Getting Fired

[FM radio 1 <FMradio1@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-03-18 01:25:19 EST, dlh@donnahalper.com writes:

<< Do any of you good folks have a story about the first time
 you got fired, or a time when you got caught in a format change, or had
 great numbers but got fired anyway?  >>

Actually, I was let go from my very first professional gig because the station
went satellite.  They had just finished building brand new, state of the art
studios about three years earlier, and they were in debt up to their ears.
When the early 90's recession hit and sales dropped off,  they had no choice
but to fire EVERYONE.  It was an AM-FM combo, so outside of the morning shows,
everyone got pink-slipped.

The company actually told us we were being let go a full 6 WEEKS before it
happened, which allowed us time to get T&R's together.  They felt bad about
the move, and even gave us all glowing references and helped us to find other
gigs.  They had the trust in us that we wouldn't do anything unprofessional
during this transition, and we did'nt.

The FM station picked up John Garabedian's "City FM" format and kicked it off
on New Years Eve, 1991.  All the old staffers got together for a big New Years
bash, and we had the station on that night.  The owner's son was on the air
for the last live shift, then at midnight, it was City FM.  We laughed and
laughed about how bad it was and traded old "war stories" all night.  It was
really surreal.

Luckily, I was on the air three weeks later at our direct format competitor in
the area doing the same shift as I was doing at my old station.  To this day,
however, I am grateful to my first station for letting me cut my chops in the
business and when it was time to move on, they handled it very professionally.
I doubt that some companies would have the class to handle layoffs and firings
in this manner.

Mike Thomas, WERZ & Premiere Radio Networks

------------------------------