Present V. Past

[WISL4EVA]

I listen and read about different jocks and it seems that years ago it was much easier to get into radio than it is now....is that the case? Or is it just as easy today but you have to go about it differently than as in years ago just hanging around the station all the time could land you an on air position? If not why is it so difficult and so few and far between? Just curious, I've been looking for on air jobs and I can't seem to find any openings.WISL

 

[ThomasCarten]

It was a lot easier, at least when I began. They were always looking for weekenders and, for the few stations back then that stayed on overnight, someone to spin the records from midnight to six. My first station had a news staffer from 6:00am until 11:30 or midnight. Most stations that I remember always had openings for weekenders and, if you kept running into the PD or GM often enough and let them know you were available for fill-in work, you got to the top of the call list and a good shot at the first f/t opening.That just doesn't happen anymore. If your station isn't off the bird, it's automated in-house. The only time you see the word "Weekender" is when you pass the free newspaper rack downtown. I don't know if there is a call list anymore for people like me who are willing to fill-in any shift, do any format, and learn how to run all the equipment well.This will inevitably come back to bite the stations in the @. When your afternoon guy/gal calls in sick and the other two "live" talent just can't be there, you'll have no part-timers to call and say, "Hey, can you take 4-7 this afternoon?" Nor will you have the in-training people making their mistakes on weekends or overnights who will be ready to take a daily shift when one opens.

 

[warmland]

I listen and read about different jocks and it seems that years ago it was much easier to get into radio than it is now....is that the case? Or is it just as easy today but you have to go about it differently than as in years ago just hanging around the station all the time could land you an on air position? If not why is it so difficult and so few and far between? Just curious, I've been looking for on air jobs and I can't seem to find any openings.WISL

Back in the old days, you had to at least have a 3rd class radio license from the FCC. You had to take a test which were given in Philly, DC, Buffalo and so on.Some stations required a 1st class license to be operating any directional station in the evenings, such as WSCR.

 

[NigelWick]

Tom is right. Thanks to voice tracking and automation, there's less of a need for part time help. It's unfortunate. There's no "farm system" of talent ready to move up when there's an opening.

 

[WISL4EVA]

...and how true it is..I know with automation and VT it fills the need for a live body to do board-op or any kind of weekend work. I guess I should have worded it better....the problem I'm finding is that if I'm not a top notch vocal talent or i don't have golden pipes-a-plenty...stations want nothing to do with you. Then I hear jocks on air and think they sound no better than me, maybe worse and ownder how they got that mid-day slot or whatever. It just appears to me that stations now are all about what maney they can rake in..not saying that wasn't the cse 30 yrs ago or so...but it just seems more apparent now than then...and I guess we can accredit that to the automation! why pay for a novice on air talent when you can Vt someone who sounds better and keeps your cost down. Right?

 

[NigelWick]

It's all about the money, but if you feel you've got the stuff, keep trying. A lot of it is luck and timing. A great personality and some brains can make up for a less than perfect voice.