Top 5 On-air Jock Pet Peeves

[troone]

1) Time & Temp outside of morning drive.... "Hey, gang, its 1:40! Thats 40 after 1 and 20 'til 2! 78 beautiful degrees as I look down on the Target paking lot!" Gary Mckee is kind of famous for this. Yes, if I'm late to work, I need to know what time it is. If I'm at home at night, I really don't.

2) Who's coming in next.... "Hey, gang, its 140! So, I've got another 80 minutes and then it's Kevin o'Brien to take you til 7! It would usually be Steve Mitchell, but he's on vacation!" Unless you work for CC and you're explaining that there's a lineup change b/c someone got canned, it's really unnecessary to get into all of that.

3 Calling your audience by a pet name... "Hey, kids, its Charles Henry here all night long." I can almost live with 'gang', but 'kids' or 'peeps', etc is strictly bush league.

4) Asking me how I'm doing... "Hey, its Jordan Graye. How are ya?" Just awful. Do they even do that in Macon anymore? As if a soccer mom by the pool is going to blurt out: "I'm having a wonderful day, Jordan!"

5) Bulls***ing about going to a concert or an upcoming album release. "Kenny Loggins is coming to Chastain next Tuesday. Boy, he always puts on a great show!" or "I hear Phil Collins is working on a new record. Can't wait to hear that. We'll keep you posted!" I can almost swallow this at 93 or 99 or a station where music is taken somewhat seriously, but I've just got a hard time believing that Steve Mitchell is REALLY going to go see Rascal Flatts or that "Val Whoever at 94.9" is breathlessly waiting for Rod Stewart's new album of standards.

Feel free to add on. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot.

 

[Keith_Lake]

I agree with most of the examples you cited.

But if you were PD Of The World, what would you have them say? I mean,
they have to say SOMETHING when they open the mike. Or should we just ditch all
the DJs and do the Jack format?

I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut the ones you heard were reading them
from a 3 X 5 index card. We are in an era (error?) of announcers who wouldn't have a clue what to say when the mike is on if there's no 3 X 5 card or live-assist automation to prop them up.

Where will the next Jean Shepherd or Paul Harvey come from? Are there any announcers left who know how to truly COMMUNICATE with the audience? Talking TO the listener one-on-one rather than AT them as a faceless mass is becoming a lost art. It's a sad state of affairs for sure but I don't see it improving any time soon.

KL

<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a><P ID="signature">______________
</P>

 

[WhatYes]

One of my pet peeves is with Television meteorologists (and sometimes radio ones, too) who say "Currently it's 78 in Griffin, 77 in Stone Mountain, 80 in Rome, 79 in Carroll county and 77 in downtown." Do we really care that there's a whole 3 degrees difference throughout the entire listening area? Why not just say it's in the upper 70's in the metro area right now? I think it's an excuse to add a few precious seconds of airtime to a meteorologist's limited on-air presentation. And there are some local southside radio stations where I KNOW for a fact they're making it up when they say "It's 70 in Newnan, 68 in Carrollton and 69 in LaGrange". Again, who cares that it's within 2 degrees of each other in the area? Just let me know if a tornado is on its way.....

 

[ricksegers]

How about "It's 92 degrees outside"...Great, now what's the temp inside?

Rick

 

[jjjohnson]

I can understand doing that if the temperature is within a degree or two of the freezing mark and precipitation is expected. I can even go along with saying it for extremes. For instance: it is 1 below right now in Podunk and 106 in Macon. (Macon is always a hell hole.) I agree though, one or two degrees when it is in the 70's makes no difference whatsoever. Wasn't it George Carlin who said..."Its_ degrees at the airport. Who the hell lives at the airport?"


> One of my pet peeves is with Television meteorologists (and
> sometimes radio ones, too) who say "Currently it's 78 in
> Griffin, 77 in Stone Mountain, 80 in Rome, 79 in Carroll
> county and 77 in downtown." Do we really care that there's
> a whole 3 degrees difference throughout the entire listening
> area?

