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When Was The Last Time Radio Was Actually "Fun" For You?
- Thread starter BobOnTheJob
- Start date
KyDXIn said:Bruce was unlike other pirates. I've heard he kept his parrot in a very unusual place.Tired-Old-Dog said:
All readers of Radio Info know Bruce was to cheap to import a real parrot. He had
a talking crow at his pirate station instead. This is 'true. He's my friend. But,
sometimes I'd like to tell him where to put the bird too.
Old dog and KYDX, I don't have a bird anymore. But, I do have a new dog. Her name is Lucy.
She is a 120 pound rotwieler.
She is in the backyard of the station practicing announcing right now. As soon as I finish our
new studio, I am going to have fun in radio again. But, first I have to fix up some equipment.
Where did I put the duct tape?
She is a 120 pound rotwieler.
She is in the backyard of the station practicing announcing right now. As soon as I finish our
new studio, I am going to have fun in radio again. But, first I have to fix up some equipment.
Where did I put the duct tape?
The last time radio was "fun" for me? Last week's show.
I do a specialty music show at a community-run station, as I've been doing for the last 17 years.
Deeply enjoyable because I pick the music, I structure the sets, I choose what to talk about in the talk breaks, and I figure out where to put the promos and underwriting so they won't kill the momentum of my show.
It's enjoyable to me because I enjoy the content. It's not necessarily related to the technology in the studio.
I remember records having their first few seconds destroyed by repeated cueings, cart decks that needed cleaning every few hours, and phone interfaces that wouldn't work right if Alexander Graham Bell himself hit them with a shoe. I do miss all of that, but for purely nostalgia reasons; I wouldn't go back to any of that today.
Nowadays, my music is 95% from CDs (mostly custom CD-Rs) and 5% from vinyl (yes, we have two working Technics 1200s in the studio, with their own sliders on the board). The promos/IDs are all on a hard drive, which is far more reliable and convenient than cart decks - especially for my 300+ custom IDs. No mp3s for me - they sound like crap in the studio, and our FM processing is gentle enough so that they still sound like crap after going out over the air. (Actual CDs and records sound great, though.) Hopefully, the next generation of hardware will include something with a remote-triggerable USB port, so I can load up a memory stick or portable hard drive with music at home, bring it down to the station and play it through the board.
I'm a big fan of the left end of the dial, as you might imagine. I'm glad I don't rely on the radio business for income - it really wasn't that much fun when I did get paid (late '80s CHR), and it looks like a whole lot less fun today.
I do a specialty music show at a community-run station, as I've been doing for the last 17 years.
Deeply enjoyable because I pick the music, I structure the sets, I choose what to talk about in the talk breaks, and I figure out where to put the promos and underwriting so they won't kill the momentum of my show.
It's enjoyable to me because I enjoy the content. It's not necessarily related to the technology in the studio.
I remember records having their first few seconds destroyed by repeated cueings, cart decks that needed cleaning every few hours, and phone interfaces that wouldn't work right if Alexander Graham Bell himself hit them with a shoe. I do miss all of that, but for purely nostalgia reasons; I wouldn't go back to any of that today.
Nowadays, my music is 95% from CDs (mostly custom CD-Rs) and 5% from vinyl (yes, we have two working Technics 1200s in the studio, with their own sliders on the board). The promos/IDs are all on a hard drive, which is far more reliable and convenient than cart decks - especially for my 300+ custom IDs. No mp3s for me - they sound like crap in the studio, and our FM processing is gentle enough so that they still sound like crap after going out over the air. (Actual CDs and records sound great, though.) Hopefully, the next generation of hardware will include something with a remote-triggerable USB port, so I can load up a memory stick or portable hard drive with music at home, bring it down to the station and play it through the board.
I'm a big fan of the left end of the dial, as you might imagine. I'm glad I don't rely on the radio business for income - it really wasn't that much fun when I did get paid (late '80s CHR), and it looks like a whole lot less fun today.
Don't know if this is restricted to Indiana residents but the last time I had fun on the overnights (Yes I did like overnights) was the last night before I was taken off the air at a staff meeting (with no warning I might add). This was a premature showing of management's idea for that time slot. The decision was made on bad information about FCC rules at the time from the head engineer and was rescinded less than a week later but it was considerably less fun from then on. And later the hammer finally dropped.BobOnTheJob said:
PS You should pose this question other places on the site. It should get many responses
Good day. Radio is fun for me every Saturday morning when I switch the station from robot to "LIVE" and I play music from the roots of rock 'n roll, the 50's and 60's for 3 hours. I've been doing it since September of 2007 and I'm still having fun. Apparently my listeners like it too. In all the time I've been on the air, only ONE person has ever complained and he has also complained about the other talents on the station as well. Anyway, I try to make my program sound like radio from the "good old days" when you were hired for your personality, not your ability to voice-track. It's time to bring fun back to radio.
Doing your last show from the under the top of the microwave tower (my brain's been fried, since) and giving away a "KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND" album library at dusk! Crazy promotions at the DuQuoin State Fair in Illinois...
Using Frank Zappa bits for liners at a wild CHR station.... (Is that a real poncho, or a Sears poncho?)....Calling myself "Cool-Lo-Gringo" everynight in El Paso (I don't think Uncle Charlie could speak Spanish in those days)..... Finding out the tower just came down in a straight wind storm! Trying to tell the owner that when her hole-lee coaxial blew off the tower in a storm, the one bay spare element nailed to a wooden post, eight feet off the ground could not be hooked up to a high powered transmitter... But, she said try it... The ENG and I did and took a dinner bet on when or how long it would take for the metal and coaxial to catch fire and melt.... He said two minutes and I said between 45 and 60 seconds... "49 seconds and POOOOOOOOF!" Laughing with a fire retardant nosal spraying it down! "Did we not rub Ivory dish soap on the coaxial last week to show the holes in the line???" Some owners never got it!
