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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
Maybe someone can help me out with something: I'm interested in becoming a radio DJ or going into radio broadcasting. I have a few disabilities that require accommodations so I have asked some people in the industry how this would affect my goal. I haven't received much response from them. Can anyone on here help with this? Please contact me if you have any info...
Thanks PS. I am in touch with the broadcasting departments at the local colleges and with the disabilities office but I need more input. |
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. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
Chananya wrote:
Maybe someone can help me out with something: I'm interested in becoming a radio DJ or going into radio broadcasting. I have a few disabilities that require accommodations so I have asked some people in the industry how this would affect my goal. I haven't received much response from them. Can anyone on here help with this? Please contact me if you have any info... Assuming that you are in the US.... If you had said this twenty-five years ago, I would have told you that radio is a great place to work. I have worked with board ops, DJs, and announcers with all sorts of disabilities. Once had a board op who was blind; we took the glass covers off the console VU meters so he could feel the pins and made sure all of the carts were in the same order every day since he couldn't read the labels on them. I've had announcers and program directors in wheelchairs, which actually got us to clear some of the crap out of the air studio and make a clear path through it. Radio is... err... was... one of those fields where it doesn't matter what you look like, who you are, or what disabilities you might have as long as the final result sounds good on the air. The thing is... the consolidation and deregulation of the past twenty years has really made a mess of things, and that the current point in time I would not recommend radio as a career for _anyone_, disabled or not. For one thing, those stations that used to have half a dozen announcers and board ops, a transmitter engineer, a traffic director, and a couple sales people on staff are now being run by a single guy playing back crap that comes off the satellite link... with no local station staff, the number of jobs available is a fraction of what it once was, and the jobs are less interesting. PS. I am in touch with the broadcasting departments at the local colleges and with the disabilities office but I need more input. Does anyone even still HAVE broadcasting departments? Now, I should point out that if you aren't in the US, but you are in a country with a vibrant and active radio community (and there are a lot of them out there) that perhaps you should disregard what I said. Go to a radio station and ask for a tour and a job. That's how everyone starts out.... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
Indeed! If you bring ANY technical skills to the party, by all means give me a call when I'm back in the office on 4/26! Engineering types have pretty much all jumped ship, but there ARE still stations that appreciate good technical talent. Meanwhile, there have been stations (even back in the glory days of radio) when they wouldn't let you come in. I got this rude shock when I tried to visit the then KBRG (now KITS). The DJ welcomed me but the op mgr was there and she booted me out the door. "We are a business. We're not an amusement park" (or words to that effect). I was devastated. It took me a long time to work up the nerve to visit another station. I was working on some computers over at KDIA/KDYA a couple years ago when a guy came in and wanted The Tour. Well, two stations, you'd think there was a lot to see. But, being an automated gospel music station on the one hand and an automated block program station on the other, the guy was basically shown what might be radio if only there were DJs around. He was shown the two empty control rooms, the tech area where I was wiping the dirt and grime off a computer's innards, and the the equipment rack. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
On 04/15/2010 01:28 PM, John Higdon wrote:
In , (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Go to a radio station and ask for a tour and a job. That's how everyone starts out.... Indeed! If you bring ANY technical skills to the party, by all means give me a call when I'm back in the office on 4/26! Engineering types have pretty much all jumped ship, but there ARE still stations that appreciate good technical talent. And I'll wave to you from my cubicle at the big internet company down in Sunnyvale... |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
David Kaye wrote:
I was working on some computers over at KDIA/KDYA a couple years ago when a guy came in and wanted The Tour. Well, two stations, you'd think there was a lot to see. But, being an automated gospel music station on the one hand and an automated block program station on the other, the guy was basically shown what might be radio if only there were DJs around. He was shown the two empty control rooms, the tech area where I was wiping the dirt and grime off a computer's innards, and the the equipment rack. See, you could make that into a fun tour, talking about the history of the station and what used to be in this room and what used to be in that room, and how technology has changed things both for the better and the worse. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
* Scott Dorsey wrote, On 4/16/2010 8:05 AM:
