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August 30, 2011
Death By Firing SquadSome of the biggest egos in radio belong to, of all people, weekend hosts on News/Ralk radio.
"You're my fourth program director," said the cocky host of a dreadful weekend health show. "And I'm sure you won't be the last."
I wanted to say, "And you wouldn't be on the radio if you weren't buying the time." But I held my tongue and filed the host's name in the back of my brain, under "shit list." See, my fantasy is to one day line up all these brokered (a.k.a. paid-for) show hosts in front of a firing squad. I can dream, can't I?
Today, an elderly gentleman who, with his wife, co-hosts a restaurant review show on Sundays, stopped by my office to give me an envelope.
Unfortunately, it wasn't his letter of resignation.
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August 23, 2011
Delusions Of GrandeurI got an outstanding CD in the mail from an air talent. It was guy applying for the night shift on our Oldies station. In fact, his aircheck was so good, I played it a second time on my way home from work. Talk about a keeper. This guy has great pipes, energy level, ...
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August 16, 2011
Secret Of Great RatingsI wish I could tell you the magic formula for great ratings, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you. Seriously, I believe a PD's success has a lot to do with luck and being in the right place at the right time. PDs probably get more credit than they deserve when they ...
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August 9, 2011
Bailing From RadioSo I'm going through a pile of mail, when I come across an envelope from the ABC Radio Network that really jumps out at me. See, the address label reads: Mr. Jack James or current Program Director. Does ABC know something I don't? --- Radio is about to lose ...
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August 2, 2011
Nice (Monitoring) BraceletOver the years I've moved enough radio people from there to here -- myself included -- that I joke with friends and family that if the radio career tanks, I can always start my own moving and storage company. In the interest of public service -- and anyone relocating to ...
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July 26, 2011
Blind Leading The BlindI didn't think it was possible, but the research company that screwed up the music tests for two of our stations also got an "F" on the make-good tests. The first time around, we settled on a minimum of 100 people for the auditorium testing. We'd pay them and feed them ...
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July 19, 2011
With Me Or Against Me?Someone actually told me the person who writes "The PD Chronicles" is too hard on his general manager. Of course, I played straight man. "Yeah, whoever it is, he's a ball buster," I replied. "If his GM ever catches on, he'll get fired." I felt a twinge of evanescent ...
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July 12, 2011
Two-Minute WarningIt came out of nowhere. It was a traffic order from the sales department for a live, two-minute interactive spot between a talk show host and a client. Over the phone. "I thought you'd want to see this," the midday jock whispered to me in the hallway. I couldn't ...
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July 5, 2011
Horse's AssBy now, I should be a whiz at writing letters of apology. The latest "crisis" involved the organizer of an annual local event. She'd been on horseback last weekend when one of our smart-ass DJs allegedly blasted the siren on our station vehicle, a used ambulance. The loud ...
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June 28, 2011
Beat The JockGood thing the corporate lawyer didn't get wind of this one. The promotions director for one of the stations in our cluster had this crazy idea: Why not turn the midday jock into a human pinata? We'd hoist him up in the middle of the dance floor of a local bar, where ...