I was wondering if you had a Transavia PL-12 Airtruk or any other cool Mad Max vehicles or memorabilia you'd like to put on our hypothetical, Dallas, Texas area radio swap shop?
Um, no...
Seriously now, I was hoping you could share something of your experience in radio with the Dallas board.
No problem, happy to. I will say from the outset that regulation is tighter in the US, as there have been a number of well publicised incidents here that have left little or no consequence for the broadcaster or owners.
Starting with how you first got involved in the industry, what your career progression has been like (small town to large city), etc.
I got involved in community radio in high school, and 10 years after first involvement in two cities, I landed a casual gig as a board op. It is fairly common for people in (some) community stations to get work in the commercial or ABC (non-com) sectors. While in my first commercial gig, it lead to doing stints in the production department, where I found that I could be creative. Announcing wasn't really my thing, but as I moved from job to job, it was generally part of the job description. I've worked with four different companies in six different market duopolies. I have to say, each group is different, yet the same. It's always interesting when you get to a (generally) small market and you find that there is one person there who has been there for so long that they think they know everything. My favourite story is my last "small market" PD told me that I will never have it as easy as I had it working there. Well, guess I had the last laugh. Nearly eight years later, I'm still with the #1 station, in Australia's #2 market.
And can you tell us about the equipment you use, console, microphone, automation system?
Throughout the my career, Paul Kirk analogue consoles were the standard. They are real workhorses. Back in 2009, my current employer moved studios and upgraded. We are running Maestro on to stations, using Klotz digital desks.
One parting word, formats here are rather dull. Music formats here are unadventurous. There is no (fulltime) commercial country, and what passes as rock is stuck somewhere in the 80's. I will say that talk radio is way better than the US, as it is generally a mix of news, entertainment and a health mix of local, state, national and international politics.
I hope this answers some questions about the land down under.