 

[Ward]

> How about "It's 92 degrees outside"...Great, now what's the
> temp inside?
>
> Rick
>
Did it EVER occur to any of you radio "experts" (and I use the term loosely) that what counts is what the AVERAGE, RUN-OF-THE-MILL, LISTENERS like? Now, if you all consider yourselves average, run-of-the-mill and the like, then maybe YOU are why radio sucks. Just my opinion...ought to be yours!

 

[romer979fm]

>
> 3 Calling your audience by a pet name... "Hey, kids, its
> Charles Henry here all night long." I can almost live with
> 'gang', but 'kids' or 'peeps', etc is strictly bush league.
>
Treating your audience as anything other than ONE person, and making
them feel you're talking WITH them only is RULE #1.
If you're not doing that, the rest doesn't matter.
IMHO, of course<P ID="signature">______________
you're not a lawyer, are you?</P>

 

[romer979fm]

> One of my pet peeves is with Television meteorologists (and
> sometimes radio ones, too) who say "Currently it's 78 in
> Griffin, 77 in Stone Mountain, 80 in Rome, 79 in Carroll
> county and 77 in downtown." Do we really care that there's
> a whole 3 degrees difference throughout the entire listening
> area? Why not just say it's in the upper 70's in the metro
> area right now? I think it's an excuse to add a few
> precious seconds of airtime to a meteorologist's limited
> on-air presentation. And there are some local southside
> radio stations where I KNOW for a fact they're making it up
> when they say "It's 70 in Newnan, 68 in Carrollton and 69 in
> LaGrange". Again, who cares that it's within 2 degrees of
> each other in the area? Just let me know if a tornado is on
> its way.....
>

No, it's another old trick to let your listener think you're
paying attention to their part of the world. Just a harmless ego stroke...<P ID="signature">______________
you're not a lawyer, are you?</P>

 

[Michael]

We'll Be Right Back After This.....

I once worked for a PD who didn't like the phrase "when we(I) come back"
or, "I'll tell you why you should eat more possum on the other side of the break" He thought it was stupid to say that you'll be back, when really, you weren't going anywhere.
He also wanted the airstaff to use first names only. Thought it sounded more personal.
I guess that's why they call it pet peeves. It's just dumb stuff that bothers Tom but not Dick or Harry.

 

[MrBlutarsky]

Re: We'll Be Right Back After This.....

> I once worked for a PD who didn't like the phrase "when
> we(I) come back"
> or, "I'll tell you why you should eat more possum on the
> other side of the break" He thought it was stupid to say
> that you'll be back, when really, you weren't going
> anywhere.
> He also wanted the airstaff to use first names only. Thought
> it sounded more personal.
> I guess that's why they call it pet peeves. It's just dumb
> stuff that bothers Tom but not Dick or Harry.
>

Ok, so... you're PD didn't see the value in telling the listener why they would want to keep listening... or, at the very least, why they'd want to sample their other "favorite" station and come right back...

Yeah, that makes sense. Afterall, nobody ever asked, "why did the chicken cross the road," or "If a tree falls in the woods, did it make a noise?"
or any other intelligent questions that may have sparked a good conversation.

Smart guy... ;-)

 

[Fake_User_Name]

Can't Resist

1: 'Tomorrow morning at 10AM'. Morning is AM, and AM is morning.

2: 'Dubba-U XXX'. It's 'Double-You'.

 

[lightyear1]

Re: Can't Resist

> 1: 'Tomorrow morning at 10AM'. Morning is AM, and AM is
> morning.
>
> 2: 'Dubba-U XXX'. It's 'Double-You'.
>
My absolute favorite is "broadcasting live." Have you ever heard anyone "broadcast dead?" You can either be broadcasting or be live but you cannot do both. Yet, just about every station and personality misuses this misnomer. Stamp out and eradicate superfluous redundancy.

 

[WhatYes]

Re: Can't Resist

> Stamp out and eradicate superfluous redundancy.
>
LMAO! Nicely and well done! You are to be laudably commended!

 

[RTibbs02]

B.S. product endorsements. Beau Bock from the Zone must have the worst cars in the world. In the last 6 weeks Gracie Pagies and his cars have all had difficulties with warning lights that of xcourse warrented a trip to Aamco. I expect his next ad to say I was borrowing my neghbors car when the warning light went off. Does he think I really believe that all his cars are pieces of junk.

