• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Question: Why are some Engineers not nice? (mod edit)

The reason they are not nice...they get sick and tired of having air talent not listening to them!

In all fairness, I wouldn't just limit it to on-air talent (again I use that word loosely). There's plenty of operators out there who want the CE to "make it work", which is another way of saying "I don't want to pay $500 to put a new power supply in the Marti unit. Can't we do it for less?" True story...the GM at a station where I once worked didn't want to pay for a new PS for the Marti, so the engineer made one out of a heat sink the size of a car battery to make the Marti work. This was an absolute embarrassment to take to a remote and an embarrassment to an engineer who takes real pride in his work and is forced to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I'd be a little grumpy too if I had to do this on an ongoing basis.

When things break at your station, money should be no object. Staying on the air and sounding good is not a luxury item.
 
There is a certain point though, that you have to draw the line. If the operator is that cheap, then you probably don't want to be working there anyway. It's not like there aren't plenty of other choices. I never sacrifice quality for cost...regardless. That is one of the costs of doing business as a radio station.

Reciting a quote from Good Morning Vietnam..."It's Only Radio".
 
I've been in radio since 1967, and I have not yet worked with an unfriendly engineer.

The four I have put in some hours with here in Illinois (Rich Furr - WPCD and TV Channel 3; Mark Garrett - several Champaign stations; Mark Spaulding - Saga; and Scott Sivers - WPCD and TV Channel 3) are all super-nice people, friendly, sincere, and eager to help.

Only complaint I have is that sometimes they overestimate my knowledge base and talk a bit over my head. (I got my First Class license 30 years ago so they think I know engineering - WRONG!)

---Dan
 
ildj2009 said:
Granted, I have worked with a few nice engineers, that actually get it. But, on the other hand I've worked with some real dumb ass low lifes too. Why is it they must treat people like they are idiots? A Good Bedside maner is very important. But, Engineers believe they only work for the GM. WRONG! They works for us sales people, air talent, news department, I would say the public too. If too many peopler aren't happy, the GM won't be happy and the Engineer will be out on his ear. That's the way it works! Sorry, for you engineer hacks that are rude asses. And SPARKY get a clue, dude.
Click to expand...

Well, that may be the best statement to explain why engineers sometimes get a little "testy" or snap at some one. Jocks/news folks answer to the PD, the sales staff answers to the GM or Sales manager, the GM answers to the owner. Apparently the Engineer has to answer to ALL of the above...I don't know how ANYONE can have a good demeanor when you have that many bosses pulling you in so many different directions because each person's problems are THE most important in the history of the radio station. I'd probably be angry too if I were an engineer.

Get real, no one else HAS to carry a pager and/or cell phone 24/7. No one else routinely is awakened at all hours by calls or pages - either because a transmitter is down, the power goes off in some middle-of-nowhere station or transmitter site, a network feed goes silent or goes away completely, or because some idiot board-op actually thinks that the cable TV service going out is an "emergency". And how about those business-hours requests to fix the Office Manager's VCR or install the new radio in the GM's car? Better yet, how about when some sales guy comes in and says "Hey the men's toilet is plugged up" and walks away. You have to assume they saw the plunger sitting right next to the bowl.

On top of that, have you ever seen a sales person or a jock outside the station picking up a piece of paper in the parking lot or painting a rusty hand railing at the entry steps just because they have some pride in their facility?

I agree some engineers I have worked with are major A-holes, but I don't have to think too hard to come up with a much longer list of people from sales, promotions, programming, and especially jocks that would fit that bill...and THEY don't even have to plunge toilets!
 
Would someone figure out who ILDJ2009 is and fire him. The radio industry has a tough enough time without Narcissistic jacka**e* like him.
 
My second night on a new job, the automation crashed and I had no clue how to fix it. it was well after midnight...

the engineer told me what to do, i got it fixed.. i apologized for waking him up and then hung up. he never once snapped at me. i very much appreciate what engineers due and when you call that late at night, if it's a valid issue.. they are usually very good about helping you out.
 
:)

Over the years I've found that broadcast engineers are a special breed. I can remember when station were required to have engineers at the xmtr 24/7. It was a time when you had reel-to-reel and cart machines, consoles with tubes, turntables and such. Now, stations aren't required to have engineers 24/7 at the xmtr or even have a full-time enginner on staff. Good engineers have become few and far between. Finding an engineer that has years of experience and the knowledge required to not only work with today's technology, but also the ability to work with equipment (mainly xmtr's) that may be 25 or more years old.

I'm lucky enought to have an engineer on retainer that has been in the business for almost over four decades. This guy has built stations from bare floors and has trouble shooted problems that today's younger engineers wouldn't know the first thing about.

Yes...most engineers are, sometimes, hard to get along with because they're much smarter than us non-technical radio people tend to be. The people are gods in the radio business. If it wasn't for them, we'd be talking to ourselves. They have a right to be upset, frustrated, pissed off. They have to put up with radio management that doesn't wants everything for nothing.

My engineer friend has always been truthful about problems and what needs to be done to correct them. He often tells radio execs, "If you're not going to like my answer...don't ask me the question". However, there are station executives that can't understand what an engineer is trying to tell them.

God Bless Broadcast Engineers! They are becoming too few.
 
11south said:
Would someone figure out who ILDJ2009 is and fire him. The radio industry has a tough enough time without Narcissistic jacka**e* like him.
Click to expand...
I'm happy that I don't work with ILDJ2009...I've worked with great people over the years who just happen to be engineers...The vast majority of them are very good at what they do.
 
