Why is the radio business so vicious ?

[DickJohnson]

In my lifetime I have worked in..

Radio
Sold popcorn at a movie theater
McDonalds
Gas Station
Pizza Delivery
Worked in construction
FedEX
Life Insurance
Pepsi Bottling Co.

Why is radio the only business that ever sent me home to my family feeling like I just got hit by a truck emotionally ? I have been released or/fired from two other jobs, but I didn't feel like a mentally drained worthless piece of trash walking out of a Dominos Pizza. There is something to be said about putting so much work and so much passion into something, and then one day you have a new boss who sees you as a threat and it was "good bye". The radio I listened to as a kid was all local and wonderfull. By the time I was an adult I was getting a pay check from what was called "Jacor Communications". At the end of the day, I was just a nobody at the bottom of the food chain.

I still love radio. But it will never be the same...

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

When I read the title of your post, before I opened it and read it, I was ready to respond: Yes, it can be a tough business, but tell me another one that isn't.

Then I read your post and my first thought is: Radio is a business that has the possibility of taking you sky-hi, so I guess the trade-off is that it has the ability to take you lower than dirt in some cases.

In working for 15 stations, I guess three of them left me gritting my teeth.

Sounds like you missed out working for some of the more humane operators in the business.

 

[gr8oldies]

I got into radio in 1975. It was cutthroat then and it's cutthroat now. Try talking to angry customers who you have to tell that their insurance check isn't going to be endorsed. I still get angry thinking about that job and I've been gone for a year.

 

[Limp73]

Don't expect to work with nice people in small podunk town radio stations...they can be just as vicious,demeaning,cutthoat and hostile as major market managers. All too many station managers are egocentric and narcissist and want to be the center of attention and treat their lowliest peon announcers like trash. Just because they manage the station doesn't mean they are invincible. WIZE in Springfield in the early/mid 80s comes to mind. That station is now a ghost of what it used to be in the 60s and 70s...all because of bad management decisions from an egocentric jerk!

You are not alone.

 

[Al Timiter]

DickJohnson: I'm truly sorry to hear about your experiences in the radio industry. Unfortunately, nice guys often do finish last in this business. It's a personal business because it's our voice, our delivery, our passion, our love of the craft, etc and when an unscrupulous ass tries to crush you, it can feel devastating. I always tried to be a nice guy and a lot of times it ended up being used against me. Not always, but a lot of times. It seems that the people I encountered were either incredible, stand-up, generous people or just the opposite. Sounds like you met a lot of the "opposites." Don't fret too much. There are still a lot of good people in the world, you're just more likely to meet them in another field, unfortunately.

 

[gr8oldies]

I have met some of the nicest, upstanding people, who would give you the shirt off your back and be an asset to any empolyer in any field in the radio biz. Then there was everybody else!

 

[knowbetter]

Why is radio the only business that ever sent me home to my family feeling like I just got hit by a truck emotionally ?

Because like most of us, you loved what you were doing, and you really cared...

And because broadcasting has habitually had so many lousy managers, and people who really didn't deserve to be managers, who were simply promoted just because... I can't think of any other industry where the most arrogant, egocentric people are running the show, mostly because they walked over everyone to get there...

the sad thing is they usually don't know...but the usual come uppance gets to most of them later too...

keep your chin up, as this too will pass!

 

[DickJohnson]

When we were still living in Buffalo, I remember taking my son to a pool party and they were playing the station I was just released from days before. I had to hear the guys' voice as he was doing the promotion that I had worked quite hard on. He was playing "the cool guy giving out concert tickets". I never wanted to be the "cool guy", I wanted to be real to the listeners. That was torture. I had one of the lifeguards change the channel after about 40 minutes.

For awhile, I think I was spooked to even turn on a radio unless I was listening to a Browns or Indians broadcast. LOL

You guys raise a very good point. I never put on an act. I was connecting with the listeners by being a regular guy. That made it very personal. I loved what I was doing there and at other stations.

 

[lovejamminoldies]

When we were still living in Buffalo, I remember taking my son to a pool party and they were playing the station I was just released from days before. I had to hear the guys' voice as he was doing the promotion that I had worked quite hard on. He was playing "the cool guy giving out concert tickets". I never wanted to be the "cool guy", I wanted to be real to the listeners. That was torture. I had one of the lifeguards change the channel after about 40 minutes.

For awhile, I think I was spooked to even turn on a radio unless I was listening to a Browns or Indians broadcast. LOL

That's how you know it's not just a job anymore, it's life. Taken personal and affects you emotionally.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Back in the day (1980s) when I worked, mostly part-time, at a variety of smaller commercial stations, mostly in the Midwest, I came to the conclusion that the photocopier was treated with more respect than the employees (since the weekend staff usually weren't permitted to use it, you rarely got communication from the weekday staff and management, and constructive feedback on your performance was limited to reading between the lines on notes you saw around the studio).

