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Trading in the headphones for job security.

T

TurnDaRadioOff

With the way radio had gone the past 10 years it got me thinking of former jocks that just disappeared and got out of the business.

I was wondering if anyone has had any professional run ins with former jocks in the work place.

Former Cat Country morning show cohost Chris Whitten is now a realtor. The reason I know is because I heard his commercial, voiced by him, air on CTK about a week ago. Surprised the brass let him do that.

http://www.chris-whitten.com/

I remember Mike Butts went into the private sector for a while too after he left mornings at ProFM. Think it was financial.

Can you think of anyone else? The way things are going you may be able to meet many former jocks working at your local McDonalds drivethru.
 
At this point people are lucky to even have a job at McDonalds. It's pretty bad out there. I can guarantee you there are thousands and thousands of people that got out of the business simply because it doesn't pay well unless you are Stern, Limbaugh or Imus. Zero security and low pay. I've tried to track down people that I went to Broadcasting school with or who I have worked in the business with. I can't even find any that are still doing it. There was a day that you would laugh at Fast Food workers. Sadly I think their salary and job security has surpassed most people who work in radio. Every Radio corporation lost money last year. However sales at McDonalds are up. Welcome to a harsh new reality. Radio's best days are done!
 
Well when you're married with children I guess you can't fart around and wait for something in radio to come up. Real estate may be an iffy proposition in this economy but Chris also has a deejay business so he has other things going on.
 
Producers are in the same boat (and lets face it, nobody wakes up wanting to be a radio producer... they're usually jocks/hosts in training)

A couple of the more recent guys to leave WPRO are both in the private sector...

Tom Izzo (walking the floor, produced Depetro, etc.) is with Bank of America doing customer service I think.
EJ Kritz (produced Yorke before Matty came back, then Barber, then St. Pierre) is a marketing director for a retail chain.

Tim Stask (formerly of WPRO and WHJJ) said screw it to the on-air side and is now doing web in DC.
 
edradio said:
Tim Stask (formerly of WPRO and WHJJ) said screw it to the on-air side and is now doing web in DC.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if those were my exact words... ;)

As far as trading in the headphones... they're hanging up in my office, but I occassionally take them down... Did some on the spot reporting for about a half-dozen Clear Channel stations from the National Mall on Inauguration Day - including WHJJ up there in Providence. As for handling online and digital media down here at Clear Channel in DC, it's right on the front lines for where radio needs to go to remain competitive and not go the way of the newspaper (Rocky Mountain News, Seattle P-I, etc.) Job security? I'm not sure there is such a thing in this economy...

Nice to know Mike Butts is in my neck of the woods... There's a blast from the past... Maybe I'll try and catch him in the car on a weekend drive out to Ocean City this summer...
 
Yes, you are correct sir I am currently working for Bank of America. If I were a single man sans wife and child maybe I would have stuck it out a bit more and played another few thousand traffic and weather sounders. Feeding the Walking the Floor machine week in and week out became somewhat tedious at the end and I didn't see them throwing me the keys to a time slot. I sleep normal hours now, and pay my bills comfortably.
 
Mike's on ANOTHER "station-that-reaches-the-beaches..."

wknd92 said:
Last heard, Butts was somewhere like Ocean City, gotten married to Beth the Producer and is back on air.
Click to expand...

Mike is doing mornings on http://www.cool1013.com/

He's working for a GREAT company, Delmarva Broadcasting.
And I don't just say that because I work for DBC too.
Unlike The Great Big Companies That Are Messing Radio Up, DBC is:
a) not-choking-on-debt,
b) run by an accomplised PROGRAMMER, and
c) real 'net-savvy.

Independent owners like this -- now wistfully recalled as "Mom and Pop" -- were once the norm, and are now the exception. They're still out there. There are just lots fewer of 'em, after many Moms-and-Pops took The Big Money back when The Big Companies were over-promising to their bankers and Wall Street.

Now, the career dilemma being-discussed-here is REAL.
And here's the good news: The broadcasting skill set can advantage the ex-broadcaster in many other walks-of-life.

If you'll be attending Talkers' New Media Seminar in NYNY (www.talkers.com) first-weekend-in-June (and you SHOULD), try not to take a bathroom/cigarette/check-messages break JUST before the Saturday luncheon, when I present "Life After Radio: Your Personal Plan B."

Happy Easter/Passover,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com
 
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