Hello again, dear readers. How was your day?
People may be pleased to know that I did a first pass at cleaning out my car this evening. The detritus that had built up over the last few months was beyond acceptable. And, no, I still haven't found that damned DVD set I borrowed during the Winter, misplaced, and ended up paying for. As I said at the time, Jimmy Hoffa and Judge Crater are watching that DVD somewhere while Amelia Earhart is on the phone ordering Thai.
I heard some news about a couple of layoffs in Halifax radio, which occurred on Monday. I am not at liberty to say what they are, although I did tweet it earlier today before deleting that stuff as well as the FB status update. It was big news, though. You can tune into the Halifax morning shows at the various stations and see who is not there any more.
Bill Hart is the new morning man at Hal FM. Someone tried to list all of the folks who have worked mornings at Hal since it went on the air 7 years ago. Just in the past two years, there have been at least 7 morning teams. The newest guy was hired barely 5 months ago and was fired last week to make room for Bill Hart, back in Halifax after too many years away from this fine city.
Some of you know that I am a proud follower of "Radio Free Saint John" on Facebook. It's a support page for the folks who are on strike against Maritime Broadcasting Systems in Saint John. There are good people on strike and there is no end in sight.
Anyway, a new FB friend of mine who was in radio for many years once applied for a job at MBS. Well, the PD somehow got his hands on the man's demo tape and called him. The man describes the interview here. Scroll down in the timeline to the Paul Bealieu piece.
I was flabbergasted. Gobsmacked. Dumbstruck. In my life, I had never heard of a job interview like that one. I remain amazed that people even apply for jobs at that company, given how they treat people. That one station in the chain has gone through so many morning people in such a short period of time speaks volumes to their human resource skills.
At any rate, the now-unemployed Ed Shaw is looking for radio gigs in Halifax. I suggested he apply for the interim co-host position at Live 105, and perhaps he will. He came to radio at mid-life, like I would if I were to do the same thing, so it is hard not to respect and like the guy, even if he was stuck working at that station. He may find other opportunities in local radio if what I heard about that other station is true (and it is).
People have often asked me why I didn't go into radio myself. It was mostly a self-confidence thing. But I don't regret my career choice because I have seen supremely talented people get canned around here for capricious, even arbitrary, reasons. Not just at MBS, but other places, too. Why would I put myself through that crap, especially since the salaries are not there unless you're working a morning show gig at a union radio station that is at the top of the ratings, like Q104 is? The morning show folks there probably pull in about 80K a year, maybe a bit more, or a bit less. That is a handsome salary for Nova Scotia, but I certainly know more than a few people who pull in considerably more than that. BTW, I am not one of them.
I wish I could tell you the name of the station that has had this change in on air staff. Just tune in tomorrow morning and you'll soon see for yourself which one it is.
But you didn't hear it from me. I don't know what you're talking about.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
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