By: Lindsey D. Brown
I sat at the front of the office across from Nick and Keefe, the tech dudes. They were my buds, and they always made me laugh. There was a new edition since I started there; the walls that make up the front of the desks are lined with album covers, as opposed to being blue like they used to be. It really gives the office a cool feel. There are pictures of the DJs that line the walls down the first hallway. The desk I worked at had an outdated computer, with so much old information. My job was to listen to our competitors stations, and find their ads. I was in charge of checking to see if they were running ads that we were not. I also was in charge of giving people the prizes they won over the air. I did a few other jobs here and there as well. The office is small, with two hallways in the shape of an L. There are cubicles and office to the right, and if you head down the hall you will find the recording rooms where the DJs are, and those are the coolest if you ask me. I got to help record the Christmas play last year, and using one of those big DJ mics is the coolest thing ever.
The first time I ever crossed the threshold of the Telemedia office, I was a scared eighteen-year-old, going in for her first job interview. The office is a small little place that is a little hard to find. It’s located almost at the the end of Lafayette. I remember my interview took place in the conference room, and I was so nervous at first, that all I could focus on were the large white blinds that covered the huge window across the room. My boss,Tom, and my manager, Andi, sat across from me, and asked me questions of why I would want to work there. They asked me about my people skills, and my experience in writing. I gushed over my love for the station, and fibbed a little on my people skills. I left with an assignment to write two commercials for the station. I was over the moon, and yet a little terrified of the assignment. I wrote them, and sent them to Tom and Andi. Tom came back with comments about them being good, but he wanted to hire me for my sunny disposition. How I fooled them on that I will never know. My class schedule also did not work with the times he needed me to work, so that was the main reason I became a Promotional Assistant. Little did I know it would be the start of one of the best things I have ever done.
However, while music plays a vital part in the radio business, advertisements are a key player in the industry. The business owners pay the radio station to run advertisements for the businesses throughout each day. While the DJs are the voices of the radio stations, the sales people are the brains of the operation. Funny how people change the station when the ads come on, and there is no music. It seems that with radio taking a hit from the digital music age, the ads are what keep the stations going. Henry Ford said, “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” David Ogilvy said, “There isn’t any significant difference between the various brands of
whiskey, or cigarettes or beer. They are all about the same. And so are the cake mixes and the detergents, and the margarines… The manufacturer who dedicates his advertising to building the most sharply defined personality for his brand will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit.” According to an article on RadioWorld, by Susan Ashworth, people listen to the radio out of habit, and the local DJs give the listeners a feeling of comfort that helps them forget their worries. Ashworth uses media research done by Jacobs Media Strategies, and explains that 33% of people listen to the radio for weather, emergency, and traffic. This research also proved that 40% stop listening to the radio because there are too many ads, and repetitive songs. It seems that while the ads are annoying to listeners, they keep the radio station going. Listeners tune in for the music the DJs’ charisma, traffic, weather, news, and emergency updates.
Radio has changed over the years. Ad sales have gone up and down, and left the stations to deal with the problems. Each client for ads is of utmost importance to the survival of the station. The clients pay to have their ads on the radio, therefore the funds go to the station. Certain parts of the radio show are completely sponsored by a certain client. For example, there is a client that sponsors the weather forecast on the radio show. The client is not always the same, and it just means they paid the station a lot to incorporate their business in the weather reports. Which is a big deal considering many tune in for the weather forecast. The competition in ad space varies. During the holiday season, ads are in high demand for the radio stations. While during other times of the year there is less demand.
As a promotional assistant, I have to travel to the various events that the radio station sponsors. So I didn’t visit the office except to drop off equipment from different events, and other times to pick up my check. It was about a year and a half later in the summer of 2016, I gathered up the courage to ask Tom if I could work in the office at the desk. I explained that I wanted more hours, and that I loved working there. I was surprised with my own moxie, when I told him what I wanted. We finally came to an agreement that I would work 3 days a week from 8 to 5. I couldn’t have been happier.
People work in radio for the community feel. Longtime veteran of Telemedia Broadcasting, Rosemary Carlso has told me multiple times that working for the radio station keeps her busy, and helps her stay involved with the community. The culture of the radio stems from community and connecting with people on their daily drive to work. Radio connects with the middle schooler waiting by the radio to see if the snow caused their school to cancel. Sometimes the radio station would know, before we got the call that school was closed when I was a kid. Working in radio, you do not make a lot of money, but there is so much more to gain with this business than just making money.
Nikolai Tesla was the first to demonstrate a wireless radio in St. Louis, Missouri in 1893. However, Tesla did not patent it until 1900. In the 1920s, it was mainly used for contacting ships out to sea. The Westinghouse Company applied for a radio license in 1920, which lead to the creation of the first radio station KDKA. In 1923, AT&T was the first to have a commercial on the radio. At first the radio was used to work with newspapers to get information across. It wasn’t until after World War II that music became more important in the radio world.
Radio has its good and bad aspects, just like anything and this research proves that. After the years of working at this radio station, it has changed in a few ways. A DJ that was pretty new to the station when I first started was fired just last year. He did not last long, and the morning show that was built around him and another DJ was cancelled. They still have not hired a DJ to replace him, the other DJ runs the morning show on her own with guests almost every morning. It seemed awkward at first, but soon she got the hang of running the morning show by herself. I got the gist from a conversation with boss one day, but I don’t think I’ll ever know the real story. The DJ world seems competitive for the radio industry, although my experience with it is based on a family owned and operated business. So it does not seem to be a competition with the more local stations. The more broadband stations seems to have more competition because of the lack of family instilled in the company. This year, the radio station did their first singing competition. It was pretty successful locally, and the winner was a girl I graduated from high school with oddly enough. This aspect of the radio station is a big deal for local artists. Telemedia Broadcasting finds it very important to recognize that every musician has to start somewhere. That is what comes from doing a local singing competition, the recognition of dreams becoming a reality.
There are many attributes to it that cannot be done by Spotify. According to an article on SuiteRadio, the main place for people to listen to the radio is in their car. It states that 70% of people 13 and older listen to audio in their car everyday. This beats out the 67% that listened to radio in their homes. However, with the new smart speakers, it seems that local radio will find a better place in home again. People want to know what is going on locally, and local radio already works on that for people. With the conversationalist DJs, the up to date traffic and news, and the occasional catchy tune, or song that takes a person back to a memory, radio will never die.
Working at the radio station has taught me a lot. I chose this job, because I want to work in the media, and focus on music. Working in a radio station, people think it is all about the music. That is what I thought when I applied for the job. As a promotional assistant, I see a lot of the events that the radio sponsors. For example, collecting for the local food bank, walking in the Christmas parades, the cars sales, and the local wine festivals just to name a few. One thing that does not change with working events is that one never knows exactly what to expect at an event. This job is never boring. It is never boring because of the people I meet at events. We will run out of prizes to give out before the event is over, that will never be boring. Or the fact that each and every event I have worked, I have both loved and hated. I hated standing in the cold, but I loved seeing the smile on a kid’s face when I hand them a candy cane. I hated standing in the heat before a concert, but I love being around the music and the people.