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Welcome to my shoes

Z

za-rex

Guest
I have been reading this board for years but never registered or posted because I always felt what I had to say would sound like sour grapes and at times it would have. Not anymore though so it's time to jump in. About me? Talent? Yes I'd say I do have some. I'm no dynamic morning man although I'm probably the type of air personality who would contribute well as part of a morning team. But I never got the kind of acceptance I wanted. It's partly my fault. I'm no politician. I'm no networker. I always foolishly deluded myself into thinking your work speaks for itself. Here's my aircheck. If you like it you'll call but don't expect me to hound you. There was actually a time when PDs would take stock in who is on the air at other stations in the area and actually contact someone about a job even if it was a weekender. Well I was wrong. That really isn't how it works. I haven't made enemies but I haven't gone out of my way to schmooze either. Now look at the landscape. You know what? I'm one of the lucky ones. I was never one of the chosen few to try to make a career for myself in this once-exciting market. I think part of it was I never really had enough ego and just looked at radio a craft I had to work to perfect. Not here. I really did try. Now I hate to say it but every time I read about someone losing his job there's a dark side in me that laughs. Now you schmoozers and show bizzy types see the relative importance of yourselves in the total scheme of things. Recognizable names are gone and more are going to disappear and I can breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not one of the ones faced with what's coming: the potential job loss, the possibility of not having anywhere local to go, the decision to pull up roots and move to another market where the situation isn't any better, the plain and simple fact that in spite of all the hoopla you've led yourselves to believe life and radio goes on without you. If I had to do things over again I hate to say I wouldn't change because it isn't my nature but now I can post here with a clear head knowing if a Providence radio job fell in my lap out of the blue tomorrow it wouldn't even impress me considering the state of the market and some of the people in it. And yes I'm giving in to the dark side and laughing. Even those few who are pulling numbers and worth keeping for the advertising dollars would be cut in a heartbeat if the stations could figure out a way to do it without losing money and listeners. Don't kid yourself. No one in charge is in it to provide compelling radio and it's going to get worse in Providence. Everyone is just trying to hang on to the listeners they have because the audience that's out there isn't about to switch loyalties to another station at this point. Now it's just a matter of figuring out ways to get your station mentioned over another in the diaries and the PPM will bring some surprises, but of course that's two years away and some on the air aren't even going to last that long. Sorry for the rant. It's out of my system. I don't wish unemployment on anyone despite the fact that no one was there for me to provide support. I'm just telling it like it is.
 
Interesting viewpoint, the sad part of the state of radio and the lack of personality has been created by the greedy corporations that grew out of control during the deregulation act of 1996. The cost cutting, hence "personality" cutting, has been forced down to local G.M.s by the greedy bastards that are just trying to pay the enormous notes they have incurred. People like you tend to blame the Barbara Haynes, and Jim Corwins for the voicetracking that's is now the norm, when in reality their hands are tied, and are forced to cut a quarter, or half a million from their budget every October. The result is a bland product on the air, unlike the legendary personalities that were recognized this week at the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame. If you heard the audio of this kind of professional, you would give your dream everything you have to attain the kind of success they established.
 
As Steely Dan sang, "Where DID you get those shoes?"

za-rex said:
No one in charge is in it to provide compelling radio and it's going to get worse in Providence.
Click to expand...

AMEN, though not just in Providence. What you're hearing -- and NOT-hearing -- here is sadly typical.

Thus the value of trying harder. With most stations mailing-it-in and burning-the-furniture, ANY effort to connect-with the listener, to engage them, will be conspicuous.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com
 
I sold and managed in Providence for a number of years – for individual owners to corporations and in-between’s. Due to many business dynamics there is as much talent on the beach these days as in the stations. I became a casualty - and to lightly paraphrase one of my former PD’s - a “radio has-been” in one day. I was one of many GM’s asked to operate via addition by subtraction. Then it became my turn.

Business - like life - has various stages of growth, momentum, and maintenance. I had the privilege of reaching the maintenance stage in my radio career. At that point, it’s about reinvention - going north or south. IMO that’s where radio is today. It’s still a great medium. Know where you are and where the radio business is - manage, learn, and adjust yourself accordingly. Real talent can never be taken away or downsized. The game may change but keep the ball in your hands. All of us with a passion for radio need to look back for inspiration and forward for motivation.
 
Yes I'm sure the awards banquet was very inspirational. Paul and Al have worked hard to get where they are. The others claimed their fame during a different era in radio. Let's see what the future holds but I'm willing to bet you won't see future inductees coming out of any group that got into radio post 1990.

Anybody see the piece on the millennials on 60 Minutes last night? They're Gen Y and they could care less. They want what they want and they'll walk if you don't give it to them. Here are some clips if you'd care to watch them: http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/113/millennials

Try to court this bunch as listeners. Not gonna happen in Providence. No one here has the programming expertise to do it and nobody on the air is saying anything to hold their interest. Now you may say their age range ends in the late 20s so no one is actively after just this group but what about the future as they age? Their attitudes won't change and the attitudes of their children will be even worse. To them a radio is as archaic as a typewriter. It will get worse.

