Sideline QBs...

[Bob Oshea]

Bottom line--radio is not structured like it used to be.

Well that is the bottom line.  Radio has focused soley on the bottom line.  To be fair, changes in programming weren't designed to do away with the jock or his or hers personality.  It just seems that way and maybe it is the unintended end result.  Things morph.  Feels just like yesterday I was putting on my first set of pro cans in Midland, Michigan.  It was magic.  When I hung up the cans in June of '06 it was still magic.  I just have other mountains to climb.  I'm not 'washed up' and I don't believe you were singling out any one person.  I'm not bitter really.  I just got a little tired.  I was never a liner jock per say, but I know I could fit right in.  As far as personality radio goes, I could still smoke your ass.

Love Bob 

[NightAire]

BitterLikeYou:  Thanks for the kind words, & my apologies if I misunderstood you.  I'd like to think, let loose with enough wattage, a decent staff, & a decent budget, I could do some entertaining (& profitable) radio.

I would have 2 choices in management at most stations:

#1 - Do what corporate tells me to do, then go home each night & kick the dog to release frustration.

#2 - Do what I believe would be best for the station, the staff, and the community...  and last in the position a week, tops before they sent me sailing out the door with their boot.

I suspect there are a number of extremely talented people in this town doing #1 right now.  I could easily list you a dozen people who I would LOVE to see handed 100,000 watts & a good-sized budget...  they'd tear this town up.  However, they like being able to make their mortgage & put their kids through college, so they stay quiet.

I have, I suppose, two hopes for right now:

#1 - That some rogue station turns to me some day and says, "why don't we give you a shot?"  (Har-har-har.)

#2 - That internet radio gets all the legal issues straightened out, & all the technical issues for wireless internet ironed out, & I'm able to make a small living as the owner of an internet radio station.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying myself immensely, just generally being a DJ & pretending I'm one of the legends I grew up listening to.   

You make an excellent point that bears repeating:

We can pontificate all day long on the way things should be, but reality dictates that "it ain't the same" as it always was.

Agreed 100%.  This is a "safe" place to say, "well, if I was in charge...", and then go back to work tomorrow and do what you're told.     It's hard to offer practical programming advice when there's little local staff can do one way or another.

BOB:  You keep your smoke away from our posteriors!   

G Thompson:  You're crackin' me UP!  Thanks for all the encouragement.

RadioSharpie:  I'm blushing!  The kindest words come from those who have had to work with you, and have nothing to gain from being nice to you.     I wish I knew who you were!  Thanks so much...

NobodyOfImportance:  Now hiring, webmaster, no pay, no benefits...   

[Bob Oshea]

What really spooks me is walking into a radio station with nobody but the Production guy and the sales people buzzing in and out.  I mean they're really whittling down the staffs everywhere in broadcasting.  I don't know if this is good or bad but Sirius/Xm Sattelite radio appears to be in very stormy waters.  Man, the safest place to be in radio right now is out of it.

Best of Luck to Everyone,
O'Shea

[Radio55]

Really, there is no use for you guys to beat each other up. No, radio isn't the way it "used to be," but nothing is the way it used to be. Computer automation is here and here to stay, so to survive in today's radio, you have to diversify yourself. I personally believe the days of the jock are numbered, because it is just to easy to track the shows or let a Maestro-type system run the station and be done with it. So, sharpen your production skills, do some killer spots, produce brilliant imaging and promos, help in promotions setting up remote sites and events, if you're good on computers, offer to help... broaden your skill sets, especially if you find yourself 20 or more years in the business and you're wondering what to do next. Stations need these kinds of people. A good board-op with some technical skills can find a place in any radio station. Look for the things that are "going on" in the station, learn how to do it, and do it well. You will be amazed at how much more you can do. I mean really, would you continue to pay someone $30k to read liner cards when you can track it? Think about it as a business. Most of us (and for the record, I haven't) have never owned a radio station and have had the responsibility to pay the bills every month and meet a payroll. But it seems everyone knows how to "do it right."

Find the "holes" in your station and fill them.... And you will be fine. 

[Bob Oshea]

Really, there is no use for you guys to beat each other up. No, radio isn't the way it "used to be," but nothing is the way it used to be. Computer automation is here and here to stay, so to survive in today's radio, you have to diversify yourself. I personally believe the days of the jock are numbered, because it is just to easy to track the shows or let a Maestro-type system run the station and be done with it. So, sharpen your production skills, do some killer spots, produce brilliant imaging and promos, help in promotions setting up remote sites and events, if you're good on computers, offer to help... broaden your skill sets, especially if you find yourself 20 or more years in the business and you're wondering what to do next. Stations need these kinds of people. A good board-op with some technical skills can find a place in any radio station. Look for the things that are "going on" in the station, learn how to do it, and do it well. You will be amazed at how much more you can do. I mean really, would you continue to pay someone $30k to read liner cards when you can track it? Think about it as a business. Most of us (and for the record, I haven't) have never owned a radio station and have had the responsibility to pay the bills every month and meet a payroll. But it seems everyone knows how to "do it right."

Find the "holes" in your station and fill them.... And you will be fine. 

I own and operate 2 businesses.  One v/o biz and one rental business.  I used to own and operate a successful painting business until illegal immigration took that away!  Most of us understand the nuts & bolts of business.  I believe you're confusing discussion and public discourse with argumentation.  It's just conversation.  We jocks, you included, have always had another option......getting out of radio.  For me it has worked out very well.  I always loved voice over far more than getting up at 3:30 in the morning.  And it is love when you get up that early.  Board Op's serve a purpose too, but they get paid even less than a good air man.  It may be different at places like KRMG but they would certainly be the rare exception.  Yes, finding ways to make yourself valuable to the company is wise.  Having stated that, not everyone has the talent to do the kind of produciton work you're talking about.  That's why they have mega talent production director's like Wavey Davey.  All the other stuff you're talking about is entry level tech work that draws maybe $7 or $8 bucks an hour if you're lucky.  There was some guy out of Portalnd or dangerously close to there who was beating his chest over paying his help $600 and $800 a week.  What he forgot to say was they are probably working 60 hours+ a week to get it and they're doing the job of four other people.  Screw that.  If I'm going to work that hard, and I do, I'm working for myself!  Since I've been retired from radio I've received two legitimate offers from two different broadcast concerns both on air and for more than I was making when I retired.  I wouldn't give up what I have now for any radio job.  They can't come close to paying me what I'm making now.

I will always love radio.  It will continually change.  It is the way of things.  But I'm nobody's bitch boy.