The Devastating Physical Effects of Working AM Drive

[Nick Seneca]

I could post this elsewhere, but I chose this board because this is where my homeboys are.

I have never been able to succeed long term as a morning man partly because I have never been able to adjust to the hours. Whenever I've been awarded a morning show, I start out full of enthusiasm, but a few weeks into it, I find that I can think of nothing but getting to sleep - even when I'm on the air.

I've had days on the air where, when the tunes were playin', I just stared glassy-eyed at the board, and honestly, I'm embarassed to say, just went through the motions when the mic was open. Off the air, as well, I was in a perpetual state of fatigue, nap or no nap, no matter what time I'd gone to bed the night before.

Last time I started a morning show, I even went to a hypnotherapist before the job began to help get me in the the habit of going to bed early. It worked for a short while, but several weeks into it, I was wide awake at midnight, maybe drifitng off at 2 or 3 AM, and finally I was a zombie again.

I remember the days of morning shows beginning at 6AM, which gave me an outside shot at feeling OK. But then, of course they crept back to 5:30 - gotta get that jump on the competition - and now most start at 5 freakin' o'clock! I did that for three long months once and it was a disaster.

I just don't know how morning guys do it.

Even though AM Drive is where the action and big money is, I don't think I ever wanna do it again.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Nick Seneca

 

[OttoM]

I could post this elsewhere, but I chose this board because this is where my homeboys are.

I have never been able to succeed long term as a morning man partly because I have never been able to adjust to the hours. Whenever I've been awarded a morning show, I start out full of enthusiasm, but a few weeks into it, I find that I can think of nothing but getting to sleep - even when I'm on the air.

I've had days on the air where, when the tunes were playin', I just stared glassy-eyed at the board, and honestly, I'm embarassed to say, just went through the motions when the mic was open. Off the air, as well, I was in a perpetual state of fatigue, nap or no nap, no matter what time I'd gone to bed the night before.

Last time I started a morning show, I even went to a hypnotherapist before the job began to help get me in the the habit of going to bed early. It worked for a short while, but several weeks into it, I was wide awake at midnight, maybe drifitng off at 2 or 3 AM, and finally I was a zombie again.

I remember the days of morning shows beginning at 6AM, which gave me an outside shot at feeling OK. But then, of course they crept back to 5:30 - gotta get that jump on the competition - and now most start at 5 freakin' o'clock! I did that for three long months once and it was a disaster.

I just don't know how morning guys do it.

Even though AM Drive is where the action and big money is, I don't think I ever wanna do it again.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Nick Seneca

The same physical effects you describe also apply to those who've done overnights. The big difference is overnights pays a LOT less (if a live shift even exists at a station).

I do AM drive fill in frequently and I concur with your experience. Sometimes my on-air partner will nod off at the console, but somehow manages to awaken just in time for the break and sounds like nothing ever happened.

 

[Nick Seneca]

Surprisingly, overnights have always been easier for me than AM Drive. About six years ago, I was working overnights 1A - 5A and did just fine. Crazy, huh? Physiologically, I guess I'm just a "night person."

I'd also be interested in hearing from people successfully working AM Drive and how they deal with the inhuman hours.

Nick Seneca

 

[MikeSmithWNYR]

I've been doing AM drive continuously now for 17 years, plus other stints giving me over 20 years at it. I guess I just got used to it, as I really don't consider myself a "morning person". It does help that our morning show doesn't officially start until 6 - I voice track the 5-6 hour. Coffee is my friend for sure. I guess I like doing it enough that it makes up for that 2-in-the-afternoon sleepy time.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I truly enjoyed working the early morning shift. Getting up at 3 am and arriving to work around 4 didn't bother me. Even though some days were hectic, it was nice to arrive before the office opened, plus I worked with some real professionals and great people like Gary Smith, Tim Kincaid, Jerry Warner, just to name a few.

Another nice advantage was being able to go home after the noon news and having the rest of the day to myself.

