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What will it take for me to become a radio personality?

F

fordranger797

Star Participant
Hello,

I am 19 years of age, and have been working as an intern at a radio station in my metropolitan area for the past few months. I absolutely love everything about radio, and I have been trying to learn all that I can from the various employees who work on the air, as well as behind the scenes.

I realize that attending a vocational for broadcasting is important, but this is something that I really would prefer not to do. I am studying to become a psychologist one day, and really do not have the time to expend on broadcasting school. To me, radio is a both a hobby and a passion, but not necessarily a full time career that I could make a living from in this day and age. That does not mean that I would dedicate my life exclusively to radio if I had a slot at a big radio station, however.

In short, I just want to know if I am doing the right things to get myself into the business. I am learning all that I can from the people I work with.


Thanks for the advice.
 
fordranger797 said:
In short, I just want to know if I am doing the right things to get myself into the business. I am learning all that I can from the people I work with.
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Maybe you could be a radio psychologist some day...who knows.

Here's my advice: It's all about the people. Pay attention to everyone you encounter. Listen to them. Ask lots of questions. Show your interest. And see if they want to help.

You say you're an intern...be sure that as an intern you see EVERY aspect of the station. Not just on air. There are more jobs off air than on air.

Try to get more internships. Each one of them will be a different experience, and experience is what matters.

Volunteer. Work for nothing. It's easier to do that now than in ten years. Never say no to anything. You never know what it will lead to.

But above all be ready for the opportunity if and when it comes. It will come from an experience and a person you will meet. You must be present to win.
 
TheBigA said:
Volunteer. Work for nothing. It's easier to do that now than in ten years. Never say no to anything. You never know what it will lead to.

But above all be ready for the opportunity if and when it comes. It will come from an experience and a person you will meet. You must be present to win.
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I really like that advice. In the time I have spent working as an intern, I already have been tossed into so many different situations. Its an amazing experience, and you genuinely feel like you are contributing to the station's success.
Thank you very much.
 
I was going to use to pitch to prospective talk show hosts:

Here is a Broadcasting primer 101......let me know when you can start.


We are an Internet radio station on the Upper West Side/ Morningside park area and are open to any idea and show topics. Our studio includes 6 mics, phone lines skype, wireless internet...we provide a Pro audio engineer to run your show and produce a quality sounding podcast.

We stream your show live, you'll get a separate podcast page on our website. You can send the link to all your social media friends and you can put it on your own personal website where they can stream or download YOUR show.......YOUR Podcast.

Radio requires some unique skills, You have to LOVE doing your homework. We'll teach you how to design your shows outline, deciding the topics, finding and pitching quality guests. How to send preliminary letters, get background information, formulate questions (talking points) to start the interview. The logistics of your show, do you want to take phone calls, theme music. We want your podcast to be something you can be proud of.

Here is a fact:

Everyone who is on Radio or TV has paid to be on the air, yes Couric, Stern, Imus, Wendy Williams all paid. Some paid $100,000+ to get a college degree and work at the college radio or TV station, some paid $10,000 to go to Broadcasting School, some spend years being an intern. We offer a pay as you go plan. The cost is very reasonable for those who are truly serious, and 1 hour is a very, very long time if you are not prepared.

Thousands of people daily are investing their own money to be on the air. Plus lots of people are entrepreneurs and have a business to promote and then it becomes a tax deduction. Also you can sell your own ads, and get sponsors.

If you already have a fully prepared show, send us the links and we could add it to our rotation.
 
Give some thought to the word "Personality" in the question you asked. There are people in the business that indeed are bone fide personalities. That is not something that i think they can teach at a "broadcasting school". They teach how to run the equipment, how to organize your material, the day to day mechanics. Personality strikes me as something that you find, develop, discover, create, over-flow-with... because as a PERSON you are a personality. Because as a psychologist you will be known around your office as "a personality". (Some psychologists ARE NOT personalities... even in their own office!

There was a word that I was late to learn, even though I had a couple and didn't know there was a name for them! FIND MENTORS! "Snuggle up" to people who are willing to take the time to share the secrets of the universe with you. Learn to distinguish between GOOD mentors and BAD mentors. Lot's of luck on that bit of advice. They don't wear signs or badges indicating if they are really good... or really destructive.
 
You claimed in an earlier post to be a university student. Your school almost certainly has a student radio station. Being a gofer for people doing radio is fine but it's not the same as actually doing radio. That's where you should spend most of your volunteer time. If your interest in radio is news related, you should also be working for the student newspaper - reporting and writing.

Don't waste your time and money on any broadcasting, journalism or communication arts courses. Give yourself a diverse liberal arts background where you will learn to learn. Nothing is more practical than that. Especially since 10 years from now you are extremely likely to pursuing an entirely different career. Lots of people want to get into radio and many of them do get in because almost all who get in are out by the time they're 30.

Add to that you are picking the worst possible time to get into radio; it may not be around in 10 years.
 
FredLeonard said:
Add to that you are picking the worst possible time to get into radio; it may not be around in 10 years.
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Oh, come on, Fred. Smile once in a while. He said that broadcasting was not to be his main-stay profession. If radio dies according to your timetable, may he can be the last lone leaving.... and he can turn out the lights. :cool:
 
The Monday op-ed page in the Atlanta paper is almost always a treat. They set essays by Paul Krugman and David Brooks side by side. One of them has to say something worth reading. Some Mondays, they are BOTH home-run hitters. The David Brooks comments today are very appropriate for our topic on how to "make it in a career"... radio or other wise.




