“A little love goes a long way.”
That old saying is so appropriate in today’s broadcast scene. Most on-air performers are in it not for the money but for the love of the business. I began my career when radio was sexy. Today young people opt for the movie business, animation, the computer world, recording studios, anything but radio. The main reasons are lack of opportunities to progress, little compensation, and a very small chance of ever receiving a bonus or raise. Add to this the fact that the business has lost its lustre. If you are an on-air talent you will quit in frustration because you don’t belong to the expected cookie cutter designation. You may actually be creative and inventive. Didn’t you notice the sign on the door at your broadcast outlet? “No variations please”. It might also read “Don’t rock the boat”.
People like Pat Burns, Jack Webster, Fred Latremouille, Jack Cullen, Dave McCormick, Doc Harris and a host of other talented performers made radio a “must listen” medium. Today “vanilla” is the only flavor available. The more average you sound, the happier your employer will be. God forbid you should make too much money — you could lose your job simply by being paid too much. Oh, the reason will be that they are changing direction, or some other baseless excuse, and you don’t fit. Sadly, many performers take this personally, but this happens on a daily basis and it is not personal, it is policy. In the Vancouver market alone I have counted over 60 professional radio people who can’t get arrested in a city with so many stations and three more signing on before next April.
One station manager had the brass to suggest to me that I was old fashioned and belonged in a period when radio was fun and now it is a business. “Why can’t it be both?” I asked. I hope I live long enough to see the left brainers, the accountants and lawyers in the background again. In the world of sports it is the stars that put asses in seats. The sports world knows this and pays handsomely for their stars (sometimes too much but nevertheless they know where the money is made). Isn’t it interesting that the movie business has highly paid talent as does television.
I think with the recent crap on Wall Street we are going to begin to question our current business practices and get back to serving the public and not the shareholders as much. Yes, the shareholders have a stake in all this but not at the expense of the listener. We have to begin with a new thrust — looking down the road for the long haul and not the short term. Asians think long term, and look at their progress.
It is fascinating that today radio advertises for announcers, writers, and even sales people because the list of candidates has shrunk so much. I said in a Board of Trade speech in the late 1970’s that if we don’t begin to invest in tomorrow’s performers today we will wake up with no prospects at our door… and here we are. I have said it throughout the last decade and I will repeat it. If I was 16 again and looking for a career it would be anything but radio.
Wake up! It is later than you think.
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