David wrote: the guy was basically shown what might be radio if only there were DJs around. He was shown the two empty control rooms, the tech area where I was wiping the dirt and grime off a computer's innards, and the the equipment rack. See, you could make that into a fun tour, talking about the history of the station and what used to be in this room and what used to be in that room, and how technology has changed things both for the better and the worse. --scott When I was a student at the Ron Bailie School of Broadcast in the old 420 Taylor KBHK building we trained in some of the original 1930s NBC control rooms. It was kind of exciting for a broadcast geek to know the history and speculate what those rooms had looked like with equipment from the building's historical NBC era. JT -- |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
I cannot imagine anyone being that odious. It has happened. After explaining my passion for the industry, no ever denied me admission to examine any part of the radio station I wished to see. I was welcome with open arms at every station from San Jose to San Francisco. I was welcomed to most stations as well. The first was KEEN on Old Oakland. Then KDAC in Fort Bragg, then KFMR in Fremont. I spent many times at the KFAX daytime transmitter on the service road next to the San Mateo bridge, watching the board op play back religious programs and time things out with pre-carted promos, and the occasional live news feed from the SF studio. I visited KYA, KFRC, KDFM, KJAY, KJOY, KSTN, KRON, KPIX, KTVU, KNTV, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a couple here or there. However, I was not allowed to visit KNBR, KCBS, KGO, KBRG, KLIV, or KLOK. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John T wrote:
When I was a student at the Ron Bailie School of Broadcast in the old 420 Taylor KBHK building we trained in some of the original 1930s NBC control rooms. And did working with record cutting lathes and the NBC chimes help you in your broadcasting career? Fun though it may have been if I'd paid a bundle to go to a private broadcasting school I'd have wanted to be trained on equipment that I would typically deal with. The only station I found that had old ET equipment from the 30s was KCHJ in Delano, largely because after Charles H. Johnes died in 1968 the family wanted to run the place like a museum. KCHJ wasn't a typical radio station. I was rather upset when I was at CSM that we had to deal with antiquated black and white equipment and just one camera with a zoom lens at KCSM-TV. While we learned about equipment that was fairly state of the art on the radio side (KCSM-FM), we learned zilch about programming because Dan Odum was so fond of his block programming. Such training prepared us for...uh...KFAX, KEST, and other also-rans, but didn't prepare us for KFRC or any other station that was going anywhere in the market. Of course, the concept of broadcasting schools is moot today, given that there is simply no need for them anymore, but the equivalent might be going to a computer school and learning how to program on punch cards. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
In article , David Kaye wrote: I was rather upset when I was at CSM that we had to deal with antiquated black and white equipment and just one camera with a zoom lens at KCSM-TV. While we learned about equipment that was fairly state of the art on the radio side (KCSM-FM) It was just the opposite at SF State. Other than being B&W, the TV studio was one of the best in the state. (And I don't mean just at educational institutions.) But the radio station wasn't real like KCSM; it only went to the dorms. So that equipment was much more modest. Patty |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
In article ,
John Higdon wrote: In article , (David Kaye) wrote: Meanwhile, there have been stations (even back in the glory days of radio) when they wouldn't let you come in. I got this rude shock when I tried to visit the then KBRG (now KITS). The DJ welcomed me but the op mgr was there and she booted me out the door. "We are a business. We're not an amusement park" (or words to that effect). I was devastated. It took me a long time to work up the nerve to visit another station. I cannot imagine anyone being that odious. When I was in high school and still headed for the world of academe (as least as far as my parents were concerned), I used to visit radio stations for the simple reason that I was fascinated by broadcasting. After explaining my passion for the industry, no ever denied me admission to examine any part of the radio station I wished to see. I was welcome with open arms at every station from San Jose to San Francisco. For instance, I visited KIOI when it was owned by Jim Gabbert (which is when I met him) during most of the time the station was at the Whitcomb Hotel and at 1001 California St. I never found radio stations to be unfriendly places. But my real introduction to them came from the inside. We had a neighbor who had a job as morning man at a station 30 miles away, who lost his driver's license for a while, and I ended up taking him to work, and back home afterward for a while. Which meant that I was on the station premises from sign-on, and in the studio, with a pretty seasoned old-timer, for several hours each morning before driving back to go to school. In short, a warm body who asked so many questions that he got put to work. After a few months of this, the general manager, who had a couple of other stations and a TV station, called me in and told me that enough was enough of doubling for the morning man---if I could get an RT license, he could use what I'd learned at his other stations. So I did, and