Scraping the bottom of the pile.

[Snafu]

Like anything else on campus college radio is a learning tool. A labratory if you will. Its a great place to run any number of experiments and see what happens. If you have the desire to do it and have the talent to back it up then college radio can be your stepping stone into the media world. If not then its just like CHEM 101 or whatever your most miserable class was--a waste of time.

I would go a step farther and add that if the college doesn't have a good and well rounded communications/journalism school to back it up then the experience is not as complete as it needs to be. Sadly, the number of really good com/journ schools around here has dwindled badly in the last decade.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I recall that back in the late 60's and early 70's, WPPJ at Point Park College had a similar reputation.

They did, Realist. Still do. Didn't forget about them. When I worked at WDAD/WQMU in Indiana, the FM PD Mike Cavanagh, went to Point Park College. Though he's doing sales for those stations now, he still does ads, and is one of the best talents that station has. Very detail oriented, knew the automation system inside and out.

My successor at WPXZ in Punxy also graduated from Point Park College. Josh Widdowson is an enthusiastic young pup with lots of promise and potential. Lots of names you dropped there...Pat Bridges (who invented my sobriquet for me years ago) at WLTJ is another.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Like anything else on campus college radio is a learning tool. A labratory if you will. Its a great place to run any number of experiments and see what happens. If you have the desire to do it and have the talent to back it up then college radio can be your stepping stone into the media world. If not then its just like CHEM 101 or whatever your most miserable class was--a waste of time.

I would go a step farther and add that if the college doesn't have a good and well rounded communications/journalism school to back it up then the experience is not as complete as it needs to be. Sadly, the number of really good com/journ schools around here has dwindled badly in the last decade.

This is why I used Westminster as an example. It's a college radio station that's the closest thing to a for-profit commercial enterprise. Real-time on-air shifts, a dedicated format, tight playlists, a fairly decent on-air signal, and a jock that doesn't show up for his/her shift gets booted off the air...and it DOES affect their grades.

Many announcers on college stations aren't communications majors. Thus, they're not as committed to it. At Westminster, I'm told only communications majors are allowed on the air.

 

[Sahisko]

Yeah, Kenhawk is right I have heard of the Westminister Radio Station and it sounds so professional you would think its a commercial radio station like Kiss FM or something. For me radio is something I love, but it is something I know I will never be good enough to be in so that is why I have other ambitions, but if I had a good radio voice and knew I had a chance in the radio business, I would probably go to Westminister.

And Radio Realist is right, if you are involved in the whole production of the station rather than just have a show one night a week, you will have a lot better chance of getting in to a real station down the line.

Unfortunately, like someone just mentioned, many of the universities around here have sad communication departments. One of the colleges in our area I attended before I attended the school I am at now, had a communication department so small it was run out of a small storefront where the college radio station only had 1 host throughout the school year which was me. Luckily enough the antenna broke in half years back and the station only broadcasted via online so no one listened to my terrible show. I had fun though... But even the university I am at now (one of the bigger ones in our area) doesn't have a really good radio station because it is not run by the communication department for some political reasoning or something.

But yeah, Westminister has a great radio station and from what I hear on the street if you want to get into radio its a good place to get your feet wet go there because they run it like a business and it is known as a successful station. Otherwise if a person like me went into a commercial radio station with my resume, I most likely would be handed a broom and a mop.

 

[ChancellorDukat]

I think I know what college your talking about with the broken antenna and a communication department in an old storefront.....

 

[Parttimer]

You should have seen what I inherited as GM at Pitt.... a nearly non-functional carrier-current AM with garbage for equipment, no budget and literally no listeners. In hindsight, I'm not sure why we even went in there and did shows, other than for fun and practice (and I did have a frame of reference, I had been the PD at WARC at Allegheny College in Meadville, a really nice little FM with good facilities and school support).

There is, however, a great story about the time my CE at Pitt got fed up with it and hung an antenna out of a 3rd floor window of the student union. You could hear the station all the way out in Shadyside (until the FCC showed up one day...fortunately someone saw him looking around the outside of the building and he couldn't bust us).

That's why I'm really pleased to have contributed to the effort to get WPTS started.

 

[kenhawk1160]

For me radio is something I love, but it is something I know I will never be good enough to be in so that is why I have other ambitions, but if I had a good radio voice and knew I had a chance in the radio business, I would probably go to Westminister.

Luckily enough the antenna broke in half years back and the station only broadcasted via online so no one listened to my terrible show.

Otherwise if a person like me went into a commercial radio station with my resume, I most likely would be handed a broom and a mop.

Sahisko, why are you so down on yourself? NOBODY, with VERY FEW exceptions, starts in this business sounding like Shadoe Stevens or even near it.

When I started in radio back in 1988, I was HORRIBLE. I was told by a lot of people (including many of my own family members) that there was no future for me in this business. And here I am, almost two decades later. I've worked in Pittsburgh, Toledo, and Detroit in my career, in addition to multiple small markets in western Pennsylvania.

The key is, when you work for a commercial enterprise, chances are you'll be working under a PD who's been around in the biz for some time and if you're willing to do more listening than talking, they'll be more than happy to mentor you and help you go places. I'm willing to do that, but there's too many kids who think they know the business because of a piece of paper that it took four years for them to get. You have to be open to criticism and willing to do what you're told.

And you have to approach this business as a RADIO PERSON...not just a jock. Someone who understands all aspects of this business, sales, marketing, news, management, the whole package. When you listen to your show, ask yourself "if I was on the street selling this product, is it a product I can believe in? Why or why not?" If it isn't, then work on it.

In fact, if you have an aircheck, I will be happy to review it.

 

[Sahisko]

Hey Kenhawk, thanks for the advice!

My problem is that my internship at a radio station here in the burg wasn't really worthwhile because I wanted to learn about the business aspects behind it all and specifically the operations of it (even just observe people) but unfortunately I was never really allowed to 'shadow' and they didn't like my one million questions. LOL. Personally, if I could mop the floors for a station and watch the pros at work and learn from them and perhaps someday move up the scale, I'll be in heaven! Do you have a email kenhawk or a website?

 

[kenhawk1160]

Hey Kenhawk, thanks for the advice!

My problem is that my internship at a radio station here in the burg wasn't really worthwhile because I wanted to learn about the business aspects behind it all and specifically the operations of it (even just observe people) but unfortunately I was never really allowed to 'shadow' and they didn't like my one million questions. LOL. Personally, if I could mop the floors for a station and watch the pros at work and learn from them and perhaps someday move up the scale, I'll be in heaven! Do you have a email kenhawk or a website?

You can reach me with the user name 'radio', followed immediately by my last name, at hotmail.