[BC] Matching jobs and engineers

[Dana Puopolo]

The bottom line is this: Consolidation has ruined broadcast engineering! In
the past, there was one engineer for one station (two for an AM/FM).
If you didn't like who you were working for, you could always go across the
street. TODAY THERE IS NO ACROSS THE STREET! Now we have 2-3 engineers doing
5-8 stations. That means 4-5 engineers on the beach! Barry and I together did
7 stations in Tucson-including two directional AMs. Even though the stock of
experienced engineers is declining, the job opportunities have dropped so
badly since 1997 that there still are far more engineers then jobs. No wonder
why new people aren't coming in! Would YOU go into a profession where the
number of jobs is less then half it was ten years ago?

I have not worked full time for a radio station since early 2005.  I'm not
sure that I want to any more. Working for Barix, my phone shuts off
automatically at 6 PM my time. I consult a national radio network one day a
week-and make 1/3 of what I used to make full time. I do occasional work for a
group of stations (3 FMs, an AM and an LPTV). He doesn't even HAVE a full time
engineer for five facilities. He also has ungrounded transmitters, no remote
controls, etc. He doesn't care. He's also the slowest payer out of the bunch
(if I didn't like him I wouldn't be working for him).

Still I look for a full time job, because I love the business...Must be the
masochist in me! ;)

-D


------ Original Message ------
Received: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:32:46 AM EDT
From: Mike McCarthy <Towers at mre.com>

Let's not blur and confuse the issues of a "no one hiring perception" as a
result of limiting one's own options versus the overall industry ignoring
the fact it's technical stock is aging, is already in shorter supply, and
no one/few is/are interested in entering the profession.  I'd love to find
a computer wiz who could do many things for us.  But not one I've
interviewed recently has any idea about the medium and it's requirements.
When told of 24/7 on-call and those types of responsibilities, they quickly
say not interested before we ever get to compensation discussion.