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Radio news?

A

ACK580

Guest
Can someone please describe the current state of radio news jobs in Orlando? New Englander is considering moving there for unrelated reasons, just wondering if there is any possible chance of getting a radio news job in Orlando. Thanks....
 
Coming from someone outside the business, AM 580 WDBO is the only Orlando metro I can really positively think of when it comes to a real news station. They have personalities that actually seem to stick around in their news department.

540 WFLF ships some of their news in from 970 WFLA's newsroom folks in Tampa, and recently let two of their better-known local Central Florida news folks go with the pre-merger CC layoffs in late 2006.

Then there's the Genesis station... 1190 WAMT. They do something in the daytime hours for local news, but I'm not sure who produces it or exactly where it's produced.

Anyhow, good luck.

Byron
 
Coming from New England, unless you are in a 200 or lower market is going to come with sticker shock. Be prepared for a 50-60% cut in pay especially if you are used to the AFTRA contracts up there.

DBO is the only news entity on the radio dial that is worth anything and they actually work rather hard to maintain their audience and professional sound.

Orlando is a fabulous town and I have a scattering of friends there continually trying to get me to move there. (they get closer everytime I have to get on a plane and fly back north in the winter). I would in a minute but I can't live on half my salary.
 
The only benefit to this is that the cost of living is a little bit cheaper than much of New England. I rent a 2 bed apartment for $690/month in SW Orange Co near Disney. It's almost impossible to find that in Boston/Providence/CT (the rent, not Disney).

Also, housing is cheaper in Polk County and in Brevard/Volusia. Actually, housing is really only sky-high in Orlando and a few suburbs.

All I would say is don't make radio your day job here. do it part-time or on the weekends. Still get your radio fix, and you can make money doing whatever. That's what I do, and I have enough money left over to save a few coins and eat out a couple of times a week.

Anyway, get on down here!

Radio-X
 
Thanks. And now for a follow-up question: what is the general economy like for non-radio jobs? How easy or hard is it going to be for someone (with a college degree) to get a reasonably decent job?
 
Great if you want to stock shelves at Wal mart or be a Whopper flopper! ::)


ACK580 said:
Thanks. And now for a follow-up question: what is the general economy like for non-radio jobs? How easy or hard is it going to be for someone (with a college degree) to get a reasonably decent job?
Click to expand...
 
It's tough to say. I really only know about the hospitality side of things down here (which is obviously HUGE). The bad thing about that is while you may have a decent job, the pay might suck. I have a friend who works for the Mouse as a manager at one of the parks and makes less than I do bartending four days a week. On the flip side, one of my cousins is a photographer at a chain-restaurant and makes more than I do a week.

Central Florida has a pretty diverse job base these days. 15 years ago, IIRC, it was pretty much all about Disney, NASA, or the (now closed) Navy base. The place is still growing a good deal and there are a lot of businesses there.

Basically, though, it all depends on job experience. If you have some good non-radio stuff on your resume, a "decent" job will be pretty decent to find. If you've just been working in radio, you might need to sell timeshares in St. Cloud or operate a roller coaster as a dayjob.

Still, it beats cold winters in New England. It's sunny 75% of the time, and you can cook stuff on the grill in Februrary and not freeze your tail off!

Good Luck!!!

Radio-X
 
DBO is the class act when it comes to radio news. Orlando's a great town to live in, if you can afford it. It's all service industry jobs, so prepare to have a second, or even third job to make ends meet.
 
I worked in the orlando market until 2000 and it looks as though WDBO still has most of the same local folks it had then. That said, there are very few jobs for radio news folks in the orlando market. I know at least one former clear channel news person who is now working in tv news in the market and this person was on the air doing radio news in the market for years. Same in the tampa market, now local news content, rip and read from the wires.........

does WDBO have any live local talk shows? when i left bob rose - now at WSKY in gainesville - had a talk show with local content.....i couldn't find one on the website.
 
radiodxrichmond said:
...and you can cook stuff on the grill in Februrary and not freeze your tail off!
Click to expand...
And in August, you can cook stuff on just about any flat surface, no need for a grill at all!

Seriously, there is a pretty good IT/technical market in Orlando besides service jobs.
 
IN answer to the question about WDBO's talk shows, their only live weekday talk show is the morning show, 5-9. Jim Turner, who's been there for more than three decades. Otherwise it's Howard, Bortz, Hannity, etc. They have live "infomercials" on the weekend. WFLF-AM is live in morning and afternoon drive.

As for Orlando radio news, WDBO's really the only game in town. The Clear Channel station canned two long time news people last fall as part of the company wide cutbacks. And there's WMFE-FM, the NPR station, which does a quality job with a small staff.
 
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