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Things I have learned

M

musicman720

I am officially out of the radio world if you want to call it that. I am much younger than most people probably on this board but I do have a few words for those interested.

I left Atlanta in 2003 to go to college and follow my dream, which was to be on the radio. I worked the past 7 years (4 while in college) in radio in Jacksonville, Florida to Fayetteville, Arkansas back to Jacksonville before finally hanging it up.

I wish local radio and the big corporate guys would let things go back like they were years ago. I heard so many stories of how things were and how the industry was before the big guys came in and started making budget cuts along with tight playlist.

I remember my first day shift was filling in for the midday person for the station and the "all request lunch hour" was a fake. I played what a listener wanted to hear and the program director about lost it when it wasn't on our playlist. I remember telling him well it is our all request lunch hour and he replied " only for the songs on our playlist"

Here are some fun observations I have made since coming back to Atlanta and listening after being gone for 7 years....B985 is still the official listen while you work radio station and they still have big 80s weekends! 99x is no longer found on the dial @ 99.7 but now at 97.9 ...I guess they are like the big ten (12 teams) or big 12 (10 teams) in college football no identity. The Regular Guys are on 100.5 talking about the same stuff they did on 96 rock when I was in high school (still good and funny). My favorite morning show Steve and Vikki are no longer a team, and the Bert Show is dominating the morning show world for q100. Peach 949 is history thanks to clearchannel....Rhubarb is gone and Randy and Spiff are back together on his old spot on the dial. Mara Davis still has the best lunch hour show from Z93 to Dave FM, and I am surprised WSB 750 has not invested in an FM dial with falling ratings.

I know a bunch of rambling but I thought wow so much has changed in 7 years and some not so much.
 
Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.
 
musicman720 said:
I remember my first day shift was filling in for the midday person for the station and the "all request lunch hour" was a fake. I played what a listener wanted to hear and the program director about lost it when it wasn't on our playlist. I remember telling him well it is our all request lunch hour and he replied "only for the songs on our playlist"...
Click to expand...

The old "radio station request" concept has lost its relevance for the most part, thanks to the Internet.

So is it any wonder why many stations continue to shove an "all request lunch hour" down our throats?
 
musicman720 said:
I am officially out of the radio world if you want to call it that. I am much younger than most people probably on this board but I do have a few words for those interested.

I left Atlanta in 2003 to go to college and follow my dream, which was to be on the radio. I worked the past 7 years (4 while in college) in radio in Jacksonville, Florida to Fayetteville, Arkansas back to Jacksonville before finally hanging it up.

I wish local radio and the big corporate guys would let things go back like they were years ago. I heard so many stories of how things were and how the industry was before the big guys came in and started making budget cuts along with tight playlist.

I remember my first day shift was filling in for the midday person for the station and the "all request lunch hour" was a fake. I played what a listener wanted to hear and the program director about lost it when it wasn't on our playlist. I remember telling him well it is our all request lunch hour and he replied " only for the songs on our playlist"

Here are some fun observations I have made since coming back to Atlanta and listening after being gone for 7 years....B985 is still the official listen while you work radio station and they still have big 80s weekends! 99x is no longer found on the dial @ 99.7 but now at 97.9 ...I guess they are like the big ten (12 teams) or big 12 (10 teams) in college football no identity. The Regular Guys are on 100.5 talking about the same stuff they did on 96 rock when I was in high school (still good and funny). My favorite morning show Steve and Vikki are no longer a team, and the Bert Show is dominating the morning show world for q100. Peach 949 is history thanks to clearchannel....Rhubarb is gone and Randy and Spiff are back together on his old spot on the dial. Mara Davis still has the best lunch hour show from Z93 to Dave FM, and I am surprised WSB 750 has not invested in an FM dial with falling ratings.

I know a bunch of rambling but I thought wow so much has changed in 7 years and some not so much.
Click to expand...


