The Downside of Live Radio

I think that almost all of us can agree that there are many benefits to live radio, i.e. when there is an actual human body in the studio:

• Someone to answer phone calls
• Requests handled quickly
• Up-to-the-moment information on local happenings

I'm a big fan of live radio. In fact, one of the things that bugs me about Maverick Media here in Eau Claire is that of the six stations they own, five of them are almost entirely automated using voice-tracking*. However, until now I failed to realize the one major downfall of live radio--there needs to be someone in the studio.

In case you're not following me or got lost, let me give you some context. Normally on Monday nights I work from 7PM - 12AM, then the next jock comes in and works from 12AM - 5AM. Radio shifts are short because it's actually a very draining job. You might only hear us for a fraction of every hour, but we're putting a lot of energy and effort into that time, as well as stuff behind the scenes. Anywho, my replacement hasn't shown up... SOOOO, I'm basically working 7PM - 5AM. Ten hours. Without caffeine.

Check that. He just called. I'm outta here ASAP ;)

*Voice-tracking: This is the professional term for pre-recording a talk break. Using specialized software, this allows the voice track to fit seamlessly into radio programming and give the illusion that there is actually somebody in the studio. Commonly used by large radio corporations to save money.

Being a radio personality

It just occurred to me after the last post that people probably don't realize the depth of the profession that is being an on-air radio personality. There are so many different levels to it that it's kind of hard to nail them all down, and when you start listing them, they seem overwhelming. For example:

• Proper enunciation
• Conversational tone
• Energy

I'd go into the specifics of these three big things, but those are each posts unto their own, so I'm not getting into that. Because I'm getting extremely tired. So I'll just leave you with the following little tidbit: radio personalities may only talk to you for 10-30 seconds at a time... but they are focusing the energy of a short conversation into that small timeframe; they're putting everything they have into those 15 seconds.

Update

Almost a month and a half in the books. Khasa and I have only really had one fight, and we both laughed about it a couple hours later. So no worries there. =D Mostly I'm just waiting for our sub-leaser to move out at the end of the summer. 'Cause... well, plain and simple because he's a slob and dumb as a rock. Honestly, I knew my way around a kitchen when I was in middle school than this dude does--and he's older than I am. o.O Khasa and I have already told Sparks that she owes us big time for [at the very least] the mental anguish of living with this guy. In other news I've kind of been working full-time making minimum wage. I say "kind of" because I'm putting in 16-25 hours at 2 different jobs, one paying $6.50 (WI minimum wage) and the other paying $6.76. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if even one of the jobs was at like $7.50 or something... or if it was just one job full-time, so I'd have regular hours... *growls* It's been particularly rough the last couple weeks at WAXX-FM because I was getting trained and then working overnight on-air shifts (midnight-0600). Not really a problem because I'm a night owl anyways, but when I'm also working at Wilson's it can get a bit hectic. And let me tell ya, it's hard to sound professional when you're tired.