I've always regretted that one of the things the rush to deregulate the industry did (happy now, boss??) in preventing the FCC from doing anything to ensure that the broadcasting industry would be expected to foster an atmosphere that gave some protections to radio employees (whether announcers, sales, receptionist, etc). It was within the their rights, based on the Communication Act of 1939, to regulate the industry, not just as sales property, but so that the people who worked in it might have a greater chance to enjoy a degree of dignity and stability without having to always watch their backs for some kind of vicious game playing that would affect their careers, and their ability to earn a liveable wage working in radio. It would have made a huge difference for the industry if it was a more stable work environment for more than a few brokers. That, and retaining some sort of ownership limits that didn't turn every market into being controlled by less than a handful of corporate managers who determine who works in the industry, and what the public gets to hear.

If competition is good for free market enterprise (and I don't believe the big corporate types think it is, now that they got their mega-share), then the radio industry needs it badly. Not the kind of cutthroad "death rivalries" that seem to persist between competitors, and give us imitator after imitator of a few music and talk formats. But competition which allows new entities to enter the business, and more than three corporate complexes where one might get a radio job in any given market.

Perhaps the low power and translator explosion is a delayed reaction to the staleness that has reduced the scope and appeal of the ccommercial radio industry (at least as many of us view it). But I fear radio becomes increasingly irrelevant as the FM signals now face more and more interference from other signals in their "secondary" and "fringe" coverage areas. In places with a hilly terrain, it's complicated further by how signals bounce off of hills, etc - not just the usual multipath, but other signals cutting in and out of what you're listening to in a car, when you're still not far from the city of license. Not many people will play with an antenna to get good reception in the house, and fewer will tolerate the level of break up to signals that are beyond 20 miles from a transmitter site now.

I think it all just makes it that much easier for new internet-based media to take over where broadcasting falls short. But a connection with your local commuity may be a thing of the past, replaced by "vitrual" communities-of-interest, where we don't even know the names, much less the faces, of our neighbors.

 

[KR4BD]

When I first got into broadcasting, it was described to me as a "Rat Race" and the ONLY way to get ahead was to BE a RAT. I certainly ran into some of the most egotistical jerks imaginable early on, but at the same time, I have met some truly outstanding people along the way. For the most part, radio NEVER supplied job security nor an adequate means of making a living. We all have different ideas about "making a living". Some are content to live out of their cars, but for me, it was settling down, buying a home, being active in a community, raising kids, etc. Radio could not offer this to me. Still, I liked the business and have worked in it (mostly part-time) while I pursued other career paths which allowed me to achieve most of my goals in life.

More Food for thought: As I neared the end of my four years at the University of Dayton in 1969, armed with two years of on-air experience in that market and a pending BA degree in Communications and Journalism, I decided to attend a local Career Fair in Dayton. One guy I will NEVER forget was the former WING PD named Jerry Kaye (late 60's). He told those of us attending who were interested in making broadcasting their careers, that we had to "pay our dues". His idea of paying dues was to spend about 10 or 20 years in Podunk, USA working for peanuts. After you "paid your dues", he said he might "entertain giving us an interview to work for him", but don't bother him until such a time. I'll NEVER forget that "encouraging" bit of advice.

Conclusion: With today's automation, there are even LESS opportunities to really "make it" in this business.

 

[Al Timiter]

Quote from Goldilocks: It was within the their rights, based on the Communication Act of 1939, to regulate the industry, not just as sales property, but so that the people who worked in it might have a greater chance to enjoy a degree of dignity and stability without having to always watch their backs for some kind of vicious game playing that would affect their careers, and their ability to earn a liveable wage working in radio.

I have to quibble a little bit on that one. The FCC wasn't set up to offer Broadcasting employees a stable, fair or equitable environment. It was set up to regulate the airwaves for the public interest, convenience and necessity. You can research that but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Unions!... that's what looked out for Broadcasters, at least in larger markets. Everybody else, well,...good luck.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

Sold popcorn at a movie theater

So have I, and let me tell you, that is a REALLY vicious, back-stabbing business.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

Sold popcorn at a movie theater

So have I, and let me tell you, that is a REALLY vicious, back-stabbing business.

Which one?  The popcorn business or the movie theater business?  Orville Redenbacher always seemed like such a nice guy, it would make me very sad to hear that the popcorn business is nasty.

Can't help but notice your name...Recently saw a play about the legendary David Sarnoff -- "The Farnsworth Invention" -- and talk about back-stabbing...   It was all about how multi-millionaire Sarnoff, then at NBC radio, underhandedly stole credit for television from Philo Farnsworth, the brilliant young man from Utah who was actually the first to successfully transmit an over-the-air image.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

Sold popcorn at a movie theater

So have I, and let me tell you, that is a REALLY vicious, back-stabbing business.

Which one? The popcorn business or the movie theater business?

Yes.

Can't help but notice your name...Recently saw a play about the legendary David Sarnoff -- "The Farnsworth Invention" -- and talk about back-stabbing... It was all about how multi-millionaire Sarnoff, then at NBC radio, underhandedly stole credit for television from Philo Farnsworth, the brilliant young man from Utah who was actually the first to successfully transmit an over-the-air image.

Lies.

 

[Silkie]

I still think the one up the road from me uses the venue for drugs and theft, which explains some viciousness.