• 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

Radio Pet Peeves...

  • Thread starter TightwadSquarepants
  • Start date

T

TightwadSquarepants

Guest
Okay, I know we can all get on each other's nerves. I get on yours, you get on mine, someone else's get on yours...you get the idea. So with that said, just since it's been quiet lately here, what's your pet peeve with people your work with? Without naming names, of course.

Here are some of mine....
1) When following someone on a board shift, especially a ballgame, the last person leaves another pot (source) up and it starts blaring a news or commercial feed. Make sure you turn all your pots down when your airshift is over, unless it's Scott Studios. That's different.

2) Someone who can't say W correctly. It's double-u, not dub-a-yah or dub-ya...DOUBLE-U. Though this is more of a problem with TV people, from what I've observed.

3) Added value

4) Jocks who drop their name in a public setting (especially when they're not working) to impress people. This one is more of a problem with male DJ's trying to flirt and/or hook-up with, let's say, a Hooter's girl. Just seems inappropriate.

5) reactionary format changes

I think that's it.
 
#1... Automation

#2... Voice Tracking

#3... Low wages



The all-time worst pronouncer of W was Ed Brantley at WIVK. For 20 years he said double-your eye vee kay.

And he never once voice tracked an automated shift. And low wages weren't an issue either.
 
Is it just me....or do most air folks...especially those on t-v...over-use the word "actually" ?
On a slow day when you're bored, count them.
My wife says I 'actually' need to get a hobby. :)
 
Jocks that say "Here's some (song title)".

What's with the "some"? Are you gonna play "some" of the song or the entire thing?

Sales people that come to the PD or Promotion Director in need of a promotion for a client without taking a few minutes to come up with a promotion of their own to suggest.

Sales people that write 75 seconds worth of copy for a 60 second spot, and want sfx.

Listeners that call and request a song that is playing on the air while they're asking you to play the song for them. I usually tell them "it's on right now, thanks for listening". Most of them are rock headed enough to actually say "oh you're welcome". And these are the people that get diaries :eek:
 
- Drawing attention to spot breaks
- Jocks who puke when they talk
- Drawing attention to mistakes on the air
- Excessive use of "and" to connect unrelated thoughts and audible pauses.
 
RussAllen said:
Jocks that say "Here's some (song title)".

What's with the "some"? Are you gonna play "some" of the song or the entire thing?

How about jocks who say "Here's a little (artist)". I can see saying that if you're about to play Kenny Chesney ;D lol

Seriously, "Here's a little (artist)" is one of the worst crutches ever.
Click to expand...
 
SuperQ said:
#1... Automation

#2... Voice Tracking

#3... Low wages
Click to expand...

A big amen to that. I'm also not crazy about pukers, and one of my biggest pet peeves is Broadcast School graduates coming into an operation claiming to have known Marconi personally and they're ready to tell you how to do your job. Not all Broadcast School graduates are that way, but I have run into two or three in my nearly 30 years in the biz.
 
Disclaimers.

Radio terms used on air (average listener has no idea what a "sweep" is). There are many of these gems.

And a big amen to jocks who drop thier names in public.......I cannot stand that kind of shit.
 
Sorry, I forgot about automation. Well, if a station uses automation as tool and not a crutch, I have no problem with it. Something like Scott Studios is an awesome tool to have, but too many stations use it like a jock that'll work 18 hour shifts or longer, then it's a crutch and nothing more than an addiction. Unfortunately, with corporate radio ruling our world these days, GM's and PD's are having to deal with tighter budgets and less staff. When you have to answer to the board of directors and shareholders who didn't work in radio until deregulation, automation is just a fact of life.

I knew I wasn't going to make a fortune in this business. So I guess I just accept the low wages as a fact of life.

I guess I have never understood guys in this work who use their name to impress people. I get embarassed when my wife, a family member or a friend will tell someone I work in broadcasting. It just makes me uncomfortable. Now if I am working or at a remote, that's a little different. No way around it. But to start hitting on a hot waitress by dropping your name and that you do the morning show or something, I am a little embarassed for that person. C'mon! We work in the Tri-Cities...how important can we be? This ain't NYC, LA or Chicago....it's Johnson City, for God's sake!
 
Oh yeah, a couple others...."we'll be back on the other side." Other side of what? There's not a side to a commercial break or a song. It's not a solid object.

I heard a commercial recently that said "This message is for (whatever business it was)." Shouldn't it be "This message is from Joe Blow's Hardware." It made me think that the commercial was directed to them and not from them to the audience. Picky, but true.

When an announcer says, "Hello again, everyone." YOU NEVER SAY "EVERYONE"!!! Radio 101 says that you talk as if you were speaking to one person.

A client, especially car dealers, doing their own commercials, especially when they have no business being on the air. We don't go out to a dealership and try to sell cars...don't try to sound like an announcer when you are as qualified to do it as I am to sell an automobile! Don't mean to sound like an ass, but people don't respond to some guy who they probably have a low opinion of to begin with screaming "zero down, no payments til September and we'll pay off you trade no matter how much you owe!"
 
No disrespect, and I agree with your first 2 paragaphs.

BUT......
Cubs announcer Harry Carey used the (nearly the same) "Hello again, everybody" line for over 30 years. In fact, It's the title of his biography. YOU should compare bankbooks with him, sometime. He's been dead a few years and is still making money. It worked for him.

