soooo.... what are the chances.

[spoot]

Looking for a little advice and maybe some good karma. Anyway, I'm just wondering about the possibilities of working in broadcasting in Hawaii. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm no newcomer to the biz. More years doing it than I would like to admit actually. Most recently training non-broadcasters as talk show hosts and overseeing creative at a radio network in NYC. Before that 5 years with a major NY consulting group that specializes in training talk and morning talent and which currently overseas programing at Sirius. PD of a talker in Miami before that. PD stints also in a few rock variations. Morning talent in Dallas and Miami. Creative services in Detroit and at the ABC radio networks. I'm great on the air, can jock with my eyes closed. Done talk in big big markets. haha. Anyway. I'm looking to make a move into a better place. Hawaii would be my first choice, especially Kauai. Money isn't an issue, really more interested in quality of life. And I grew up in a beach town in south florida, so I'm not starry-eyed thinking I'll have a perpetual vacation. Hell, I'll even bartend a few nights a week to make ends meet. If anyone on here has any advice or insight or even some ideas for contacts, I'd love to hear em. I'm also including a link to my resume and a few airchecks.Would love to jump in anywhere and make great radio. Entertaining, community connected, work with talent, connect with the listeners as a personality, you name it. I'll relocate for cheap. And someone will get one an amazingly well rounded, professional and fun broadcaster that truly understands how to make great radio and if you like, ratings too!

john

link to aircheck and resume

[spoot]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

wow. not one response. where is the love?

[Kimo]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

might have been a private response?

[scrivener]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

I see that your original post is dated November 14 and I never saw it, even though I check for new posts on HT five or six times per day. And I'll tell you exactly why: Your message's title is "soooo.... what are the chances." That tells me nothing about the topic of the post. It might as well have been called "hello" or perhaps just left blank, for all it communicated. There are a few people here who read every single post in every topic, but most of us don't. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say that since most of the time I have to get in and out quickly, I don't have the patience to click topics with titles that don't mean anything.

I happened to check it out this morning because I have a little bit of extra time and because I saw that Kimo had the most recent response; he doesn't post very often, and when he does it's usually something worth reading, so I clicked.

Just a little friendly advice. There are a LOT of people here with experience in broadcasting in Hawaii. If you want their feedback, be as clear as possible in requesting it. Unfortunately, I can't help you with this one. But if that doesn't work out for you and you decide to teach instead, drop me a line!

[spoot]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Thanks for the responses. I figured I wouldn't get many. But I figured, what the heck! It was worth a post

[b4ru]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Forget it, Hawaii radio sucks, the stations have all been run by the same idiots for years, nepotism and who you know rather than having any talent matters in this town, it will eat you alive. Just my negative 2 cents

[Random]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Sounds like somebody got rejected.

[spoot]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Ya, well broadcasting is all about rejection. Hehe. And lets face it, radio pretty much 'sucks' everywhere. I could go into a long diatribe, however I'm posting from my phone. The damn wifi is on the fritz again.

I do thank all of you for your responses. I guess I was and am just looking for a little friendy advice and maybe some insight. One great thing about the internet is our ability to learn from others that have experience in something we seek.

Me. I'm a broadcaster. One with a fairly expansive background. Who understands the simple fact that all that really matters is 'is what comes out of the speakers.' Without a compelling product, we are all sunk.

One note. I spoke a few months ago with a well known consultant friend of mine and told him of my desire to move to hawaii. His response, 'you'll be living in poverty there as a broadcaster.' Ha.

Anyway, thank you all for your interest in this thread.

[Paul Ogata]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

John, you should speak with Ed Kanoi about radio on Kauai. Ed was a jock/PD there and can probably best fill you in on the ups/downs, ins/outs, dogs/cats about radio on Kauai. (His radio station bio page.)

Probably not much money on Kauai is my guess. I did morning radio in Honolulu for over 7 years. (Yipes! Where does the time go?) You won't starve if you're doing drive time... I managed to stay chubby. And of course, if you do the jock/PD double duty I'm sure you'll make even more.

Good luck! Now let's get out there and do it to them before they do it to us.

Paul

[LikaNui]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

I was offered the News Director position for a group with three FM stations here on Oahu... and the offer was at $24,000 per year.
I thought they were kidding.
They weren't.
I told them I'd consider the position if the offer was doubled.
They gasped.
I hope they found someone.

[Kalihiboy]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

You can also try:

http://www.kongradio.com/

Ron Wiley has been a jock for decades, I think he can be reached thru the website. I always listen to them when I'm on Kauai, my favorite island.

Good Luck!

Aj

[spoot]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Kalihiboy,

Thanks for the info on Ron. I actually shot him an email a few weeks ago, but never heard back from him. Don't take it personally, I know how this radio thing works.


