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Your First Central PA Gig

Alan Criswell

Alan Criswell

1/'92 - 5/'93, WRKZ-FM (Hershey/Harrisburg). Part-time, $4.50 per hour.

After six months of weekend shifts, my schedule increased when our night
hostess split. Working two weekend shifts and covering the 6pm-Midnight
slot lasted for a few months, until another female was hired.

Learned quite a bit at that station... how to handle remotes, review diaries,
what to do when rain water takes out the main transmitter, etc.

More Music, Best Variety, Z-107





Alan
 
94' Weekends at "The New Mix 99.3 Harrisburg's Best mix"
Imus in the Morning
Shteady Eddy August
Don and Mike
Jeffry T. Mason
Beast Mashugan aka Jay Beaston aka Wes Shore


Yes I must Give Jeffry T. props for naming me!

Dmitch




> 1/'92 - 5/'93, WRKZ-FM (Hershey/Harrisburg). Part-time,
> $4.50 per hour.
>
> After six months of weekend shifts, my schedule increased
> when our night
> hostess split. Working two weekend shifts and covering the
> 6pm-Midnight
> slot lasted for a few months, until another female was
> hired.
>
> Learned quite a bit at that station... how to handle
> remotes, review diaries,
> what to do when rain water takes out the main transmitter,
> etc.
>
> More Music, Best Variety, Z-107
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan
>
 
Wink. 1999 to 2002.

Those were the days. Loved interning for Bruce in '99, the part time air staff couldn't have been better, and local management was awesome.

London broil.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
I've only had two:
1994-2000 FM-97, WLAN morning show... 10 straight #1 books 12+ (and even bigger adult numbers)

2000-2002 WIOV... PM drive for a while, then mornings.

Currently back in the majors....

> 1/'92 - 5/'93, WRKZ-FM (Hershey/Harrisburg). Part-time,
> $4.50 per hour.
>
> After six months of weekend shifts, my schedule increased
> when our night
> hostess split. Working two weekend shifts and covering the
> 6pm-Midnight
> slot lasted for a few months, until another female was
> hired.
>
> Learned quite a bit at that station... how to handle
> remotes, review diaries,
> what to do when rain water takes out the main transmitter,
> etc.
>
> More Music, Best Variety, Z-107
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan
>
 
WHYL-FM 1991-1994
"The New Country 102 WHYL, home of 50 minute music marathons."

Good times.<P ID="signature">______________
"Our Greatest Glory lies not in never failing, but in rising everytime we fall."

http://www.makmckeehan.com
http://www.get-frosted.com</P>
 
> Wink. 1999 to 2002.
>
> Those were the days. Loved interning for Bruce in '99, the
> part time air staff couldn't have been better, and local
> management was awesome.
>
> London broil.
>

Don't forget throwing fast food at the on-air DJ and making faces through the window in the hallway!

Those were good times...WINK 104 2000-2005. Part time, then Full time. To bad, time to move on.<P ID="signature">______________
-DK
www.DKVoice.com</P>
 
Since back in '98 it was considered "Central PA," - Mornings, WBHV, State College. Took down 3WZ for the time we were there; 1998-2000. Then FM97 2002-2004

Joe

> 1/'92 - 5/'93, WRKZ-FM (Hershey/Harrisburg). Part-time,
> $4.50 per hour.
>
> After six months of weekend shifts, my schedule increased
> when our night
> hostess split. Working two weekend shifts and covering the
> 6pm-Midnight
> slot lasted for a few months, until another female was
> hired.
>
> Learned quite a bit at that station... how to handle
> remotes, review diaries,
> what to do when rain water takes out the main transmitter,
> etc.
>
> More Music, Best Variety, Z-107
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan
>
 
WSHP, 1973, while a student at Ship. Its now 1480/WEEO, our sister station and simulcast partner. Owned by this eccentric old man named Art Greiner, who chain-smoked stogies and had a stove-pipe exhaust system over his desk to vent the cigar smoke and keep employees from walking out, and a movie projector in the basement for his private porn-flick viewing. The Format: 6-9 am-AC. 9-10 am-Hellfire and brimstone preachers. 10-noon-Country. Noon to 1-"Lunchtime Melodies" (AC). 1-2 pm-"Light Classics"...he had a client who liked classical music who sponsored this hour. 2-5 pm-"Teen Time" Top-40, for the kids getting out of school. 5 pm-signoff-"Dinner Music"...101 strings, Mantovani, etc. A struggle to stay awake if you had to work it. Saturday afternoons featured live Hillbilly bands and Sunday afternoons an hour of Hawaiian music. News was rip-and-read off the AP wire. Processing-an old Gates Sta-Level. Lafayette turntables. Two old Tapecaster 700's. Religious tapes played on an old Wollensak classroom tape deck.(remember those?) Mike-an old RCA ribbon mike from the 40's that would be worth something today if it was still around. Had sales pieces that listed the power as "500,000 milliwatts." Pay--minimum wage at the time which I believe was two bucks an hour. What an introduction to the joys of radio!
 
