What will you do after your radio career is over?
Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 encouraged group owners to acquire more stations in each market and consolidate personnel, many talented people have found themselves — voluntarily or by executive fiat — looking for work elsewhere.
“I believe that the executives have decimated radio,” said Ken Dardis, president of Audio Graphics, a Chagrin Falls, Ohio consultancy. “It’s been one misstep after another. While owners were in their consolidation mindset, people like me were asking how they’d pay for it. The multiples they were paying for the stations were not reasonable.”
Ownership might feel otherwise. But it’s indisputable that for some companies, the solution to the red ink was cutting costs, which meant staff. But where do the employees who were downsized go? Some have gone into allied fields such as voice work, mobile music or equipment sales, satellite services, production companies or radio’s various software suppliers.
“A general manager once told me that radio is built on sand,” said Michael Neff, freelance radio commercial producer and voice specialist. “He said that no matter how good the reputation of your station or what its heritage status may be, you should be prepared to shift laterally or else shift downward. My dad told me that what’s important is how you recoil.”
Neff said that when people are removed from their jobs, they have a choice. “They can say ‘I got screwed’ or they can regroup and go on. I chose the latter.”
Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 encouraged group owners to acquire more stations in each market and consolidate personnel, many talented people have found themselves — voluntarily or by executive fiat — looking for work elsewhere.
“I believe that the executives have decimated radio,” said Ken Dardis, president of Audio Graphics, a Chagrin Falls, Ohio consultancy. “It’s been one misstep after another. While owners were in their consolidation mindset, people like me were asking how they’d pay for it. The multiples they were paying for the stations were not reasonable.”
Ownership might feel otherwise. But it’s indisputable that for some companies, the solution to the red ink was cutting costs, which meant staff. But where do the employees who were downsized go? Some have gone into allied fields such as voice work, mobile music or equipment sales, satellite services, production companies or radio’s various software suppliers.
“A general manager once told me that radio is built on sand,” said Michael Neff, freelance radio commercial producer and voice specialist. “He said that no matter how good the reputation of your station or what its heritage status may be, you should be prepared to shift laterally or else shift downward. My dad told me that what’s important is how you recoil.”
Neff said that when people are removed from their jobs, they have a choice. “They can say ‘I got screwed’ or they can regroup and go on. I chose the latter.”
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(Source : Radio World)
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