Why stay in Radio?

[First-time-long-time]

Why would anyone want to stay in radio as a career today? The money is very poor for the most part with the exception of some managers, top sales people, good engineers and owners. Stability is almost nonexistent with downsizing, consolidations and stations being sold. More tasks are being piled on remaining employees. Morale is at all time lows at many stations and turnover is high. Many I know are leaving, looking or retiring. The apparent bitterness and disenchantment of many who post on the various radio boards seem to be a reflection of the current climate.

I never owned a radio station but can understand trying to save your investment as an owner. I wish I had the answer, if I did I would become a consultant and make a bundle, but I don’t see any short term improvement and no crystal ball for the long term of radio. I’m well into my fourth decade of sales and management and radio has been good to me, but I had enough. My wish for radio is for more new, fresh, innovative owners, good caring management, strong local air talent that are not micro managed, and good profits.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Why would anyone want to stay in radio as a career today?

If empathy can flow through the Internet, you should have had a warm, fuzzy feeling during the noon hour, Eastern, Friday. I wrestled with that issue a number of years ago, and at the time, for me, getting out weighed more than staying in. For me it was a painful, emotional decision.

In something of a Social Security funded middle-age style crisis, I have wanted BACK IN, and I face the inverse question: Why would anyone want to get back into radio as a career today? Or in my case, Why would anyone want to get back into radio as a mild amusement?

I have read a lot of threads related to your question. Live and Local would fix everything. Yeah, right!!! Let people actually be people when they are on the air. Uhhhh, O-kayyyy!!! All of us can name six or eight basic ingredients that probably belong in the recipe for winning radio. But there are people in the business smart enough to have tried our recipe and the results do not have lines of advertisers and listeners standing in long lines outside our "restaurant" of tasty listening.

Here is the ingredient I don't hear people defining, the one that many will find so bland, desirable but so unessential. Organic Connection into Community. I'm not sure how you implement this factor in large metro markets, particularly if you are in the bottom half of 30 or 40 stations. I packed up my family and moved and moved and moved in radio. We had confidence that somewhere was this community where because we were part of the radio station we would become people who were fixtures in a community somewhere. A few years back it would have been said: GRC has everybody in this town on his Rolodex. Today maybe it would be my cellphone speed-dial.

I worked for some owners/managers who were connected and some who were strangers in their own town.

Whether it was walking around the Circle in Indy.... or down Texas Boulevard in some county seat, being able to walk down the sidewalk and know that your were connected meant something to a radio person. To have people come up and ask for suggestion on how to get their project off the ground and gain community support meant something to a radio person. To bump into a newly minted U. S. Senator Richard Lugar and for him to know who you were and thank you for supporting some project (not support of his political campaign) but a community project he and others knew was important, meant something to a radio person.

How many radio people can expect that kind of community connection today? More importantly, how many communities have any inkling that a radio station could be and should be connected. Is radio no more connected to community than is the crew staying at the motel for two weeks while they peddle a Yellow Pages book before they move on.

Here is what may be the ultimate negative for broadcasting today: Radio is no longer a valuable community resource. Radio is just one more of those damnable corporations that want to stick one more of those ugly towers in my back yard. Can't they bury those things the way the fiber-optics people do?

Are we past the days when an on-air person could draw a crowd for a sock-hop at a high school? Are we past the day when a Fred Heckman can rush down to a civic club following the Noon news and share that news with the people gathered for lunch? Are we past the day when you get a call from someone who says: We have this city-wide project that is going to be possible because Lilly Endowment has come through with some funding. Would you serve on the board, please? Are we past the day when a radio person could actually answer: Yes, I can make time available for that.

Talk about "Dream the Impossible Dream"!

 

[DouglasB]

Why would anyone want to stay in radio as a career today?

I didn't. The moment it ceased being fun, I left and started a second career. I learned to use my talents to succeed in another arena. Do I miss he fun? You bet. Do I miss working 8-day weeks for less and less money? Not hardly. You can talk all the gloom and doom you want, but you have to remember that it takes real courage to stand up and believe in your industry. Those people are out there and we need to encourage them and support them. Years ago Ted Turner (of CNN fame) owned WGOW in Chattanooga TN. I interview for a job there. After the interview, the PD took me down the hall to meet Mr. Turner. He was a firecracker even then. The thing I remember most about the visit was as I left, I saw a sign above his door. It said: “Lead, follow, or get the F**k out of the way”. That phrase has relevance here. Piss and moan all you want, but that is not a substitute for courage and ideas.

