Boy, these must all be old stories, because they deal with people working at radio stations at night.
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The Boss Using A Studio Hotline to chew out jocks while they're on the air
- Thread starter Ur-A-Dawg
- Start date
I once had a situation where I was working at a talk station and we were running a live program from a remote location. Problem is, (although there probably wouldn't have been much I could do about it anyway), the remote equipment was fed directly to the transmitter, circumventing the control board at the studio. There was only one way to cut it off and that was to call the automated FM "Moseley" and kill the feed. A phone call would take way too long to cut it off on a whim, plus it butted up right against a live read weather forecast.
It was a two-hour program with a 4 or 5 minute satellite newsfeed at the top of the hour. Close to the end of the news, the owner (who was running the remote equipment) calls up and proceeds to tell me that he didn't want theme music. Now, I can't for the life of me imagine why in the middle of a show, you suddenly decide to ditch some music that has been a standard for the program throughout but nonetheless, that was what I understood. Maybe he meant the weather music I was using, but still, not something you should bring up in the middle of a shift.
Maybe I misheard, but I followed through, giving as much of a voice lead-in as possible so they'd know to take the reins. And then... DEAD AIR... then this: the owner popping the mic on and asking OVER THE AIR "Uhhhh, Mark. Where's the music?". Needless to say, I ensured there was music from then on, but I wonder what would have happened if say it was a bum cart rather than misinterpreted instruction? Probably the same thing.
Professional radio rule would have dictated to get the HOST to just start the program. I mean, you shouldn't be off by more than 10 seconds anyway. It's not like it was a great music bed, it was just an outdated ABC talk radio music bed.
It was a two-hour program with a 4 or 5 minute satellite newsfeed at the top of the hour. Close to the end of the news, the owner (who was running the remote equipment) calls up and proceeds to tell me that he didn't want theme music. Now, I can't for the life of me imagine why in the middle of a show, you suddenly decide to ditch some music that has been a standard for the program throughout but nonetheless, that was what I understood. Maybe he meant the weather music I was using, but still, not something you should bring up in the middle of a shift.
Maybe I misheard, but I followed through, giving as much of a voice lead-in as possible so they'd know to take the reins. And then... DEAD AIR... then this: the owner popping the mic on and asking OVER THE AIR "Uhhhh, Mark. Where's the music?". Needless to say, I ensured there was music from then on, but I wonder what would have happened if say it was a bum cart rather than misinterpreted instruction? Probably the same thing.
Professional radio rule would have dictated to get the HOST to just start the program. I mean, you shouldn't be off by more than 10 seconds anyway. It's not like it was a great music bed, it was just an outdated ABC talk radio music bed.
I believe there is a lesson here! Many of us grew up listening to the greats. Guys like Steve Kirk on WING,
Cris Conner on WNAP, Barney Pipp on WCFL, Reb Porter on WIFE, Super Shirk on WERK, and others.
Our real dream in broadcasting was to become jocks like them!!
Many of us started out as lowly jocks. We remember that jerk of a boss who chewed us out
on the phone about things that didn't really matter. What a stupid idiot!!!!!! We remember
that call 20 or 30 years later.
There are those who started out as lowly jocks. Now they are the owner, the pd, or just
the boss and they repeat history becomming the man they hated. So the lesson is when you
advance, don't abuse your power and become that jerk yourself.
Cris Conner on WNAP, Barney Pipp on WCFL, Reb Porter on WIFE, Super Shirk on WERK, and others.
Our real dream in broadcasting was to become jocks like them!!
Many of us started out as lowly jocks. We remember that jerk of a boss who chewed us out
on the phone about things that didn't really matter. What a stupid idiot!!!!!! We remember
that call 20 or 30 years later.
There are those who started out as lowly jocks. Now they are the owner, the pd, or just
the boss and they repeat history becomming the man they hated. So the lesson is when you
advance, don't abuse your power and become that jerk yourself.
It's not like the GM is interrupting you in the middle of open heart surgery. Pros can take a call from a GM, PD, pissed-off spouse or whatever and NEVER let it affect their work on-air. Not saying the GM should call over every little thing but, let's be frank, some jocks need a knock on the head every once in a while. Now get back to your show and put away that sports page!
A
aunti-terrestrial
Guest
I don't know about you, but the 5 pm afternoon drive hour is NOT the time for a GM to call the hotline and want to hold long, rambling conversations while getting drunk. It may not be open-heart surgery, but 5pm and 8 am are the radio-hour equivalent. A knock in the head would have been an improvement.
