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THE AD IS OUT AGAIN

J

Jockamo

Guest
I was perusing allaccess.com this morning, and imagine what I found:


PD Position Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol TN


Holston Valley Broadcasting Corporation has a rare opening for a Program Director of AC radio station WTFM in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. 98.5 WTFM is a full class C FM station in the Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol Tennessee/Virginia market # 99, and is one of America's most successful AC radio stations, which has had only (2) PD’s in the past twenty plus years. We are seeking an individual who can keep us at the top. The ideal candidate will have AC programming experience with a winning track record. Qualities that will help you win this job are: creativity, promotional ideas, production skills, Selector and Scott System experience and the ability to lead a winning team. This is an off the air PD job only doing fill in airshifts. We offer full benefits including a qualified retirement plan, 401(k) with matching funds, health, dental and life Insurance, paid vacation and sick leave. Please send your resume to David Widener at WTFM 222 Commerce Street Kingsport, TN 37660 or [email protected]. HVBC is an equal opportunity employer.


Any takers?
 
No thanks. I will have to say "NO DEAL, HOWIE!"
 
Widener is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

Matter of fact, there may be a short there.

He could have found a PD by now if he really wanted one.

Yet, I'll bet the potential candidates have thought twice about working with him.

If you watch him closely, you can see right through his shifty eyes and determine the person he really is.
 
I saw this ad as well and, for the life of me, I can't understand why the management of WTFM isn't choosing a PD from among their own staff.
I could be wrong but I don't think that Taylor Morgan and Elva Marie are interested in programming; they may be, and they might be good at it. However, between Steve Mann and Dave Barnett, they have a combined experience of almost 50 years....50 YEARS OF RADIO EXPERIENCE between them. Add to that the 20+ years each one of them have in the Tri-Cities market and the search for their PD should be over. I don't know what the management of WTFM is looking for, but if they can't find it between those guys, they won't find it anywhere.

Warlock
 
Warlock, I agree with you. The new PD should a choice from within their own staff. I don't know how much experience Barnett has had programming, or if he's had any. I know Steve has had experience programming, in the Tri-Cities, in California and in Colorado. Either one of them would be a fine choice, because of their time in the market. Being a good friend of Steve, I've been hoping for him to get the nod, but with Widener, you just never know.
 
As much as I would like to see Mr. Mann, Dave Barnett, or heck, even Scott Onks or Mike Padgett get the job, it isn't gonna happen. If David hires anybody (which is doubtful), he is going to go outside the building. For some reason, I don't think that he ever appreciates the hard work of the people he has on-staff already. He's got four guys there that could do the job well, but he won't give it to them. He is looking at that 30-35 grand he's saving every year and that's preventing him from putting a replacement in the TFM PD position. The only way I would see him putting another person in that slot is if they start slipping in the ratings, especially that coveted Women 25-54 demo. Short of that, I don't expect to see a new PD on WTFM for quite a long time!
 
OK, is there a "public" version and private version of these folk's abilities? Onks, Padgent, BArnet???....Look, if the want a P.D. that has already been shouldering some of the burden...why not just give Mann the nod indeed. If you really listen to K-Hogg.....would you really want to spread Onks' attention any thinner? as far as experience/ time spent.....sometimes the lines between experience/ability/time spent become fuzzy. What do they have to lose by putting man in the box...lol errr...chair. PB
 
PB--
Let me give you the lowdown on being a PD at Holston Valley Broadcasting Corporation. You are very limited on actual decision making. Whether we are talking about the PD for WTFM, WRZK or WKPT-AM, real decisions are either made by upper management (the FM's) or the sales department (the AM). I can't say with 100 percent certainty since I no longer work there, but I about guarantee that the HOG was not Scotty's idea, it was David! Scott is a lot smarter than people give him credit for on this message board. I do know for a fact that Scott studies the charts with a religious fervor and he knows the alt-rock format like the back of his hand. He was a good student and learned quite a bit from Mark McKinney.
And here's the dirty little secret. Scott is already doing a lot of the PD grunt work for WTFM right now, with none of the privileges of the office. He generates the logs and handles the day-to-day stuff, with Widener making the big decisions.
When I mentioned that list of names, I was only pointing out that there are several qualified people already on-staff in the building. I don't think that David would go wrong with any of them. They've all been with the company for at least ten years. Steve has the honour of being there the least amount of time, but it's still close to a decade! Dave Barnett is going on 11 years in 2007. Scott started about the same time I did, circa 1991. And Mike has been there since the mid-to-late 70's. So like I said, all of those guys know what they're doing.
And yes, Scott is a friend of mine, but putting that aside, I know that he is a good PD and good boss. How do I know? He was my immediate supervisor from 1995 to this year. He is not the reason that WRZK has gone down the crapper in the ratings. That honour goes to David Widener. When all you can do is react to the other player's moves, you're always going to be on the defensive. Plus the fact that half of your airstaff has virtually no real experience in the biz, well, you fill the in the blanks! That's not meant to slam anyone, it's just a fact. Truth of the matter is that K-Rock could have held off the Z-Rock offensive, but management was far too reactive than proactive. Pick a hill and defend it! He who protects everything will lose everything.
And PB, you're right. They do have nothing to lose putting Steve in the chair. But the same goes for any of them. I do, however, think that while Scott could do both jobs, they are better off with two PD's. BUT, if David is just going to keep things as is, with Scott doing PD work on WTFM, at least give him the title, for God's sake.
Just another example of how HVBC shows no respect or appreciation of the people they have!
 
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