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Radio Layoffs and "Back-up Careers"
- Thread starter NJnerd19
- Start date
"Bold, engorged new territory," indeed.
That intro, though ... I mean, it's literally "I Want You Back." Berry Gordy, or maybe Smokey Robinson, may want a word with her.
'Tis better to work IN a trade and make money than to work in radio FOR trade in lieu of money...
If she didn't already have the conversation, and if it comes down to a settlement, it'll be lunch money for her.
I looked some things up this morning and found that Gary Schmedding eventually became president of Lee's broadcast division, which by then had grown to 16 TV stations plus some radio stations. While Lee was a small chain in broadcasting, I feel I should at least point this out to indicate that he must have been pretty good at what he did. He retired a quarter-century ago (he's 20 years or so older than I am); as far as I've been able to tell, he's still around.
Back to the original subject, Russ Cabbit (sorry for the incorrect spelling if I got it wrong) went from Channel 2 News in Atlanta to work for Cobb County as spoke person. Now days with social media many local governments have hired spoke persons. Even little old Jasper GA had one at over $50k + a year counting benefits for someone to answer Emails and be a "cheerleader" for the local development authority.
Any one who is can do live radio should easily be able to fill such a position.
Any one who is can do live radio should easily be able to fill such a position.
Yep. But do you know how many of those radio and TV people are competing for those gigs in each town? And how many seasoned spokespeople from other agencies are also in the mix? Not to mention radio, TV and PR people who want to move to your city?
When I got laid off at iHeart almost six years ago, I applied. If you've seen my posts here, I think most people would agree I possess the required qualifications.
SEVENTY applications for PIO (Public Information Officer) positions in local, county, state and federal agencies.
THREE callbacks, THREE interviews and THREE "if we could have hired two people, you'd be in right now" phone calls.
All that over a six-month period.
And then the phone rang, it was CapRadio and I was golden until retirement.
It's not the slam-dunk it looks like.
According to a person from Challenger Gray & Christmas interviewed on CNBC during COVID said the average person without contacts or inside knowledge can expect to one interview per ten resumes sent and expect up to ten interviews before you get an offer. I believe that is correct now days.
Usually, I was the person stations hired when they had to listen to air checks and hired a stranger. I did help a former coworker get a job I thought I wanted as they were going to have a "team or co-hosts" for mornings. Later she called me a said she was PD and morning host and she didn't have enough budget for anyone else. it worked out as the station was sold later and everybody got axed. Karma
My last radio gig was a result of a friend of my father needing weekend help. My "interview" was reading a weather forecast. I had a quick rundown of the board and was left by myself. Next week I replaced the afternoon guy who was moving to Florida because his wife got a six figure job. Yes connections are better.
My son graduated last year with an engineering degree and had a hard time getting a job in or near Atlanta, Nashville or Charlotte. He ended up getting hired as an engineer but he computes bids on high and low pressure vessels (tanks). It is really an accounting / sales job but they learned you have to have engineering to read the drawings to figure out how you build some of the projects. He gets paid very well.
Usually, I was the person stations hired when they had to listen to air checks and hired a stranger. I did help a former coworker get a job I thought I wanted as they were going to have a "team or co-hosts" for mornings. Later she called me a said she was PD and morning host and she didn't have enough budget for anyone else. it worked out as the station was sold later and everybody got axed. Karma
My last radio gig was a result of a friend of my father needing weekend help. My "interview" was reading a weather forecast. I had a quick rundown of the board and was left by myself. Next week I replaced the afternoon guy who was moving to Florida because his wife got a six figure job. Yes connections are better.
My son graduated last year with an engineering degree and had a hard time getting a job in or near Atlanta, Nashville or Charlotte. He ended up getting hired as an engineer but he computes bids on high and low pressure vessels (tanks). It is really an accounting / sales job but they learned you have to have engineering to read the drawings to figure out how you build some of the projects. He gets paid very well.
Clearly, I underachieved.
But that's okay, because every great job I ever had was something that fell into my lap. Literally every one. The ones I applied and interviewed for---with one exception---KOLO in Reno, which I loved---never really worked out.
This needs normalization, and also doesn't account for factors such as experience or age. It also doesn't account for the rise of applicant tracking systems, which presented a barrier to applicants even before AI came along.
