Inside Radio posts the following job opening:

Christian Talk Show Host Needed! Experience in Christian Radio Broadcasting Required. Ability to deliver compelling, relevant and topical programming on a daily basis.

Send Resume and demo CD to: apply@insideradio.com

Equal Opportunity Employer

 

So do they want a Christian Talk Show host, or a Talk Show Host who is a Christian? 

Yes, there is a difference.

Create radio programming people will talk about. 

Your sales staff will have a story to tell. 

 Advertisers will take note of  “the station with all the LOCAL VOICES” 

Now a quiz:

Which is more interesting to most people at the workplace ”water cooler” today:

     a.  Hearing the latest song from Jay-Z or U2?

     b.  Hearing about which republican lawmaker is fighting with Obama?

     c.  Hearing the voices of several people in your local area complaining about the same traffic jam you drove through today?

2.  Which topic is most likely to cause talk in your office today:

     a.  Obama’s health and human services nominee?

     b.  The latest “new release” from Kieth Urban?

     c.  The woman who called 911 when McDonalds ran out of McNuggets and callers talking about how fast food restaurants mess up orders in YOUR area?

One more.  Which is more FUN:  (remember “fun”,  we used to create it on radio):

     a.   Hearing about the pork in the stimulus bill?

     b.  Hearing “Two for Tuesday” from Jimi Hendrix?

     c.  Hearing eyewitnesses to a live wild cougar sighting in your neighborhood?

One choice is from dead music radio.

One choice is from “let’s imitate Rush” radio.

One choice is the simple opportunity to relate and interact with a local audience.

C is correct if you seek programming that will create stars on your radio station and piles of cash for you.

     As a radio talk show host, I’ve been experimenting with Twitter, the mini messaging/blogging/social networking web site.  In short Twitter is the free service that lets one post mini messages of 140 characters or less,  like a blog post only very short.  Other folks, (listeners) can “follow” you on Twitter and get all of your updates.  The Twitter user can also choose to follow others and receive updates (feedback from listeners).

I’m loving this as a way to further connect and interact with the audience.  I can use it as a tool to set up topics,  give “insider information” , off air comments, whatever, during the show and while I’m off the air I can update keeping myself  “top of the mind” with some of my strong supporters.    I can even say things on Twitter I might not want to say on air to make those following my posts feel they are in an inner circle if you will.  It’s been great fun, I recommend all talk hosts and producers try it!  The simplicity of using my cell phone to send a text message and then have that message  automatically go to all the listeners who follow me, plus appear automatically on my twitter page, and my radio web site page automatically using an rss feed is a beautiful thing.  Twitter has made my online communication a lot less complicated.

I have also used Twitter to follow other radio hosts who “get it”, and have been able to steal some great show topic ideas and show prep.  (Thanks Andy and Grandy!)

My explanation of Twitter is not as good as this short video.

Follow me on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/dangaffney

The bloodbath at Clear Channel has affected some notables in the talk radio world.   A long list of news reporters, talk hosts and producers are history and so are

GABE HOBBS  Senior VP of News/Talk/Sports

and

RANDALL BLOOMQUIST  PD at Atlanta WGST.

The list is growing and growing.  AllAccess is chronicling the CC deaths here.

One of the best talk radio stations in America has an opening for a special kind of talk host, as reported in AllAccess:

New Jersey 101.5 FM has a rare full time opening

New Jersey 101.5 (WKXW-Trenton)–The Nations #1 FM Talk Station and New Jersey’s most listened to station has a rare full time opening! We are looking for a host for our evening relationship show “After Hours”. Successful candidate should have experience in talk…music radio experience a plus and be comfortable discussing relationship topics. Please send audio file and resume to Eric Johnson, Program Director at ej1015@nj1015.com   EOE

All Access carries this classified ad:

Progressive Talk Radio Returns to Fresno!

Looking for a Male or Female to co-host a new Progressive talk radio show for 3 hours.
The show will be for the Fresno, CA market area!
Ideal candidate must have experience in the following;

• Minimum of Two (2) years in talk radio
• Running a board
• Production
• Editing
• Knowledge of Vox-Pro
• And Must be open minded with ideas

Send you resume and air check to:  ratalian123@yahoo.com
Will make our decision before Jan 10th

Merry Christmas to my radio brothers and sisters.   It’s been a tough year,  as radio guru and blogger John Gorman outlines here. 

Too many very talented radio folks got the shaft this year, making me personally even more thankful to be spending my Holiday employed by one of America’s few stable, successful,  money making and yes,  fun,  radio stations.