But forget about them as listeners. What about them as potential future radio people? It won't happen. It isn't an industry they can control. They would find they can't call their own shots and would get nothing out of it from a creative standpoint. The future talent pool is made up of people who need a temporary fix of fame. When they get nothing out of that fix they'll bolt and no one will care. The times they are a-changin'. Radio people have always been at the mercy of those calling the shots whether the guy controlling your future is in the same building or Texas. Gradually those remotely qualified for a hall of fame mention will leave on their own or be forced out. They will be replaced by people who will come and go when it's contract renewal time and listeners won't care because all but the older demos will have tuned out long ago.

Hope my shoes fit you.
 
I'm convinced that if radio suddenly ceased to exist tomorrow, the world would take all of 5 minutes to adjust. You can get all your news in an instant from the internet. You can download your favorite tunes to an ipod. You can burn music onto a CD to play in your car. Technology has made radio less relevant than ever. Without talk programming Radio truly would be dead. Talk is the only format that can't be replaced by a home computer.
 
That letter is just scary !!! It's like a Twilight Zone episode. Is there any hope that the newest owners of these "For Sale" conglomerates will reinvest some money into them for "live" talent, that will bring back the "local content" that made these stations great 15 years ago?
 
RE "It's like a Twilight Zone episode."

Seekonk Sally said:
Is there any hope that the newest owners of these "For Sale" conglomerates will reinvest some money into them for "live" talent, that will bring back the "local content" that made these stations great 15 years ago?
Click to expand...

Admittedly, I'm being optimistic, but I think it is MORE likely that debt-laden big owners will sell-off the bottom 1/3 of their station portfolios, and a new generation of "mom-and-pop" owners will snap 'em up at bargain prices. Then -- NOT crippled-by-debt -- they can do solid local radio again. Fingers crossed...
 
Yes, times are tough right now in radio. For awhile (whenever I was asked to speak to kids in high school or college) I was reticent to encourage young people to consider this for a career. How could you recommend something when you didn't know what direction the industry would take 30 years down the road? Or even 5 years for that matter? But then I realized it's not about the medium, it's about the content. If you can create compelling content, you'll have a job in this business because no matter how much corporations downsize or use syndication they have to have something local and it has to be good content. Stations that totally bypass local programming are the ons who have pretty much raised the white flag and you wouldn't want to work there anyway. Stations that have competent management always hire people who can create good content -- a good newscast, news stories, sports stories, engaging talk or personality to catch someone's ear between songs. Radio ratings in decline? Yes, but the internet is growing and at some point will catch up to make up any drop in radio audience. Smart stations hire people who can create content for both -- does it matter if someone heard your story on the radio or downloaded it onto their IPod so they could listen on their way home from work? If you can create content, you will find work in this business. Things are still shaking out but I believe everything goes full circle. Corporations will sell off stations and the buyers will see that syndication isn't bringing in the ratings. Those stations will combine their radio and internet usage to attract people and advertisers and will need to hire people who create compelling radio.

And as an FYI -- I speak as someone who worked in Providence, got forced out to work in a much smaller market and now work in one of the larger markets in the country, making a good living. I can be done!
 
Just finished reading Chris Core's piece. Sad, but true. I think WMAL has also upped its daytime power to remain a competitor.Think they're now 10 kW days...
 
What about the schmooze/networking topic in the original post? It will only go so far. It may work best when it just comes to meeting people you wouldn't normally meet but I don't believe it will actually get you a prime job. It might keep your name in the forefront for a weekender amd keep you tuned in to any gigs available you might not otherwise hear of. Meeting other radio people is important but not if it gets to the point where you're always trying to get attention. The worst of it is when it does work for someone who would normally not stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting hired otherwise. Oh and I don't consider myspace networking on any serious level.
 
"Admittedly, I'm being optimistic, but I think it is MORE likely that debt-laden big owners will sell-off the bottom 1/3 of their station portfolios, and a new generation of "mom-and-pop" owners will snap 'em up at bargain prices. Then -- NOT crippled-by-debt -- they can do solid local radio again. Fingers crossed..."

I hope, Mr Cooke, that you're correct to some degree...but where are these local owners going to come from? Their financial advisers are going to look at the balance sheets at some of these places, and tell their clients to run, not walk, away from some of the deals that a Clear Channel or a Radio One might propose.

I've worked for local owners and start up corporations and have been consolidated out of my last two gigs, when ownership changed or when ownership decided it was time to start cutting salaries..local ownership might bring some localism to morning or afternoon drive, but that may be about it..
 
Re: RE "It's like a Twilight Zone episode."

From Holland Cooke:
Admittedly, I'm being optimistic, but I think it is MORE likely that debt-laden big owners will sell-off the bottom 1/3 of their station portfolios, and a new generation of "mom-and-pop" owners will snap 'em up at bargain prices. Then -- NOT crippled-by-debt -- they can do solid local radio again. Fingers crossed...

If your prophecy does come to pass (PLEASE LORD!!!)......and we end up with a few more players in this market, I just hope they turn out to be a lot more like Roger Bouchard, instead of the Karam Brothers, and Peter Arpin. ;)
 
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