FNX, No More...
8 January 2009 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seedarklyxeroWhen I mentioned in my January DJ Schedule post that I wasn't scheduled at WFNX past New Year's Day, I really did expect it was likely I wouldn't be going back.
And so it is that I will not be going back.
I was told today, (exactly 4 years and one day from my hire date,) during a brief phone meeting with the Program Director, that part-time weekend staff was being cut due to budgetary concerns and significant ratings losses against our prime competitor, WBOS-FM. He assured me that my paperwork would all be kept on-file so that, should a time come that they "need help," he'd be in touch but I shouldn't hesitate to use him as a reference when looking for another station to work for in the meantime.
This makes twice I have lost a job with WFNX, though this time I really wasn't blindsided by it the way I was when they sold the Providence affiliate only a month after I was hired back in 2004.
When I was rehired at the Boston hub of WFNX at the beginning of 2005, things looked exciting and potentially worthwhile to drive the 70+ miles to and from multiple 6-hour long shifts each week. I had actually applied for a position in commercial production, but never got any opportunities to advance in that area and was kept strictly in an on-air capacity for my entire employ.
As time passed, management changed to its current, and with the inclusion of Prophet, a system which Clear Channel had implemented in a manner that cut many of their employees as well, I saw distinct trends that were leading to this moment.
The weekday overnight shifts were the first to become automated. Then weekend overnights, including the Friday nights I had been consistently scheduled to do, hurting me more with the loss than any other part-timer at that time. Then I found myself having to cut time away from weekends spent with GZ just to get any hours at all during inconveniently arranged daytime shifts on the weekend.
The current PD brought in a new morning show... which meant they went from paying for one host to paying three hosts for the program. After one ratings book, we had a big celebratory meeting to say "Ratings are higher than ever, sales is making us money, and oh, we're cutting more hours from the weekend shifts." Part-timer morale plummeted from that moment forward in a very perceptible way.
Six hour shifts became five. Five became four. Meanwhile gas prices had me questioning why I was continuing to stick around when mileage was eating 50% of my paycheck just to get there and home.
It has, over the course of 4 years, become an exercise in inevitable downward mobility.
The only reason I settled for conditions being what they were with the station was because I found myself in a relationship I am very happy with and any effort to pursue any measurable advancement in my radio career will likely force me to relocate from New England (which I'm unwilling to do,) or commute extensively (which is just impractical to consider.) So I remained with FNX so as to maintain the employment status in radio and have a little extra spending cash.
Now that I'm laid off, my options are the same as my willingness to do anything to pursue them at this time. And I'm not blind to my own limitations in terms of my style of preference in the field. My particular mindset and entertainment values are so different from the standards in the cookie-cutter framework of existing radio that I really haven't had a place in radio I could be happy with for a long time. I disagree with so many of the things that are promoted by commercial music radio and simply have very little interest in what the mainstream listener appreciates; combined that tends to create a certain dissonance in my ability to be effective as an on-air talent that would generate stable listenership.
If I return to radio, I would want to work either strictly in a production or promotional capacity, even as the producer for a specific show, rather than be the air-talent of the show. Of course, I have considered going into a talk-format, if only to air what I would call my "Unpopular Point of View" and have been told by a number of people that they believe I would excel in such a field. However, each would require a level of time commitment I'm not entirely sure I want to invest at this time.
I really feel like my time may just be better spent in other ventures.
So for now, it looks like my time in radio is at an end.
After 13 years of radio, I can't say this isn't a bit of a disappointment. It is a good time to re-evaluate my interest in it though and maybe I can find a better utility for the skills I've learned in that trade.
(One thing I've been meaning to do is write a thesis about the ridiculousness of FCC censorship and how stations ineffectively conceal profanity in a manner that ruins the music they play, while simultaneously disregarding the nature of what their listeners want to hear and already know about the music they're hacking all in their effort to improve listenership... but that's for another day.)
That's all my thoughts on this for now.
As I say at the end of every broadcast...
"Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
And so it is that I will not be going back.
I was told today, (exactly 4 years and one day from my hire date,) during a brief phone meeting with the Program Director, that part-time weekend staff was being cut due to budgetary concerns and significant ratings losses against our prime competitor, WBOS-FM. He assured me that my paperwork would all be kept on-file so that, should a time come that they "need help," he'd be in touch but I shouldn't hesitate to use him as a reference when looking for another station to work for in the meantime.
This makes twice I have lost a job with WFNX, though this time I really wasn't blindsided by it the way I was when they sold the Providence affiliate only a month after I was hired back in 2004.