he did. This is going back sixty years, when keeping a transmitter modulated meant either spinning platters (all 78's) or talking into a microphone. The world was full of 250, 500, and 1KW daytimers who needed someone who could walk into an empty building, flip the switches on the transmitter, take the readings, and start modulating the carrier. Of course, they expected you to do a half-decent job of keeping things alive, following "the book" with spot ads, and the like. But nobody really cared if you looked like a geeky kid, or could get around physically. I knew a couple of pros who were in wheelchairs. Probably aren't many opportunities like this any more, between the large ownership groups, satellite feeds, carts and other automation, etc. etc. But I had any number of friends over the years who "did radio" at one point or another for a while, but who never really tried to make careers as radio personalities. But I think there was some good learning in all of that, that carried forward to being able to get up at a podium elsewhere, and do something a bit more cogent than mumble "uh, err, well, like, I mean, you know....". Hank |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
I'm sorry to say it is that thinking that is pretty much what is wrong with radio today. But you yourself have dissed the idea of getting an education many times. We have different tools (for the better, mostly) but what is now lacking is the spark of creativity in local stations. It isn't the equipment that is responsible for the lack of new music on radio. It isn't the lack of tape recorders or turntables that have "forced" stations to use syndication rather than do things of interest on their own. Radio broadcasting is a mature industry. There aren't that many different ways to do things. There are some interesting used of soundscapes, however. I suggest you listen to "Radio Lab" on KQED Radio. It's a documentary series that mixes some very clever sound collaging with the meat of the topic. It comes from WNYC. Is there some reason a broadcast school can't teach things like community involvement, or music programming, or even specialized sales tactics that involve clients in improving their own businesses? Now THAT would be a broadcast school. Jason Jennings spent a decade training people how to run radio stations. As you may recall, he was once the youngest group owner, and was a hotshot sales guy. But he knew management through and through. Today he's totally out of broadcasting, instead spending his time giving what might be called Q-A seminars to select businesses. http://www.jason-jennings.com/ I'm mentioning him because his content has always been top-notch, and he charges a bundle for it, out of the reach of most people and corporations. I haven't asked him about why he stopped doing radio management seminars, but I suspect it's because people in radio are cheapskates. Be sure to check out his videos on his site and on YouTube. Even the freebies he gives away are thought-provoking. He's the author of many fascinating books, including, "It's Not The Big That Eat the Small, It's The Fast That Eat the Slow", definitely a must for anybody who manages a business. However, as with many others involved with local broadcasting, the schools refused to move on with the times, seeing as their sole responsibility the training of people to cue records and splice tape. Broadcasting schools should have all failed; they were run by people who lacked any kind of vision whatsoever. I'm told that the commercial broadcasting schools were to varying degrees shuck and jive. Sure, they might prepare one for a ticket, back when those mattered, but that was about it. We need broadcasting schools today more than ever, but I'm willing to admit that there may be a serious lack of people who are up to the task of running them. Why do we need broadcasting schools now? The industry is 1/10th the size it was, and is likely to shrink even more. Sure, there will be a need for broadcasters just as there's a need for blacksmiths, but I suggest that it's not a wise use of resources to dedicate school curricula to it. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
Sure radio has changed in the way it is technically produced, and those who have resisted those changes have fallen by the wayside. But at those stations that still offer local programming designed to serve listening audiences, what goes on inside the studios would be of interest to anyone still fascinated by radio. Yeah, and there are museums worth visiting, too. Your stations are not typical of broadcasting today. Sure, they've managed to take marginal Class A stations and make them work. And that's fine. But it's not what most of radio is about. Back in the day, that was ALL that radio was about. As with anything else, broadcasting is what one makes of it. I guess we blame it on Bill Drake -- "More music, more music, more music, more music." For the most part people don't care about DJs and local content. That much is in evidence with the ear buds people wear today. They ain't listening to the radio... |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
* David Kaye wrote, On 4/17/2010 7:46 AM:
