The big issue in this thread goes to the core of radio itself. When corporate radio dictates that personalities talk about 1)pop culture , 2) local content and 3) just about nothing else except for station blurbs and promos, you develop a case of "who cares" among listenership. Let's face it, the pop culture prep we receive daily is also reported on every other radio station and every TV station and in just about every daily newspaper. It takes superhumans to earn "fans" by rehashing what is available, often word for word, by just about every other available media. Local content is the tiny little link that separates terrestrial radio from Sputnik radio. And, if the local content can be intertwined with a personal twist or observation, you stand at least a chance of becoming more than an anonymous voice that interrupts the music. That is the most difficult part of the job....always has been....and, for the most part, is discouraged because personalities who develop a "following" are going to cost the employer more to keep. And that's true whether you're Bruce Palmer, "Cousin" Bruce Morrow or Bruce Wayne. And the audiences have been forced to accept the "shut up and play the music" routine for so long now that, in a way, they have been programmed to not really care all that much about what happens with their favorite radio personalities.
Yes, there are exceptions....please use your Websters to see how that is defined. Most of the rabid fan talk about radio people, with the exception of the exceptions (Stern, Opie, etc) happens here in these threads, not among the population at large. It's very entertaining to read the posts on these boards but very few people, including employed, on air radio people, take much of this seriously if they read it at all.