Challenger Gray claims an "average" interview rate of 10% while Mike had a 4.3% rate. I suspect Challenger Gray was overly optimistic. Outplacement firms generally aren't what they're cracked up to be, and seem to exist primarily to ease the consciences of companies that are laying people off.
That depends on the position and the prospective employer. Every position I have had after 1970 (where I was not the station owner) has been through a recruiter ("head hunter") or a call to me asking if I'd be interested in a position.
The comment that it depends on experience and reputation is very valid at positions like PD, Morning Drive talent, GMs, CE's, GSMs and the like where the group or station owner will have an idea of who they want already.
In 1970, I ran an ad in Broadcasting and was immediately contacted by George Mooney (WMAK, WERC, WKGN, etc) to fly up to interview for his station in San Juan that was losing $40,000 a month in 1970 dollars! I also got a call to see if I wanted to be a local direct salesman for a daytimer in Pocatello, ID. Guess which one I picked?
While I would tend to agree that not having a Plan B makes landing another job in radio more likely, I'm not sure that's sound career advice. I knew a few people who took that approach and found themselves flipping burgers, bagging groceries, or waiting tables out of desperation. To the best of my knowledge, none ever worked in radio again. I don’t care how good you are. At some point, you just got lucky, and most people aren’t that lucky. The radio job market has a lot more talented people than it has openings for them. Talent alone won’t get you very far.
I've told the story before, but I had always intended to work in the engineering department at my radio station once I finished my coursework. Once I finished, the decision had been made to sell the company, and the position that I was told would be offered to me was redlined. A few months later, one of the technical staff left, and, after being told I'd be first in line if a job in the department opened up, the webmaster got promoted to that job. I didn’t even get a call from the head of the department. I called him to ask about the job, and he told me it was filled. I wasn’t offered the webmaster's job either, which, even though it wouldn’t have been my first choice, would’ve been hard to turn down.
I had the opportunity to take what was essentially the same job for roughly the same pay with a different company in a similar sized market, but I also had an offer in my field that paid a lot more. I took the IT job. While I would’ve liked it to have gone differently, I really can’t complain and can’t grind an axe. While you never know what might’ve been, I have a better situation than I would likely have had in radio. I doubt anyone at the radio station would ever say passing on me was a mistake, but the webmaster who got promoted didn’t even stay four years. If they’d have had me this long, I'd still be there, and they wouldn’t be complaining that they don’t have any local technical staff. I would probably also be making about half of what I'm making now and would’ve gone years without a raise. I also wouldn’t have the benefits I have now either.
I've told the story before, but I had always intended to work in the engineering department at my radio station once I finished my coursework. Once I finished, the decision had been made to sell the company, and the position that I was told would be offered to me was redlined. A few months later, one of the technical staff left, and, after being told I'd be first in line if a job in the department opened up, the webmaster got promoted to that job. I didn’t even get a call from the head of the department. I called him to ask about the job, and he told me it was filled. I wasn’t offered the webmaster's job either, which, even though it wouldn’t have been my first choice, would’ve been hard to turn down.
I had the opportunity to take what was essentially the same job for roughly the same pay with a different company in a similar sized market, but I also had an offer in my field that paid a lot more. I took the IT job. While I would’ve liked it to have gone differently, I really can’t complain and can’t grind an axe. While you never know what might’ve been, I have a better situation than I would likely have had in radio. I doubt anyone at the radio station would ever say passing on me was a mistake, but the webmaster who got promoted didn’t even stay four years. If they’d have had me this long, I'd still be there, and they wouldn’t be complaining that they don’t have any local technical staff. I would probably also be making about half of what I'm making now and would’ve gone years without a raise. I also wouldn’t have the benefits I have now either.
I had a few gigs in radio that fell into my lap or happened as a result of some unlikely circumstances. The trend has continued. I got into the field I'm in now because I wound up talking to this guy in a convenience store one night about his job. Six months later I started in the industry. Then when that project was shuttered and we were all going to be laid off, I was getting ready to buff up my resume' and start looking for a new job....when I fell and broke my hip. I was recovering from surgery - stuck in a hospital bed, bored and doped up on pain killers - when I applied for a position at another company. I didn't hear anything back and didn't think much about it. Then not long after the layoff hammer hit (and I was still walking with a cane and going to PT) they reached out. I had a raft of interviews and they hired me (over a lot of my former co-workers who'd applied). I started while I was still collecting severance, and have been there 7 months now.
