The Radio Apprentice

I doubt there's one person in our business today who started out doing a primetime air shift, even in the smallest of markets.

Almost every one of us began in a fringe daypart on a tiny station, sometimes a college radio station, in a small town.

Some of us were lucky enough to get the 7p-midnight shift or overnights in a major market.

So where do we apprentice future talent now that everything is voicetracked, automated or syndicated after 7p?

Shouldn't we be thinking about this?

When the largest consolidated radio companies claim they are offering a better product by refusing to use local talent after 7p, are they considering the recruitment and training of their future talent needs?

Ohhh, that's right ... they'll have cashed in their chips and moved on to the next deal by the time that's an issue.

You know, if the top guy at Cumulus made $1 million this year, rather than $20 million, that extra $19 million would pay for a lot of local talent, don't you think?