And did working with record cutting lathes and the NBC chimes help you in your broadcasting career? Fun though it may have been if I'd paid a bundle to go to a private broadcasting school I'd have wanted to be trained on equipment that I would typically deal with. Read again: I said that it was fun _speculating_ about what would have been there in the NBC days. The actual equipment was not necessarily the very latest, but it was more than adequate to train us in the arts and crafts of contemporary radio broadcasting. We had recently up to date consoles, we learned how to program cart carousels (which were still in use at many stations, though not for long), we were voice trained, we were trained in spot scripting and production, news writing and delivery, sales (hated it!) sports writing and delivery . . pretty much the full gamut of what we would encounter in small to medium markets, or for the lucky few, even SF. Among our "finals" was the production of an hour demo in the format of our choice. Among our instructors were Aldy Swanson of KYUU, former KGO-TV reporter Paul Wynne, and a former PD at KSOL, whose name I don't recall. Oh, and a guy (whose name I *should* recall but don't) heard on several stations for his sports reports from the Oakland Coliseum. We were told from the start that we would gain the skills to move into an "entry level" job, most likely *way* out of the SF market. There were no promises that we'd go to KFRC, KCBS or any other station in the #5 market. We were told to expect to go to Yreka or places like that. One former student came by during the course and addressed us. At that time he was the #1 morning man in Phoenix, but had worked his way up from small stations in SoCal and Arizona. He also told us that our control rooms were probably average to above average compared to a lot of small stations, and to learn all we could about workarounds for technical problems that might occur. Ironically, out my class and the one just prior to ours, a sizable handful went to work in one fashion or another in the SF market- most of the rest did little or nothing in broadcasting-- not for lack of opportunity, but for lack of willingness to spend a year or two in Yreka or some similar community-- no love for broadcasting: Fatal. As it was, I turned down Yreka and Clear Lake because I had a job in this area that I didn't want to leave. The problem with Bailie and other courses was that the days of local personality radio were coming to an end. The conglomeration of the industry was just beginning, and the school lost relevance within a couple of years after I was there. In any case, Bailie was a legit operation at that time, and was a stepping stone for many into small to medium market radio and/or TV work-- and for a few it was an entrance directly into the SF market. JT -- |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
* John Higdon wrote, On 4/17/2010 11:52 AM:
Is there some reason a broadcast school can't teach things like community involvement, or music programming, or even specialized sales tactics that involve clients in improving their own businesses? Now THAT would be a broadcast school. However, as with many others involved with local broadcasting, the schools refused to move on with the times, seeing as their sole responsibility the training of people to cue records and splice tape. Broadcasting schools should have all failed; they were run by people who lacked any kind of vision whatsoever. We need broadcasting schools today more than ever, but I'm willing to admit that there may be a serious lack of people who are up to the task of running them. I think you've nailed it. Ultimately it is up to local broadcasters to seek out and hire talent- using that word in its dictionary sense. You are right that the schools failed to advance with the times and therefore lost relevance-- although many of the skills I got at Bailie were transferable to a more modern age. Spot scripting, news writing, sports writing and delivery of the same. I've made some pocket money doing voice work, but I don't want to run a business and chase down jobs, which are necessary if you want to have voicing as your main career. Otherwise, I'm mostly behind the scenes doing technical management that is often over my head. But Bailie was the stepping stone, the piece of paper that let me in the door, even if I'm not doing what I originally set out to do. I do have to admit that I loved tape splicing, though. JT -- |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
With all due respect, that is spoken just like someone who is not in the business. I am days off the NAB convention floor, and even I was a bit overwhelmed by some of the new tools for production and transmission that have come out in just the past year. I can't imagine anyone currently in the business saying that "there is nothing new under the sun in broadcasting". Sure, there'll always be new equipment. But, you weren't talking about equipment. You were talking about *doing* broadcasting -- the production end of it and I was responding to that. I also pointed out the sound collages that "Radio Lab" is doing, which wouldn't have been possible in a pre-digital age, or as easily possible at any rate. You were talking about the teaching of skills that would lead to innovations in programming. That's where I said that broadcasting is a mature industry and that there's only a certain amount of things you can do with the medium. I never went near one of those schools. But I cannot imagine that such schools did not teach production, broadcast management, script writing, technical basics, and the various performance techniques. When I did a talkshow at KKEY, we had interns from a commercial broadcasting school, I think it was Columbia. The bulk of what the interns knew were board opping and talking into a mic. Broadcast management? Shirley, you jest. If they didn't teach all of those things, they not only should have failed when they did, but they should never have been in the business in the first place. Remember the ads? They showed some guy in a booth talking into a mic and moving a fader and clicking a switch. "Hi, this is Joe