Of course my take was tongue-in cheek, but I’m not sure I’m the best one to answer your question. I spent about 10 years in radio when it was still at its peak (i.e., before the Internet) and was lucky enough to work at some of the city’s biggest stations. And despite some frustrations which will always exist, we mostly had a ball.

But I’ve spent the past quarter century in TV news so telling you what the radio industry is like now wouldn’t be fair or accurate.
 
I am able to say that radio can be a wonderful, creative and fun world when it’s done right. But a lot of that has been pushed aside in the name of saving money. As for starting out, it’s always been tough. But it’s the shrinking opportunities that would concern me most. For example, overnights in a smaller market was always considered a great learning ground, where you could develop your style, make mistakes and just get better.
 
I can’t think of a single music station in Toronto (or elsewhere for that matter) that actually has a live person in those hours. Those shifts have simply disappeared and I don’t see any scenario where they might come back. That’s a big loss for newcomers. Everything is automated now, which is also a big loss, even for veterans of the biz.  
 
Add in syndicated programming, rerolls, the choices available on the web, a generation that uses the Internet to find a lot of its tunes and a “just shut up and play the music” mentality at many places and this old grey radio mare, she ain’t what she used to be.
 
Still, studies indicate that people are listening and that a lot of the doom and gloom is exaggerated. But there's no denying there are fewer jobs than there used to be and I feel that a lot of the creativity and freedom we had is all but gone in far too many organizations. And that is what I would miss the most.
 
So should you pursue a job in radio? It was all I ever wanted to do and I’m glad I did it. And, as I always used to tell people, it beats working in an office. (Radio people have the best behind-the-scenes stories of anyone and most of them are pretty hilarious.)  
 
As for your final question, 'Is there any future in this business?' there certainly is for some. But I suspect it's not as much as before. And I’m not sure what I’d tell someone who wanted to try it now. I invite others to fill in the blanks for me. Would you still go into it if you were starting out today? And would you want your kids to go into traditional broadcasting as it stands now?

Or would you prefer they work for a living? (Damn, there's that cynical humour I just can't seem to shake!) 

You're probably right about no overnight live music programming with the exception of WSM 650 AM Nashville, Tennessee (yes AM!). I believe they are live 24 hours on week days. Live and automated on weekends. And I think they manage to make money.

I don't know if it has changed since being purchsed by Rogers, but CKOT 101.3 Tillsonburg Ontario was live from 05:30 to midnight every day.

This leads to another question. How many hours a day are most stations live? I am guessing most stations may be live from 06:00 - 09:00 and 15:00 - 18:00 if even that. 

I can spot a voice tracked / automated station very quickly. Do most listeners notice or care?

darcyh wrote:

I can spot a voice tracked / automated station very quickly.  Do most listeners notice or care?

Yes....many care.  That said...it depends a lot on where they live.  Let's say for example that you live in a small town,,,up in Northern Ontario...where those forest fires are burning 'here, there and almost everywhere' even as I type.  In some areas...people are on alert to evacuate.  Being voice-tracked from 5:00 PM Friday until 6:00 AM Monday is good how?  It is dereliction ... perhaps not of duty ... but of faith, goodwill and an actually sense of understanding responsibility

Let's say that something runs amuck at the town/city water processing facility and suddenly everyone should only consume water after it's been brought to a rolling boil for 2 minutes.  Voice tracking alerts nobody if the timing doesn't coincide.  Pregnant women and infants/little children might as well go to the dollar store...purchase some kites and pray for wind.  Meanwhile that wind better not propel the fires in the wrong direction.

Weather with no current temps.  Generic info with no time checks.  Missing elements.  Songs extro'd entirely incorrectly.  It's easy to tell when ownership only cares about the bottom line...not the well-being of the audience.  If that is the case...it IS so daily...whether it's live or otherwise.  Broadcasters who play by these 'rules' don't deserve to just take the money and run.  They're more than just bad for the local economy  They abuse the trust handed to them through historical achievements reached by entirely different people.  'Souless' would not have been anywhere near so easily settled for in an era not too far back in the past.  One can only worry about what's next?  How can they possibly give their listeners less.  I don't know...but rest assured they'll find a way.  Nuts indeed.
 

The likelihood of your successfully lumping all persons into one basket diminishes with the escalating age of the general population subsections.  In rural and smaller town Ontario...the average age is somewhere in the + mid 40s.  Below 45 years of age...your opinion is far more accurate.  Below 35 it's likely closer to 100%.   Mind you...people under the age of 35 are far less likely to own their own cottage...camp...getaway spot.  No...let us think as the average RADIO listener...who is more likely to be significantly above the average age of the previously mentioned general population.

The nonsensical aspect to all of this is radio...chasing away their actual audience/probable listeners.  For the majority...you know...folks above 46?...56"?...66?  The chances of your being right drops like an anvil.  And therein lies the sense.

darcyh wrote:

RadioActive:   Is there any future in this business?

There certainly is, D.H.     For example Neil Hedley Lamarr of AM 740 is said to be considering cancelling future bus rides related to the long-running Elvis Presley promotion in Collingwood and replacing that with a fresh promotion comprised of TTC tokens to (what's left of) the ElMocambo to honor Elvis Costello (even though Costello isn't even dead yet).

It's all about demographics as O. Codger astutely points out

K.

 

Last edited by Kilgore (July 21, 2018 2:45 pm)