Well, the weather’s warming up nicely just a week away from the start of Summer and a picture from one of my many Radio Station gigs in Winter seems nice in the 85 degree weather.

Its been a while since I wrote about the state of Radio but I had a few thoughts about things after reading many posts on Facebook recently.

You know, about a year ago, I wrote a blog in which I said that you don’t need Facebook or any social media, for that matter. I’ve since found that it’s not only a good thing to use Facebook, it’s damn near essential for any air talent to even get looked at by potential employers. But beware, what you post and what employers can dig up on you can be either an asset or detriment. And remember that your privacy is most important, and its all too easy to give out too much information for your own good. So as all the experts say in so many instances… let the user beware.

I’ve been thinking about the state of our economy lately. I started paying attention again when the Dow dropped nearly 1,000 points last week. Scary thought, and I had backed off watching the various business channels because it was raising my blood pressure. However, I’ve taken a liking to Bloomberg Eleven Three Oh (WBBR New York) due to their comprehensive and relatively balanced reporting on Wall Street. What I hear really alarms me. For instance, today, they featured a guy from WSJ Accounting (or something close… ) who said that the next correction right around the corner won’t be in the hundreds of points lost in one day, but thousands.

Thinking about things logically, with our US Dollar pretty strong, one would think that we should continue in recovery. I don’t believe that thinking however. There are too many negatives weighing in on the economy to sustain further growth. First off, today (5/10/10), the unemployment report from the government came out and showed that we lost 25,000 jobs in the previous quarter, when Wall Street was expecting a jobs gain. Not good. European markets are in a deep slide as they try to bail out Greece and it’s failed economy. Then, there’s the Euro. Once thought to eclipse the US Dollar as THE world currency, the Euro is faltering and may completely collapse. European Debt is out of control and in many ways, things are really far worse than they were in the Fall of ’08 at the height of the US Bank failures and subsequent government bailout. Then, there’s the run on Gold that’s taken hold. While Gold didn’t rise much in ’08, it’s gone through the roof, currently over $1,200 an ounce as investors run from risk for the safety of precious metals (we saw this in 1929 after the stock market crash). Runaway inflation surely can’t be far behind, although the only thing that’s saved us from it has been the aforementioned crash of the Euro. With other currencies in worse shape than the Dollar, even with the Federal Reserve printing money at a record rate (thus devaluing the currency), its still leaving the Dollar stronger than other world currencies. One day, world markets are going to realize that the US Dollar isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on and that’s when inflation will hit us in ernest. Till then, we’ll have our problems but we should be able to weather the economic storm collectively.

Where does that leave the Radio industry? Well, it’s a mixed bag. Some companies, the ones who didn’t lay off a lot of talented people, are in a great position to recover this year, providing we don’t have a second market Crash. Others, who will remain nameless, who laid off a lot of talent, will have a more difficult time. It wasn’t just talent that was fired in these cases, often, good sales reps were thrown out with the bathwater in the process.

Someone asked me recently, “how do you get into the radio industry”? My response was basically, “Why do you want to do that?” I shouldn’t be so pessimistic. After all, if you get into a line of work because you love it, shouldn’t that be more important than how much money you make? If you’re single, the answer is probably, yes. Married folks should think twice about a radio career, unless they are prime morning talent worth 6 figures. Because the disparity in pay is a great cavern, as wide as the Grand Canyon. Either you’re in the 6 figure club or you’re scratching at 25,000 – barely above the poverty level. That’s not a great choice but it’s reality.

One doesn’t really know for sure how the economy is going to fare by the end of the year, but it’s late in May, and the stock market has already erased all it’s gains for the year. And broadcasters still have far lower levels of revenue to deal with not to mention the fight to not have to pay royalties to the recording industry, ingrates as they are. My advise to you unemployed radio people: find a REAL job unless you’re THAT good. Do radio part time just to stay in it. Your dependents will thank you for it.

Steve West
Webmaster

Webmaster’s Corner for May 20, 2010 is a post from: Airchexx.com

“All Request Saturday Night” on DRC-FM has been a staple in Hartford for several years now. Ron Sedaille is well known in Connecticut and does a show that’s quite reminiscent of 1960s radio. He even has his own jingles!

Your webmaster recorded this one Saturday evening in North Central Massachusetts (about 8 miles from the New Hampshire state line), using a 7 element FM DX antenna from Radio Shack. The signal has a bit of white nose on it but otherwise this is really great!

Ron Sedaille, 102.9 WDRC-FM Hartford | July 21, 2007 is a post from: Airchexx.com

NewsTalk 77 WABC New York logo circa 2007

For those who have not heard this show, WABC added this program right after WCBS-FM dropped oldies in favor of the “Jack-FM” format, trying to capitalize on the tremendous heritage that WABC had as a music station. Mark Simone is a consummate professional, able to host a talk show on WABC and be very serious talking politics, and yet still be a fantastic disc jockey – he should, having worked at stations like WPIX 102 doing top 40 and WNEW Eleven Three Oh as a standards jock.

