On October 28, 2015 the Engineering Dept at KSPN 710 was laid off. Mike Tosch, CE and Tim Ahern (me), assistant and local I.T. person, were let go. Also released were Program Director Mike Thompson and Executive Assistant Heather Thau. All of their positions were eliminated.
An announcement for replacement of the CE was published but under the title of Senior Audio Engineer. It listed all the skills needed for the position: AM Directional RF experience & management, computer skills, remote knowledge, studio operations & equipment, automation, etc. Also required was some TV experience because the job entailed also working at the ESPN Production Center at L.A. Live in the building next to the radio station. Tosch applied for the job and had to go through the interview process with people in Bristol as if he was a new hire.
They offered him the job but for 20% less than what he was making before. He politely declined. He had been with KSPN for 8 years and had supervised the build out of the L.A. Live studios and the construction of the new transmitter building in 2009.
Bristol apparently couldn’t find engineers that were qualified and willing to work for the stated pay.
The job went to TV studio and software engineers at the ESPN TV Production Center. The are well qualified for the TV side of things but are absolute beginners on the radio end. ESPN flew out a Nautel rep for a 1 day TX training session; they’ve been flying radio people out from Bristol to instruct the new folks on studio operations, automation, Mix Minus, directional AM theory, FCC compliance, and generally trying to squeeze Mike’s 30 years of experience into a couple of weeks. Lloyd Sigmon is spinning in his grave…
The I.T work was farmed out to PCNet. KSPN is looking for an Operations Manager to work w/ the Assistant PD and GM on the programming side.
As for me I am the right age to retire and have done so. Missed 20 years with Disney by nine months. I still get into Disneyland for free. A small consolation to go along with the Disney Pension.
An announcement for replacement of the CE was published but under the title of Senior Audio Engineer. It listed all the skills needed for the position: AM Directional RF experience & management, computer skills, remote knowledge, studio operations & equipment, automation, etc. Also required was some TV experience because the job entailed also working at the ESPN Production Center at L.A. Live in the building next to the radio station. Tosch applied for the job and had to go through the interview process with people in Bristol as if he was a new hire.
They offered him the job but for 20% less than what he was making before. He politely declined. He had been with KSPN for 8 years and had supervised the build out of the L.A. Live studios and the construction of the new transmitter building in 2009.
Bristol apparently couldn’t find engineers that were qualified and willing to work for the stated pay.
The job went to TV studio and software engineers at the ESPN TV Production Center. The are well qualified for the TV side of things but are absolute beginners on the radio end. ESPN flew out a Nautel rep for a 1 day TX training session; they’ve been flying radio people out from Bristol to instruct the new folks on studio operations, automation, Mix Minus, directional AM theory, FCC compliance, and generally trying to squeeze Mike’s 30 years of experience into a couple of weeks. Lloyd Sigmon is spinning in his grave…
The I.T work was farmed out to PCNet. KSPN is looking for an Operations Manager to work w/ the Assistant PD and GM on the programming side.
As for me I am the right age to retire and have done so. Missed 20 years with Disney by nine months. I still get into Disneyland for free. A small consolation to go along with the Disney Pension.