BTW – Goat Rodeo Cowboy – you get my email??

 

[The Crazy Man Woody Pena]

THE REASON WHY RADIO WILL ALWAYS BE MY TRUE LOVE!!!!!

I do it simply for the love of it...I take pride in everything I do, as for my listeners...I'm NOTHING without them! It's because of my fans I do this...I've done this for the past 14 years and I'm still not finished! You'll hear me back on the airwaves...if not, your CD player! One Love and Much Funkiness!!!!

Still 5150!
-The Crazy Man Woody Pena

 

[DouglasB]

Re: THE REASON WHY RADIO WILL ALWAYS BE MY TRUE LOVE!!!!!

I do it simply for the love of it...

You the man!

 

[ChiefEngineer]

Being connected to the community is what it is all about for me. Since I don't get paid to be in radio, and haven't for almost 10 years, this thread has some relevance.

My wife has often said that we could be living in Florida and goofing off all the time instead of being here and investing our time and talents in Non Commercial Radio.

I often saw many in my field who would warn up and comers and high school groups NOT to get into radio. They have DARE officers to keep kids off drugs.

Social workers are paid less than radio people. Most of them have degrees. They place a great deal of ugly in their lives for...what? Radio is the same concept. If you're in it only for moeny you are in the wrong business. If you are in the field to make a difference then okay.

Much has been said about Godcasters and that's it's own topic. Having a "mission" (Blues Borothers "on a mission from God") is the only reason radio is relevant for me. I don't play Aerosmith or Skynard anymore on teh radio. While I enjoyed that (personal satisfaction) I never had the deep connection and shared love with listeners I have now.

Being able to help young people and talk to many who feel no one cares about them because their parents don't. Some may have been discarded or worse fallen into the prison system. (We get letters from the Pendleton prison regularly.) Our hearts go out to the kids at the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors home ready to leave a secure place where they have been trreated well into foster care.

I regularly meet with Godly men (and women) who love me, and I love them. And get out of the gutter, they aren't groupies. This connection helps with the no pay and keeps my mission going forward.

Radio is about connecting. Regardless of radio, life is about connecting. We can continue to do this on the internet, through personal contact, etc.

If you place your value in a temporal thing this is where your profit or loss will be. Used to say. "In teh long run...." and I was corrected by a noted economist. "In the long run we all die." Make the msot of the short time here. Blessings.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

There may be more cut-backs today because of the economy and the ability to secure programming via satellite, automation or related sources rather than live personalities. However, that separation between management and on-the-air performers isn't really new especially at the larger stations. Certainly, the pay has never been comparable to most other jobs. To me, staying in radio in some form or other is about the love for it. You either have it in your blood or you don't. Actually, you have to have it in order to put up with the frustrations and other happenings and then be able to go on the air and sound as though nothing has happened.

 

[lapland]

Every single one of us who can afford to stay in radio do because we love it. I grew up with a parent who hated going to work everyday, and I said I would never have that kind of a career. I was a stay-at-home Mom for ten years and got back into the business seven years ago. I was terrified. The last radio station I worked for in the 90's was an indendent, family owned place...I was still playing carts and CD's, and splicing tape. I was coming back to Prophet and computer editing and production, and The "Business of Radio"- cluster's owned by corporation's.

I am thankful everyday that I took a leap of faith and got back into the career that I love. In the morning, I say to my co-workers "it's another glorious day in radio-land" and I mean it. These days, we take it one day at a time, as we watch friends being escorted out the door. It will be me one day that is asked to leave as job elimination makes it to my cubicle, but I've always said I will ride this as long as I can. When it's over, I'll find a job that I hope I enjoy half as much.

One question though, why are so many college graduates majoring in broadcasting if it's becoming obsolete? The college's in our area with broadcasting degree's are creating more classes, and the broadcasting vo-tech schooll is signing them up daily!

 

[Shelloutfalter]

One question though, why are so many college graduates majoring in broadcasting if it's becoming obsolete? The college's in our area with broadcasting degree's are creating more classes, and the broadcasting vo-tech schooll is signing them up daily!

Because kids don't know what's really out there, and the school is happy to take their money. Kids are more in love with the idea of "being on the radio" and don't know what it actually takes to get a living-wage job. A full-time career in music radio is a pipe dream, reserved for the lucky and the elite. I love radio with every ounce of my being, and am glad I still have my career. But I wouldn't advise a youngster, who wants to be the next hot jock, to pursue radio. Any kids I come into contact with who want to get into radio, I tell them to polish their skillset, learn as much as they can about the news and information element of it, and consider TV and other forms of media.

