What's Your Job?

Have you been learning your on-air craft for years?
Do you live in a market where opportunities are rare?
Have you seen one of those opportunities go to a 'non-radio' person?

I get a lot of messages from presenters venting that "the guy from the TV got that gig". How could management dilute the industry by using people with no on air pedigree and little to no experience? They tell me they have dedicated themselves to the industry and feel let down.

A decade ago, I might have sympathised.

But here's the deal - the industry you dedicated yourself to has now changed.
It changed over a decade ago.
Now, you need to be more than an on-air presenter.
You need other skills...like the TV or print people (or now web contributors) have. They see it all as one opportunity. They see radio, TV, print, online as one beast.


Look at this ad for a presenter in Canada - how many jobs are they fitting into one position here?

-  Producing the show five days a week possibly as a co-host to the morning show
-  Build a network of local contacts and sources
-  Write and Post one to two stories to both station website and social media sites
-  Work closely with the Talk Show show for stories and interact on air
with show hosts
-  Ability to swing host and fill in for the news room is an asset
-  Voiceover for commercials, promos, etc.
-  Update Social Media on a regular basis
-  Assist on-air staff with programming requirements when needed
-  On-air board operation required
-  Voice tracking as required
-  Any other duties as assigned 

That's one job.

Maybe it's time to be more and offer more.