To this day, I have no idea what I sent them from my hospital bed.
Oddly enough, connections are pretty important in this industry, too. It's a small world where everybody knows everybody else. My best buddy from my previous job is in the final stages of the process to get hired on at yet another company, and if he gets in, he said we're going to have to have a "conversation."
I started in radio as a teenager and have been in radio consistently for the past, what is this year, 40.years. I have moved around the USA to 15 different states, moved up the radio ladder from part time to regional programmer, where I am today.
I have made false attempts to leave radio many times over the past 20 years, but things kept getting better, I kept moving up in position and I have been lucky enough to make a lot of money along the way. But I have always felt that radio is an abusive girlfriend. The time and effort needed is never enough.
Over the past 5 years, since the COVID scare, I have really become dissolutioned with the industry more than ever. Companies have made very foolish decisions, taking advantage of people who are loyal to the business and/or the company. You get "silent promotions",taking on more than is sustainable while the company cuts all support for you. For me, it came when I asked if I could help which was greeted with much fanfare and a very healthy raise. The money was great, sure. But it is true, money doesn't make you happier. All it means in radio today is we will make more money but lose any semblance of work-life balance.
Then 5 month ago after looking at the FCC list of rules they want to remove, I saw that they were looming seriously at removing ownership caps, meaning there will no limits as to how many radio stations a single company can own in a market. They are taking comments currently (or when the government opens back up). Who tops the list of supporters of removing caps? Carolyn Beasley, Jeff Warshaw and the NAB.
The FCC is also taking comments on the AM in every car bill. You have have HD radio and cellular companies are commenting against it. (And they make good points)
Then you have just about every radio group abandoning radio revenue for digital dollars. Not a hybrid of the 2. The 2 can coexist, but radio has myopic views unfortunately.
I have watched the company I am with tell everyone that we have no debt.But we pay bills (some up to 120 days) late to vendors, utilities, contractors. They have had a hiring freeze for months, we have fired good hard working people to balance the books, changed to an insurance plan that is 30% more expensive and isnt accepted by the majority of the doctors in the area.
The final thing came when I got call from a business partner last month asking if we were sale. My answer, "that question answers a lot of my suspicions". We were preparing for sale if and when the caps are removed. A lot of dominoes fell into place. I asked corporate and they gave me a lot of non-answers (which I figured they would if there was any truth to it).
I made the decision at that moment I am done with radio. I am tired of being in situations where I have to prioritize my career over my family. I started to look for.jobs, sharpen my resume and LinkedIn profile. I have come to find that what we do in radio has amazing transferable skills in so many other lines of work. For.so many years, I feared leaving radio that I would be leaving something I have loved since I was a kid and done for over half my life. I used to be scared that I would be stuck not being able to do anything of substance that I would be stuck in a dead end career that I would hate. But now I am excited because I know what I am worth. I am talking to companies that are looking for people just like me and encourage work/life balance and pay just as good, if not better
At this moment, I am working on how to resign in the best way for everyone I can and transition to a new career in December. I am.sad that I know a lot of good people will be taken advantage of when I leave and many will loose their jobs when the sale goes through. But I have to look out for me first. Those who i call friend will always be a friend, we just won't work together.
But I excited for what is coming next. I hope other who leave on their own or are cut find they have a worth to another company in another line of work and know you will find something that shows appreciation for what you bring to the table.
I have made false attempts to leave radio many times over the past 20 years, but things kept getting better, I kept moving up in position and I have been lucky enough to make a lot of money along the way. But I have always felt that radio is an abusive girlfriend. The time and effort needed is never enough.
Over the past 5 years, since the COVID scare, I have really become dissolutioned with the industry more than ever. Companies have made very foolish decisions, taking advantage of people who are loyal to the business and/or the company. You get "silent promotions",taking on more than is sustainable while the company cuts all support for you. For me, it came when I asked if I could help which was greeted with much fanfare and a very healthy raise. The money was great, sure. But it is true, money doesn't make you happier. All it means in radio today is we will make more money but lose any semblance of work-life balance.