That's not intended to take a dig at radio, because radio is amazing, but there just aren't the positions out there for music jocks to make a living from. We live in tough times right now, and with consolidation and syndication being the norm for survival, good jock gigs are disappearing by the day.

 

[radioho]

Why would anyone want to stay in radio as a career today? The money is very poor for the most part with the exception of some managers, top sales people, good engineers and owners. Stability is almost nonexistent with downsizing, consolidations and stations being sold. More tasks are being piled on remaining employees. Morale is at all time lows at many stations and turnover is high. Many I know are leaving, looking or retiring. The apparent bitterness and disenchantment of many who post on the various radio boards seem to be a reflection of the current climate.

You're talking about every major industry in the country. Radio seems worse because we participate in it. It's no worse than any other corporate America business. One of the only fields you don't have this problem is medical - everyone gets sick, but not everyone HAS to advertise on radio, tv, print.

Just because there aren't anymore 'gimme' jobs for lazy people to sit and stare at a mixing console for 4-hour shifts doesn't mean this business isn't still fun, profitable, and the best in the world to be involved in. Be creative and understand the hand-outs have stopped. You actually have to WORK for it now and be able to do more than push sliders and read liners.

Just take pride in your work and be better than the next guy.

Or go out and sell it so you can create jobs for others.

 

[voicetrack]

For most of my career, the answer was "Why not?"

I never made a ton of money. Heck, most of the time I was lucky to get by. A time or two, I even took on a 2nd job so that I could afford to stay in this thing of ours.

But damn, did I have a lot of fun! I like to borrow a line from Tony Soprano, "I came in at the end of a good thing." When I got into the bidness in the early 80s, radio was still an important part of peoples lives. When there was breaking news or weather, you turned on the radio. If you wanted to hear new music, you turned on the radio.

I remember when my Music Director told me about this cool new way to get music by downloading it from the internet. You could get just about any song you wanted in an under an hour. What an incredible advance in technology. ;D I also remember saying at the time, "When this catches on, we're in trouble. Who is going to sit around for 2 or 3 hours waiting for us to play their request when they can download it in an hour and play it whenever they want?" Today you can download a song quicker than you can get a live voice to answer the request line...

For 25 years, I moved myself (and later my family) all over the country chasing my mistress. 10 years ago, I landed back in my hometown. I said I wouldnt move for a radio gig again, unless it was just too good to turn down. Of course, the "perfect" gig came along, and we were off to the other side of the country again. After that, I said I'd never move for a radio gig again, unless it was to work for a good friend. One day a buddy called and said, "Come live at the beach." So we exchanged the high desert of New Mexico for the coast of Carolina.

The moment I got here, I felt like I was home. Before long, the wife and I decided we never wanted to move again. Even if it meant one, or both of us changing careers, we were staying.

About a year later, the gig turned sour as they all too often do. The leftover taste was so bad that I decided I never wanted to see the inside of another radio station. I had a home studio, so I hung out a shingle. The clients I picked up werent major, but they all paid pretty regularly. I was working from home, so I worked when I wanted to.

The best part was that I never had to deal with General Managers, Sales Managers, salesfolks, or a radio stations clients. Most of the time, I dealt with just 1 person. And I hardly ever got copy revisions from stations who paid me by the spot. ;D

But you know, after about a year of that I realized that I just didnt have a passion for it anymore. I dropped my clients as our agreements expired. I'm down to just 1 now. Theyre a fun client, and I get to do quirky stuff with them. Like dubbing English over Japanese anime' porn. Hentai, anyone?

I'm out of the daily grind, and I'm fine with that. Todays radio is not the buisness I ever wanted to be in. So instead of b*tching, and hoping, and wishing things could be the way they used to be, I accept that my time in radio has passed. I took a fulltime job outside the industry in a pretty secure field. I have a retirement account. I work regular hours. And I have a lot of great memories that I wouldnt trade for anything.

 

[redneckriviera]

Why would anyone want to stay in radio as a career today? The money is very poor for the most part with the exception of some managers, top sales people, good engineers and owners. Stability is almost nonexistent with downsizing, consolidations and stations being sold. More tasks are being piled on remaining employees. Morale is at all time lows at many stations and turnover is high. Many I know are leaving, looking or retiring. The apparent bitterness and disenchantment of many who post on the various radio boards seem to be a reflection of the current climate.