Those were some pleasant years for me, which I admit I do miss from time-to-time.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

What's up with this board?! Another thought-provoking topic on the table, thanks in large part to our west coast correspondent.

Morning drive is brutal. Perhaps this is why the morning guys and ladies get the big bucks... to say nothing of the value the advertising community places on morning drive. (If PPM studies are any indication, there may be inordinate value on the daypart.)

Despite the premium salary and revenue, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown" of morning drive maven, physiologically, psychologiocally, literally and figuratively. Morning drive can easily suck the life out of people. Even those who thrive on getting up while the remainder of the community sleeps have to change their daily routines, relying on afternoon naps or going to sleep especially early the night before.

There have been studies that document the toll the disruption of a person's critically important circadian rhythm takes on shift workers, doctors and nurses, firemen and cops who work unusual hours. The disruption of these life cycles can have a profound negative effect on the human body and brain. In some cases, it can be likened to sleep deprivation methods devised to break prisoners of war.

There's a certain pleasure that can be taken from beginning the day in the absolute quiet of a new day, especially in the summer and spring. Clearm starlit skies, walking to a warm car... Getting up at 3:30 a.m. in the middle of December in Buffalo or Rochester is another story. Yes, there's some hard-to-define thrill in getting the jump on the world when there are two feet of snow on the ground and you know your services are going to be needed by those who will turn on the radio a few hours later in need of reassurance, but the thrill wanes rapidly around 10 a.m.

I've done morning drive only as a fill-in for the regular "stars of the station." It takes a few days to get into the rhythm of the shift, and subsequently a few more days of adjustment to get back to normal sleep patterns after filling-in. I'll offer this, it's probably harder to fill-in for the morning drive person.

It could be worse. Like many people, while in high school and college, I worked on the line at a plant and rotated through shifts: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m., 3 - 11 and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Anytime you get p*ssed off about radio, think about the guys and ladies working rotating shifts "on the line." There's a dose of reality.

 

[Bob1370]

Mark Giardina makes a good point. The people you're working with make a significant difference in how well you deal with the oddball hours of a morning drive shift. If you're part of a good team with good chemistry and camaraderie, you'll get through the physical effects of working awful hours quite well.

I think I was lucky at the two stations, one in Rochester and one in Buffalo, where I handled morning drive news.

Over at WAXC, Dan Collins was fun and kept things light and upbeat.

At WBEN, I was surrounded by consummate pros--Jeff Kaye, the late Jack Ogilvie, Lou Douglas and traffic reporters Debbie Stamp and Pat McMahon. They made everything seamless and easy--and encouraged me to do my best. A totally positive atmosphere and experience.

And Mark, you're right about having the whole day from 1 PM onward to do what you want...that's also an advantage.

Of course, there's also a lot to be said for doing a show in the middle of the day surrounded by all the activity and life of the station and the city (not to mention a return to normal sleeping habits), as I've been doing for the last 20 years. But there are a lot of aspects of morning drive work I look back on with fondness. I agree with Mark--it's not so much the shift itself, as important as it is to a station's success...it's the people you share the morning drive experience with, that make it memorable.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Morning drive is brutal. Perhaps this is why the morning guys and ladies get the big bucks.

Where was I when those big bucks were being passed out ??? I guess newscasters didn't get the memo about high salaries.

But despite the money, or lack there of, I still loved morning drive because for one reason I managed to avoid the office politics.

 

[cee]

I did mornings - once - for about a year at a certain suburban station in WNY...a long, long time ago. I was young and like many 20 somethings, liked to go out at nights with my friends. I will never forget the first day of work, when the clock went off around 5am - I have never before or since known such misery. I'm a night person by nature, but eventually I learned to tolerate getting up early. Then they put me on nights.

I got paid mostly in ego - or should I say the opportunity to pretend that I was competing with the big boys(and a good way to impress girls I would meet in bars). I wasn't their competition and soon realized that. I would estimate there were many days when my GM, PD and a few others were my only listeners. We had to have a friend of the station listen to other stations for school closings, because the schools wouldn't even bother to call us.

