sowny.net | The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum


You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

September 13, 2017 5:17 pm  #1


When A-Holes Lose Their Broadcasting Gigs

I’m not a fan of anyone ever losing their gig in TV and radio, but there are certainly times when a colleague’s sudden disappearance makes it easier to come into work.
 
I was reminded of this in a post last week about how five on-air radio hosts were arrested for various offences. The biggest name was one Craig Carton, mainly because he worked at high profile WFAN, the all-sports station in New York City. He’s accused of starting a multi-million ticket fraud scheme to pay off his ever-growing gambling debts.

And now a former co-worker has come forth to stomp all over the guy, revealing he was a complete creep to him while they worked together at another station. It’s an interesting read, and it puts me in mind of two people I can think of whose unexpected absence from the workplace set off what I can only call paroxyms of joy.

The first came at one of Toronto’s top radio stations in the 80s, where a guy who worked in the newsroom was almost universally hated. And sad to say, he earned it. This reporter was constantly tattling to management about every infraction someone else made, no matter how small or insignificant. If a report went over its specified length by even a second and a half, he’d issue a secret memo to the news director. He’d also listen to everyone’s pre-taped reports, desperately searching for even the slightest problem and then gleefully head straight to the ND’s door.
 
Ironically, even the news director hated this guy, but unfortunately, he did his job OK, so there were no real grounds to fire him. But God, he was a royal pain-in-the-drain. And then one day, out of the blue, he announced he was quitting to take over his family’s business.
 
Well, the entire newsroom went into party mode. People were laughing, smiling, trying to keep their glee from him, but quietly counting down the two weeks until his final departure. And it was a much, much happier newsroom once he’d gone, with everyone breathing a sigh of relief that this cancer had been cut out of their lives.
 
The other instance happened at a local TV station, where a news director ran the place like a dictator. He had a few favourite employees, but everyone else was yelled at, humiliated in front of others and generally treated like garbage. This was in the days before HR was a factor in how employees could be addressed.
 
When the company was taken over, it took a few months, but they eventually ousted the guy, giving him a huge payout to leave since he’d been there for years. One of the people I worked with was a female producer who was forced to regularly meet with this cretin, and in fact had an appointment with him the day he was canned.
 
I remember seeing her walk into the newsroom that day, her face a mass of tension thinking about what was to come. I’ll never forget her reaction when I broke the news to her that her nemesis was gone forever. Her hand went up to her mouth in stunned surprise, stayed there for a few seconds, after which she shouted “You’re kidding!”
 
And then she broke out in the biggest smile I have ever seen on a human being. In fact, she kept smiling for the rest of that day. For all I know, that grin may still be on her face all these years later.  
 
So while I hate to see anyone lose their jobs, sometimes their loss is everyone else’s gain.

 

September 14, 2017 1:56 pm  #2


Re: When A-Holes Lose Their Broadcasting Gigs

In my 55 years in the biz, I've encountered more than my fair share of Aholes.
Fortunately, Karma has dealt with almost all of them.
Big egos with little talent. 
Managers who were jealous of anyone with talent.
The "we've always done it this way and we're not going to change anything" types, even though ratings continued to fall.
Stealing ideas from talented people and claiming them as their own.
The ones who thought their titles made them gods and they could do no wrong.
Thank goodness for the great people that I had the pleasure of working with.
The good always outweighed the bad.
The bad teach you as much as the good.
You just have to decide which path you want to follow.

 

September 14, 2017 9:31 pm  #3


Re: When A-Holes Lose Their Broadcasting Gigs

Mike Cleaver wrote:

In my 55 years in the biz, I've encountered more than my fair share of Aholes.
Fortunately, Karma has dealt with almost all of them.
Big egos with little talent. 
Managers who were jealous of anyone with talent.
The "we've always done it this way and we're not going to change anything" types, even though ratings continued to fall.
Stealing ideas from talented people and claiming them as their own.
The ones who thought their titles made them gods and they could do no wrong.
Thank goodness for the great people that I had the pleasure of working with.
The good always outweighed the bad.
The bad teach you as much as the good.
You just have to decide which path you want to follow.

"Big egos with little talent."  I remember that Mike.  T'was back in the earlier days.  By the time one reached the top it was, instead, usually big egos with big talent.  Not always but generally the non-talents didn't make it up the ladder.

"Managers who were jealous of anyone with talent."  I encountered THAT more at the so-called top of the ladder.  Happened twice in T.O.  Yet these twits would continue to resurface.

"Stealing ideas from talented people and claiming them as their own."  Those guys I didn't mind.  In fact they came in handy.  If I wanted to get something implemented all I needed to do was convince 'management boy' that it was 'his' idea and presto!!!...Bob's yer uncle.

"The ones who thought their titles made them gods and they could do no wrong."  Sooner or later though...they would...do wrong.  [or leave]

I remember some dick-heads but mostly I was fortunate enough to have worked with a bunch of real pros and some extremely nice, fun, caring, great to be around humans.  [staff and management]  If yours is a TEAM it works.  If it's a bunch of solo acts trying to swat a home run every time up...it can be a very long and unrewarding stretch.

For some ... Primary School grades 1 and 2 never seem to end.  Figgitaboudem.




 

Last edited by Old Codger (September 14, 2017 9:33 pm)