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Old April 14th 10, 03:20 PM posted to rec.radio.broadcasting
David Kaye David Kaye is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Sep 2006
Posts: 123
Default Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting

Chananya wrote:

PS. I am in touch with the broadcasting departments at the local
colleges and with the disabilities office but I need more input.


My advice as someone who spent over 10 years in broadcasting: don't bother
with broadcasting as a career, especially radio. Staffs in radio are about
1/10th of what they were in the glory days. Whereas a smalltown station used
to have maybe 8 to 12 people, today it's more likely that same station will be
part of a cluster of 3 or more stations with a staff of 5 running the cluster.
The DJ jobs will likely be voice tracks from freelancers, and if there are
any local DJs they will be the morning person and one at middays. Chances are
that the morning DJ will be decently paid and the midday person will not be,
but will also double as the program director and maybe the promotions
director, too.

On the engineering side, where there used to be one chief engineer per
station, it's more likely today that the one engineer is a contract person
overseeing 5 or more stations.

Equipment is way more stable today than in yesteryear so there is no need for
people to read the meters and babysit the transmitters. On the talent side,
with automation and the realization that most listeners don't care if the
content comes from a live person or a computer, the need for DJs is near
non-existent.

Your best bet is doing non-commercial community radio as a hobby. Seriously.