Then 5 month ago after looking at the FCC list of rules they want to remove, I saw that they were looming seriously at removing ownership caps, meaning there will no limits as to how many radio stations a single company can own in a market. They are taking comments currently (or when the government opens back up). Who tops the list of supporters of removing caps? Carolyn Beasley, Jeff Warshaw and the NAB.
The FCC is also taking comments on the AM in every car bill. You have have HD radio and cellular companies are commenting against it. (And they make good points)
Then you have just about every radio group abandoning radio revenue for digital dollars. Not a hybrid of the 2. The 2 can coexist, but radio has myopic views unfortunately.
I have watched the company I am with tell everyone that we have no debt.But we pay bills (some up to 120 days) late to vendors, utilities, contractors. They have had a hiring freeze for months, we have fired good hard working people to balance the books, changed to an insurance plan that is 30% more expensive and isnt accepted by the majority of the doctors in the area.
The final thing came when I got call from a business partner last month asking if we were sale. My answer, "that question answers a lot of my suspicions". We were preparing for sale if and when the caps are removed. A lot of dominoes fell into place. I asked corporate and they gave me a lot of non-answers (which I figured they would if there was any truth to it).
I made the decision at that moment I am done with radio. I am tired of being in situations where I have to prioritize my career over my family. I started to look for.jobs, sharpen my resume and LinkedIn profile. I have come to find that what we do in radio has amazing transferable skills in so many other lines of work. For.so many years, I feared leaving radio that I would be leaving something I have loved since I was a kid and done for over half my life. I used to be scared that I would be stuck not being able to do anything of substance that I would be stuck in a dead end career that I would hate. But now I am excited because I know what I am worth. I am talking to companies that are looking for people just like me and encourage work/life balance and pay just as good, if not better
At this moment, I am working on how to resign in the best way for everyone I can and transition to a new career in December. I am.sad that I know a lot of good people will be taken advantage of when I leave and many will loose their jobs when the sale goes through. But I have to look out for me first. Those who i call friend will always be a friend, we just won't work together.
But I excited for what is coming next. I hope other who leave on their own or are cut find they have a worth to another company in another line of work and know you will find something that shows appreciation for what you bring to the table.
I don't, but go on...
It's absolutely not.
Amen. And just in case anyone takes my earlier post the wrong way---while I'm glad I didn't have a Plan B (because I would have used it decades ago at the first sign of trouble), I'm saying that from the vantage point of a comfortable retirement after a fulfilling career that I had very little to do with. Most of the truly great stuff just fell into my lap. I had the talent and work ethic to make the bosses glad they hired me, but...
And, as these most recent layoffs show, you'll never work hard enough to escape the ax. I was lucky enough to get back on the horse quickly after the January, 2020 iHeart layoffs and retire on my own terms from Capital Public Radio four years later. But if I'd stuck around? Especially with the CPB fading away and funding a huge question mark? It could easily have happened again.
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Here's how I wound up writing for U.S. News & World Report Cars:
I started doing car reviews for KTVK in Phoenix in 1997 because we'd gone indie and needed content. The late Ron Bergamo was across the street at KSAZ at the time and was a fan. In 2002, he becomes GM of KAZT and offers me a half-hour automotive magazine show on Saturday mornings. We do seven seasons.
In January 2008, Ron dies in a car crash, his replacement fires me in August (his first words to me were "Why is your office bigger than mine?") and I take my car reviews online with my own site called TireKicker before joining KNXV (I don't want any company to have an intellectual property claim).
In 2013, I moved home to California and in the first month, I attended a Western Automotive Journalists monthly meeting, followed by their holiday party. I met a guy named Gary Anderson. Dude's a big deal. Editor in Chief of Star, the Mercedes-Benz owners' magazine. He's also been writing two monthly car reviews for the newspaper in Los Altos (the Bay Area's second-wealthiest ZIP code).
Every meeting or event, I re-introduce myself to Gary ("Hi, Gary. Mike Hagerty."). I'm sure he has no idea who I am (I'm not sure I do at that point---I'm a radio news anchor for 25 iHeart stations, working out of KFBK, with his own website about cars).