There was a mention of a "ringing" hot line. Any engineer who puts a phone with an audible ringer in a studio is an idiot. I worked at two situation where the same engineer installed a phone without a ringer light. The first time I finally had enough of the hot line ringing on the air. The station had an account at Rat Shack so I took it upon myself to purchase the basic ringer strobe and installed it. The problem was solved and I could care less what the engineer thought because to the airstaff I was a hero. The second situation he had ringers in the control room and a secondary studio. At that point, I didn't care; the place was a dump so I lived with it. By the way, any studio I build has lights and the ringers are disabled.
Back to crazy Hot Line stories....Years before I arrive at this particular station they had a GM who had a drinking problem. He would hot line the jocks in his drunken state complaining about petty things. He would order the jock to write down the complaint and slip it under his door so he could deal with it the next day. The general rule was the jocks never did this because the manager would never remember what he did the night before. His best hot line call was ordering the jock "I never want to hear any more songs on this radio station that talks about virgins!" The song in question, "Silent Night".
Okay, one more.....At this same station the night jock answered the hot line, the voice on the other end said, "Who's speaking?" The jock replied, "I can't see you through the phone." and hung up. A few minutes later the PD called and asked the jock if he liked working there? The jock said yes. The PD then suggested the next time somebody asks you on the phone, "Who's speaking?" you might want to give your name so the owner of the station knows who he is talking to.
Back to crazy Hot Line stories....Years before I arrive at this particular station they had a GM who had a drinking problem. He would hot line the jocks in his drunken state complaining about petty things. He would order the jock to write down the complaint and slip it under his door so he could deal with it the next day. The general rule was the jocks never did this because the manager would never remember what he did the night before. His best hot line call was ordering the jock "I never want to hear any more songs on this radio station that talks about virgins!" The song in question, "Silent Night".
Okay, one more.....At this same station the night jock answered the hot line, the voice on the other end said, "Who's speaking?" The jock replied, "I can't see you through the phone." and hung up. A few minutes later the PD called and asked the jock if he liked working there? The jock said yes. The PD then suggested the next time somebody asks you on the phone, "Who's speaking?" you might want to give your name so the owner of the station knows who he is talking to.
NH Radiochild said:
I had a simillar situation at a podunk AM station I worked at. I was producing a talk show in the morning and the host made a big deal about playing the theme music for the show at the end. When the show was winding down, I got my cue to play the music. The host's face turned red and after he finished the show, he came into the control room and yelled at me for playing the theme music. He then proceeded to tell me how much of a talent he was and how he had been a finalist for the PM Magazine (ancient TV show) and that he was going places in life! :
(Yeah, right!) Good times, good times.From the modern era ...
I handled the internet for a radio station ... website, email addresses, connectivity ... as well as pulling an air shift. One Saturday afternoon I was covering an additional shift and the PD was having problems with his email at home ... he called and wanted me to concentrate solely on fixing his problem and even suggested I should put the station on a satellite music feed while I worked with him. So much for the main thing remaining the main thing!
But I would say that was his worse day - at least as far as on-air problems. Most of the managers I've had have been fairly considerate with calling during the shift, and would only place that call if it were of dire importance to the station and not just a personal nit pick.
Not to say that a "did you know the station is off the air" call with 20 "what are you doing about it" questions was helpful ... especially if answering those questions delayed getting back on the air. But at least it was a valid call.
But here is a quiz for the new broadcasters. The station goes off the air overnight ... the jock calls the engineer ... the engineer comes and restores the station to air ... all is well before the morning show. The PD finds out the station was off the air via the manager and complains to the jock for not being called. Time passes. A heavy storm passes through knocking out power to the station (no generator). The jock doesn't bother the engineer but calls the PD at 1:30am to let him know that his station is off the air. Is the PD happy?
I handled the internet for a radio station ... website, email addresses, connectivity ... as well as pulling an air shift. One Saturday afternoon I was covering an additional shift and the PD was having problems with his email at home ... he called and wanted me to concentrate solely on fixing his problem and even suggested I should put the station on a satellite music feed while I worked with him. So much for the main thing remaining the main thing!
But I would say that was his worse day - at least as far as on-air problems. Most of the managers I've had have been fairly considerate with calling during the shift, and would only place that call if it were of dire importance to the station and not just a personal nit pick.
Not to say that a "did you know the station is off the air" call with 20 "what are you doing about it" questions was helpful ... especially if answering those questions delayed getting back on the air. But at least it was a valid call.