I don't believe him worth of anything. Or enough of those Bosch Powerbox ads. I don't care if I can drop my cd player down a flight of stairs.

 

[gonzo69]

Ding Ding Ding!

> B.S. product endorsements. Beau Bock from the Zone must have
> the worst cars in the world. In the last 6 weeks Gracie
> Pagies and his cars have all had difficulties with warning
> lights that of xcourse warrented a trip to Aamco. I expect
> his next ad to say I was borrowing my neghbors car when the
> warning light went off. Does he think I really believe that
> all his cars are pieces of junk.

Those spots have been bugging the S*** out of me lately as well. Just endorse the freaking product Beau-----dont make up some convoluted story.
<P ID="signature">______________
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised</P>

 

[tlyle]

Re: Can't Resist

> > 1: 'Tomorrow morning at 10AM'. Morning is AM, and AM is
> > morning.
> >
> > 2: 'Dubba-U XXX'. It's 'Double-You'.
> >
> My absolute favorite is "broadcasting live." Have you ever
> heard anyone "broadcast dead?" You can either be
> broadcasting or be live but you cannot do both. Yet, just
> about every station and personality misuses this misnomer.
> Stamp out and eradicate superfluous redundancy.
>
Another one is broadcasting live when you have a 7 second dump delay to dump a caller.

 

[kevin364]

> >
> Did it EVER occur to any of you radio "experts" (and I use
> the term loosely) that what counts is what the AVERAGE,
> RUN-OF-THE-MILL, LISTENERS like? Now, if you all consider
> yourselves average, run-of-the-mill and the like, then maybe
> YOU are why radio sucks. Just my opinion...ought to be
> yours!
>



Ward, I think your being a little too hard on the beaver....<P ID="signature">______________
" All my life I've always had my *#@$ together...Problem is I've never been able to pick it up" (Burt Reynolds "The Longest yard")</P>

 

[Chatham5150]

> >
> > 3 Calling your audience by a pet name... "Hey, kids, its
> > Charles Henry here all night long." I can almost live with
>
> > 'gang', but 'kids' or 'peeps', etc is strictly bush
> league.
> >
> Treating your audience as anything other than ONE person,
> and making
> them feel you're talking WITH them only is RULE #1.
> If you're not doing that, the rest doesn't matter.
> IMHO, of course
>

Amen! I was always taught to talk on the air like I'm only talking to one person and not to use the "kids" or "ladies and gentlemen" type phrases. Some situations make that tough, but that's the rule of thumb I was taught.

MC

 

[kevin364]

Maybe it's just me, but my biggest pet peeve is supporting the station, working hard to build a audience, having good numbers, then being let go because of a trend shift, and management decides to switch formats, and make a change....


But that's just me.<P ID="signature">______________
" All my life I've always had my *#@$ together...Problem is I've never been able to pick it up" (Burt Reynolds "The Longest yard")</P>

 

[russ973]

Re: We'll Be Right Back After This.....

> > I once worked for a PD who didn't like the phrase "when
> > we(I) come back"
> > or, "I'll tell you why you should eat more possum on the
> > other side of the break" He thought it was stupid to say
> > that you'll be back, when really, you weren't going
> > anywhere.
> > He also wanted the airstaff to use first names only.
> Thought
> > it sounded more personal.
> > I guess that's why they call it pet peeves. It's just dumb
>
> > stuff that bothers Tom but not Dick or Harry.
> >
>
> Ok, so... you're PD didn't see the value in telling the
> listener why they would want to keep listening... or, at
> the very least, why they'd want to sample their other
> "favorite" station and come right back...
>
> Yeah, that makes sense. Afterall, nobody ever asked, "why
> did the chicken cross the road," or "If a tree falls in the
> woods, did it make a noise?"
> or any other intelligent questions that may have sparked a
> good conversation.
>
> Smart guy... ;-)
>

I think it's the phrasing. Because you aren't "going" any where. If you make it seem like the commercials aren't part of what you are doing, it gives people even more reason to flip.

A better way to phrase it is: "Next" or "Coming up" or "in minutes"

<P ID="signature">______________
Russ
APD/Middays
97-3 KISS FM (WAEV)
Savannah, GA</P>