[BC] Negativity

[RichardBJohnson@comcast.net]

 >   What is it ?
 >   YOU can't seem to find a job, so the industry as a whole is
 >   in its death throws ?
 >

Hmmm??  I have been gainfully employed for well over forty years. 
Never even got a chance to collect unemployment insurance <sigh>.

 >
 >   Not cruel, but overwhelmingly negative !
 >

No, I am just stating facts. I know many people who had to move out 
of Broadcasting because it isn't a "way of life" anymore. For 
instance, most stations owned by Clear Channel don't even have local 
studios anymore. Their transmitter sites consist of overgrown 
weed-patches with satellite dishes. No engineering, not even anybody 
mowing the lawn.

 >  Is this industry my hobby ? YES !
 >   Has been for a few decades. That shows no signs of changing.
 >   Is this industry my full time vocation ? YES !
 >   THAT shows no signs of changing.
 >   Is it my primary means of support ? YES !
 >   THAT shows no signs of changing either.
 >

Consider yourself lucky to be in a market that hasn't been discovered 
yet! When it is, your station, the one that you dedicated so much of 
your life to, will be sold right out from under you. The new owners 
might even turn it off and put in a Wall Mart instead of using all 
the expensive land for some obsolete antenna towers.

Truly, don't blink. Your wonderful life-style that you worked so hard 
to obtain and maintain may be gone tomorrow. That's why so many who 
wanted to stay in broadcasting developed many other talents as well. 
I know two ex-radio engineers who are now sports-casters. Another 
flies for an air-traffic reporter. When Clear Channel buys their 
stations, they may still have jobs in the industry they love. At 
least one on this list gave up broadcasting altogether and he has a 
First Ticket plus an excellent radio voice.

I recently reported on the demise of WCRB. As long as one of the 
original owners was alive, the station remained with its unique 
lifestyle (Boston Classical Music Station) even though they sold off 
the valuable real estate that contained its original AM radio towers 
as well as the AM facility. That site became "Water Mill" industrial 
park. The AM site, no longer owner by WCRB, still transmitted a 
non-compliant very distorted pattern (nobody was watching) with one 
tower disconnected for a whole year. Eventually, when Richard L. Kaye 
died, that station, its heritage, and its employees, for all 
practical purposes, died as well.

--
Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson