Jock Satisfaction And Jock Education
Regular readers will have had no need to strap in and buckle up, certainly not in order to appreciate the following conclusions of a recent American study conducted by Jacobs Media and Don Anthony’s Morning Show Boot Camp on the satisfaction levels of on-air performers. One thousand and thirty-five on-air hosts participated.
The first element to be revealed was that only 19% of the respondents agreed that their management was supportive of their efforts. No surprise there as we have always been told that Programming and Creative were considered as “expenses – part of the, perhaps, not so necessary overhead. Verily, as we know, that is the position that did, indeed, come to pass. And now, the sales departments, the ones who claim to be those that actually “make money for their stations”, are, nevertheless, screwed – with little of any real value to take to the street. Audiences and advertisers are being left in the lurch while copy is being written by AE’s on dinner napkins.
No surprise, either, that 89% of the presenters were white guys – ragin’ Caucasians. Indeed, we can forget about any corporate bleatings about diversification and gender-fairness. How many women, I also wonder, are still relegated to the positions of “sidekick giggle-chicks” or V/T charwomen?
To me, meanwhile, the most telling takeaway from the report is that only 3 out of 10 on-air hosts would recommend radio as a viable career choice. My suspicion is that, of those three, two of them would be operating as toadies - people who have a severely uninformed understanding of the Draconian limitations under which almost all presenters are toiling.
Maybe my own limitations at the time were a factor. Maybe the fact that I was having such a blast performing on the air – as we said, “talking dirty an’ playin’ the Hits” had an influence. Maybe because I was enjoying ratings success, the respect of my peers and that I was pulling down good coin was a factor. Still, it took me awhile longer to realize I had become better educated about on-air communications than almost all of the managers and owners for whom I was slaving over a hot microphone. Discussions, debates, arguments and intense “agreements to disagree” ensued. These head-on clashes, I readily admit, were never accepted as learning experiences.
But that was then. Modern radio environments have little to do with the times when radio stood on its own as a viable informational, entertainment and advertising medium. After all, competing media consisted of print and television. Ours was the only real time experience available to any audience.
Many pundits, meanwhile, have been calling out for a return to radio stations that are fully staffed with live & local on-air presenters that are encouraged to engage their audiences more often and with the microphone open for longer periods.
At first blush, the knee-jerk reaction from a lot of readers would likely be along the lines of, “Yeah! That would be fantastic! Live & local and lots of it! Hit some posts along the way! That’s the way to go! Woo-Hoo!
Unfortunately, and I hope this is understood: This is absolutely the wrong way to go! The verbal belching and gibberish spilling out of unsuspecting audiences’ radios would be nonsensical and would quickly become overwhelming. The lack of skilled talent being dumped on the air would be embarrassing to any station owner. Plus, the programmers tasked with herding such an excited but incompetent herd of aural aficianados would be driven to careers in the fast-food delivery industry, and be forced to justify the new employment as: meaningful work. Further, advertisers would catch on and start making candid and brutal inquiries – never a happy circumstance.
While I have been putting the boots to this prone pony for decades – with less than outstanding acceptance or execution on the part of owners and management, I continue to insist that: Until or unless performers are trained in the basics, along with the subtleties and nuances of more effective broadcast communications, stations and their talent base will continue to participate in an obviously ineffective and unenviable status quo.
As was the case in days of olde, a few talented on-air presenters will be having worthwhile, even exemplary influence in their marketplaces. This, however, hardly bodes well for the rank & file presenters, or the industry in general. And it is the upcoming rank & file that will be in desperate need of the necessary training in order to be more effective communicators.
This education would also help prevent them from inevitably stepping in to piles of self-generated, on-air doo-doo, and from having to fall on grenades, the pins of which they would have pulled all by themselves. Turning a bunch of uneducated, well-intentioned presenters loose to roam the radio landscape is akin to denying climate change. The evidence is everywhere, is being demonstrated at all times, is generating significantly negative consequences. This, as well, is not Fake News.
Ronald T. Robinson
info@voicetalentguy.com