But here is a quiz for the new broadcasters. The station goes off the air overnight ... the jock calls the engineer ... the engineer comes and restores the station to air ... all is well before the morning show. The PD finds out the station was off the air via the manager and complains to the jock for not being called. Time passes. A heavy storm passes through knocking out power to the station (no generator). The jock doesn't bother the engineer but calls the PD at 1:30am to let him know that his station is off the air. Is the PD happy?
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shortbaldguy2007
Guest
justalurker said:From the modern era ...
Not to say that a "did you know the station is off the air" call with 20 "what are you doing about it" questions was helpful ... especially if answering those questions delayed getting back on the air. But at least it was a valid call.
Just a quick off topic but kind of related question...how many of you have been working when the station goes off the air and you get the calls from listeners that go something like this: "are you off the air? Yes, we are. Shouldn't you announce that?"
If I had a dime for every one of those!
Okay, since I asked the original question, I guess I should share one of my stories.
Years ago I worked in Kokomo with an OM who liked to get drunk and hotline me on my night show. Never about anything on the air, he always wanted to gripe about something going on at the station. When I stopped taking his abuse and refused to answer the phone, he'd call the AM and tell the jock "Get that sonofab*tch on the phone NOW!" It was actually the AM guy who helped me put a stop to it. He suggested that I run tape on the call. When I threatened to give the tape to the GM, the calls stopped.
Years ago I worked in Kokomo with an OM who liked to get drunk and hotline me on my night show. Never about anything on the air, he always wanted to gripe about something going on at the station. When I stopped taking his abuse and refused to answer the phone, he'd call the AM and tell the jock "Get that sonofab*tch on the phone NOW!" It was actually the AM guy who helped me put a stop to it. He suggested that I run tape on the call. When I threatened to give the tape to the GM, the calls stopped.
Legend has it that the owner of WIFE used have a few drinks & then hotline Reb Porter demanding he play "Spanish Eyes" by Al Martino. That same owner hated the song "The Shadow of Your Smile" and would fire any opertaor who allowed it to play on the semi-automated beautiful music format on WIFE-FM 107.9.
shortbaldguy2007 said:justalurker said:From the modern era ...
Not to say that a "did you know the station is off the air" call with 20 "what are you doing about it" questions was helpful ... especially if answering those questions delayed getting back on the air. But at least it was a valid call.
Just a quick off topic but kind of related question...how many of you have been working when the station goes off the air and you get the calls from listeners that go something like this: "are you off the air? Yes, we are. Shouldn't you announce that?"
If I had a dime for every one of those!
And another off-topic, but fun call from a listener.
"Could you please put the microphone closer to the record player, I can't hear the music you're playing."
"Maam, do you have a record player?"
"Yes."
"What do you do when you want to play the music louder?"
"I turn up the volume."
"Try that with your radio, too." ;D
Click.
Two words.....Vern Kaspar. In a previous life in his employ, the man never slept. 3 seconds of silence on the reel to reel automation system (we are talking the 80s),phone call "you're stupid. You're incompetent!". he once called to complain that we weren't doing wall to wall coverage on tornadoes in Evansville, some 200 miles away.
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shortbaldguy2007
Guest
gr8oldies said:
Brad, that's exactly who I was talking about in my earlier "cassette throwing" post. And how about those editorials????
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shortbaldguy2007
Guest
RDO said:Vern's editorials. Isn't that why he applied for all those translators? So he could have his editorials heard by more people.
Wouldn't surprise me. He always claimed they also ran on Armed Forces Radio, but I'm not sure I believe him.
Sort of off topic but a little bit related. I was listening to a station on the weekend about 3 or 4 years when the DJ came out of commercial, did her thing and went into music. Then for the next 15-20 minutes got to listen as she had a phone coversation with her friend that went out over the air over the music, the spots, everything. Lots of giggling, laughing, complaining about her husband, etc. going on, Then "Oh, hold on, the hot line is ringing, probably one of the bosses calling to complain about something".....all of a sudden no more phone conversation. Matter of fact didn't hear anything out of her for 45 minutes, then she did her break and never mentioned a thing about it. I was amazed it took that long for someone to call her on it, guess even the bosses or other workers don't listen on the weekend. I'm sure listeners tried to call her to give her a heads up on what was happening but, hey, when you don't answer the listener lines, I suppose that will happen. At least she didn't let looose with any "F"-bombs or other swear words.
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