Schmuck. You can be on the air just like me..." They never showed anybody looking at Arbitron printouts, writing checks, or for that matter even looking into the back of a transmitter. They always showed the DJ. So, this was not false nor misleading advertising. They taught people who to be DJs in an already overcrowded field of DJs. Even leaving local broadcasting out of the discussion, are you saying that not a single talented human being is utilized in syndication, satellite and Internet audio services? That's truly incredible. No, but I believe in what Rich Wood (syndicator of Sally Jessy Raphael, Wolfman Jack, and a ton of other people, along with op mgr for XETRA, WOR, etc) has always said: "I can teach people how to do radio, but only if they have something to say when they open the mic." But again, you led off the reply with talk about equipment and finished with talk about production. Equipment is not mature, production is, for the most part. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John Higdon wrote:
It was explained to me by the owners of some very successful stations that music is simply the glue that holds what a station really does together and keeps the audience from tuning away. The station interacts with listeners, in person and on the air. The station keeps listeners informed about important local events. The station provides news and timely information to help listeners plan their days and get about smoothly. In your 1977 world, yes, but people simply don't listen that way any longer. Yes, there are your stations, which do that sort of thing, but the majority of big stations are jukeboxes. Take news for instance. Most stations have ONE news person for a cluster of 4 or 5, and they usually do the mornings and record some drop-ins for other hours if they offer them at all. In our day, say 1977, KIOI had one news person and KFRC had at least 5. For someone so close to broadcasting you don't seem to be seeing what's been going on. First, you didn't even know that stations, even your suburban ones, tested music before they played it. You thought that it was purely seat of the pants decisions! And you're right up there in it every day and you didn't know this. I suggest that if you want to learn a little more about the production side of broadcasting you talk with people in the business as I do, and find out what's going on. The station helps its fellow community businesses succeed and prosper, not just by selling spots but by working with them individually to devise and execute a plan which maximizes their success. Again, that's not how most of the big stations work. Sure, they'll join the local chamber of commerce and donate money to the Little League, but gone are the days when KKSF used to bankroll ambient music CDs to benefit AIDS charities. Today, KGO stands out as one of the few big stations anywhere that does anything for its community. But look at the other Citadel stations -- I don't even think KABC or WABC have any live local talent at all anymore, except maybe a weekend gardener infomercial talkshow. How can I get it across to you that radio broadcasting is so much more than playing records into the airwaves? In your world it is, but step outside your world and it's jukeboxes. Hell, listen to KOIT, the most successful music station in town for over a decade and what is it? It's a jukebox that sounds automated even when it's live. The extent of community service they do is reading 2 PSAs an hour and giving the weather forecast, something that could be done from Albuquerque. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
John T wrote:
Among our instructors were Aldy Swanson of KYUU, former KGO-TV reporter Paul Wynne, and a former PD at KSOL, whose name I don't recall. Oh, and a guy (whose name I *should* recall but don't) heard on several stations for his sports reports from the Oakland Coliseum. Sal Bando? The problem with Bailie and other courses was that the days of local personality radio were coming to an end. The conglomeration of the industry was just beginning, and the school lost relevance within a couple of years after I was there. Exactly. In any case, Bailie was a legit operation at that time, and was a stepping stone for many into small to medium market radio and/or TV work-- and for a few it was an entrance directly into the SF market. Again, as I said to JH in another post, the ads were not false or misleading. They did teach people how to be DJs. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
David Kaye wrote:
John Higdon wrote: It was explained to me by the owners of some very successful stations that music is simply the glue that holds what a station really does together and keeps the audience from tuning away. The station interacts with listeners, in person and on the air. The station keeps listeners informed about important local events. The station provides news and timely information to help listeners plan their days and get about smoothly. In your 1977 world, yes, but people simply don't listen that way any longer. Yes, there are your stations, which do that sort of thing, but the majority of big stations are jukeboxes. This is true, but it's also a really bad thing. The vast majority of radio stations on the air don't actually provide any real benefit to the public. They aren't relevant to the listener, and people don't specifically tune into them. They just happen to hit the station for their normal 2.4 minutes as they are scanning their way down the dial. How can I get it across to you that radio broadcasting is so much more than playing records into the airwaves? In your world it is, but step outside your world and it's jukeboxes. Hell, listen to KOIT, the most successful music station in town for over a decade and what is it? It's a jukebox that sounds automated even when it's live. The extent of community service they do is reading 2 PSAs an hour and giving the weather forecast, something that could be done from Albuquerque. What makes it sucessful, though? Do people really go out of their way to listen to it, or do they just happen to turn it on because it's the loudest thing on the dial as they tune by and it happened to be playing a song they like? From my perspective, I think much of what is wrong with radio is that the bands are too crowded with stations that are all playing the same song at the same time. I think the only thing that will save radio is for the marginal stations to go dark. We need to see a _lot_ of stations going dark. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
In article ,
David Kaye wrote: (Scott Dorsey) wrote: See, you could make that into a fun tour, talking about the history of the station and what used to be in this room and what used to be in that room, and how technology has changed things both for the better and the worse. Would if it were. The history of KDYA 1190 is Lou Ripa's KNBA in Vallejo with a totally different format and nothing remarkable in its history (unless you consider Lou's morning restaurant interviews of 40 years ago). KDIA 1640 is an extended band drop-in with no history. The KDIA callsign used to belong to a totally unrelated station (KMKY 1310). THAT is interesting. That's something worth talking about... how we got into the situation where the whole extended band was created. THAT is an important part of radio history. The offices are in a generic office building in Richmond, which could have been a law firm or any other generic office. There's no there there. What is interesting about the station isn't anything that is in the station itself, it's how the industry got to be where it is and how the station got to be there. It doesn't look very exciting and the tour itself isn't much, but there's a lot of interesting stuff that happened in order to get things to the point of that PC automation system sitting in an office park. And this isn't unlike other stations. Today's radio stations are computers like people have at home, mixing boards like one might see in a DJ booth at a nightclub, though not as sophisticated, transmitters are in distant locations that nobody but the chief engineers visit. There's really not much to see. No, but there's a _lot_ to talk about. Everything is in little boxes in racks that look like every other rack in every other industry, but how it got to be that way is the story of radio. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
"John Higdon" wrote:
Would Mike Amatori, production director of KGO, San Francisco do, or his associate Craig Bowers? We talk about this all the time. Actually, I imagine you are joking...since I have been in this business full-time for over forty years, and it would be inconceivable that I would not speak with those by whom I am surrounded on an everyday basis, don't you think? But you didn't even know that your own stations test their music before playing it. You thought they operated on hunches. If you didn't know this fundamental aspect of today's programming, there's probably more things about modern radio that you don't know. Okay, I went to school with Mike Amatori. I want to be as supportive as possible, but unfortunately, when it comes to production he's fairly blind to modern ideas and techniques. His stuff, unfortunately, sounds 40 years out of date. Frankly, he's not very good. His delivery is singsongy. He makes little use of music beds, no use of sound effects, speed changes, etc. Heck, there are spots he could do with multiple voices, back and forth banter, lots of things, but he just knocks out the same old same old day after day. |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
David Kaye wrote:
(Scott Dorsey) wrote: No, but there's a _lot_ to talk about. Everything is in little boxes in racks that look like every other rack in every other industry, but how it got to be that way is the story of radio. Generally speaking, history is not a way to interest someone in a career. Well.... yes.... but.... I don't think I'd want to interest someone in a career in radio today. But I might want to give them a tour that would make them think about how messed up the whole radio industry is.... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
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"RADIO" weather it be engineering,production,or talent Is an art and a labor of love. When invented the thing all we really wanted to do was play some music to our friends,tell them what the weather was doing where we are and in a way all be in the same place at the same time regardless of the acual distance between us. Sure, the greedy and grossly OVERSIZED commercial interests fueled by the FCC's pressure to pay more money for every second of RF emission has all but destroyed everything that radio was sopposed to be. Turning the "dial" in to a sea of noise and pandering to pursuit of the dollar almighty to a point that now the snake is eating its tail. no more DJs just harddrive babysitters,no more fun for the listener and in most stations today forget about the thrill and excitement of "THE SHOW"! ..... Well HA HA HA HA! The story doesnt end here....Much to the contrary! People with disabilities you ask? Well if you are hopeing to make a living in radio then the game is up, But if you willing to LIVE radio then i see no better oppertunity for a disabled individual to make a difference in the world of