David Brooks Column
 
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FredLeonard said:
Add to that you are picking the worst possible time to get into radio; it may not be around in 10 years.
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Actually, it's about the best time to get in. Look at iTunes Radio, iHeart, Pandora, all the content aggregators, the app developers and the new sources for content such as traffic, news and weather that new media based radio is employing. Look at things like LDR and its Listener Driven Radio (which is cross platform viable) and things like Shazam that identify for the listener any song being played.

So I say that this may be the best time to get in because there are several generation of older radio veterans, like yourself, who don't "get it". They don't visualize the transformation, while younger people are living it, understand it and can improve it. (Sure, there are many old guard radio folks who do understand, but there are many more who don't)

All this and a lot more is part of radio, just as Lang-Worth and World were part of radio in the 40's. Restricting "radio" to a guy in a studio in front of a mike is very limiting. Today, it's the station app that allows you to check things of interest while you listen... artist bios, tour dates, song releases, plus news and weather and traffic... all as part of one experience.

Learning to cue records and how to back time used to be among the skills you had to learn. Today, it's about dimensioning a station in lots of new ways on new channels of distribution. Stations I am associated with have had staff graphics artists for more than a decade. If you want to get into radio, look at all the new jobs in areas that did not exist 15 years ago.

Radio, as the listener defines it, will be around for decades. Maybe the Harris and Nautel and BE boxes will not be on any more, but radio will be around.
 
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FredLeonard said:
Give yourself a diverse liberal arts background where you will learn to learn.
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If you do not learn to learn somewhere in high school, you are dead meat in college.

If you look at the stats today, grads with liberal arts degrees are among the least employable of all the major fields.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Radio, as the listener defines it, will be around for decades.
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And they're all going to need people. Not just web designers or technology geeks, but people who can translate that to consumers.

Apple's biggest problem in the 80s was it was ahead of its time technologically, and the consumers didn't get it. The second incarnation of Apple fixed that.
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:


Oh, come on, Fred. Smile once in a while. He said that broadcasting was not to be his main-stay profession. If radio dies according to your timetable, may he can be the last lone leaving.... and he can turn out the lights. :cool:
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Thanks for the reply. I am the type of individual who would work all day at my main career and then host a late night radio show completely free of pay. I enjoy it that much.
 
No, Apple's problem in the 80s was the early Mac was a POS. Snazzy looking on the outside and technocrap on the inside. The Mac still gets poor market share. Media types are Apple groupies - especially in public radio. So, iThings get lots of hype but, even so, market share is still not great. PCs still rule the office. Android rules mobile devices.

Radio as the industry defines it won't be around for decades and somebody else will producing new media audio content.
 
DavidEduardo said:


If you do not learn to learn somewhere in high school, you are dead meat in college.

If you look at the stats today, grads with liberal arts degrees are among the least employable of all the major fields.
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This is precisely why I do not want to waste my time in some sort of broadcasting program. If I make it into radio, it will be a result of me working hard (for free) and learning first hand.
 
FredLeonard said:
Radio as the industry defines it won't be around for decades and somebody else will producing new media audio content.
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We've been though tapes, CD's, and mp3 music, and radio is still reaching over 90% of the population. I just don't see it declining the way that you project.
 
fordranger797 said:
This is precisely why I do not want to waste my time in some sort of broadcasting program. If I make it into radio, it will be a result of me working hard (for free) and learning first hand.
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Nobody responded to my post.....so ill add ive received hundreds of resumes almost no one knows how to use google search..( becuase they are on their phones texting and using apps)........no kidding its like they never learned how to use a library......that will be your key.........to be way ahead of your peers Google search....be inquisitive read read and read watch video be prepared....this generation is really that clueless or we would have hundreds of them competing for when Rush imus wendy willaims retire...........they are not there
 
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fordranger797 said:
Thanks for the reply. I am the type of individual who would work all day at my main career and then host a late night radio show completely free of pay. I enjoy it that much.
Click to expand...

Bruce Williams was mayor of a small town and a florist. One of his golf buddies was GM of the local radio station. They needed a guy to fill in as a talk host one night, and Bruce said he'd do it. That led to a full time night gig (he kept the florist shop), and he ultimately went to New York, got his show syndicated, and became a member of the Radio Hall of Fame. He's not the only one who came to radio from another career.
 
fordranger797 said:
This is precisely why I do not want to waste my time in some sort of broadcasting program. If I make it into radio, it will be a result of me working hard (for free) and learning first hand.
Click to expand...

I've long recommended a college path that includes a sampling of disciplines. If you plan to be in commercial radio, a smattering of basic business classes, some math, social sciences like sociology and psychology (Maslow could have been a good PD), computer sciences, as well as languages, literature and music will all help. And if broadcasting does not work out, it's a firm base for many other careers.
 
FredLeonard said:
Radio as the industry defines it won't be around for decades and somebody else will producing new media audio content.
Click to expand...

"Radio" has been redefined by users in the last five years or so. It is no longer limited to AM and FM. In its simples form, radio is "anything that makes noise that does not have a picture".

Audio without pictures will be around for a long, long time.
 
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