This really is a noisy aircheck. Recorded in your webmaster’s back room with all my electronics lit up, the WABC signal often faded into the high computer noise which is so prevalent around the AM band everywhere these days. But, its not unlistenable. Recorded on a wideband AM Stereo receiver from Radio Shack (one of those vintage 80s models), where the signal is good (about 70 percent), WABC actually sounds very good despite having wrecked their audio chain in recent years to accomodate HD radio. Its nice when you hear AM in full 13khz, even though they transmit as all AMs do these days only 9khz wide. This does fade out and get difficult to listen to in spots, but hang in there. Mark Simone and the old WABC jingles are worth every minute of the 8:23 that this scoped recording offers.

Mark Simone, 77 WABC New York | July 21, 2007 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Mid-South Radar picture from National Weather Service, 5/2/10

Your webmaster captured the audio from two Memphis Television stations, figuring this might have some historical value. No, it’s not a classic aircheck (although someday it might be). But it is of importance for people who might want to know.

Our prayers go out to all the victims and to those frightened by the sheer intensity of it all.

Severe Weather Coverage, WREG-DT/WMC-DT Memphis | May 1-2, 2010 is a post from: Airchexx.com

What teens, do you suppose, knew that in 1999, one of their favorite DJs was in his 60s? Dale Dorman is now semi-retired and doing weekends at WODS, but at the time of this airchecks, he was at the tail end of a 20+ year run as the Afternoon Drive jock at Boston’s “Kiss-108 FM”.

Dorman is one of those jocks who made it big in the RKO chain of stations back when personality really mattered. Once the Morning Show host at WRKO in it’s top 40 heyday, Dorman also spent time doing West Coast top 40 at KFRC San Francisco in the late 60s, and after WRKO was the morning guy at Fairbanks’ WVBF in it’s “F-105″ incarnation.

Over 9 minutes scoped from the original 30, here’s Uncle Dave, STILL doing top 40 and sounding like he’s relevant and loves the music despite being generations older than his main audience. And perhaps the point of this is that great talent still commands an audience regardless of his or her age, and that just because a certain approach appears outdated, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work. For radio management, there’s an obvious lesson in this. And you know what it is

Dale Dorman, WXKS-FM Medford/Boston (Kiss 108 FM) | May 1, 1999 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Produced by Steve West in August, 2002 for the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, this is an Airchexx.com Special Presentation!

Now, listen to the events as heard on radio and a somber tribute to a day which nobody the world over will ever forget! As heard on America’s Trucking Network (formerly the Truckin’ Bozo Show) on 700 WLW & XM Satellite Radio, stations of the Information Radio Network and hundreds of other stations nationwide.

Airchexx.com Presents: 9/11 Remembered is a post from: Airchexx.com

The first of September has always seemed to me, to be the end of Summer. Course, we didn’t have much of a Summer, with only about two weeks worth of Summer heat this year – comfortable, sure, but certainly not beach weather. So here it is, a mere 42 degrees at 4am – it’s not even Labor Day… and I’m wondering if Summer was this cold, will Winter be awful?

Change gears now. I read a lot of blogs… Mel Phillips, Jerry Del Colliano and others. Course, those two are my favorites – perhaps its the way they write. Anyhow, I got to thinking the other day that perhaps we’re not giving radio the chance… the positive spin it needs. When even those inside the medium say radio’s doomed and blame corporate policy, its a pretty bleak picture. But did we paint that picture ourselves? I remember someone telling me that radio is what you make of it. You’ll always have a place of SOME kind, if you train yourself to be good at more than one thing.

What things? Well, here’s a few suggestions from the Steve West School of Broadcasting…

Production. Be a production wiz! Try creating liners for your station at home or in the production room when its empty. Maybe try some imaging. Heck, present it to your PD – he might even like it, use it, and save the station some money. You see production that needs doing? Ask the Production Director (or your PD) if you can do some of it.

News. Learn how to write good news copy, how to properly get leads (got a scanner?), and how to follow up on them. Keep a digital recorder on you at all times, you never know when you might need it. Ask to fill in when the News guy is out. At very least, record a sample newscast that you’ll have available so that if a news position comes open at least you’ll have something to show a prospective employer.

Volunteer your time. Okay, so you think that’s beneath you. You graduated long ago from the street team. Well, it sure looks good if you’ve done some high profile volunteer work for your city. C’mon. Think. I’m sure there’s something you can do and attach your name (and your station’s name) to. Think future resume… Most stations still worth a damn do care if a new on air personality is willing to make a positive, visible impact on their community of license.

Notice I did NOT mention opening a Facebook or Twitter page. My feeling on this is that whatever negative or embarassing comments someone in your chain of friends or followers posts will inevitably show up on your page even if you’ve been a good little poster and kept it friendly and rated G. Sure, we’ve all seen help wanted ads on All Access and elsewhere that say the PD wants to see your Facebook page… but unless you’re applying for Ryan Seacrest’s job why do you really need that headache? If your demo tape and qualifications are good enough, your personality upbeat enough and your salary requirements not somewhere off the deep end, you should have no problem getting hired (well, in an ideal world) without the benefits and liabilities of Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. Let CNN tweet. The’re good at it.

