Why work in radio anymore?

[Surfer]

Let's face it, radio is having issues. I will not use this forum to discuss all the issues because, I'm aware as most of you are, what the medium's problems are. I was wondering if working in this business is even still worth it? With all the consolidating, layoffs, syndication deals, morale at stations at an all time low and even more folks on the beach looking for jobs now than there ever used to be, one would have to consider if now would be the best time to consider a new career.

While I understand the need for some to find this funny, I'm being serious. Traffic departments are creating "hubs" where spots are scheduled from one location. Programming is a non-existent form and management (if you can call it that) truly has lost touch with both advertisers and station personnel.

Working for the local Wal Mart sounds a hell of a lot better to me than what I get from radio. And, as I'm finding out, it pays better! So, is it time for a large majority of us to find a new career? My resume isn't impressive, that's for sure. I can honestly say I've spend the last 20 years sitting around discussing entertainment gossip and playing music. Unfortunately, Ryan Seacrest I'm not so...

 

[Prais]

Sounds iike you should look for something else that you are interested in. If radio is that awful for you, get out. I could never work in something I didn't enjoy.

I was interested in radio since 1959- age 10! I worked in radio from 1966-85. Dj/sales/programming and ownership of 4 stations. We found a few frequencies and sold them. We sold the stations in '85.

I owned 2 funeral homes for 2 years and sold them. THAT is a much better business than radio. Today I have a great career in the healthcare industry (I'm a nursing home chaplain - and I LOVE it.)

DO SOMETHING - don't just crab. I wish you success.

 

[firepoint525]

I applied for a part-time job in a small station not far from me which recently came back on the air, but they never even contacted me! I have 14 years of experience, and I was certainly NOT trying to drive any hard bargains! I was merely trying to find some part-time work to propel me through school while I work on a non-broadcasting related certificate. Granted, I live in a neighboring county, so maybe that was a factor in their not calling me. But still, the station is only about 25 miles from me.

 

[Prais]

firepoint525,
Don't let 1 goofball spoil things and pop your bubble. Wow. Don't be a whiner, either. SOMEBODY got hired today, somewhere.

Granted, people are not courteous anymore - but some people still ARE. There are 10 thousand broadcasters in the United States. Get a Broadcasting Yearbook from the library. Use it.

Best wishes.

 

[firepoint525]

firepoint525,
Don't let 1 goofball spoil things and pop your bubble. Wow. Don't be a whiner, either. SOMEBODY got hired today, somewhere.
Granted, people are not courteous anymore - but some people still ARE. There are 10 thousand broadcasters in the United States. Get a Broadcasting Yearbook from the library. Use it.
Best wishes.

I would hardly say I was "whining." Didn't I also say that I am in school? They were only off the air for four months. Maybe they were able to hire all their former staff back.

I think you are missing the point here. It doesn't matter how many broadcasters there are out there if none of them are hiring. And I doubt that any of them could offer me anything that would change my mind about being back in school.

The sun has set on radio as a career. You know it. I know it.

 

[Prais]

fire said; "It doesn't matter how many broadcasters there are out there if none of them are hiring."

Sure, like you sent out 50 auditions. Did you visit the station? Did you ask for the job more than once (see Dale Carnegie) Why not?

Big deal, so you are in school. Nope, I'm not missimg any point, here
or anywhere. ONE person tells you "NO" and you crash. Sure, its disappointing, but get up.

After England looked as though they would lose WORLD WAR II, Winston Churchill said, "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP." I stand by what I said, too. You were "whining"* about it... on a national forum.

Radio is a tough business. If you don't think radio is good - try something else. Did you know that Thomas Edison tried several THOUSAND filaments before he found the ONE that would WORK in a light bulb - and NOT immediately burn it out? Take a lesson.

Or, you can just give up.

* The online dictionary defines whining as "to complain or protest in a childish fashion."

Best wishes.

 

[Prais]

DON'T give up!

 

[firepoint525]

fire said; "It doesn't matter how many broadcasters there are out there if none of them are hiring."

Sure, like you sent out 50 auditions. Did you visit the station? Did you ask for the job more than once (see Dale Carnegie) Why not?

Big deal, so you are in school. Nope, I'm not missimg any point, here
or anywhere. ONE person tells you "NO" and you crash. Sure, its disappointing, but get up.

I am in school for medical billing and coding, NOT for radio! I want to get OUT of radio! Why should I ask for that which I don't want? I wanted insurance, raises, benefits, and better hours, none of which I was able to get at my last station, even after 10 years of working overnights! The station at which I inquired would have paid me minimum wage, if that.

Don't pass judgement on me. You don't know me. And if you are 60 years old, and have been out of radio since 1985, you clearly have no idea what the current environment in radio is like.

Not complaining, just telling it like it is. Not looking back; only looking forward.

 

[firepoint525]

DON'T give up!

Thanks, but again, driving 50 miles round trip for minimum wage wouldn't even pay for my gas to get there and back, unless I was working 12-hour shifts or something (not likely).

 

[nightfly61]

Radio today has no use in hiring anyone but free interns. The cheapskates have 10 salespeople & one jock & a whole fleet of interns working for nothing. Sad the interns can't even board op a shift because it's all beamed in. Most they can do nowadays are pot up & down a remote or be a phone answerer.

 

[TheBigA]

The broadcasting departments at area colleges are full. In fact, they're looking for ways to disude students from majoring in the field. And they're studying radio programming. I speak to classrooms filled with students. They obviously have an interest and a dream.

To paraphrase JFK: Ask not what radio can do for you. Ask what you can do for radio. This ain't government work, where you fill out an application and wait for your name to be called. There are simply too many applicants for every job. It's supply & demand, and there is very little demand.