RADIO. Yes you are going to have to start at the begining in a sense. Re-invent the wheel which shouldnt be to hard today since it seems that it has been forgotten that blocks dont roll. What i suggest to you start your own station as if you invented RADIO. NO! not pirate radio at least not in the sense of stepping on toes or troubleing the failing "industry" with formitable competition. There is nearly unlimited radio spectrum all you have to do is find a piece that suits the need. Stay away from the comercial AM&FM bands that ship is sinking for now. In stead Set sail on your own ship even if that means you have to start with a raft. If you want radio then you are going to have to make radio by any means nessasarry. You may have to market radios directly to your listeners that receive your frequency since its not going to the mainstream. Hmmm kinda sounds like the early days of broadcasting... I dont want to tell you what to do after all its your radio station but i will offer this :HF,shortwave,CB radio,Part 15,(analogue of course).Stay out of HAM bands and DO NOT USE ANY FREQUENCY THAT IS BEING USED BY OTHERS find a clear channel. Courtesy is formost Of course If you win the lottery or have a million dollars you could buy your way into mainstrean radio. But who wants to listen to that crap? What ever you choose to do make sure you do it well and without causeing harmfull interference to any other communications or public safety. Use proper Engineering practices and keep the content clean but not sterile. Act only in the public's interest and service to the public and you will be amazed how your efforts will satisfy the thirst of radio listeners that has been unquenched for decades. Radio is to amuse,entertain and inform both the broadcaster and listener! Not to lay golden eggs! Keep that in mind as you have now been welcomed in to the world of Radio Broadcasting "HEY!, Whos on the air?" |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
In article ,
13thdoctor wrote: "RADIO" weather it be engineering,production,or talent Is an art and a labor of love. When invented the thing all we really wanted to do was play some music to our friends,tell them what the weather was doing where we are and in a way all be in the same place at the same time regardless of the acual distance between us. In my opinion, many commercial stations have gone well above and beyond the image of radio broadcasting, and insert themselves into their communities at many levels, beyond playing "some music" and talking about the weather. Some generate interest in local affairs, entertainment venues, social interactions, and some even participate in improving the overall business climate. In other words, some stations are as much a part of their communities as the town square. Sure, the greedy and grossly OVERSIZED commercial interests fueled by the FCC's pressure to pay more money for every second of RF emission has all but destroyed everything that radio was sopposed to be. Broadcasters pay less for their spectrum than just about any other radio service. This is in exchange for having a mandate to provide services and assume a public trust that goes along with the spectrum they acquire. Turning the "dial" in to a sea of noise and pandering to pursuit of the dollar almighty to a point that now the snake is eating its tail. no more DJs just harddrive babysitters,no more fun for the listener and in most stations today forget about the thrill and excitement of "THE SHOW"! There was a time when radio listeners said, "We're tired of all this talk; just play the music." Sometimes it pays to be careful what you which for. Confining nostalgia to the days of the DJs is not only not thinking out of the box, it ignores reality, since we still have many DJs, both syndicated and local. People with disabilities you ask? Well if you are hopeing to make a living in radio then the game is up, But if you willing to LIVE radio then i see no better oppertunity for a disabled individual to make a difference in the world of RADIO. You can do both. My life for over forty years has been radio. I have made a good living doing radio. These are not mutually exclusive endeavors. Radio is to amuse,entertain and inform both the broadcaster and listener! Not to lay golden eggs! Keep that in mind as you have now been welcomed in to the world of Radio Broadcasting Once again, these states are not mutually exclusive. Some of the most successful stations in existence in terms of informing and entertain audiences have also been among to most lucrative for their owners. I, for one, have no trouble compensating those who do good work...and compensating them well. -- John Higdon +1 408 ANdrews 6-4400 AT&T-Free At Last |
Disabilities and jobs in broadcasting
13thdoctor wrote:
as a hobby but as a career I have learned that the real problem with "radio" today is the cheeky*******s that are in it for the money! Radio broadcasting is a mature industry. Of COURSE people will be in it for the money, just as home building is a mature industry and you no longer see many homes being built as do-it-yourself projects as you saw in the 1930s. Today you see home building companies putting up homes for the money. Radio is no different. So, get over it. If you want to do radio as a hobby, talk to your local non-commercial station and see if they have some time available. Jad from NPR's "Radio Lab" started about 10 years ago using throwaway time at 3:00am on WNYC, and now he's created an award-winning series that even Ira Glass from "This American Life" envies. It's THAT good. But he started with a garbage slot on a public station. |
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