[BC] Regional Engineering

[Cowboy]

>On Sunday 20 January 2008 08:23 pm, RichardBJohnson at comcast.net wrote:
>Already have that. It's called Clear Channel. Also, the RV isn't 
>required because the engineer only shows up every other year and can 
>sleep overnight in the rental car.
>
> >  From: Barry Mishkind <barry at oldradio.com>
>
>>           It may be that the larger groups will start
>>           a few engineers on a "circuit" of stations,
>>           all fed from a central location.

  Where's my own horn ? Oh, here it is.........
  ;-)

  I believe ( though I could be wrong ) that I was the first
  regional engineer in the U.S.
  Mid to late 80's, I had supervisory oversight for some
  14 stations in 12 states coast to coast, 7 of them AM-DA's.
  ( later, in the early 90s, 96 stations and translators, and several
  receive only satelite locations as well as construction projects,
  supervising well over 100 full and part time staff )
  Some on these lists, are full or part time at those installations
  today !

  My philosophy at the time,was that the merit of the engineer
  could be measured in *unscheduled* down time, and that
  one can do maintenance either on your own schedule, or
  on the equipments idea of its schedule. There will always
  be unpredictable failures ( lightning, floods and such ) but if
  done properly, keeping uptime above five 9's isn't really
  very tough.

  The group at that time, was the largest group in the world by
  station count, second only to the BBC.
  Even so, I spent most of my time on my boat in those days.
  Because of that alone, some complained that I was over paid.

  Even though I was well paid, in terms of engineering cost
  per broadcast hour the engineering costs were really quite low,
  including air fare and hotels, in spite of sailing time and hours
  spent "on the job."

  As a result, that same group tried regional engineering with
  6 other guys, nearly all of whom were miserable failures, as
  their philosophy was to merely fix it when it broke.

  I'm not sure that after I left, regional engineering showed up
  again until Clear Channel, but again, I could be wrong.

  The idea of an engineer in an RV doesn't work. That's been
  tried also, and merely results in an unhappy and not very
  well adjusted individual who burns out rather quickly.

  Over all, regional engineering is not a bad plan, but it can
  be implemented poorly, or with the wrong person.
  With the right person, adequate resources, and the proper
  backing from top management, it can be a very cost effective
  solution to staffing challenges.

-- 
Cowboy