I think I'm very undestanding, and I'm supportive of our engineer. But, it gets old when he is so rude all the time. It's not just me who feels that way, a group of us got together yesterday and went to our GM and explained something needs to be done. He said, rest assured, I'm working on the situation. We want action taken...and soon.

You all must be engineers, so clean up your act and treat us onair folks with respect, if it wasn't for us (AIR TALENT) you engineers won't have a job. All I'm asking for is respect, and that is the way we treat our engineer...

Sorry to upset a few of you oldtimers, but...get a clue! And who knows I might work for sparkys company. You never know....
 
You all must be engineers, so clean up your act and treat us onair folks with respect, if it wasn't for us (AIR TALENT) you engineers won't have a job. All I'm asking for is respect, and that is the way we treat our engineer...

For starters, don't ever assume you're talking to engineers. I think I speak for most of those who have posted replies on this topic when I say that I'm a radio professional. Someone who understands all aspects of radio. Not just sitting in front of a mic. I've done everything from board op to general manager, and a CE is a vital part of ANY radio station. I am not qualified to stick my hands in a transmitter, but I applaud and happily pay those who do.

I hate to put this to you, ildj2009...but if it wasn't for your advertising clients and sales reps, you wouldn't have a job. That's why. It has nothing to do with engineers. I have seen radio stations that run totally voice-tracked with off-site announcers. An engineer can find work just fine without local on-air people as long as there are stations.

While I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with an engineer, don't predicate the trade based on ONE negative experience. You need these people.

Think of what you're saying on this board before you refer to yourself as on-air "talent". It takes more than sounding good on the air to be worthy of that label. Have a little class.
 
ildj2009 said:
You all must be engineers, so clean up your act and treat us onair folks with respect, if it wasn't for us (AIR TALENT) you engineers won't have a job.
Click to expand...

You're an [EDIT]. Go work in another field you give the entire industry a bad name.

[EDIT-namecalling]
 
People with an attitude like his.. think they're god's gift to radio.............
 
While I'm not an engineer, I have to say that to think "without us jocks, there'd be nothing to engineer" is pretty humorous...and sad. Everyone from Clear Channel on down is proving that wrong every day. Systems like Audio Vault, Prophet, Scott Studios (shudder), etc are running very happily without a jock to watch over them. All they require is some new music loaded in periodically by someone somewhere in the world, and an occasional dusting by the engineer...who is still employed long after the jocks have been replaced. We all know it takes everyone on a radio station staff to make the final product (and to make money with it), it just seems to take a few less bodies on the programming side these days.
 
We all know it takes everyone on a radio station staff to make the final product (and to make money with it), it just seems to take a few less bodies on the programming side these days.

Very sad, but true as far as less bodies. The team effort that ultimately makes the cash register ring has always been the case. Duopoly hasn't changed that.
 
I think ILDJ2009 must work in Rockford. So if either of the market managers in Rockford were approached by several staff members about how poor of an attitude the engineer at their place has; realize you have ILDJ2009 on your staff. [size=10pt]Fire him[/size]. People like him should work for the BMV.
 
Maybe ILDJ2009 is in college right now - a sophomore.

Regardless,
You all must be engineers, so clean up your act and treat us onair folks with respect, if it wasn't for us (AIR TALENT) you engineers won't have a job.
Click to expand...

is an extremely arrogant statement. Whether or not there is air talent (using that word with its proper definition), a station still requires an engineer - even college and high school stations. And those stations are rarely acclaimed for their air talent. (HAH)
 
Coming from 22 years of on-air experience, I can honestly say I've never shunned or disrespected any air staff member that didn't deserve it. Keep in mind that this is still an ego-driven field of work...and there are still those who think they they are god's gift to broadcasting. Whether or not it's true or not is beside the point. As an engineer, I understand the problems within the air studio, and can usually get them taken care of in a timely fashion.

Being an jerk or difficult sometimes just falls into place when you're being yanked 40 different directions except the one you are currently working on which just happens to be the station that is off the air!
 
My engineer covers 13 stations in two states. No matter what time it is, no matter what's needed he gets the job done. It's not necessary that he be a "people person" even though he is. He's paid to know all the magic, smoke and mirrors that make things go. While there are plenty of guys out there who can figure out computer problems, there are far, far, far less, who know what to do with a 5Kw AM with a 4 tower array with changing DAs day & night. 99.9% of the engineers I know, are great people, hard working people and damned smart. The next time you're feeling good and superior, take a ride at 3 am in a blinding snowstorm up a lonely mountain to figure out what's gone wrong. You're in for a seriously humbling moment.
 
My engineer covers 13 stations in two states. No matter what time it is, no matter what's needed he gets the job done. It's not necessary that he be a "people person" even though he is. He's paid to know all the magic, smoke and mirrors that make things go. While there are plenty of guys out there who can figure out computer problems, there are far, far, far less, who know what to do with a 5Kw AM with a 4 tower array with changing DAs day & night.

Well said. You really can't put a price on that. Now ILDJ2009 obviously doesn't think so. Even if every station on the dial were to go dark tomorrow, that CE has enough knowledge in him to do something else with his life. Because he knows electronics. Nobody repairs electronic devices anymore. They're simply pitched. They can work for another company very easily where their skills are needed and valued...and probably make more money doing it. I'm not so sure that ILDJ2009 would be able to claim the same thing.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom