-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Why do Radio Stations need a Program Director/Manager...etc
- Thread starter Leebo65
- Start date
Leebo65 said:
As Fred mentioned, the GM almost always comes from a sales background and knows
very little about programming. Engineers, in general, lack the people skills.
I'm not sure what you mean by "producer." The production manager, like the GM,
is usually firmly rooted in sales. Same for the traffic manager.
Leebo65 said:
To me, that's the redundant position. My experience has been that it's a relatively new position, too. I don't remember any station I've worked for at a small cluster ever having an OM. It's the larger clusters that have tended to do that. His job is to basically discourage bad behavior among the individual PD's, or so it seems. He coordinates the PD's to make sure stations in large clusters don't cannibalize each other, or at least that's what the clusters I've worked for with OM's seem to have them do.
Seems like with Clear Channel now turning local stations to clones, what is the point of many manager positions? KKMY Beaumont, KSOF Fresno, KTSM-FM El Paso, KGBX-FM Fresno, for example, share the same playlist (i.e. each playing Wilson Phillips/"Hold On" Sunday afternoon around 3:40PM local time, followed by Madonna/"Cherish", followed by John Mayer/"Waiting for the World to Change", and so on). WRIT Milwaukee, KLOU St Louis, and KHLX Sacramento are among the oldies/classic hits stations running the same nationalized playlist. The have a at least a half dozen top 40s doing the same thing as well. Do these outlets still have music directors when the songs and order is done by someone else out of town?
Programming functions include "macro" duties--format & positioning decisions--and "micro" duties--researching, selecting & scheduling and/or producing music and other elements.
Does someone have to do all this? Sure--it doesn't happen by itself.
Does one person have to be able to perform all of these duties? Depends on the person--or the people--involved. There are so many variables--market size, cluster size, individual abilities, et cetera, that there really is no "one size fits all" answer.
But I did learn one thing early on: the "macro" decisions have to be right before the "micro" decisions make any difference at all. (Terrific music or other content & its production have no impact if the station is in the wrong format for the market & the facility).
Case in point: LA's "Movin' 93.9"...
Does someone have to do all this? Sure--it doesn't happen by itself.
Does one person have to be able to perform all of these duties? Depends on the person--or the people--involved. There are so many variables--market size, cluster size, individual abilities, et cetera, that there really is no "one size fits all" answer.
But I did learn one thing early on: the "macro" decisions have to be right before the "micro" decisions make any difference at all. (Terrific music or other content & its production have no impact if the station is in the wrong format for the market & the facility).
Case in point: LA's "Movin' 93.9"...
B
bigmikesa
Guest
Simple Answer Operation managers have to have somone to blame all the screw up's on and a patsy to fire when the S@#T hits the fan. no other reason than that.
Job Titles in radio can be very fluid, very flexible. There is no FEDERAL REGULATION that spells out the duties of a Program Director vs. an Operations Manager vs. Production Manager. You will not find a verse in the Bible that spells out the narrow and restricted duties of any of these job titles.
Here is my observation through the years: Traditional titles were passed out, often times without any attached authority or responsibility, just so the station would look good in the Broadcasting Year Book back in the old days. Some owners or managers were kind enough to give you a great sounding job title so it would look impressive on your resume through the years.
Adding to what AMFMXM already posted, too often our business has been so busy "putting out fires" that we didn't take the time to separate the macro from the micro, and we never recognized how important some of the big details and minor details are in produced a solid, lasting product.
The cliche: "Everybody's Business.... is Nobody's Business. " If the task, the detail is not assigned to someone in their job description, it may not get done, it may not get done RIGHT.
Here is my observation through the years: Traditional titles were passed out, often times without any attached authority or responsibility, just so the station would look good in the Broadcasting Year Book back in the old days. Some owners or managers were kind enough to give you a great sounding job title so it would look impressive on your resume through the years.
Adding to what AMFMXM already posted, too often our business has been so busy "putting out fires" that we didn't take the time to separate the macro from the micro, and we never recognized how important some of the big details and minor details are in produced a solid, lasting product.
The cliche: "Everybody's Business.... is Nobody's Business. " If the task, the detail is not assigned to someone in their job description, it may not get done, it may not get done RIGHT.
- Status