3-2-2012
As Radio Ink prepares to print its March 26th Great Facilities issue, it will be fun to read about other broadcasting companies that are investing in their facilities. Especially now, considering the stiff headwind we broadcasters face. We're all striving to navigate through an extremely challenging economy as well as the pipe dream of many advertisers that they can now just rely on their facebook page to market their business. It seems that everywhere we turn, the future of terrestrial Radio is being questioned.
Beyond putting a solid, relevant, locally impactful product on the air, the strongest statement we can make to demonstrate our belief in the future of Radio is to re-invest in our facilities. This trumpets the obvious fact to both our staffs and our advertiser & listener customers that we're confident in the future and Radio's place in it. Everyone knows the old adage about throwing good money after bad. Well, we're investing good money into what is great!
I started out as a DJ at my hometown station in Wisconsin Dells when I was 15. From the first time I carefully engaged the switch and then potted up the mic to avoid a clicking sound (I had been graciously taught by my high school classmate, Bruce Gilbert Voss, now KRLD Dallas VP/Programming), I found the adrenaline rush of being live on-the-air an addictive natural high. I quickly decided broadcasting would be my career and set a goal to own a "chain" of stations.
I bring this up, because as a part-time nighttime announcer working for my first radio boss, Gary Voss, (a "Voss Jock") it was my job when I signed off the station at midnight to perform a number of tasks. Not only to pull the carts for the next morning and make sure the AP Teletype Model 15 had paper and enough ink left in the ribbon so the all-caps type could still be read, but to also tidy the station up for the next day. This entailed cleaning all of the heads with alcohol using those long wooden cotton swabs, emptying the waste baskets, vacuuming and putting everything in proper order. When finished, I clearly remember the final step of retrieving that crisp new log and placing it in the studio. This made an indelible impression on me because as a night guy, the only logs I worked with were already marked up and scribbled on.
Every time I held that unblemished log it reinforced my desire to one day be the guy who got to put the first mark on them. That honor of course, was reserved for the "sign-on morning man," a position I knew, even as a kid, I would surely have to work my way up to if I was going to be on a trajectory to station ownership. I recall the great pride I took in carefully placing "Uncle Gar's" (Gary Voss, Owner, Sales Manager and yes, Morning Man) pen and coffee mug in perfect position so that as he groggily turned the station back on in six hours he'd have everything he needed right there at the ready.
My point is, these rituals led me to visualize the kind of facilities I wanted to create for my future co-workers when I owned stations.
Thirty-four years have now passed. Along the way I worked at a number of facilities around the nation. In 21 years of ownership I've developed the steadfast belief that neat, clean, functional facilities instill pride in everyone from Traffic to Sales to Engineering to Programming. In my experience that pride translates into a better product on the air and the perception both inside the building and out of it that the radio company is an organized, well run business. My co-workers and I believe that because we're asking other business people to entrust us with leading them as marketing partners, it only stands to reason that we must first demonstrate in every way possible that we've got our own act together.
Dave Magnum is now the Owner/GM of 15 Wisconsin stations. magnumbroadcasting.com
Send Dave a note via e-mail at magcom@chorus.net or leave your comments below
(3/2/2012 9:17:10 PM)
We are PKspecial records ARTIS NATE WILLIAMS WHERE HIS MUSIC PLAY IT GO IN TO FULL ROTATION CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG THANKS NATE WILLIAMS NATEWILLIAMSMUSIC.COM NATEWILLIAMS2244@YAHOO.COM
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