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Real Names vs. Air Names
- Thread starter Skynet74
- Start date
Here's another reason why real names are not used on the air. Back in 1969 when I was first hired by 63-WPRO, the program director sat me down in the office and said, "You start Monday, and your name will be Jimmy Gray" "Jimmy Gray?" I said, I don't like that name. The PD, Al Herskovitz said...It's Jimmy Gray or Peter Blue, take your choice. I said I'll go with Jimmy Gray. A Pams jingle jock shout was already in house for Monday's show.
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Reason for that. In those days, ratings consisted of Pulse and Hooper. Pulse was done through the mail, Hooper over the phone. If you couldn't remember the call letters but could remember the jock's name, you could write that in and the station would get credit for a listener. Also, they wanted short, easily remembered names with 3 syllables. Hence, Jim-my Gray, An-dy Jackson, Vik Ar-men and so on. Another reason was ethnicity. The thought process was if you didn't like a certain ethnic group, you wouldn't listen or write that name in. Hence, names that didn't denote what the ethnic background could be. And, as my career grew, it was nice in later years to have some sort of privacy in life. However, I'll never forget sitting at home in Barrington one night, and even though I had an unlisted phone number in my real name, I get a phone call from an
"alleged" mob member asking me to play a song the next morning for his girl friend's birthday. Only in Rhode Island.
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Reason for that. In those days, ratings consisted of Pulse and Hooper. Pulse was done through the mail, Hooper over the phone. If you couldn't remember the call letters but could remember the jock's name, you could write that in and the station would get credit for a listener. Also, they wanted short, easily remembered names with 3 syllables. Hence, Jim-my Gray, An-dy Jackson, Vik Ar-men and so on. Another reason was ethnicity. The thought process was if you didn't like a certain ethnic group, you wouldn't listen or write that name in. Hence, names that didn't denote what the ethnic background could be. And, as my career grew, it was nice in later years to have some sort of privacy in life. However, I'll never forget sitting at home in Barrington one night, and even though I had an unlisted phone number in my real name, I get a phone call from an
"alleged" mob member asking me to play a song the next morning for his girl friend's birthday. Only in Rhode Island.
W
wkrpfm
Guest
ahhh...you beat me to it Jimmy...an ex of mine was given his on-air name by his PD seeing the station already had the name canned and didn't wanna shell out the extra money to have a new one made. I laughed when I heard he went by Chip Osbourne.
Sometimes when a DJ signs on to employment, the program manager (or director) will "assign" a name to the talent. This goes back to the control management wants over their "brand" and all that other business-speak they teach MBAs. It's a crying shame what has happened to musicradio in the USA. Bring back the offshore pirate stations!!
R
Registerd
Guest
This is hardly a new thing. Witness the old WMEX in the 60s...with the exception of Arnie Ginsburg, every jock had a house name. When Max would fire a jock, his replacement would use the same airname.
In my area, the general rule seems to be that talent on rock and country stations use air names, while those on MOR or talk formats use their real names. (I can't recall any stations here using "house names" though.) There are exceptions on both sides, of course; but there have been plenty of on-air people using very un-show-bizzy real names. Sheldon Bergen, anyone? How about Dave Kuharski, Leland Ballou (no relation to Wally...) or Ian Redmond (who does use the nickname "Captain Redbeard," and justly so)? Or from the past, Bob Romancko, Ken Buehler, or Harv Goldberg? There was one guy up here a few years ago who really pushed the air-name bit...he did mornings on one cluster's teenybopper station under a name I can't remember, and evenings on its heavy-metal sister as "ZEUS!"
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
They would be shocked to learn that "boi" is also a term for a tomboyish lesbian.
A good friend of mine / coworker went by Jerry Michaels......his real name was Michael......Michael Phenis! (which would be a good reason to use an air name)..
I remember hearing his story about 20 years ago. Did you work with him at KZZY in San Antonio?
BTW - I was told I couldn't use my real name for two reasons. The first was that no one was likely to spell it correctly after hearing it, and, in the diary days of Arbitron, the PD didn't want to add multiple spellings (and misspellings) of my name to the station's SIP. The second was because my last name was rooted in Hebrew, and there was the concern people would think I was an "East Coast Jew" and tune out.
I would also say the original poster's statement from several years ago that "most talk show hosts use their real names" is a little off. I'd say it's closer to 50/50 for talk hosts and news staff, but they use more realistic on-air names than most music jocks. A good number of TV anchors and reporters don't use their real names either.
BTW - I was told I couldn't use my real name for two reasons. The first was that no one was likely to spell it correctly after hearing it, and, in the diary days of Arbitron, the PD didn't want to add multiple spellings (and misspellings) of my name to the station's SIP. The second was because my last name was rooted in Hebrew, and there was the concern people would think I was an "East Coast Jew" and tune out.
I would also say the original poster's statement from several years ago that "most talk show hosts use their real names" is a little off. I'd say it's closer to 50/50 for talk hosts and news staff, but they use more realistic on-air names than most music jocks. A good number of TV anchors and reporters don't use their real names either.
I've done both - used my birth name and a "mike" name. The only time I had any sort of bad experience was when I was using my birth name. I prefer the anonymity of a "mike name." Checks can be made out to me using my birth name and unless the payroll people are trying to smoke me for one reason or another it's all good. (BTW, who would do anything to get payroll folks mad at ya?)
F
FredLeonard
Guest
One thing not mentioned so far: Stations required air names to keep a disc jockey who became popular from jumping to another station and taking their name and audience with them. This never really worked very well. People knew the jock by voice, style and personality. And knew the replacement using the same name was not the same guy. Local media generally pointed out that john doe on wxxx had been joe the jock on wyyy.
There have been some genuinely interesting, funny and cool radio monikers over the years. From Sandy Beach and Bradley Field to Jackson Armstrong and Joey Reynolds, and the legendary Jefferson Kaye. And then there have been house names that caused eyes to roll, like Mike Melody, which was a house name used years ago at stations in Rochester (WSAY) and Buffalo (WNIA) owned by the eccentric Gordon Brown. Rusty Bridges? The last name is legit, the nick name was hung on me by a high school coach and it stuck, for better or worse. I actually wanted to be Pete Seria or Jordan Nairy, but a PD asked "Why would you change your name?"
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And Justin Case, the designated fill-in jock. Although WPKX 97.9 Springfield, MA put someone with that name on the air with a regular shift during its early days, in the '90s.
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