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Why Radio’s Silent Goodbyes Are Bad for Business
Ever been let go from a radio gig and never got the chance to say goodbye to your listeners? It happens all the time and it's just one more part of why losing an on-air job can be so painful. Just ask anyone who once worked at Bell Media.
This column from Barrett Media deals with that tricky issue from the station's point of view - what happens when a favourite personality suddenly (and too often these days, involuntarily) disappears from a radio station, and listeners call in to ask where they went.
The answers aren't always easy to give - ratings, asking for more money, a format switch, something they said on air or off, etc. But the author posits that loyal listeners deserve some explanation or it can backfire on a station.
"There’s almost never an on-air “goodbye,” and once they’re escorted out of the building, it’s usually crickets. Fans are left wondering why the show or DJ they listened to every day just disappeared.
Poof, they’re just gone.
Listeners will call, email, text, hit social — some will mail handwritten notes asking why. What happened to the show? Those inquiries are usually ignored or answered with a sterile note from HR saying the station doesn’t discuss personnel moves.
That doesn’t strengthen the bond listeners feel with the station. It makes it weaker. That’s not relationship communication."
Why Radio’s Silent Goodbyes Are Bad for Business
- Radiowiz
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Re: Why Radio’s Silent Goodbyes Are Bad for Business
You know what? It's even worse when the radio announcer that is let go built up a strong following under a radio name that also goes dead with the job termination.
Johnny Hopper, for example, builds up a strong following on Froggy FM.
Then one day that station is gone.
Poof! All that following...also gone. Poor Johnny has to start all over again at a different station under a whole new radio name. (unless he can find another Froggy FM...)
- RadioActive
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Re: Why Radio’s Silent Goodbyes Are Bad for Business
The station that was once WNIA Cheektowaga, N.Y. (now WECK) used to be guilty of this. They would give their DJs a specific name depending on what shift they were on. The afternoon guy was always known as "Mike Melody" and the station owned the moniker. Then there was Jerry Jack and Tom Thomas.
So if a guy just getting started in the biz showed any talent, was attracting an audience and wanted more money, he would be let go and could not take the name the listeners knew him by with him. Management did it on purpose so it always sounded like the personality the audience knew was always there. It was the brainchild of then station owner Gordon Brown, who also did the same thing at his WSAY in Rochester (now WXXI.)
Did it work? Hard to say, but I always thought it was a pretty odious practice and I'm glad the concept stopped after Brown's death.
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