[BC] Do We Still Like Our Jobs?

[Ron Cole]

Tom, You made me laugh.

A long long time ago I was working in a small market when the new
Station GM came in one evening around 7pm and made some comment to me
about my work and if I did not straighten up I was going to be gone.
I told her I was working there when she was hired and I would still be
there after she was  gone!  . . .  Some 11 years after she was fired for
poor sales and low ratings.  I left that company for the cellular
business.

Ron


On Fri, 2005-07-29 at 20:13, Thomas G. Osenkowsky wrote:

> I started in radio in the fall of 1972 while a senior in high school.
> Very much by accident. I began as a news stringer, covering
> local meetings and preparing reports for the morning newscasts
> on WINE AM & FM in Brookfield, CT. I helped the CE install a new
> RCA FM tx and hung around the station after school. I was mentored
> by the late Tony Napoleon, afternoon DJ. The CE had a Saturday
> night air shift from 6 to midnight. He let me go on air at 8 pm and
> "Smokin' Tom Gary" was born.
> 
> I went of the Central CT State College and became the morning man
> on WFCS(FM), later PD of their carrier current AM. I trained new
> on-air DJ's who would then graduate to the FM. Over spring break 1974
> I answered the request line while the CE was testing a mod he made to the
> McMartin board he installed earlier in the year. The girl who called
> requested
> some Three Dog Night songs. I played her favorite, "Pieces of April" and
> a few others. I asked if she wanted to meet, she agreed. That was on April
> 19, 1974. We got married in April 19, 1975. I left CCSC after one year.
> Their
> Electronics course covered materials I learned as a freshman at Brookfield
> High! I went to work as a test technician for Automation Industries,
> specializing
> in their UJ Reflectoscope product. I was hired by WDAQ, Danbury to tend
> their new automation system. Revox A-77's and carousels. I then went on
> to DJ on WLAD(AM). I brought in my own records, did my own music sets,
> etc. I left WLAD and Automation for a solo CE position at (then) WOWW,
> Naugatuck, CT.
> 
> I left WOWW in January, 1977 to be CE at 13-WAVZ and WKCI(FM) in
> New Haven. I was there for 4 years, moved on to WRCH(FM)/WRCQ(AM)
> in the Hartford market and from there back to Naugatuck as OM/PD. I
> ended up managing 14-NVR as it had become known. I also maintain an
> active client list of CT stations and travel from New England, the Midwest
> to the Caribbean.
> 
> A lot has changed in the broadcast industry. From programming to
> engineering. No more daily tuning the transmitter, taking base current
> readings, monthly frequency checks, etc. Computers have become a
> major part of broadcasting. Proficiency in computing is an essential
> part of broadcast engineering. We have witnessed the demise of
> vinyl, carts and reel tape from most facilities. Tubes have given way
> to solid state. Digital has a prevalent presence in many stations.
> 
> Voice tracking and satellite delivered programming has replaced the
> old reel and VHS automation systems of the past. Consolidation has
> placed demands on engineers who now must maintain an increased
> number of facilities. I have prepared many technical applications for
> LMA's and acquisitions for a major group (now purchased by another).
> 
> As far as treatment and respect I have been on both sides of the fence.
> I have worked for a GM who treated me with the utmost respect, gave me
> a budget for the ten people I was responsible for plus equipment and
> maintenance and I worked for one immature guy who was more of a
> PD-wannabe than manager. He fired me on a Thursday night at a remote.
> I sat in his chair the following Monday morning. In my consulting practice
> I have seen some well managed and technically sound operations to
> ones that I would prefer to never visit again. I have sold software that I
> authored for AM, RFR and other tasks to other consulting engineers,
> network DOE's and CE's. Worked for major market stations such as
> WABC as well as 250 watt daytimers.
> 
> We all could consume volumes with stories good and bad. Radio has
> changed. It's now an entertainment business with competition from
> two satellite providers, iPods, Internet only radio, the Internet itself
> plus all forms of video. Advertising dollars are now divided
> among the aforementioned plus cable TV and print media. Engineers
> used to be concerned with transmitter tube changes, cleaning and
> lubricating rotary pots, changing cart machine pinch rollers, turntable
> pucks and needles, etc. Today we are dealing with power surfers
> who can't figure out how to print email or save documents. Some
> things have changed, some have not.
> 
> Tom Osenkowsky, CPBE
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Ron Cole
ron.cole at verizon.net