Archive for September, 2002
My Gumbification
Every broadcaster has public appearance horror stories. Audiences can be so cruel. Sales Managers, even more so. CKNX is a medium market station that, back then, was trying desperately to broaden its reach. The market has no central area. The station’s coverage is spread out over a huge region, dotted with small towns and villages. [...]
Read More..>>The Petty Producer
Rivalry among announcers is nothing new. I decided several years ago to stop looking at my colleagues as competitors and to refuse to get dragged into that game. The pumpkin pie of success has enough slices for all of us. Unfortunately, not everyone operates this way. I was thrilled to be asked to host a [...]
Read More..>>The First Guy I Fired
My 2 years as a Program Director were among my toughest in the business. One of my first tasks as PD of CKNX-FM was to fire a promising young announcer for routinely falsifying logs and leaving before the end of his shift. He was the evening/weekend afternoon jock and at the end of his evening [...]
Read More..>>Tommy Lee And Me
For a time, I wrote and hosted some national radio shows. The money was great, the work was fun and there were perks. One of the best parts of the gig was the chance to sit down one-on-one (Or two-on-one, three-on-one, etc.) with some of the biggest music stars in the business. Adam Duritz of [...]
Read More..>>“Big Voice” Issues A Warning
“Don’t f*** with my groceries!” With that phrase, a big-time voice in the big leagues, officially welcomed me to the station. This FM pop station, once a leader in the Toronto market, was on the verge of a format change. Everyone was jittery and the new kid – me – being imported from a small [...]
Read More..>>Midnight Cowgirl Rides Away
It was my first full-time radio job, in the west, early 1980′s, hosting overnights on a country AM. It was a hot little station in its time and the all-request all-nighter was the mainstay for anyone up at that ungodly hour. Truckers would regularly pull up to the front of the station and make their [...]
Read More..>>