It has never been easy to get a job in radio. It has never been easy to make a living in radio. I can speak from personal experience on both counts. But if you can find a way inside, to get a job, or even become a volunteer, it can be quite a cool way to spend one's life. Sure beats selling real estate.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The broadcasting departments at area colleges are full. In fact, they're looking for ways to disude students from majoring in the field. And they're studying radio programming. I speak to classrooms filled with students. They obviously have an interest and a dream.

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA. That's FUNNY. I speak to students in Communications departments at several local colleges. The interest in radio? NEAR ZERO. And the ones who discourage radio the most are the people in the department that are former radio interns.

There are people with interest, and a dream, but radio isn't part of that picture. Video and advertising hold far more interest. You'd be shocked at the number who think that "Mad Men" is an accurate portrayal of the advertising business.

Tell a college kid with $50K in loans - a modest amount these days - that he/she can start in the biz at $22K, and see what their reaction is.

 

[TheBigA]

Tell a college kid with $50K in loans - a modest amount these days - that he/she can start in the biz at $22K, and see what their reaction is.

That's not what I tell them. I say they'll be working for free for the first few years. If they expect a paycheck, they'll be disappointed. Radio is not a job one does for money. Never has been. Definitely not anymore. Unless you choose the VOA or AFRTS. And actually VOA has been laying lots of folks off lately too.

 

[gr8oldies]

Course Rox if you say to them "I work in corporate radio and it sucks. They won't let me do what I want and they won't hire DJs 24/7. You don't want to work in radio now, do you"? They'd certainly say no.

 

[amfmxm]

The broadcasting departments at area colleges are full. In fact, they're looking for ways to disude students from majoring in the field. And they're studying radio programming. I speak to classrooms filled with students. They obviously have an interest and a dream.

To paraphrase JFK: Ask not what radio can do for you. Ask what you can do for radio. This ain't government work, where you fill out an application and wait for your name to be called. There are simply too many applicants for every job. It's supply & demand, and there is very little demand.

It has never been easy to get a job in radio. It has never been easy to make a living in radio. I can speak from personal experience on both counts. But if you can find a way inside, to get a job, or even become a volunteer, it can be quite a cool way to spend one's life. Sure beats selling real estate.

I'm in complete agreement--it was bound to happen sooner or later.

But, to put a slightly different spin on it...

Radio is currently jammed at the top with boomers like myself. I'm gonna be out of here--retired or dead--in just a few years, along with a boatload of other radio executives, market managers, general managers and the like.

This means there will be TREMENDOUS opportunity for young, talented, aggressive, creative people to take leadership roles in this industry... re-make the industry in their own image... and make a shitload of money doing it.

Is there tremendous opportunity for people with no ambition, no creativity and no guts? Well, no--not in radio or any other industry. Never has been, never will be.

 

[gr8oldies]

Our generation of broadcasters is on message boards pining for the good old days, while the next generation will be figuring out what to do next, and how to integrate it all with other platforms. There won't be a return to four-and-hit-the-door, or warm body shifts.

 

[TheBigA]

This means there will be TREMENDOUS opportunity for young, talented, aggressive, creative people to take leadership roles in this industry... re-make the industry in their own image... and make a shitload of money doing it.

THAT is the speech I give to young people today. Time is on their side. I think it's very attractive to self-starters who like a challenge, and know opportunity when they see it.

I promise you that when they're running things, it will be very different from the way things are now.

 

[firepoint525]

This means there will be TREMENDOUS opportunity for young, talented, aggressive, creative people to take leadership roles in this industry... re-make the industry in their own image... and make a shitload of money doing it.

This assumes that radio (as we know it now) will even still be around in a few years.

And any "silver spoon" out there waiting for their parents to die or retire in order to take their job(s) will likely be at least my age (I'm 45 now) by the time that happens.

Telling some young kid that he will be the next Ryan Seacrest is akin to telling some young hoops shooter that he will be the next Michael Jordan.

In other words, possible, but not probable.

 

[TheBigA]

This assumes that radio (as we know it now) will even still be around in a few years.

For radio to still be around, it CAN'T be as we know it now, or as we've known it for the past 50 years. That's kind of the point. The next gen can't just ride on the gravy train. Everyone who could already cashed out.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I keep hearing about "warm body" and "four and hit the door" shifts, and "the gravy train". Where in radio Hell do (did?) these exist. I've NEVER seen that in a lifetime in radio. I've never known a jock - other than an overnight guy who already pulled 6 hours on-air, usually 6 days a week, who didn't have "other duties" to fill out the rest of a 40 hour week, along with remotes, appearances, and station events. Some of those additional appearances were compensated, some not.

OK, maybe some major market talent wrapped up their show and headed for their agent's office to coordinate their myriad appearances and "other opportunities", but the station (as well as the jock) benefitted from any additional notoriety.

As far as the "gravy train" is concerned, the closest I ever saw to a "gravy train" was a senior account rep who'd built a hell of a list, and a hell of a rapport with his clients, who could turn a hell of a buck without breaking a sweat. What happend to him? He "cost too much", got cut, and his list divvied up between the LSM, GSM, and a couple of younger sales people. What happened to the revenue? Dropped like a rock. Oddly, the CUSTOMERS liked and trusted the guy, and went elsewhere when he did - even though the competition had lower ratings.

Oh, wait, I have seen the radio "gravy train". It's the regional VP who goes from market to market kibitzing, and reports to upper management who are too busy lunching with the board and the bankers to actually talk with market managers directly. Somehow, it seems to me that the millions spent on that level of management could be put to better use.