RadioInsight

///////////////////////////////////////////
The Looming Engineering Age Crisis

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 12:00 PM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/blogs/...ng-age-crisis/


Broadcast companies are standing on the train tracks, watching a train from
a mile away making its way towards them. “Boy, that thing’s going to kill
us! Should we jump? Should we run? Well, I’m pretty busy…I sure hope
someone pushes us out of the way before the train hits us!�
And that’s how the end will be. The surprise? The train isn’t “new media�
or the internet.
The train is our inability to act.
There’s something we’ve been talking about in the industry for years – it’s
the lack of new Engineering and Technical talent. We all know the problem
is there. We know that it’s already a big problem. The issue is we keep
waiting for someone to do something about it.
We need to act. We need to do it now.
I know of two small market stations that were off the air for an entire
day. One of them was repaired and put back on the air at full power. The
other was patched up and ran at 20% power for almost two weeks. How do I
know this? Because I’m the reason they were hobbled for so long. You see, I
have a full time job managing the technical operations for six large market
stations. Those are my primary responsibility. The two small stations have
no Engineer. The only contract guy in the area retired several years ago. I
got a call from the station owner one morning after one of them went off
the air. He told me there was nobody else to call. I helped him out, and
agreed to do what I could until he found a local Engineer. Two years later,
he’s still looking. So, when those stations recently went down, they had to
sit until I was done with my primary responsibilities and could get them
back together. It killed me knowing that this small business owner was
losing money and that he had to wait until I could get there.
That story is not unusual. I turn down all but dire emergency work these
days. I tell people that I have more money than time. They’re always
willing to pay whatever I’d demand, but that’s not the problem. The problem
is that I only have so many hours in the day.
So how did we get here? It’s pretty simple, really. Before deregulation,
each station (or market AM/FM) had their own Engineer. Many of them were
radio operators in the military and received excellent training. They came
back home and settled in to radio careers. They lived in the back office,
fixing cart machines and unclogging toilets. Engineers needed to be
licensed, so there were technical schools with training programs turning
out newly-minted license holders. Things were good. Then, consolidation and
deregulation. Stations no longer needed to have an FCC licensed, full-time
Engineer on staff. It was left to them to decide what worked best. Soon you
had one or two Engineers for half the stations in a market. Many Engineers
used that “opportunity� to retire. Others tried it and simply burned out.
Time marched on, and technology improved. Now with today’s tech, it’s not
so hard to juggle multiple stations. Sure, we added computers to the mix,
but we also added IT staff. The balance shifted – it was no longer enough
to know electronics and RF. You needed to know computers and IT. More
Engineers took this “opportunity� to retire, while many others took on the
challenge and learned and grew their skills. Meanwhile, since there was no
longer a requirement for Engineers to be licensed, the smart schools did a
pivot and changed their curriculum from Engineering and Electronics to IT.
There was (and is) a huge demand for IT staff, so they followed the money.
For a while, nobody noticed. Many of the retired Engineers moved into
contract positions, becoming “firemen� who came by whenever things broke.
The smaller stations enjoyed the savings, at the expense of the routine
maintenance that a full-time Engineer provided.
Then, the wheels started to fall off.
A significant portion of those original Engineers have either passed on or
are well into their 80’s. The younger ones who were still doing contract
work are now retiring in staggering numbers. Meanwhile, nobody has been
turning out new Engineers. The younger guys who were mentored by these
original professionals are now getting snapped up by the larger
broadcasting companies and are being well compensated in an effort to keep
them.
This still leaves a few significant problems. First, the smaller stations
can’t afford an experienced Engineer. The salary competition can be fierce.
Second, the “younger guys� aren’t that young any more. I fall into that
category, and I’m 46!
So what do we do?
It’s a multi-faceted problem, but here are the broad strokes. First off,
it’s a discipline that few are aware of. You’d be surprised how many people
have no clue that there are technical people making the transmitter work.
It’s very much “out of sight, out of mindâ€�.Â* So there is a definite
“marketing� problem.
Second, and this is a biggie, we compete with just about everyone for
talent. Ask yourself – why would you take a job in radio, with 24/7 on-call
requirements, lower pay, requests to fix plumbing, etc., when you can be a
9 to 5 desk jockey?
Third is training. How do we teach the next generation the skills that
they’ll need? Transmitter and RF basics, radio automation, management…the
list goes on. There isn’t much in the way of Broadcast Engineering training
out there.
Finally, there’s the baggage. You likely know what I’m talking about.
Broadcast Engineers have historically had a (in some cases well deserved)
reputation for being the odd guy who works strange hours and acts like a
mad scientist. They are often looked at as one notch above the janitor,
instead of the Technology professional that they are. Look at the companies
that “get it� – Emmis’s Paul Brenner who developed NextRadio and
iHeartMedia’s Jeff Littlejohn who perfected iHeartRadio. These are
Engineering professionals who were given a seat at the management table and
did big things for their employers. They work for companies that recognize
and reward their technical staff the same way they do their sales and
programming staffs. That’s something that’s very attractive for a young
Technical professional who is thinking about career paths.
So I’ve laid out some of the issues. Now it’s time to start solving the
problem. This isn’t a one person, one organization solution. It’s going to
take all of broadcast media’s stakeholders working together to make it
happen. I envision manufacturers teaching courses (I got a lot out of
Harris’s “Broadcast Technology Training Center� back in the day),
organizations like SBE, NAB, and state broadcast associations recruiting
and promoting, broadcast companies taking a hard look at how they handle
their Technical staffs, and we as Engineers making sure that we continue to
do our best to bring value to the table for our employers. We all need to
put our heads together and come up with a coordinated effort, working in
concert to open up the pipeline to recruit and retain technical talent.
Otherwise the next time a station goes off the air, it may be forever.
Have a suggestion or an idea to help raise awareness within the industry?
You can contact me at .



