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Any Mea Culpas?

TheBigA said:
There are 14,000 radio stations in this country. Last time I checked, fewer than 3,000 program from satellite. That leaves 11,000 other stations, so there are ample places to find work. But most of those stations stick with their tried and true airstaff. The same people who were there 20 years ago. Except they're all 20 years older. If you bring up that they're getting older, they threaten you with an age discrimination lawsuit. But the kids aren't going to tune in to grandpop playing rap music on the radio.
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The types of stations that I was referring to are the 500-watt AM daytimers that nowadays can't even afford to pay people minimum wage. And some of them, while they may not be on satellite, are on some other form of in-house automation.
I visit colleges, and the students tell me there are lots of stations where they can intern and learn radio. But there aren't many jobs on the air because there isn't much turnover. However, most find work in off-air occupations. My point is that being on-air isn't a lifetime occupation. At some point, it's time for the older airstaff to leave and start their own business, leaving room for younger people to get a shot.
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That's kinda been my experience as well. I've been to career fairs where applicants outnumber jobs by 20-to-1, if not 50-to-1. Many of them, like me, have experience. It's just that there's no place for them to go. I was able to extend my own broadcasting career by about a decade, just by board-op-ing.
 
firepoint525 said:
The types of stations that I was referring to are the 500-watt AM daytimers that nowadays can't even afford to pay people minimum wage. And some of them, while they may not be on satellite, are on some other form of in-house automation.
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You want a high school or college student to work at an AM station? First, ask him what an AM station is.
That's not a job, that's a jail.

Look...let's deal with the issue...there COULD be lots of on-air jobs at big FM stations for people under 30 if those over 55 would just retire.
 
TheBigA said:
I've worked at two types of news operations: One that dealt with the gossip stories, and the other that dealt with lesser-known stories like hunger in Kenya and Peruvian agriculture. I can tell you the public prefers the gossip stories to serious reporting.
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I'd prefer a balance of the two. But hunger in Kenya stories made mainstream headlines in the '80s, which is what gave rise to USA for Africa, Band-Aid, etc. So it does happen.
As gr8oldies says, the ones that program to office workers have fewer currents than the shorter cycle stations. They know their audience. They pay a lot of money to find out what "those who are listening" want to hear. It's not the same as the hair stylists, who listen for ten hours a day. They program to the majority, not to individuals, and the majority doesn't mind the repetition, as long as it's a song they like.
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I question some of what they play, but not why they play it. I understand that most ACs must play '70s and '80s, but they no longer play Barry Manilow and Air Supply because it doesn't fit now. They play Prince nowadays. They used to only play "1999," but now have added "Raspberry Beret" and "Purple Rain." For Wilson Phillips, they only play "Release Me," which I enjoy, but they don't also play "Hold On," and I don't understand that. I have noticed that they now play Steve Miller Band on overnight weekends. I believe they could stretch their daytime rotation some if they'd play him during the weekdays. Maybe they do; I just haven't heard it. But my point is that they can add music by their core artists without reaching into the "groaners." They could even play a select few album tracks by some of their signature artists, since the AC charts apparently never had a "must be released as a single" requirement.
 
TheBigA said:
firepoint525 said:
The types of stations that I was referring to are the 500-watt AM daytimers that nowadays can't even afford to pay people minimum wage. And some of them, while they may not be on satellite, are on some other form of in-house automation.
Click to expand...
You want a high school or college student to work at an AM station? First, ask him what an AM station is.
That's not a job, that's a jail.
Click to expand...
I understand that, but I was more than happy to learn the biz on a small-500-watt daytimer, where I could make my mistakes, with very few people that I personally knew hearing me! ;D My mother listened to me there, but only because she knew that I was there! ;D Tell your students that they have got to crawl before they can walk, and walk before they can run! No silver spoons here!
Look...let's deal with the issue...there COULD be lots of on-air jobs at big FM stations for people under 30 if those over 55 would just retire.
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If they've got the gig, and they are drawing the numbers, that's fine. Let them stay. I could have stayed at the first station for which I ever worked full-time, but I preferred being a small fish in a big pond to the reverse.
 
firepoint525 said:
I understand that, but I was more than happy to learn the biz on a small-500-watt daytimer, where I could make my mistakes, with very few people that I personally knew hearing me!
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Today's generation doesn't need a transmitter and tower to do that. They can practice on the internet. They're crawling on 1200 watt FM stations, owned by the university, with more listeners than any 500 watt AM.
 