You also said;
A client, especially car dealers, doing their own commercials, especially when they have no business being on the air. We don't go out to a dealership and try to sell cars...don't try to sound like an announcer when you are as qualified to do it as I am to sell an automobile! Don't mean to sound like an ass, but people don't respond to some guy who they probably have a low opinion of to begin with screaming "zero down, no payments til September and we'll pay off you trade no matter how much you owe!"

Well, I can give you about 25 specific examples of how wrong YOU are about clients doing their own ads.

Listeners are often attracted to people who "SOUND FUNNY or sincere,
or even sound goofy." Radio is a SOUND medium. DIFFERENT SOUNDS, different voices make things interesting, make you remember.

Doing their own commercials is not only an "ego trip" for the sponsor - but also a way for people to "KNOW THEM" before they meet in person. "He sounds friendly." The average Joe listener is more like that sponsor than he is like you or me, "Joe Announcer."

The sponsor will often hear "Hey, Cal, YOU'RE the guy on WRIN radio." That reinforces the radio buy, EXACTLY what the sponsor and the station BOTH want.

Peace!
 
It seems that tightwadsquarepants has had a bad week! Anyway, some other petpeeves include the announcer saying "I'm outta here......is up next. Unless whoever is up next has a huge giveaway, who really cares if whoever is "outta here". Also, the most irritating, "time to pay the bills" when going to a commercial break. Calling attention to commercials and financial obligations? Not entertaining to the listener.
 
hammondo said:
No disrespect, and I agree with your first 2 paragaphs.

BUT......
Cubs announcer Harry Carey used the (nearly the same) "Hello again, everybody" line for over 30 years. In fact, It's the title of his biography. YOU should compare bankbooks with him, sometime. He's been dead a few years and is still making money. It worked for him.

You also said;
A client, especially car dealers, doing their own commercials, especially when they have no business being on the air. We don't go out to a dealership and try to sell cars...don't try to sound like an announcer when you are as qualified to do it as I am to sell an automobile! Don't mean to sound like an ass, but people don't respond to some guy who they probably have a low opinion of to begin with screaming "zero down, no payments til September and we'll pay off you trade no matter how much you owe!"

Well, I can give you about 25 specific examples of how wrong YOU are about clients doing their own ads.

Listeners are often attracted to people who "SOUND FUNNY or sincere,
or even sound goofy." Radio is a SOUND medium. DIFFERENT SOUNDS, different voices make things interesting, make you remember.

Doing their own commercials is not only an "ego trip" for the sponsor - but also a way for people to "KNOW THEM" before they meet in person. "He sounds friendly." The average Joe listener is more like that sponsor than he is like you or me, "Joe Announcer."

The sponsor will often hear "Hey, Cal, YOU'RE the guy on WRIN radio." That reinforces the radio buy, EXACTLY what the sponsor and the station BOTH want.

Peace!
Click to expand...


Most importantly...the most effective ads are done by people who sound REAL!
 
Car dealerships that open up with, "Hey Folks" or "Hi Folks" let's come up with another creative opener it's to played out.
 
Sorry, but car dealers do not sound real on the radio. I guess I was talking more about car dealers doing commercials or remote breaks than anyone. Sure, some person, maybe like a doctor, can sound real on the radio, but car dealers are anything but real. They scream, speak in trite cliches and annoy the listener (I know too many people who have said as much). Some guy yelling at the top of his lungs about bad credit and zero down is going to make a lot of people not only not go to that dealership, but likely turn the channel. It may be interesting once or twice, but then it just irritates. I remember this one guy who used to do his own commercials and remotes and did it a lot like a car dealer would. At first, it worked, but then it stopped working because people were tired of it.
And I know Harry Caray used to always say "hello again, everybody" but I was told by more than one person in this biz that it's a no-no.
I don't think I've had that bad of a week, but I could be wrong.
And Peace!!!!
 
Jockamo said:
SuperQ said:
#1... Automation

#2... Voice Tracking

#3... Low wages
Click to expand...

A big amen to that. I'm also not crazy about pukers, and one of my biggest pet peeves is Broadcast School graduates coming into an operation claiming to have known Marconi personally and they're ready to tell you how to do your job. Not all Broadcast School graduates are that way, but I have run into two or three in my nearly 30 years in the biz.
Click to expand...
Only 2 or 3? :eek: You're lucky. I've run into more than that in my time.
And I've been in this racket for 18 years...and a broadcast school graduate. Scary, isn't it? :eek:
 
Image liners! Specifically the ones that don't make a damn bit of sense and filled with lots of effects and repetitiveness. For instance:

N-N-N-NOW TEN IN A ROW SUPERSET(insert filter effect) TEN IN A ROW (turn off filter) WITHOUT ALL THE TALK (insert an out of context movie line) ON THE STATION THAT GUARANTEES A TEN IN A ROW SUPERSET EVERY HOUR (insert filter effect)EVERY HOUR (effect off) ON THE NEW MIX (female voice) THE NEW MIX (regular ballsy voice) THE...NEW....MIX!!!!!!!

The production person might be modulating at 105 percent, if you know what I mean, after that creation but a listener might have a different perspective.

On a different perspective on liners, I was traveling in East Tennessee a few years back. A station that I won't mention their name but they used to B an EZ station aired a liner that said, "We know how much you hate it when your favorite songs are interrupted. That's why keep our interruptions to a minimum" Wait....what? You just interrupted the music to tell me you don't .......never mind.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom