Re: Potty Runs (was Today's LTAR)

["Dan Billings" <dib9@gwi.net>]

I wondered if my innocent comment would set someone off.

Chuck, I'll resist stealing your lines and suggesting that someone needs to
chill out.

Technology doesn't have to lead to jobs being eliminated.  Digital storage
of material is a positive development in the industry.  It's more efficient
than carts and provides more flexibility.  Stations have used technology to
eliminate jobs, but that is a management decision, the technology didn't
cause it.  Let's not take up pitch forks and torches and break all the
machines.

I filled in on the afternoon show twice this week on WYNZ.  4 hours live
with most songs less than 3 minutes long.  I was happy to have the Scott
system to play two songs and a jingle while I went to the can.

As for my attitude about radio: I figured out in high school in the mid 80's
that it would be very hard for me to make a decent living in radio if I
wanted to stay in Maine.  I worked full-time in the business while in
college but have never looked at it as something to rely on for a living.

Have things got worse for people working in radio in this state in the last
15 years?  Yes and No.  There are certainly less jobs for on air people and
less employers to choose from.  The salaries for the jobs that remain are
similar (in real dollars) to the jobs that existed 15 years ago, but
stations today generally provide better benefits.  Some of those locally
owned stations that everyone remembers so fondly did provide health
insurance or a retirement plan.  That said, I wouldn't recommend a career in
radio.  But I wouldn't have recommended it 15 years ago either.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine


----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Igo" <Chuckigo@worldnet.att.net>
To: <dib9@gwi.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: Potty Runs (was Today's LTAR)


> Dan (who has a very short memory of what it was like to actually rely on
> radio for a living...)