1 of 1- leafs67
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How Much Does It Cost? Really
Clearly I have never worked in radio, but minimum wage is only $15 in Ontario. I never understood why radio owners would not pay minimum wage to anyone willing to do it, instead of running a repeat of a show. A three hour show could only pay $45 for the host, and the producer "pushing all the buttons" Three hour live show, $90 in payroll costs. The fixed costs would be the same whether you have a live host or not, wouldnt it?
Clearly I do not understand the business, can someone please help me out?
never worked ever, in radio
- RadioActive
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Re: How Much Does It Cost? Really
My guess is that anyone with the talent to pull off a 3 or 4 hour talk show would not work for minimum wage. And you can't have a second- or third-rate talent on-air, especially not in a market like Toronto. Not only would they likely sound terrible, which would reflect poorly on your station, but if they have little experience, they could easily say something that could get the owners in a whole lot of legal trouble.
Automation removes that danger, even if it means a reroll. There's always the chance a weekend audience didn't hear the original and it's new to the few ears that are listening.
That's why you have to hire someone with experience to do the job. And they generally work for a bit more than $15 an hour. Otherwise, the money you're saving could wind up costing you a fortune
- Ale Ont
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Re: How Much Does It Cost? Really
I am a big baseball fan. Three or four years ago, I was listening to the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game on CityNews in Ottawa. For two or three weeks in a row the game just stopped in the late innings and switched to CBS Sports.
I phoned and got through to the station manager who apologized to me but explained he would have to bring in a live body and pay them to operate the game. He just couldn't do that. Money, money, money.
A well known radio executive was asked how much he pays people right out of college. The answer?
Minimum wage and all the records they can eat!!!
The private broadcast media don't serve the public. They serve the shareholders.