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Stations to work for in SD

I

ilovebeer

I may be moving to SD from Seattle in the next year or so and I just wanted to get some feedback as to which are the solid stations to work for in the market. I have a chr/ac background but it isn't extremely important for me to stay in the same format. thanks in advance!
 
Good luck with that. There must be hundreds of talented pros waiting in the wings.

And ... learn how to say La Jolla.
 
ilovebeer said:
I may be moving to SD from Seattle in the next year or so and I just wanted to get some feedback as to which are the solid stations to work for in the market. I have a chr/ac background but it isn't extremely important for me to stay in the same format. thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

This is not a good radio market: pay is low for the size, there are few - if any - exciting stations and a few companies control most of the jobs. On top of that, San Diego has a huge number of unemployed jocks, "waiting in the wings" as noted, because once you live here you don't want to leave.

If you want to be in San Diego radio it helps to have a spouse with a high paying steady job.
 
ilovebeer said:
I may be moving to SD from Seattle in the next year or so and I just wanted to get some feedback as to which are the solid stations to work for in the market. I have a chr/ac background but it isn't extremely important for me to stay in the same format. thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I agree with Bob Hudson, with the exception that I strongly consider applying for the job at 103.7 (but first read what said in parapgraph 2). For information on that, check out SDRadio.net, there is a blurb there on how to apply (they are taking emailed airchecks, or so they claim. Based on your background, it sounds like you would have a chance. I know that Bob has had a less than satisfactory experience with 103.7, but other people tell me that 96.5 and 103.7 are a better place to work, than the CC mill down the street (where I have worked in a pevious incarnation). Again, just my own 2 cents on that, others can and will disagree, mileage will vary, use as directed.

But Bob is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT otherwise. San Diego is ROTTEN place to start a radio career and not a very good place to look for a radio job. I've even heard people say that someplace like LA or Dallas is better/easier. My experience was that after working for 2 stations for 9 months, it was the pretty young woman who got the job after only 3 months. San Diego is a place where they are looking for a star, (no pun intended), kinda like Hollywood. If there is a position to fill, they'll look for the biggest or most appealing talent they can find, before dipping back into the gene pool.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it by any means, but be prepared to juggle a radio job with a second job, and don't expect to live anywhere west of El Cajon, because on the salary, you won't be able to afford it. And that first shift will be a crummy one (how does Midnight to 5 AM, Monday mornings sound?).

Again, just my own personal experience, apologies to others who can and will disagree, mileage will vary.
 
Garrett said:
I know that Bob has had a less than satisfactory experience with 103.7
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Actually I had a great time at 103.7: I spent three years there, got to broadcast from home for my last year or so and made decent income fror working 3.5 hours a day. I do think management made a lot of bad programming decisions and have continued to do so, but they have always had the success of KYXY to cushion their continuing bad decisions about 103.7.
 
Like most large markets (San Diego is #17 ) it is a competive market with big dollars on the line. Top billing stations can do well over 15 million in annual revenues. Like most markets Morning drive stars can make a lot of money, with afternoon drive doing pretty good as well. Obviously music and talk stations will vary. Like always it varies by format, station, and company. Great talent will get the opportunities most of the time. Like always it comes down to the right person, at the right place, at the right time.
 
If you can program an automation system, then you have a job here in San Diego!
 
Garrett, that's what happens when you attempt to start your career in SD. I remember many
guys who bragged to me when I took a job in San Luis Obispo to kick off my career, "hey dude
I just got a job at the soft AC station or the smooth jazz station, 5 years later they are still
making 2k a month. By then I'm doing 40-50K somewhere. Now these guys are out of radio.
Market size only matters if you're a star. All nights is all nights. The problem is you have to have an
act to be compensated for it. The guy from Seattle doesn't sound like a rookie, he may do
well, good luck.
 
doublecashkgb said:
Garrett, that's what happens when you attempt to start your career in SD. I remember many
guys who bragged to me when I took a job in San Luis Obispo to kick off my career, "hey dude
I just got a job at the soft AC station or the smooth jazz station, 5 years later they are still
making 2k a month. By then I'm doing 40-50K somewhere. Now these guys are out of radio.
Market size only matters if you're a star. All nights is all nights. The problem is you have to have an
act to be compensated for it. The guy from Seattle doesn't sound like a rookie, he may do
well, good luck.
Click to expand...

I knew of guys in places like Fargo, North Dakota who turned down a San Diego gig because they didn't want to take a pay cut!
 
Bob_Hudson said:
I knew of guys in places like Fargo, North Dakota who turned down a San Diego gig because they didn't want to take a pay cut!
Click to expand...

Damn it, I wanted to hear the Dakota-slang "La Jolla".
 
I'd like to hear the guy from Seattle try to pronounce "Camino Real," LOL.

Sure wish him good luck in SD. I sat on my butt in Rancho Bernardo, doing voice work for 2 years and waiting for something decent to open up in town. Never happened. I can remember making very nice cash in America's Finest City but Clear Channel and others dumbed that down years ago. Certainly, San Diego is not the innovative, talent driven, higher paying market it used to be.

Now living very happily (and lucratively) in The Bay Area working for Entercom. Life is good OUTSIDE San Diego.

Great comments, Chris! Let's do that lunch next month when I return to help move my son to Berkeley! ;D


JoJo Kincaid
Your Drivin' Home Dawg
The Wolf, San Francisco
 
Wow,
Cookin' you're in San Fran now?
Excellent!

Yet another aircheck we'll have to get of you for all those JoJo Kincaid collections floating around! :D

Yeah, Q106 in the late 80s was a hot bed for talent I thought, and was a refreshing treat for me after growing up on Kiss 108 for so many years. Too bad Clear Channel coudln't preserve KKLQ the way they did WXKS FM, but that's another discussion for another time...
 
Ok, Garrett! Let's hope our friend from Seattle can land in a good place and shine!

You're so right about the Q's hotbed of talent. I was lucky enough to work with some of these fine folks: Elvis Medina (JV and Elvis), Whitney Allen, Chio da Hitman, Ed Hill, Jack Murphy, Anita Rush and many more.


Keepin it cookin,

JoJo
 
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