The best automation system you've used???

[fryman]

You do seem like you would be a hands-on-boss but don't you agree that for the most part, that the majority of your employees were earnest, sincere, hard working people who wanted to excel in the radio biz? And did you throw a nice Christmas party with great food (perhaps some home cut fries to go with the steaks), give a nice yearly Christmas bonus, and share a few laughs and guffaws with the guys? How about dress? Did you have a casual or "blue jeans" Friday? Did you have free coffee at your station?

[Prais]

Ok, I'll bite (fryman humor).

You asked;
don't you agree that for the most part (ed; NOTE, I LOVE the qualifiers because you know you re on shaky ground)... the majority of your employees were earnest, sincere, hard working people who wanted to excel in the radio biz?

My answer...."No!" They were ALL loafers. Even though the sales staff could realistically earn a thousand dollars weekly (this was in the late 70's - when that was a fortune) I  caught a salesman in a bar (when he was supposed to be with a client). 

You asked, And did you throw a nice Christmas party with great food (perhaps some home cut fries to go with the steaks), These gorillas wouldn't have appreciated steak (bananas, maybe) - but certainly pizza at the party and (traded) gift certificates. We sold in 1985 - so I really remember little about this as I'm over 200 miles, a few other bought/sold business, and lots of my family's enjoyment away from that, now.

You asked....
...give a nice yearly Christmas bonus, (to my wife and I?... of course!) and share a few laughs and guffaws with the guys? Sure,, I had to treat each of them like a 4 year old kid.

You asked...
How about dress? Did you have a casual or "blue jeans" Friday? NEVER! The slobs would have probably objected to use of deoderant. I'm NOT their mommy.

you asked.....
Did you have free coffee at your station? O yes. Free coffee woke up these losers just enough to work.

You know, even wgn in Chicago TODAY, doesn't do alot of what you suggested. My conscience is very clear. I was a really good person to work for.

By the way, thanks for your concern. I consider the present owner/manager of those stations a much meaner, more selfish guy that I EVER thought of being.

Also, most of the equipment I sold him in 1985 is still in use.

PS There are a few other owners on radio-info. To be FAIR - you should ask them the same questions. Alot of these guys are struggling. We only struggled the first couple of years, then we had 10+ years of gravy. Look up "Josh" and ask HIM..

[MickeyD]

Automation Sucks......it takes jobs away from those of us who would like to do what we grew up listening to.Radio today compared to the 60's and 70' is a joke.You can thank the Clinton administration,FCC and a Republican Congress and House for that one.Just thank god the DOJ got involved and kept all those greedy bastards from getting monopolies.

If GOOD automation was around in the 60's and 70's what makes you think that they wouldn't have used it then? I used to, and still do, hate the graveyard shift. Automation is great for that!

[fryman]

Do any of your former employees (those lazy loafers) still keep in contact with you? They probably liked you in their own way but were intimidated by your style. I have a feeling that you were a Sgt. Snorkle and the employees were Beetle Baileys.

[nitnitr]

Wow!

Interesting comments from all involved.

I don't hit the Montana board very often, but thought I would offer my comments.

I ran across some of the issues that Prasis did when I was a PD in Kalispell many years ago.

Automation works well in some circumstances, and having someone decent doing a live broadcast does well in smaller markets too, in my opinion. The trick is finding that decent person which will do what is needed, and be responsible.

I remember going in sick, doing my shift, though spreading the germs to the other jocks, when I was in Kalispell. We had a good group of jocks in my tenure, which was 5 years, along with the other staff, and did what was needed to produce a quality product. Maybe things have changed in the past 20 years or so, but I still think there are responsible kids coming out of the broadcasting schools. This is my opinion and your mileage may vary.

Certainly, it is cheaper to go to automation. My own Internet station is fully automated, though I do try to keep it fresh as much as possible with changes to imaging and other programming.

By the way, the system I use for LMTTRR is Station Playlist. It works almost flawlessly, though when finances dictate, we may go to Rivendell on a Linux system. The software is free, but really requires a very good sound card, thus supplanting the cost of automation software. Still it is a great system.