When I was rehired at the Boston hub of WFNX at the beginning of 2005, things looked exciting and potentially worthwhile to drive the 70+ miles to and from multiple 6-hour long shifts each week. I had actually applied for a position in commercial production, but never got any opportunities to advance in that area and was kept strictly in an on-air capacity for my entire employ.
As time passed, management changed to its current, and with the inclusion of Prophet, a system which Clear Channel had implemented in a manner that cut many of their employees as well, I saw distinct trends that were leading to this moment.
The weekday overnight shifts were the first to become automated. Then weekend overnights, including the Friday nights I had been consistently scheduled to do, hurting me more with the loss than any other part-timer at that time. Then I found myself having to cut time away from weekends spent with GZ just to get any hours at all during inconveniently arranged daytime shifts on the weekend.
The current PD brought in a new morning show... which meant they went from paying for one host to paying three hosts for the program. After one ratings book, we had a big celebratory meeting to say "Ratings are higher than ever, sales is making us money, and oh, we're cutting more hours from the weekend shifts." Part-timer morale plummeted from that moment forward in a very perceptible way.
Six hour shifts became five. Five became four. Meanwhile gas prices had me questioning why I was continuing to stick around when mileage was eating 50% of my paycheck just to get there and home.
It has, over the course of 4 years, become an exercise in inevitable downward mobility.
The only reason I settled for conditions being what they were with the station was because I found myself in a relationship I am very happy with and any effort to pursue any measurable advancement in my radio career will likely force me to relocate from New England (which I'm unwilling to do,) or commute extensively (which is just impractical to consider.) So I remained with FNX so as to maintain the employment status in radio and have a little extra spending cash.
Now that I'm laid off, my options are the same as my willingness to do anything to pursue them at this time. And I'm not blind to my own limitations in terms of my style of preference in the field. My particular mindset and entertainment values are so different from the standards in the cookie-cutter framework of existing radio that I really haven't had a place in radio I could be happy with for a long time. I disagree with so many of the things that are promoted by commercial music radio and simply have very little interest in what the mainstream listener appreciates; combined that tends to create a certain dissonance in my ability to be effective as an on-air talent that would generate stable listenership.
If I return to radio, I would want to work either strictly in a production or promotional capacity, even as the producer for a specific show, rather than be the air-talent of the show. Of course, I have considered going into a talk-format, if only to air what I would call my "Unpopular Point of View" and have been told by a number of people that they believe I would excel in such a field. However, each would require a level of time commitment I'm not entirely sure I want to invest at this time.
I really feel like my time may just be better spent in other ventures.
So for now, it looks like my time in radio is at an end.
After 13 years of radio, I can't say this isn't a bit of a disappointment. It is a good time to re-evaluate my interest in it though and maybe I can find a better utility for the skills I've learned in that trade.
(One thing I've been meaning to do is write a thesis about the ridiculousness of FCC censorship and how stations ineffectively conceal profanity in a manner that ruins the music they play, while simultaneously disregarding the nature of what their listeners want to hear and already know about the music they're hacking all in their effort to improve listenership... but that's for another day.)
That's all my thoughts on this for now.
As I say at the end of every broadcast...
"Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 06:50 am (UTC)good luck with whatever you choose to do, and let me know if you need a peer reference at any point.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 12:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 02:38 pm (UTC)I do hope you find another outlet for your work, preferably closer to home.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 04:43 pm (UTC)And for the record, "Xero" didn't play "Give the Jew Girl Toys" or any other song on FNX. All the music on all major commercial stations is pre-programed by a Music Director and the DJs (especially part-timers) have no say in what is played and only the control to change it enough to keep the commercials running on time. That's been a reality of radio since I started working in the field outside of college.
I could have gone in and played what I wanted, but I would not have stayed hired. heh
I guess I should also clarify one other thing...
For the most part, I'm still more busy with movie promotions and club spinning than I had been with radio.
Again, I regret the loss of it, being a part of life for so long, but I've got plenty to keep me busy in the meantime.
Thanks everyone! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 09:57 pm (UTC)I thought they gave you a playlist but you had freedom to rearrange, play requests, and so forth. Apparently that was a misunderstanding.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-09 10:20 pm (UTC)Even so-called "request" shows that are designed to solicit requests very rarely play back the calls for any of the requests for songs they weren't actually already preparing to play.
Some weekend and specialty shows have some leverage... depending on format... but not really much thought they'll tell you otherwise.
If I were able to play want I wanted to for X-mas, I would have played this (http://www.stunned.org/Christmas_Sucks.mp3)!
You'd think, given that management knew they would be making these staff cuts after the holiday, they would've allowed me to play it when I've asked to for the past two years. heh