Scheduling air talent for a news or sports talk radio station can be difficult. Vacation schedules, comp-time, personal time, sick days and holidays can complicate matters more than most listeners (and even air talent) can imagine. I can sympathize with the perspective of posters who want continuity when they listen, but having played the role of scheduler, regular air talent and fill-in guy, I know first hand that PDs often perform Chinese Algebra when it comes to scheduling, especially when an air staff has been in place for years and accrued vacation time can total four weeks (or more) per person.
Most radio stations employ policies that prohibit air talent from taking vacation during the Spring and Fall rating periods. That's about 24 weeks when no vacation time can be taken. As a result, when the book ends, there's a mad dash for vacation, for which paperwork is submitted months in advance.
Other corporate policies may restrict vacation periods to no longer than one week's duration, which leads to staff members with seniority scheduling their week before or after a holiday to lengthen their vacation week. The 4th of July and Labor Day are favorites of most seasoned jocks and talk hosts, and the time is coveted. Legacy talent know how to "work" the holiday + vacation week scheduling game.
Companies, managers and PDs have been known to require full time personnel to submit vacation requests in January for the entire year, but when a major news or sports story such as a coaching change or big political story breaks, the predetermined vacation schedule is thrown into disarray. I suspect that when the Bills made a coaching change and WGR went wall-to-wall, a situation was created that required the "A" players to work through a weekend and put in many extra hours for which the company offered comp-time off because overtime pay was not an option. Budgets rule.
Seniority and egos sometimes create an interesting scrum, requiring the PD and OM to play referee. It can be a thankless job mediating the "I submitted my paperwork first" or "my mother's visiting that week and I really need it off" or "my wife's vacation week was changed, so I need to change mine" disputes, but that's why PDs and OMs get the big bucks.
It's a double edged sword. Bench players need the playing time in order to stay sharp and improve. And there are some bench players that some listeners actually enjoy as much or more than hearing the "A" players; we're all creatures of habit. Radio (especially talk radio) lends itself to creating and reinforcing habits, whether it's NPR, WGR or WBEN or our favorite hot rockin' boss jock.
