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This Air Personality Fired Himself …
May 17, 2022
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There is a difference between being creative and following programming directions and procedures. I have always understood creative miscues. But not following directions is insubordination. Unless there's mechanical failure, there's no excuse for it. You can have an opinion and disagree off the air, but to not follow what you've been instructed to do is not alright. For example, even with music monitors, some air personalities still attempt to get away with not playing scheduled music.
Where You Draw The Line ...
From time to time there's always that one air personality that tests your patience. It’s usually someone with talent. You let them get away with minor indiscretions because the good they do outweighs the little irritating stuff. But for a music station, when it comes to messing around with the music, that’s a “No-go.” All the time, effort, and research to get the music just right for the airwaves is sacred and shouldn’t be, pardon the pun, "played with."It Happened One Night …
Only once did I have an air personality who went way past what was acceptable for me. I was driving home, and I thought I was listening to another station when I heard an album comedy cut on the Quiet Storm. My immediate reaction was to call the studio. But I managed to restrain myself and proceeded to hear two more comedy cuts over the next two hours before the air talent’s shift was over.What The Hell …
I called the GM as soon as I got home. I told him what I heard and that I would check the monitor and the logger in the morning. As soon as I got to work, I had the engineer pull the recorded logger tape. We both listened as I also looked at the Mediabase Moniter and compared it with what had been scheduled to be played. This personality had played several comedy cuts within two hours and 5 songs that had been on hold for months but still existed in the automation system.Let’s Meet …
I gathered up all the data and scheduled a meeting with the air personality and the GM. This talent had a file on him for various infractions over the years prior to my reign, but never anything to rival this foolishness. He brought his agent with him to the meeting. I gave a copy of the scheduled music log from the previous night, and the Mediabase monitor info indicating what had been played. We all listened to the one hour of recorded logger tape of his show. After listening, the GM gave him the opportunity to explain. The air personality proceeded to justify what he had done by saying the comedy cuts brought a flavor and the non-scheduled songs were requests. He insisted these were important songs which had been taken out of rotation and that his listeners loved them.Where Did He Go? …
The meeting took a bizarre twist when the air personality jumped up while his agent was talking and stormed out of the meeting. The GM and I actually felt sorry for the agent because it was embarrassing. Immediately after the meeting, the GM looked at me and asked who I had in mind to take over the shift and he agreed this personality had just fired himself.After All ...
There’s a reason why we stop at stoplights. It’s a legislated rule of law. We all know that if we don’t follow the rules, there are consequences if we're caught. The same thing holds true for work. If you don’t do what you’re told, there’s a good chance that eventually you won’t be working there anymore. And in radio, the last thing you want is a reputation for being unmanageable. Your job at a music station is to be the best accessory to the music you can be.It's Not That Hard To Do …
You just can’t do what you want because you think you know better. You don’t own the company and you’re not a part of the management team that’s driving the bus. Stay in your lane and follow directions and procedures. Doing those two things have nothing to do with the creative process. -
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