Today's Radio

by Kirk Tanter

So where are we? The few that survived the Telecommunications "deregulation/consolidation" Act of 1996 have seen a few obvious transitions.

Consolidation

The consolidation maturation morphed into fewer people doing more jobs. And because of the duopoly bill of 92 and later the extensive 96 Telecommunications Bill, it became legal for broadcast companies to own four to 8 radio stations in one market, versus the previous 1 AM and one FM radio station before 1992.

The 1990's buying and selling frenzy into a big profit machine that radio was before 1992 is now settled. Consolidating the cluster of muliple radio stations into the same building became the way of today's radio biz. Before the radio stations were in seperate buildings. The new job of multi-tasking became common, where one person almost does-it-all at one station. Also, because of technology, Program Directors are often called out to program the entire cluster of radio stations within the same building ("Traffic have you merged the logs yet" (0:, I am ready to go home).

Automation

The top ten radio station(s) within the cluster at 1000 Broadcast Lane is the focal point for the Board room. The other radio stations within the four to eight-station cluster that cannot out-perform the "big station" may be automated with just drops, spots, and music.

The long-awaited computer technology able to transmit audio files clearly are "thankfully" to Board Rooms here! Now the Board Room can do not have to spend as much on operation. DJ's, Newscaster, Hosts, Board Operators, and most of the clusters Program Directors are expendable at cash straped operations.

The cluster P.D. has a few tech/production savvy assistants that work together and get all the logs, ID's, music, and commercials merged into the log before C.O.B. And as late Walter Cronkite used to say "that's the way it is today" November 15, 2009 in today's Radio Biz.

Syndication

Once a bad word and a source of venomous debates on panels at convention is radio syndication. I re-call in the early 90's when I was on a panel along with Tom Joyner and a few others, in a packed room of roughly 150 Jocks and Programmer-types. Tom Joyner spoke of the new day in radio with Syndication being a part of radio stations in more and more markets because of the new innovative technology allowing studios across the country to sound like they were broadcasting in the radio stations themselves.

What Tom Joyner may or may not have known before he spoke -- that I was fully aware of -- was that a few jocks in the audience had recently lost their jobs during that year because of the Tom Joyner Morning show. The hard facts wasn't what they wanted to hear having to change their lives. One by one these displaced Air Personalities spoke frankly of Tom Joyner taking their jobs and it is a bad ideal to have Syndication replace local radio jocks. The heat raised to a boiling point where all 150 fuming folks. After all, the other jocks felt the stress of their jobs could be replaced a Syndicated show.

I never saw Tom so silent, mystified, drawn up, and puzzled with that "can I get the hell out of here" look. Tom may not remember this, but during this heated moment I spoke up for Tom Joyner stating: "People, it is not Tom Joyner that took your jobs. Tom did not make that decision and should not be villafied. I ask you, who made the decision to go with the less expensive Syndicated show?" I then paused a moment to let them think about who really made that decision. I continued..."it was your boss and moreso their boss that made the decision long before that day when you were given your walking papers."

The room apologetically quieted for thinking that way. Tom, who at the time was also frozen in one embarrasing position facing the audience, looked over at me as if to say: "Thank you Kirk Tanter for getting me out of this mess." The moderator stepped in and continued with the Q and A redirecting the discussion.

Switch-Reels to November of 2009. Todays' broadcast world is full of Syndicated shows. To date there are still mostly Morning and Evening Syndicated shows in the music world. The Talk radio formats has wall to wall syndicated shows in every on-air shift daily and weekends. Music formats today will more than likely have a syndicated morning show that does fairly well in the ratings due to near twenty years of adjustments.

What is scary for local Air Personalities is that all air-shifts do not have Syndicated shows to fill that slot. Radio stations choice today to combine a Syndication, Automation, Live, and Voice Track in the 24-hour program. A Syndicated show deal with radio stations can take up a big load of commercial inventory.

Voice Track

Another word for Satellite Radio is Voice Tracking (0: -- Small joke to the Satellite Radio community. The advent of Voice Tracking due to computer sound files are now able to sound like a Cart (I would venture to say that the generation in their 20's and early 30's does not know what a Cart is). Lets say sounds like a CD. Now I have alienated those in college. Well let's say sounds like a flash memory stick. Oh boy, now some elder statesmen are lost.

Voice tracking has been an increasing and intregal part of broadcasting for the last ten years. A voice track is the Jock doing his voice breaks and seques in the broadcast computer system that is set up to play between songs, or in and out of breaks.

Most voice-trackers are either paid hourly or a salary much less than a live jock due to being able to record and place four hours of VT's in the computer within an hour. We again see techonology at work changing the diaspera of today's radio business.

Conclusion

Because of the Telecommunication Bill of 1996, if these multi-station ownership rules prevail forever then radio will never go back to a local jock/host full schedule again even in major markets. Even if Tele 96 Bill reverts back, technology is still there.

The most successful top five stations with local radio stars today have automated, syndicated, or voice tracked shift of some form daily. The days of the 24/7 local community radio stars methodocally growing cume through answering phones, birthday calls, talent, prize winners, appearances at concerts, schools, and A.E.'s remote gigs are over.

Competitive audio mediums like ipods and the computer along with sydication, automation, and voice-tracked shows, may or may not take your radio audience. But these new competitors and elements have something to do with radio cume way down from the pre-90's days.

These unique and tougher economic times are guiding hands to save money rather than investing the money that is truly not in hand.

Today's radio has many dedicated broadcasters scratching their heads even with the new technologies and economic climate. In my opinion, today's radio is pretty cut and dry. The radio biz still has the high-turnover rate that it has always had since inception and most radio positions are getting a lot less money today.

The unfortunately result is that good radio people are leaving a truly wonderful and self-fullfilling industry that still helps listeners in their daily lives.