LikaNui,

Yea. Wow. Yikes. Youch! I can't respond to the circumstances of the news gig, but it is so very sad. In a business that has been lamenting the lack of 'talent' and the need for content that compels listeners to tune in day after day, it's very sad indeed. It's important to remember in this world of ones and zeros, that radio was the first truly interactive media. We need to get back to using our strengths. Ahhhh. my diatribe today. ha.

Paul,

Thanks for the info on Ed. I'll definitely send him an email and see what shakes.

I don't have to be in kauai. Just my first choice. I've recently relocated from NYC and have a nice little beach apartment in fort lauderdale (my childhood home). could be worse! ha. But it's still my dream to live in Hawaii and just get back to making great radio in a great community, entertain and hopefully make a difference and a contribution to a wonderful place and people. I've had quite enough of chasing the 'next big gig' and the ranks of the corporate radio 'elete' pursuing the dream of a better apartment in manhattan. bitter? not really, just looking for something real and fun. One interesting note, I took part in a 'reality show' for PBS a few weeks ago about baby boomers looking to make big changes and take chances in their life. It was interesting and odd. should air next year sometime. Maybe if I take the big jump and hop a freight train to hawaii they'll follow me over with the cameras at some point for a follow up. One thing is for sure, if you leave yourself open to it, you never know where this life may take you.

Thanks for all your responses. You are all great. And I hope that maybe this thread will be useful to others as well.

john

[lavagal]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

I was offered the News Director position for a group with three FM stations here on Oahu... and the offer was at $24,000 per year.
I thought they were kidding.
They weren't.
I told them I'd consider the position if the offer was doubled.
They gasped.
I hope they found someone.

SHOOTS! You'd think a news director could get $75K-$80K to start. Especially to run more than one entity. That's what happens when the sales team is the A Team and the news team, even though they are the ones listeners tune in to hear (and are responsible for ratings), is in the expense column.

[spoot]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

SHOOTS! You'd think a news director could get $75K-$80K to start. Especially to run more than one entity. That's what happens when the sales team is the A Team and the news team, even though they are the ones listeners tune in to hear (and are responsible for ratings), is in the expense column.

Personally, I got no problem with the sales staff making a ton of dough. If they can deliver, they should get it. However, I do agree that this kind of inequality in broadcasting is a problem and has led to an epidemic in radio. Most of us can remember a few years ago when the huge radio conglomerates were raking in cash, watching their wallstreet quarterlies climb every step of the way. It looked like there would be no end to the sunny days of the radio monoliths. (kind of reminds you a bit of the housing bubble, doesn't it) I can remember reading more than once in the trades where certain nameless vp-like managers made statements such as, "It's time for the ranks of the programing world of radio to think about where their futures lie. Sales is the future." Well, programing was indeed put on the back burner, voice tracking, more syndication, less local talent....etc. Then the 'unexpected' happened. The boom of digital delivery of music, satellite, ipods and the rest. Now those very same companies are seeing very small increases in their wallstreet returns. not the 10 percent that investors were so ecstatic about in the past. "Broadcasters" let their guard down, forgot about the importance of the product. New talent was hard to find because of the loss of a radio 'farm.' Programmers were really nothing more than someone that took this weeks of adds from the home office in Texas. There were no more programmers that knew how to nurture talent in a world of 'shut up and play the music.' And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Well, the vulture has come home to roost and radio is paying the price for it's lack of vision. But baby, I say, we ain't dead yet! We've got a mature product that can't be rivaled when its strengths are utilized and targeted properly and with vision in any market.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: soooo.... what are the chances.

Hi Spoot...I've been in and out of radio (mostly talk radio) here in Hawaii for over 20-years and I have to tell you, talk radio here isn't as hot as it is on the mainland.

We do have our local live morning drive shows and weekend local block programming however most talk programming here consists of mainland syndication during the bulk of weekday programming.

Here in Hawaii the pay really sucks as we have to contend with some very high costs of living expenses. That coupled with the long hours (labor of love) and the inability to post "Hours Worked" on your timesheets when you go over your allotted weekly hours makes working in "The Biz" difficult if you're a married person with a family.

Basically it's the same yada yada yada everybody across the nation in radio grumbles about and it's no exception here in Hawaii.

The biggest hurdles in programming mainland syndicated talk programs is when the nation switches to DST or comes off of it. Hawaii doesn't participate in Daylight Savings Time so as a programmer you gotta stay on top of the program changes coming from places like Westwood One and the rest of them. Getting to know the uplink guys at places like WABC in NY and KABC in Los Angeles help when you miss the scheduled recording times.

Here in Hawaii we are also greatly affected by sunspot activity so you have to have backup programming ready as the drops can run sometimes the entire hour. That's bad when running Art Bell programming. When Coast to Coast drops the phone lines ring off the hook with callers accusing us or the Federal Government of some kind of conspiracy.

Good luck!