I agree with you here. As a matter of respect, I can respect both equally, under certain circumstances. The 'never been' might not have been given a chance to prove his or her self.
When it comes to hiring that may be a different story. As I've found out (sometimes the hard way), in terms of 'on air' performance, being relevant today is oftentimes more important to programmers than talent or anything else. Talent that otherwise sounds great on the air (or would have, say, in 1985) may just not get it with respect to the approach whether you like it or not on today's radio in the same or similar format done 20 years ago. Case in point: many HotAC stations really want jocks who understand the language used by the younger audience (not the kids...). Older jocks who have teenage kids might get it, but even those that do sometimes don't understand what a 23 yo woman calling in from her cell phone on the way to the club with da girls is saying. Imagine that phoner!
And many of you wonder why 'older' jocks have a hard time - and the help wanted ads say they look for jocks who 'get it'. Age doesn't always translate, and as my very good friend at WGKX Memphis, Kay Manley discussed with me recently... age matters. So.. it may well be (and I don't necessarilly agree from a programming perspective CUZZ I'M OLD LOL) that age and 'has been' in some cases go hand in hand. And has-beens get turned away more often than never beens, especially when it comes to youth who 'get it' - who understand what their peers like and the language. But let me finish this statement by saying that the has-been I refer to here probably has enormous creative abilities - how else did they survive 20 years? Creativity can't substitute for relatable on the air, oftentimes however. It's all in who's listening.
Thats why someone whose been in the business 20 years gets snubbed oftentimes by management who choses to bring in someone with less than a year's experience - they kill two birds with one stone. Get to pay someone half the salary of the vet, and put someone on who may not sound like a 'jock', but is very relatable to the audience in terms of what they say and how they say it.
Of course it's not always that way. Look at guys like Dale Dorman. Been around since Marconi, yet right up till he was let go at Kiss 108, sounded young and understood the younger demos.
Years ago that wasn't what radio was about. We were held to a higher standard wrt the English language, etc... but I digress.
>
> These are very subjective judgements. In my personal
> opinion, I may respect (or not respect) either one,
> depending on the content and/or presentation of their
> program (past or present), and what they contributed to
> radio and to the listening community.
>
> Many radio hosts who were once considered vital and
> innovative may now be considered "Has Been's" because they
> didn't adapt to the changing faces and formats of radio over
> the past few decades. Some may have chosen not to and left,
> and others may have tried but found that they were no longer
> fitting in.
>
> Many DJ's from the late 60's to mid-70's "FM underground"
> progressive rock days unfortunately fell into that category,
> and many left radio, but I still have immense respect for
> them for changing radio at a time when the medium was open
> to it, and exposing people to music and programming that was
> not previously heard elsewhere.
>
> A "Never Been" could include someone who had a program on a
> small-market or college station, perhaps for many years,
> though despite being considered popular, creative or
> innovative within their stations small listenership, never
> got onto a major market station that would appear impressive
> on a resume. If their program had quality and merit, I would
> have more respect for them as a programmer than someone who
> never did anything more than read liner cards on a major
> station (though I still may respect the "liner card DJ's"
> tightness of presentation and announcing ability).
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