March-September 1980: WYCR York-Hanover, Saturday nights 6p-9p at $3.35/hr.

At age 16, I'd just been bounced from my first-ever gig -- weekends at WLPL Baltimore -- and with my tail between my legs (and a cheesy aircheck in my pocket) somehow managed to land the Saturday night shift at 98YCR. I still sucked -- but here I was sucking with jingles and more compression!

Four badly-aligned Tapecaster cart machines (only three of which were working at any given time) ... that big ol' eight-pot McMartin console ... cherry-picking your own gold from the 45's in a file cabinet ... and the underground gas storage tank rupturing and leaking into the well -- rendering the tap water undrinkable (the gas smell permeated the building for years).

Had a blast for about six months and then went away to college. Came back to Radio Hanover briefly in the summer of '82 -- with a bump to $3.65.
 
> Still looking for that first gig.
>
> Anyone got a part-time opening? Will work for Goldfish.

Well, if you're a young person, your best bet would be to enroll
in a broadcasting school.

If you're older, try finding a board op position at an AM station;
you'd probably start out running ballgames.





Alan
 
> Don't forget throwing fast food at the on-air DJ and making
> faces through the window in the hallway!

Best one: Dave runs past the window to make me laugh on the air but trips over the door. I ask him on the air if he's ok, using it as a crossover bit because he's on next.

Memo out the next day from O'Dea that went something like this:

From: John
To: part timers
Date: Nov 11, 2001
Re: Weekend shenanigans

There will be no crossover chatter between part timers, no one is to be in the studio (including other part timers), the blinds are to be shut, and the door is to be shut.

Yes Dave and Sam. This means you.

P.S. Supplee said to stop touching the thermostat.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> I've only had two:
> 1994-2000 FM-97, WLAN morning show... 10 straight #1 books
> 12+ (and even bigger adult numbers)

You did some Oldies thing Friday mornings, right? Something along the
lines of the '70s and '80s weekends.


> 2000-2002 WIOV... PM drive for a while, then mornings.

Probably the only radio station inside a single-family house,
with 4 towers in the backyard.





Alan
 
That london broil tasted MIGHTY good before it was, er, lost!

> Wink. 1999 to 2002.
>
> Those were the days. Loved interning for Bruce in '99, the
> part time air staff couldn't have been better, and local
> management was awesome.
>
> London broil.
> <P ID="signature">______________
Shelly</P>
 
Started senior year HS as intern, got my 3rd class (remember those) and worked week-ends for next 2 1/2 years at WMTP AM/FM in Williamsport. Pay was $3.15 per hour (Minimum wage). Duties included, emtpying waste can, changing Teletype ribbon on AP Machine, gathering news,sports and weather each hour, spinning records, cueing reels and carts, and sometime mowing the yard. Those were the days.............
 
Does WQSU count? I worked on the AM and FM in '79 & '80 until I left school later that year. ::)
 
aug 98-may 99 board op and announcer at WTHM-AM 1440 in red lion. was a wonderful experience and introducedme to some very nice people. played alot of 24 minute programs, so had a lot of time for playing their fillermusic, which led me to a love of southern gospel. scariest moment was lightning hitting the tower while i was working the board right after i started in late august. i,m very sad to see the station off the air. hereis hoping CUMULUS brings it back on air. by the way, i am looking for another board op/announcing gig. appreciate any leads. e-mail to [email protected]
 
12/'88 Overnights on WAVT-FM, T-102.Attended a staff meeting the afternoon before my first airshift. Coming out of the meeting, the GM throws his arm around me and says, "Sorry but I can't give you the $6.50 an hour I promised you at the interview. Tell you what, put 5 extra hours a week on your time sheet to make up for it. OK?" I should have known then what I was in for. I left 10 years later making $7.50 an hour with 77 hours a week on my time sheet. We still played vinyl then. Currents on 45 and some were so badly cue-burned. First song I had to cue up was George Michael's "Kissing A Fool". Talk up the post and think this is gonna be great. Then came the realization that I had cued up the wrong side and the instrumental was playing! Jock before me (Kevin Sibbett) races downstairs to find our AM's copy of the song and matches them up in cue. Crosses over to the vocal version & I was on my way. The A & B channels on each pot were infared & touch activated. Pretty cool except when the static electricty built up & you got a shock touching it. Then anything could be on or open. I also remember inexplicably going off the air in the middle of a song and not knowing why. Power is on. Transmitter is on. No audio signal. Call the alcoholic engineer at home at 3 in the morning. He talks me through the problem. Seems I accidently kicked an alligator clip that was being used to send the audio from the board to the transmitter. Those were the days.
 
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