Man, I feel your pain. I remember getting literally screamed at by a station manager because I played a requested song during a request hour that wasn't on the playlist. :p
 
I spent a bunch o' years in the industry and now I'm out. It was fun while it lasted but I'm much more relaxed an happy now. Looking back, I wonder why I waited so long to make the change. ???
 
quadraphonic said:
You always hope things will get better. Usually, they don't.
Click to expand...

Lots and lots of "other duties as assigned" these days. If you are not in a position where you have the freedom to spread out you are just as well off not being in the bidness.
 
I went off the "approved Christmas playlist" in 1990 and was feeling pretty good about finding a cool Beach Boys Christmas LP until Brian Wilson (or was it Mike Love?) concluded the song by saying, "The Beach Boys wish you a happy 1986!"

Sometimes the boss knows what he's talking about.
 
musicman720 said:
I wish local radio and the big corporate guys would let things go back like they were years ago. I heard so many stories of how things were and how the industry was before the big guys came in and started making budget cuts along with tight playlist.
Click to expand...

It's all fiction.

I'm a few years older than you, and I can tell you the motivation from ownership has always been to cut budgets and playlists.My introduction to tight playlists that I could not control came when I was 17. My first job came because I could do combo, which meant the station didn't need an engineer during my shift. Way to save a salary. In my second job, I was taught the concept of zero-based budgets. In other words, how to start from no budget, and build up, rather than the other way around. In my third job, I myself was hit by a budget cut. My fourth job was a chance to see how unions can screw their members. That was a painful education. Finally by my fifth job, I realized I had to take care of #1: Me. Because no one else is looking out for you.

The other thing you need to accept: Things are not going back "like they were years ago." Regardless of the mythology you've been told, the deal changer happened when the internet replaced top-down media, and everyone had access to an audience. No need for transmitters or printing presses. No need for towers, licenses, or regulations. You have something to say? Say it. Once that happened, there's no going back.

There are still lots of jobs in radio, but you need to know a whole lot more than just one facet of the business. Broadcasters are looking for multiple platform communicators, who know how to write, speak, shoot and edit video, and entertain. That's the job. Can you do it? Prove it.
 
CompleteGame said:
I went off the "approved Christmas playlist" in 1990 and was feeling pretty good about finding a cool Beach Boys Christmas LP until Brian Wilson (or was it Mike Love?) concluded the song by saying, "The Beach Boys wish you a happy 1986!"
Click to expand...

BACK TO THE FUTURE! :D
 
TheBigA said:
It's all fiction.

I'm a few years older than you, and I can tell you the motivation from ownership has always been to cut budgets and playlists.My introduction to tight playlists that I could not control came when I was 17. My first job came because I could do combo, which meant the station didn't need an engineer during my shift. Way to save a salary. In my second job, I was taught the concept of zero-based budgets. In other words, how to start from no budget, and build up, rather than the other way around. In my third job, I myself was hit by a budget cut. My fourth job was a chance to see how unions can screw their members. That was a painful education. Finally by my fifth job, I realized I had to take care of #1: Me. Because no one else is looking out for you.

The other thing you need to accept: Things are not going back "like they were years ago." Regardless of the mythology you've been told, the deal changer happened when the internet replaced top-down media, and everyone had access to an audience. No need for transmitters or printing presses. No need for towers, licenses, or regulations. You have something to say? Say it. Once that happened, there's no going back.

There are still lots of jobs in radio, but you need to know a whole lot more than just one facet of the business. Broadcasters are looking for multiple platform communicators, who know how to write, speak, shoot and edit video, and entertain. That's the job. Can you do it? Prove it.
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
yes things will never be the way they were on radio in ATL when i rode in on I-75 21 years ago, listening to mike roberts and rockin' robin roberts on the V-103 morning show. but, being an optimist here, i do believe many things ARE better, including the number of radio stations here has like quadrupled since then. also, outside of smooth jazz and truly soft AC, you have every format there is, from hard rock to Churban. yes, a live and local DJ is not likely to pop out at you in the off-peak hours, but i think i can live with that.
 
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