such a narrow appeal to such a young demographic?

I remember all of my local DJ's from when I was 20 as well, especially the night guy like Bubba apparently was (lots of money in night radio, right?). When you are young, you always have a skewed vision of how big the local guy is and how much he makes - it is big to you, but unknown to most people over about 30-35. Of course you remember him, Dr. Tillery, Esquire, but do you ever listen to him or anyone like him now or even in the last fifteen years? I didn't think so - why would someone as educated as you listen to juvenile shock jock potty humor?
 
Ok Walters, it is a known fact that MJ and Bubba HAVE made millions over the years. In Bubba's case it was well reported that he did make a million a year, a few years back. So while I agree that the OP's numbers were much too generous, Bubba and MJ are the two guys in this market who could make that kind of money and did.

Most local DJ's don't make more than 25k. But Bubba and MJ weren't your typical local DJ's. Again, they were HUGE. I don't see why it's relevant that they can't make that kind of money now. The fact is, they did. Bob Lassiter's offer to leave WFLA for WLS was reportedly 1 million dollars back in the late 80's. Sometimes air talent DOES make 7 figures for a few hours on the mic. Again, if you're selling out, and your name has considerable weight, you can and WILL get paid more than a regular hourly DJ. Unless you've worked on a number 1 show, you have no idea the kind of bread these cats are making. At his peak, Bubba could charge more for 30 seconds of air time than anyone else in the area.

And yes Ok Walters, lots of people still listen to Bubba, he's still #1 25-54 last I checked. Of course, no one is making as much in broadcasting today as they were 10 years ago, but that doesn't mean you can rewrite history. It seems like you have an agenda, you don't like "juvenile shock jocks" and you don't pay attention to them because it's not your thing... so to you, there's no way possible that these guys could be raking it in. I assure you, they are. Bubba has endorsed everything from strip clubs to McDonalds, and he's been doing this for 20 years. Look man, age has nothing to do with this. I've always known that the mid-day guy on X rock station is making like 10 dollars an hour, but I've also always known that if you're #1 in the money demo, and you're a hot commodity... yes you will make millions of dollars doing what you're doing. End of story.
 
No agenda - I just don't see that kind of money for anyone from any one station not in a top 10 market. That's $1000 per hour if he does four hours a day - no way for that math to work in Tampa. As I said before, I do not doubt he made millions once he became a national figure/talent and with lots of outside ventures/endorsements, he just didn't do it on air in Tampa alone. And as you said, the others didn't even get close with everything included. Fair enough?
 
Ok, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bubba is still bringing in $1000 an hour in ad revenue. I've seen shows at Tan Talk bank almost that much in an hour!!! Meanwhile, Bubba is on one of the most powerful FM's in the state, and have you heard how many spots he runs in an hour? We're talking serious money... ok I'll stop...
 
I used to do $750-1000 for one hour a week in Orlando several years ago. However, my old show and those on Tan Talk are a long way from the minimum $2000 per hour twenty hours per week it would take to make a million - if corporate pays you 50% of gross revenue.

Good discussion. Where are you located Cedric?
 
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