///////////////////////////////////////////
KRQX Rebrands As Kool 98.9

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 11:50 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...-as-kool-98-9/



Redrock Broadcasting has rebranding Classic Hits K98.9 KRQX Hurricane/St.
George UT as Kool 98.9.

No further changes accompanied the rebranding. KRQX had been branded as
K98.9 since flipping from Alternative to Classic Hits in October 2014.



///////////////////////////////////////////
97.9 The Moose Launches In Burlington VT

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 09:41 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...burlington-vt/



After nearly a year of silence, Randy Michaels RadioActive LLCs 97.9 WZXP
Au Sable NY/Burlington VT has returned to the air.

WZXP is now operating as Classic Country 97.9 The Moose. The station is now
being operated by John Nichols, one of the co-founders of CHR 95.5 WXXX in
the 1980s and WFFF-TV in the 1990s along with Aaron Ishmael, who is a
partner in stations across the country.

Prior to going dark in July 2015 WZXP operated as AAA The Album Station,
which still exists as a webcaster.



///////////////////////////////////////////
Paul Giammarco Joins WWLI Providence For Afternoons

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 08:10 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...or-afternoons/



Cumulus AC Lite Rock 105 WWLI Providence has brought Paul Giammarco back to
the cluster as afternoon host.

Giammarco previously programmed sister News/Talk 630 WPRO/99.7 WEAN from
2005-2012 and rejoins the company from WLWC-TV where he worked in Account
Development and Management. He worked weekends at WWLI from 2003 to 2005.

Debuting on July 26, Giammarco fills the vacancy created by former Program
Director Brian DeMays move to Cincinnati in May.

Cumulus Media announces that local broadcasting professional Paul Giammarco
will join Lite Rock 105/WWLI-FM in Providence, RI, as Afternoon Drive Host.
Giammarco will debut on Lite Rock 105 on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, and his
show will air weekdays from 3-7PM.

Giammarco is Rhode Island born, raised and educated, attending Rhode Island
School of Broadcasting and CCRI. He comes to Cumulus Media-Rhode Island
from the CW28, where he was in account management and development.
Previously, Giammarco was Operations Manager/Program Director for News Talk
630 WPRO and 99.7 FM. He was also an owner of WNRI in Woonsocket for many
years.

Emily Boldon, Vice President, AC, for Cumulus Media and Interim Program
Director for Lite Rock 105 said: “Paul’s years of radio experience in this
building, paired with his incredible relationships in this market, made him
an ideal choice for this unique opportunity. We are so excited to have Paul
back on the team at Cumulus-Providence, and on-air at Lite Rock 105.�

“It’s an honor to be part of the Cumulus-Providence team and a member of
the amazingly talented Lite Rock 105 line-up,� said Giammarco. “I am goose
bump excited to spend every weekday afternoon entertaining our Southern New
England listeners while playing today’s hits and yesterday’s favorite
music.�




///////////////////////////////////////////
James Cridland: Radios Pokmon Go strategy

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 06:43 AM PDT
https://media.info/radio/opinion/rad...on-go-strategy





///////////////////////////////////////////
99.7 MyFM Debuts In Monroe

Posted: 12 Jul 2016 06:00 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...uts-in-monroe/



The Radio Peoples Classic Country 1680 KRJO Monroe LA has signed-on an FM
Translator 99.7 K259CU Monroe and flipped to Hot AC.

The new 99.7 MyFM will fill the format gap between Mapleton Communications
AC Sunny 98.3 KZRZ and CHR 103.1 Now-FM KNNW.

The station is featuring local morning show hosted by former 94.7 KIXY San
Angelo TX night host Dave Maxwell and Tonya Lied.



///////////////////////////////////////////
Dick Taylor: What We Have Here, Is a Failure to Embrace Complexity

Posted: 11 Jul 2016 11:10 AM PDT
https://dicktaylorblog.com/2016/07/1...ce-complexity/