I really wonder sometimes why we go into radio. Is it the chance to pick up girls..a desire to help our community..(I guess Elmo and Patsy do that..I guess..maybe..)..or is it we're looking for a job that requires no manual labor..Maybe we were the class clowns, the guy with the lamp shade on our heads at parties. Back in the day I used to marvel at the number of "communications majors" area colleges and universities churned out with promises of big money when a majority would wind replacing stock at Walmart. Other than "Communications", their degree was worthless and their parents (or Sallie Mae) were on the hook for thousands. Many came through the doors of the stations I worked at and college radio wasn't considered experience. I had one back in the early '80's who was an honor graduate at Penn State. They had to choose print or electronic media and she chose electronic...At the time, Penn State was building a state of the art studio and even though the old studio was fully operational, they didn't want them to work with "old" equipment so, long story short, she had never touched a radio board. She did have potential so we hired her anyway for overnights, but only because the slot was open and nobody was clammoring for the job. She did well but had a lot to learn. After I moved on we lost touch and I don't know if she ever went further.
Very few of us reach retirement age as there is a point where we are too expensive to keep or we've outgrown our target audience. Add to that the jobs that the likes of Ryan Seacrest and other syndicators have cost the industry, and the problem gets even worse.
I have worked the "bigs" in markets where Uncle Sam was nice enough to send me for stateside assignments (Dallas when I was at Fort Hood, Chicago and Milwaukee when I was at Ft. Sheridan)..I was lucky enough to work 8-5 Monday thru Friday so that gave me nights and weekends to work full time, although Milwaukee was rather short...I accepted night strictly in Chicago as a 45 minute train ride in snow was preferable to a 90 minute drive on the interstate..And they do get snow. but I digress.
I always preferred local stations because you can reach out and touch you listeners, they know you in person and you build a bond. You in turn buy your sponsors products..then turn the sales pigs out to pitch a buy. There were plenty of remotes so you could reach people who didn't listen and maybe they'll like you enough to give you a try.
I grew up with the great ones..Herb Oscar Anderson, Dan Ingram, Joey Reynolds, Dolly Holliday to name just a few from stations in magical towns like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and on and on. But times changed and all of them were dropped, not because they got bad, but because management made stupid decisions. (My old flagship WARM and WABC had one thing in common..They tried disco on AM..STUPID..STUPID..STUPID) The ratings dropped and it was the fault of the on-air talent. This Memorial Day, WABC even dropped their traditional Musicradio Reunion.
And then, what killed many careers was the feeding frenzy of the '90's where broadcast groups had to buy everything in sight for double and triple what they were worth and then find out they weren't generating any revenue leading to selling them for a loss just to raise operating revenue. Some of those stations went dark, robbing the local community of their voice.
Most of us have an epiphany, either forced or voluntary, that we need to change course as somebody crowding 50 is going to have a problem holding on to his or her 25 to 54 demographic. And if you have a degree in Communications, the choice is go back to school, or hear those soothing words, "Cleanup in aisle 6"
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