I worked with some real professionals and great people

I can imagine that would really get you pumped, especially on a monday or whenever one comes to work hungover from the night before. In my case, I either worked alone or with rookie newspeople who didn't know you were supposed to use either "alleged" or "allegedly" when describing the crime an arrested person has been charged with. It's also tough to keep your morale up when you have to explain to your newsperson that the letter "c" in the word "indicted" is silent.

Well, it's years later now and now these horror stories make for good storytelling

 

[Mark Giardina]

In my case, I either worked alone or with rookie newspeople who didn't know you were supposed to use either "alleged" or "allegedly" when describing the crime an arrested person has been charged with. It's also tough to keep your morale up when you have to explain to your newsperson that the letter "c" in the word "indicted" is silent.

I've known more newscasters who have convicted people by not using the word alleged in their copy than Jack McCoy has on TV's ' Law and Order.'

 

[Shadow Catcher]

I've had morning drive on and off in my career. I'm currently doing middays but still after a couple of years will wake up in a panic at 5am thinking I've over slept. Mornings are a lot easier at 25 than over 40.

 

[Nick Seneca]

Mark Giardina makes a good point. The people you're working with make a significant difference in how well you deal with the oddball hours of a morning drive shift. If you're part of a good team with good chemistry and camaraderie, you'll get through the physical effects of working awful hours quite well.

Yes, that may be so. Now that I think of it, every morning drive opportunity I've had was either in a smaller market, or at a lower-tier station in a large market. In every case, I was alone in the building, with, at most, an outsourced person doing traffic/news. Being part of a team and something larger may have contributed to a "sense of purpose" and helped me cope a little better.

Nevertheless, several months ago, a friend who does AM Drive talk on a major station invited me to become his associate producer (hi-falutin' word for "call screener"). It would've been with a team of about 6 people. It sounded like fun and I was kinda interested, but then he mentioned that he wanted everyone there by 4AM to prep for the 5AM start!

I turned it down immediately.

Nick Seneca

 

[alw]

I have had the pleasure of being morning man 3 (count 'em, 3) times.
As I recall, the only thing that sucked worse than the hours was the show itself.

No sleep, too much coffee, people expecting me to actually be entertaining at that ungodly time of day.......it was a disaster.
Oh and by the way, the memo about premium morning pay got lost in the mailroom.

Like Nick, I always felt better about evenings or all-nite.
That way I could screw things up all I wanted and it was all heard by less people.

Also, the callers were far more interesting at 4am than they were at 8:30am.
(nudge, nudge, wink, wink.....etc.)

 

[jfc40ts]

Take a number and stand in line. I'm not in radio but I've worked in TV for 34 years. The last 17 of which have been on the early morning shift (now 4:30-1). Granted, it's nice to be the only one on the 190 on my way into work and also that I get out in the early afternoon and can get things done during "normal business hours". HOWEVER, being half dead on my feet for different times during the day sucks as well as having the bedtime of a 3rd grader. Of course, in my case it doesn't help that during hockey season I have a part time job at the Sabres games and on those days, I get to have the priviledge of 3 hours of sleep before my next day begins...

Even rotating shifts is a problem. Years ago, I had a job at a transmitter site and whenever I worked overnights, I sometimes found myself nodding off while on the 400. Definitely not a good thing...

I think it's worse in the situation of a jock where one must wear a smile even on the worst of days. I sympathize with anyone who can do it and not suffer any effects...

 

[JimMcGrath]

Nick Seneca wrote:
"The same physical effects you describe also apply to those who've done overnights. The big difference is overnights pays a LOT less (if a live shift even exists at a station)."