NETWORK. Need I say more? Most good radio jobs are acquired via word of mouth from inside than those applying in the help wanted ads (many of which were posted simply to comply with EEO rules – they already have the person they want to hire picked. Sad but often true).

Now, these other things… just a bit of advise from someone who spent much of his life in radio, so, I didn’t just fall off the apple cart.

Never, EVER publicly say something negative about the company you work for. You might get away with that at 7-11 or whatever widget factory you work in, but in radio… managers are sooooo sensitive to negative press. Remember, when this gig is over, you might someday need that company to get you another job.

Never, EVER denigrate a fellow jock, member of the opposite sex or otherwise. This is a biggie. There are still so many stereotypes, and in radio, I’ve found out, so much drama. Stay out of the drama. You don’t need it.

It doesn’t matter what format you’re in. Be yourself and in public, you LOVE the music your station plays. Live the part, even if you can’t stand Brittany Spears or the four millionth Michael Jackson track this week, smile and tell the world how much you love it!! It’s YOUR station. Take ownership of it during your shift, and every time you meet someone who talks about or works at your station.

If you’re not following these rules, beware!! Your behind is open for everyone to see. These things can only help you, not hurt your career.

If, despite you following the above rules, and despite all your efforts, your employer is determined to take you off the payroll, perhaps its time to freelance. Voiceovers, cyber jocking… well, the world is endless. Desperate for an idea? Email me and I’ll discuss some different ways to do radio, get paid for it, and never have to leave your home. No, it ain’t radio the way we’ve known it.. but when radio resembled what we got into it for, the internet was either in its infancy or didn’t exist yet. So think about that!

Webmaster’s Corner for September 1, 2009 is a post from: Airchexx.com

FM 100 was the culmination of a career to me. True, I was only full time there for one Summer, but the station’s reputation, the life, the energy… the whole aura that surrounded this station put me in a trance from the first day I entered the building.

I can’t say why I hold such an emotional attachment to WMC-FM. I will say that this particular evening was the last time I was on major market radio, the last time I got to interact with callers or really be myself on a commercial radio station. Given my feelings toward this station, and Memphis, Tennessee, its little wonder why I was very emotional on this day.

At the end of this, is my farewell to Memphis. Nobody does a farewell… I figured what the heck. I wasn’t going to get to be on Memphis radio anymore. So, I had this really good speech I wanted to give, and wouldn’t you know it… my son, who was at the station with me, decided at that moment to enter the studio and just start talking to me while I was trying to speak… thus, lots of long pauses as I tried to remember exactly what I wanted to say but hadn’t written it down. Kids hahahaha…. But in the end, it was my son who was the reason I had to leave in the first place, so perhaps it was appropriate that he be there to remind me that it wasn’t the listeners or even radio that my first responsibility was to.

Nevermind. I’m just rambling.

If you’re a radio person, how did you leave your last gig?

Steve West, Last Show on WMC-FM Memphis | October 30, 2005 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Today, they call it “The Beach”, but back in 1997, KLTG Corpus Christi Texas had just morphed from ‘Lite’ AC to Oldies. And, they still called it “K-Lite” back then!

Okay, the secret is out… Michael Jay was Steve West. Or was it the other way around? Listeners will note that on this Sunday morning, Mr. Jay wasn’t exactly in top form, in fact as many times he stepped on elements at the beginning of this ‘check, I used to turn red. However, in the interest of presenting the Corpus Christi market in historical context… well, here it is.

One of my co-workers, John Elliot, used to joke that… “the Mexicans love their Oldies”. No offense intended, but ratings WERE healthy in this predominantly Hispanic part of South Texas, where some 80 percent were of Mexican decent. On a personal note, I have fond memories from there, having met some of the friendliest people of any market I worked in.

So, from early 1997, from the home of Farrah Fawcett-Majors and (the late) Selena, listen to Michael Jay… (the only time THAT name was ever used) play the greatest songs ever recorded. Scoped, that is, on KLTG Oldies 96-5 FM K-Lite! (Yes, the imaging was confused! You simply have to listen)

Real Player Required to play this aircheck.

Michael Jay on KLTG Corpus Christi | January 27, 1997 RELOADED is a post from: Airchexx.com

Back in ’85, I was commuting back and forth every weekend from Norfolk, VA to my hometown in Massachusetts. It was my weekend escape from the Navy, when my ship was actually in port and not underway somewhere.

From about Dover, Delaware up to about midway up the NJTP (about 50 miles from NYC), I had my choice of TWO Philadelphia AOR stations.. 93-3 WMMR and this one, 94 YSP. WMMR was much harder, as I remember, playing more hair band stuff and more Zeppelin, etc. The alternative was to go here to 94 YSP.

I guess in 1985 I was a serious rocker, AM top 40 was completely dead, and for some reason (maybe it was Michael Jackson), I was loathe to listen to CHR for a while. So, this is a good representation of your webmaster’s crazy listening habits for a time from 1984-1987.

The jock doesn’t mention his name but, hey, I had to write some kind of summary!

Dead segues, occasional imaging… that’s what Album Rock USED to be like!

94 WYSP Philadelphia | June 14, 1985 is a post from: Airchexx.com