TheBigA said:
firepoint525 said:
I understand that, but I was more than happy to learn the biz on a small-500-watt daytimer, where I could make my mistakes, with very few people that I personally knew hearing me!
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Today's generation doesn't need a transmitter and tower to do that. They can practice on the internet. They're crawling on 1200 watt FM stations, owned by the university, with more listeners than any 500 watt AM.
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I'm not sure of the wattage of my college's FM station, but I was referring to my first paid experience post-college. Needless to say, if I hadn't had the experience in college, I probably wouldn't have even gotten that job. Because the PD's first question to me was to ask me if I had any experience.
 
firepoint525 said:
firepoint525 said:
The types of stations that I was referring to are the 500-watt AM daytimers that nowadays can't even afford to pay people minimum wage. And some of them, while they may not be on satellite, are on some other form of in-house automation.
Click to expand...
I understand that, but I was more than happy to learn the biz on a small-500-watt daytimer, where I could make my mistakes, with very few people that I personally knew hearing me! ;D My mother listened to me there, but only because she knew that I was there! ;D Tell your students that they have got to crawl before they can walk, and walk before they can run!
Click to expand...

The problem with that scenario is that the mom & pop daytimer AM in East Broomstick you got your first big break on doesn't exist anymore. Mom & pop may still own it (corporate radio doesn't really extend to small market USA), but it's such a shoestring operation that there's probably less staffing than at a corporate station. 20-year veteran morning guy is also PD, music director, production director, chief engineer, traffic person & janitor. Add a few sales people and that's about it. Automation or satellite rest of the day. Cash flow can't support much more staff, and what 19 year old wants to pack up & move to Podunk for minimum wage? This is not a new problem, the roots of it go back to the late 70s/early 80s to some degree.

Even the markets that used to be the 2nd or 3rd stop on someone's career ladder are having trouble finding anyone remotely qualified...that's one reason the old timers are staying on. Of course, another is that there's nowhere for them to move onto either.
 
Oldbones said:
The problem with that scenario is that the mom & pop daytimer AM in East Broomstick you got your first big break on doesn't exist anymore. Mom & pop may still own it (corporate radio doesn't really extend to small market USA), but it's such a shoestring operation that there's probably less staffing than at a corporate station. 20-year veteran morning guy is also PD, music director, production director, chief engineer, traffic person & janitor. Add a few sales people and that's about it. Automation or satellite rest of the day. Cash flow can't support much more staff, and what 19 year old wants to pack up & move to Podunk for minimum wage? This is not a new problem, the roots of it go back to the late 70s/early 80s to some degree.

Even the markets that used to be the 2nd or 3rd stop on someone's career ladder are having trouble finding anyone remotely qualified...that's one reason the old timers are staying on. Of course, another is that there's nowhere for them to move onto either.
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Back in the 50s and 60s some of us were 19 year olds packing up and moving for minimum wage jobs and the old timers who were mentoring us told us tales of how much worse it was when they were 19 year olds, sometimes sleeping on the transmitter room floor to survive in the 1930s. So maybe the roots go back even farther than the late 70s and early 80s.

In small stations we used to ride the ABC or Mutual Networks as many hours a day as some ride the satellite and the automation today.

We may be beating the wrong horse in some of our observations about what keeps radio today from being the shiny attraction.
 
Oldbones said:
firepoint525 said:
firepoint525 said:
The types of stations that I was referring to are the 500-watt AM daytimers that nowadays can't even afford to pay people minimum wage. And some of them, while they may not be on satellite, are on some other form of in-house automation.
Click to expand...
I understand that, but I was more than happy to learn the biz on a small-500-watt daytimer, where I could make my mistakes, with very few people that I personally knew hearing me! ;D My mother listened to me there, but only because she knew that I was there! ;D Tell your students that they have got to crawl before they can walk, and walk before they can run!
Click to expand...
The problem with that scenario is that the mom & pop daytimer AM in East Broomstick you got your first big break on doesn't exist anymore. Mom & pop may still own it (corporate radio doesn't really extend to small market USA), but it's such a shoestring operation that there's probably less staffing than at a corporate station.
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I basically said that earlier in this same thread! ::)
[/quote]
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
In small stations we used to ride the ABC or Mutual Networks as many hours a day as some ride the satellite and the automation today.
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"Muuuusic under the stars from the Muuuutual Broadcasting Network"

You tried to say it just like the network announcer did, hard to do when you were 16 years old! Thanks GRC for bringing back that old nostalgic memory.
 
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