Using Frank Zappa bits for liners at a wild CHR station.... (Is that a real poncho, or a Sears poncho?)....Calling myself "Cool-Lo-Gringo" everynight in El Paso (I don't think Uncle Charlie could speak Spanish in those days)..... Finding out the tower just came down in a straight wind storm! Trying to tell the owner that when her hole-lee coaxial blew off the tower in a storm, the one bay spare element nailed to a wooden post, eight feet off the ground could not be hooked up to a high powered transmitter... But, she said try it... The ENG and I did and took a dinner bet on when or how long it would take for the metal and coaxial to catch fire and melt.... He said two minutes and I said between 45 and 60 seconds... "49 seconds and POOOOOOOOF!" Laughing with a fire retardant nosal spraying it down! "Did we not rub Ivory dish soap on the coaxial last week to show the holes in the line???" Some owners never got it!
Radio was fun for me from 1974 until 1985..when I worked at WROI Rochester and WRSW in Warsaw (both Indiana). The first 11 years of my broadcast career were a blast. The last 14 years not so much....(corporate greed set in) got out of broadcasting in 2001. Radio was the most fun to listen to when John Records Landecker, Tommy Edwards, Steve King, Fred Winston and ol' Uncle Lar were ruling the airwaves at WLS-Chicago. If radio would go back to the days of the 70's (talent wise) radio may survive Satellite radio,Ipods and the Internet and Iphone.
Today. I guess I'm lucky. After all these years, every day on the air is still fun.
YOU ARE BLESSED! ;D
YOU ARE BLESSED! ;D
I see a trend here...those who are on the air & doing live shifts are still having fun...Bravo! My most "fun" times were behind a microphone, but my greatest satisfaction comes from the engineering side...it's all good. I've been blessed beyond my fondest hopes...
There has never been a time in my life where I received more happiness on a day-to-day basis than when I was working in radio. While I admit, like everyone else, I had my fair share of trying moments, every day had moments that made me happy. While I don't really miss having to get up at 3 in the morning on a cold Winter's day and drive through 4 feet of snow to get the tower turned back on, I truly miss being behind the microphone and behind the programming desk. I even miss being at the station nearly 24 hours a day for 6 days straight trying to do a format change.
But, to succinctly answer your question, the last time I truly had fun in radio was on April 4, 2008. That was my last day.
But, to succinctly answer your question, the last time I truly had fun in radio was on April 4, 2008. That was my last day.
The last time radio was fun for me was June 30, 2003. That was Love 98 WXIR's last day. There were a variety of feelings for me on that day. I had started May 26, 1980, anticipating FCC approval of the purchase of WART Plainfield. Gary Arnold, GM, hired me to be Program Director of this new contemporary Christian FM station for Indianapolis.
I enjoyed the whole time I was at Love 98. Like anywhere else, we're all human beings and some days weren't as good as others but that's life. The part I enjoyed the MOST of my time at Love 98 was engineering the very format that started the station...hot clocks, selecting the music, coaching on-air people, the whole nine yards. For the first 2 1/2 years, I was the only full-timer in the program/production dept. All other on-air people were part-timers!
With a family to support I HAD to go into sales in 1991 and remained there the rest of my time at Love 98. I found it easy to sell Love 98 just because I HAD BEEN on the air so long & I knew our listeners. I'd still do fill-in work on the air for Steve White when he was on vacation (morning drive) & I REALLY enjoyed being back on the air just for that brief one week period once in awhile!
I enjoyed the whole time I was at Love 98. Like anywhere else, we're all human beings and some days weren't as good as others but that's life. The part I enjoyed the MOST of my time at Love 98 was engineering the very format that started the station...hot clocks, selecting the music, coaching on-air people, the whole nine yards. For the first 2 1/2 years, I was the only full-timer in the program/production dept. All other on-air people were part-timers!
With a family to support I HAD to go into sales in 1991 and remained there the rest of my time at Love 98. I found it easy to sell Love 98 just because I HAD BEEN on the air so long & I knew our listeners. I'd still do fill-in work on the air for Steve White when he was on vacation (morning drive) & I REALLY enjoyed being back on the air just for that brief one week period once in awhile!
bigtime said:
I remember a few years back Howard appearing on Letterman. I was excited because they usually had some very entertaining exchanges. However, he spent most of the time touting his jump to satellite. I know celebs go on those shows to promote their latest and greatest, but this time Howard seemed like an informercial. He even had a satellite radio and demonstrated its function to the audience.
Stern became the very thing he lambasted on his own radio show years back.
Maybe, I'm getting old. But sex should be behind closed doors, not
on the air. I feel disgust towards what Stern and his copycats have
brought to radio. I could barf on any receiver playing his show.
His attitude about women is most revolting.
Indiana rejected him when he was on the air here. This is a good
reason to be proud of Indiana.
This kind of radio took the fun out of it for me.
on the air. I feel disgust towards what Stern and his copycats have
brought to radio. I could barf on any receiver playing his show.
His attitude about women is most revolting.
Indiana rejected him when he was on the air here. This is a good
reason to be proud of Indiana.
This kind of radio took the fun out of it for me.
Flying-Dutchman said:
I agree. Stern could be pretty intelligent and even FUNNY, like he often was on Dave's show and other places. Keyword "could".
Most times, though, he played to the lowest common denominator. The "show-me-your-fill-in-the-blank" schtick got old fast, and not just in Indiana.
That was another thing that bothered me about that appearance. He kept griping about his show being pulled from various markets. As pointed out with the lack of listener pull to satellite, it probably just wasn't the suits who were making that decision.
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