Having worked overnights for about 15 years total at WXXI AM I agree with this statement. The one good thing about overnights is you work the "anti 9 to 5" job - 9PM to 5AM and if you're lucky your whole day can revolve to adjust to living in the overnight and not trying to straddle days and nights. I think that would be the key to any odd hours. One advantage to overnights is you have the late afternoon and evening to do stuff. One disadvantage is that you're still drinking when everyone else is passed out.
Jim

 

[Bob LaBlah]

Healthy Diet and Exercise along with Passion for the Show can carry lots of energy - till that massive wall appears Thursday morning about 9:20 ;D

 

[Brother Bear]

After 25+ years Morning Drivin' it, I can tell you the two things I know for certain ...
1) Morning drivers are BORN, not MADE. You either function well when the alarm goes off at 3:15 or you don't ... Construction workers have much tougher jobs and get up just as early, and not everyone can do what they do, either.

2) Take a 60 to 90 minute nap between 1:30 and 3ish, and be in bed by 10. Zero nightlife during the week, but if you want to hit with the Big Boys you've got to be fresh.

There's no shame in never adapting to the hours. They AREN'T natural, nor are they healthy so you have to make exceptions. I'm in my 40's, work with great people at an up and coming station in a great market. If I couldn't do Mornings, I'd be driving a dump truck.

One more piece of Bear advice ... NEVER take for granted what you're doing in radio, or act like the business owes you something. It doesn't, and you may be canned tomorrow. Soak up the days like magical waters my friends.

 

[Kent]

Morning drive and evenings are my two least favorite shifts. I've had much the same experience with morning drive that you describe, Nick. However, the flip side of that is that I've never done it as a regular shift. I have, though, done fill-ins on it that have seemed unending! I've found that I never got used to it; I just got better at it. I also found that eating healthy went right out the window with working morning drive. It just seemed like the rest of the schedule was conducive to fast food and high calorie diets, and I found the same situation with working evenings. I've lost almost 50 pounds since I left full-time radio. The one plus to working mornings was getting up at the ungodly time of 4:20 earned me almost cult figure status among some of the pot smoking listeners!

I have to agree that overnights, while not my first choice of a shift, is easier for me than mornings. I was usually asleep when my friends were at work; I was at work when they were asleep. It made getting together and socializing much easier, though weekends could be a little bit of a pain. One time while working overnights, I had a girlfriend with a young daughter (1st grade). She loved how there was no need for daycare when school was in session and very limited daycare was needed when school was out. All things considered, I always found overnights to be at least decent so long as it was my regular shift rather than a fill-in. I've told the story of one of my unplanned overnight fill-ins several times on these boards and won't tell it this time.

That brings me to my next least favorite shift, which is usually the step up from overnights. I hate working evenings with a passion! While the schedule is probably the most in-synch with my natural sleep cycle, I've lost my friends, my relationships and almost every other aspect of my social life every time I've worked that schedule. You just can't get together with anyone. Also, good eating habits were difficult to practice. While nights worked well with my sleep cycle, they never have worked with my stomach. I usually had to eat around work rather than when I wanted to eat, unless I chose to eat out of the microwave.

 

[Radknowski]

Oh for the days of going to the Brick Bar and strolling home with the Courier just in time for breakfast, turning on WPHD or QFM97 and falling asleep listening to the morning show.

Interesting observations, especially from guys who worked 7-midnight and the all night show... when there actually WERE 7-midnight and all night shows! Best shifts for me on music radio stations were 10 pm to 2 pm (when there were shifts like that) and 10 am to 3 pm. Them was the days. It was a lot easier cueing up 45s and LPs than putting up 100 feet of drywall.

 

[Kal]

Did mornings once for a year at 1440.

Nothing like driving from Tonawanda to Downtown Niagara Falls in the dead of the night, when our "brothers in blue" were bored and sleepy, too!

I agree Al ...

...the callers were far more interesting at 4am than they were at 8:30am.
(nudge, nudge, wink, wink.....etc.)

BUT, I had to call a certain owner and wake her up every morning ... she was always pleasant enough but that's enough to scare the PD/morning man every morning! 'Good Morning, Mrs. T.!' and hope I didn't get fired on the phone! LOL

Nick, great topic! The midday naps were never long enough and that was 30 years ago!

Kal