In 2019, I get a call from Gary saying he and his wife are retiring to Oregon and he'd like to recommend me to the Los Altos paper to take his place. Again, I wasn't sure he even knew who I was.
So, I do that for a couple of years (I'm still doing it) and on an automotive journalism professionals group on Facebook Elena Scherr, who's a brilliant writer for Car and Driver, makes a post---"We're not hiring, but I'm always curious to see what other folks are doing. Post in comments who you are, who you write for and a link to your stuff. Maybe someone will see it."
I'm one of 200 people who do that and later that afternoon, I have a Facebook message request from a guy I've never communicated with. He's Editor in Chief for Automotive at Forbes. He likes my Los Altos Stuff and my own stuff and wants me to write for them. So I do---two and a half really rewarding, lucrative years.
Last year, there's a massive layoff at Forbes and they dismantle Autos. My EIC at Forbes is out---we all are.
So I figure that's okay--I have my own site and I have Los Altos.
Four months later, I get a message from Alex. Hang on, something's up.
A week after that, "I'm EIC at U.S. News & World Report Cars. Give me a month or so to get my feet under me. I have a list of people and you're on it."
Five days later, the phone rings. It's Alex. He leads with "You're my first call."
Those connections and conversations are what it's all about.
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Change your air name to the screen name you chose for this website and the rest should take care of itself.
This brings up an issue that hasn't been discussed yet: People today want to stay in the same markets. That's not the way this business used to work. If you go back 50 or even 75 years, people would move around the country to find jobs in radio. I was doing research on The Carter Family, who performed country music on local radio stations in the 1930s and 40s. They began in their hometown of Bristol TN. But moved around the country looking for more money and better working conditions. They ended up at a border blaster radio station in Texas. But that was what people did.
Another example was George D. Hay, the original host of the Grand Ole Opry on WSM. He wasn't born in Nashville or even Tennessee. He was born in Indiana. He moved to Arkansas, and later moved to Chicago to host their weekly barn dance on WLS. It was that job that led to him moving to Nashville for WSM.
If you listen to the theme song for WKRP in Cincinnati, the story is about DJs who move "up and down the dial." That was the reality for people in radio. If you wanted more money, you'd move to a bigger market. If you got fired by one owner, you'd leave town and find work someplace else.
That seemed to change in the 1980s. At that point, radio was paying enough, and people were getting raises. So it was possible to stay in one place, raise a family, and live a normal life. But that's not where we are now. If you lose your job in Arkansas, you may have to move somewhere else. If you work for iHeart or one of the bigger companies, you can move to another market within the company. I know people who've worked for 5 iHeart stations around the country. I know that gets tiring after a while. But that's the radio life.
Of course today, you can simply begin a voice track business if you want to stay in one place. Build a home studio, sign up with a syndicator, or just offer your work to stations around the country. That means you're working for yourself as a Schedule C, with no company benefits. But if you make enough, you can pay for your own insurance, and you're not dependent on a company for anything. That's an option that's becoming more popular now.
It was and it wasn't. There were a lot of people in smaller markets back in the day who found that they liked a place and stuck around.
The PD who hired me at KSLY in San Luis Obispo (population 30,000) in 1974 stayed, worked his way into management and then ownership and died there.
The guy who replaced me in mornings when I left came from a competing station and did 15 years in mornings at KSLY. People still talk about him.
A guy I worked with at KUKI in Ukiah (population 10,000) left for the station across the street in 1977. He stayed at that station for 40 years before passing away a couple of years ago.
KOLO in Reno (at that time 125,000 people). When I got there in 1977, the morning guy had been in the market 12 years. After radio, he went to TV. He's now retired, 87 years old and living in Reno.
The midday guy---same story---arrived in 1965. He absolutely could have worked in San Francisco in the glory days, but liked living in the Sierra. He died there in the 80s.
The afternoon guy showed up in 1969 and stayed. He never left town. Passed away in his 80s a year or two ago.
The news director who hired me for my first TV news gig graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1967 and worked in TV in Reno until a year or so ago. He still lives there.
Here in Sacramento (market #30), there are probably a dozen "lifers"---my former KFBK co-anchor Kitty O'Neal among them.
Quality of life has been a factor all along. There are some people who wanted a bigger stage, and that's fine. But that wasn't everyone.