I never owned a radio station but can understand trying to save your investment as an owner. I wish I had the answer, if I did I would become a consultant and make a bundle, but I don’t see any short term improvement and no crystal ball for the long term of radio. I’m well into my fourth decade of sales and management and radio has been good to me, but I had enough. My wish for radio is for more new, fresh, innovative owners, good caring management, strong local air talent that are not micro managed, and good profits.

Pardon me for saying so, FTLT, but this is an odd post.

You state that you are in your 4th decade of sales and management and radio has been good to you--yet you don't see why other people should find it to be good for them. Huh?

You state that "The money is very poor for the most part with the exception of some managers, top sales people, good engineers and owners." So the money IS good for some managers (the good ones), top sales people (the ones who can sell), plus engineers & owners. I'd add that the money is also good for talented on-air people (not the ones without talent) and smart, trustworthy office people (we pay our Business Managers about the same as our top jocks). And we treat our traffic & billing person like she was gold (because she is).

I've got a couple years on you--I'm in my 5th decade of sales and management--and radio has been & continues to be very good to me, too. I look around at the stations and clusters in our company and those of competitors and see a whole bunch of people my age and slightly younger--mid-40s to mid-60s--and see tremendous opportunities for people in their 20s and 30s. We've gone out of our way to hire talented young people and have been very proactive in pointing out the obvious--that all of us older people at the top are going to be retiring within a few years... and that our jobs are VERY good jobs! Someone will have to fill them...

I've noted on these boards in other threads that radio continues to have the kind of reach--more than 90 percent--that other media (like online media, for instance) would kill to have. Radio's ownership model may be screwed up, temporarily, but our operational model is still extremely healthy.

I run a gaggle of stations in very small towns, way out in the woods, and make a healthy 6-figure income. Not many of these gigs growing on trees in any industry... but someone will take my place. Someone will replace you, too, in just a few years.

And that's a damn good reason for someone to stay in radio.

 

[kd8hho]

I wouldnt mind a job in radio. been around some sort of radio device all my life.

but it would have to pay the bills. lol

 

[amfmxm]

As far as the money goes, let's try to keep things in proper perspective.

The median annual earnings in the U.S. is $37,000. That's not the "average"--averages get thrown off by LeBron James and Howard Stern--it's the mean... half of all workers earn above $37K and half earn below that.

The median Household Income--and most have two fulltime earners--is about $50,000 a year.

Most radio salespeople who stick with it for more than a year or two earn more than the typical American worker, and those who make it a career earn more than the typical American household (by themselves). Small town jocks with a least a little bit of talent earn somewhere close to the norm, and talented air people earn significantly more than most households (by themselves).

Radio is, and has always been, a great working environment for achievement-driven people. There are always challenges, and if one is capable of meeting those challenges--solving problems--they can make a great living. More than that, it is extremely satisfying work--for those who successfully meet the challenges.

Conversely, radio is a terrible working environment for people who just want to show up everyday, give their jobs very little thought, and expect their earnings to grow by virtue of longevity. There are many, many other types of "work" for those folks, but radio is not one of them.

But I see radio entering a very interesting, very challenging period. Out of chaos comes opportunity. What a great place and time for an achievement-driven person!

 

[N_D_Radioguy]

Because kids don't know what's really out there, and the school is happy to take their money. Kids are more in love with the idea of "being on the radio" and don't know what it actually takes to get a living-wage job.

Nice try, but colleges don't teach Radio anymore and haven't for about 15 years.

 

[NHRadio]

Re: THE REASON WHY RADIO WILL ALWAYS BE MY TRUE LOVE!!!!!

Absolutely. For all of radio's negatives I still love going to work. Few of my non-broadcaster friends can say that.

I do it simply for the love of it...

You the man!

 

[RadioBroadcaster]

Because kids don't know what's really out there, and the school is happy to take their money. Kids are more in love with the idea of "being on the radio" and don't know what it actually takes to get a living-wage job.



Nice try, but colleges don't teach Radio anymore and haven't for about 15 years.

I graduated seven years ago, and they're still teaching it._________________________________________________

 

[NHRadio]

Yes, they do. I teach broadcasting part time at a private NH college.

Nice try, but colleges don't teach Radio anymore and haven't for about 15 years

 

[N_D_Radioguy]

Correction:

None of the REAL schools is teaching radio.

 

[radioho]

Yes, they do. I teach broadcasting part time at a private NH college.

Nice try, but colleges don't teach Radio anymore and haven't for about 15 years

What did they teach you? How to talk with a really, really deep voice when you read the liner intros into songs?