A morning show host and Loyal Reader who is working without a contract and unsure of his future with the radio station asks:
“If they are interested in replacing me, what signs can I look out for?”
1. Other staff members avert their eyes from you in the hallway.
2. Staff meetings are held without you.
3. The PD or consultant observes one of your shows from the back of the studio, alongside a stranger who isn’t introduced.
4. Everyone’s new business cards arrived. Except yours.
5. The GM stops you in the hallway and says, “I just want you know I really appreciate the effort you’ve given around here,” then walks away.
6. Tell your PD or GM that you’re about to buy a house, but you don’t want to go through with the purchase if there’s any chance your job is not completely secure. If they tell you, “No problem whatsoever; go ahead and buy that house” — immediately start photocopying your resume.
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Another would/could be that your security code won’t open the back door when you come back from lunch!
You know you’re out when your radio friends accross the country let you know that blind box add is for YOUR job. That happened to me.
Or the GM takes you aside and says, don’t worry, we are committed to you in every way!”
Or you stop by the station on the weekend and can’t find your timecard. Everyone else’s timecard is there but yours.
You come back from vacation and find your office has been rearranged. Happened to me
You hear the weekend guy ON THE AIR telling the world he will be in your timeslot on Monday….. happened to me….
omgosh….these are brutal! I’m so sorry you guys had to find out that way. I guess I should count my blessings that I was fired to my face.
“The new owners are not going to be making ANY changes…”
People you routinely lunch with that never pick up a check suddenly and without explanation pick up the check…
Or the GM is there on a day he is not normally there; the PD comes into your office and asks to talk to you, but follow him. You walk past his office to the conference room. Even before I walked in and saw the GM with a manila folder, I knew it was bad news.
Your PD fones in during your show: “Please see me after the show BEFORE you go to the conference.”
Your GM notifies you and the entire air staff that there will be a meeting at a nearby hotel at 4:00 pm.
I remeber that meeting! Jay
GM or PD asks you to come see him after you get your production done but before your show…
You know that last break of yours? That WAS your last break!
YOUR FIRED—–Bring it on–your loss–my gain–making me
the Best I can be–Only The Strong Survive-Jerry Butler 1969
The legend is: a red-faced Don W. Burden came into the control room with his finger wagging, “When that record is over, so are YOU!!
You get paged….(remember those?) the PD says “Where are you RIGHT NOW?” You tell him. He says “Come back to the station I need you”. You get there and can’t find him so you ask the receptionist where he is “Oh he’s in (the GM’s) office, he’s been in there a while”. You start cleaning out your desk before you even bother to knock on the door.
You walk past the GM’s office, and his secretary (who you’ve been dating secretly) bursts into tears and hands you a message from him asking her to have HR put together your severance pack.
Or YOUR FOUND in a FIND W.I.F.E.’s \MOJOMAN\ IN INDIANAPOLIS FOR W.I.F.E. radio,,,The same day contest started,,,you have to immediately go ON THE AIR,,,the PD that hired you is outa town (the STEVE BROWN). The JOCK \ON THE AIR\ sez I gotta date,,I’m leaving,,You’ll be OK,,,Walks out the door,,,In the first 10 mins. THE OWNER \DON BURDEN\ calls you on the phone from OMAHA and FIRES YOU.
I did do them ONE FAVOR,,I opened the MIKE and said if anyone that works here is listening,,better get over here,,THE OWNER JUST FIRED ME,,the guy that showed up,,(his name I can’t remember) thought I was the NEW GUY putting everyone on,,,,He was still insisting AS I WALKED OUT. STEVE BROWN I later learned had gone to see BURDEN in OMAHA. He never called me.
At least I know after ALL THESE YEARS,,,PAT LOPEMAN told me his MOM loves me. THEMOJOMAN.COM
No the best one is when they say “Ya know were thinking about going another direction and were re tooling” then you find the only one shafted out the door is you…
Happened to a friend of mine: a rent-a-cop off duty police officer in uniform meets you in the lobby, hands you the pink slip (no last paycheck), and escorts you to your desk where a box is sitting with just a few items that you are allowed to take. Many things that are your personal belongings are withheld and claimed by the station. The PD & GM are nowhere in sight. You are then escorted by the police officer out of the building and told to never attempt to return or contact them or “you will be arrested for harassment and making threats.”
A lawyer had to be called to collect the last of the payroll and talent fees that were owed but not paid.
Wow. And I thought I was the only one.
Holy smokes! I’m with you, Morgan. I had it pretty good. Things were great, and then I got laid off. Face to face with the PD and the GM and I couldn’t say a bad thing about ’em. Seriously. Straight up, respectful and since the layoff, good and helpful people.
I cannot imagine the simmering emotions in being led here and there by a security person.
Seriously.
– The GM who hired you is fired, and they bring in a new one who has “great plans” that involve changing formats on every station in the cluster. This goes double if one of them changes back 6-8 months after an expensive PR burst.
– Your production load drops from writing, recording, and mixing voice talent to dumping other people’s work into the automation.
– You’re given no comments about your show from the GM or PD, just “Keep it Up!” in passing.
You happen to be at the station after hours picking up swag for an event and see the weekly report from the PD to the GM and it mentions the person that will be filling your slot after the announcement is made that you’re being “let go.”
…. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD ….. !?
Your consultant, who got you the job and has been your friend for 20 years…. turns on you and says you’ve failed as a music director, even though the station is doing very well, everyone loves the music, and there’s simply a problem with computer software during the changeover from Selector to Musicmaster…….just to get HIS music service in the building, and an additional $700 a month in HIS pocket….wow. Tough business. Eyes now open.
I picked up the checks for our staff; mine wasn’t in there. When I called the GM’s office (in another town) I was told, \He’s bringing yours\. I started packing my things.
You know you’ve done the right thing when an OLD friend insists you DROP EVERTHING and come running to a station he has just bought,,YOU EXPLAIN why that would be almost impossible to do UNLESS YOU HIT THE LOTTERY \BUT\ another old friend does quit his job and gets on board \THEN\ within a year or so the second old friend emails you and tells you ”I SCREWED UP AND CAN’T GO BACK\ this SOB only bought this place to FLIP IT.
When I get the POWER BALL I will buy a station and treat all you gujys RIGHT.