When talking about firings, layoffs, and other employment tragedies with a friend recently,  he remarked that I should share my own unusual radio employment history on the blog.  I’m reluctant because I don’t want the talkradioreport.com to be too much about me and my life but since I am truley thankful for my life in this business,  I’ll give a brief outline:

I have worked full time six days a week bona-fide full time real radio station work for the past 26 years, and I have NEVER been unemployed!  Radio;  26 years;  never unemployed.  Wow, I’m blessed. 

Only once while working as a talk show host at WAKR in Akron, Ohio the station flipped formats and I was let go, but I was give two months severance pay, and 3 days after being fired I was working as a fill in host at WKBN in Youngstown, and over the next few weeks I filled in at WHIO in Dayton, Ohio too!   So for the duration of my “firing” I actually made double my usual pay!  Then I landed my next full time gig, and so on and so on.

I don’t quite understand why my life on the radio turned out so stable while others in the industry are caught in a whirlwind of instability and short term employment.  Again, I’m blessed…and prepared.   I hope you are prepared for the worse too,  I want you to survive and thrive should the worst happen at your radio station.

So that’s it.  I’m weird.

Peace joy and Merry Christmas.

FM 107.1  St. Paul/Minneapolis

Why this station wins my prestigious “Station Of The Week”:

Bold and innovative format.  (talk radio isn’t just for old white guys)

Excellent programming.

Great local talent.

Very impressive website that seems like a perfect extension of the on air product.

Check out the on demand section of the website to review some of the topics discussed… gifts under 5 dollars, male sexuality, why do so many people send nude texts of themselves?,  husband found out about her Christmas surprise?, green stamps and hot pants; growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, is the bible literally true?, etc

Wow!  Not a Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, or auto bailout to be heard.  (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we can’t all be interested in the same thing brother!)

Congrats and success wishes to FM 107.1

Special hello to Ian Punnett who hosts the morning show with his wife.  Ian is one of the nice people in this business.

Consultant Holland Cooke has stirred things up over at the Radio-Info discussion board by talking about how the talk radio callers should be the focus of a radio show, and not the compelling talk show host.

I conducted high dollar radio research on the air this morning, (cough cough) by asking my listeners “do you listen to talk radio mostly to hear the callers or to hear the host?”

Here is the 17 1/2 minute audio clip:

http://www.wgmd.com/images/stories/audio/holland121008.mp3

It’s more of goof than anything.

I’ve been in the radio business, or should I say the talk radio business for about 26 years.  (I’m 45)  I’ve heard from the beginning that this business “suffers from the lack of a farm team” or programmers stressing about “where will we find the next generation of talk show hosts”  Oh my!  This alleged insurmountable problem is still being discussed.  The agenda for the upcoming R and R Talk Convention advertises a discussion panel as follows:

Just like oil, talk radio talent is a rare commodity, which means, just like America, radio needs to drill in new areas to develop alternatives to our current dependence on small markets and broadcast schools. Learn how experts from outside of radio are building pipelines to new sources of fresh talent.

Folks, I’m here to say the “problem” of a lack of talent is simply not true.  I wonder how this radio urban legend ever got started?  Probably a lazy program director in a major market who had to justify to the board of directors why he hired his buddy and not someone who was actually experienced or good.  Just a theory.  The lack of talent lie sounds good,  so it gets repeated year after year.

First of all, at the station where I work  and at the stations I’ve helped with employment searches,  I’ve never had a problem getting a pile of applicants, many who are damn good and experienced.  So..uh I don’t get it.  If I was paying a high salary I would get an even higher response. 

Let me pretend for a moment that I’m programming WABC in New York, or KFI Los Angeles or even WMAL in Washington.  Do you really think that if I needed to find a compelling experienced stable talk show host I would have any trouble?  Of course I wouldn’t, and I wouldn’t have to resort to hiring a politician or weak cable tv show host to get it done. 

Need talk talent?  Here are some ideas for you:

It sounds obvious, but you need to advertise for it.

Hire or cultivate weekend talent from other stations in town, or within driving distance of your station.  It’s not that hard.

Try and hire a recent small market Marconi award winner.

Drop Coast to Coast AM and put a potential up and coming talent on overnight as a back up for one of your big guns.

Our business is loaded with DJ’s who can’t stand playing music.  Find them on morning drive music station across America.

Sponsor a best unknown talk show host contest for cash.  Advertise it in the trades.

Ask a consultant to help you. Like me.

Find the best podcasters, or youtube stars and teach them radio.

etc.

Do not:

Give up and just put on the latest syndicated flavor of the week.

Do not:

Hire a newspaper guy, a tv guy, a comedian, or the ex mayor.

The only reason this industry can’t find new radio talk talent is they simply don’t know how to look, or don’t want to look.  Too much work I guess.

I’m so tired of hearing the lie!  Radio talent still exists, don’t let anyone tell you any different.