Posted by Bob on August 24, 2009 at 14:59:20:
In Reply to: Pointless Talk Breaks posted by Rick on August 24, 2009 at 14:58:29:
I worked for one company - it'll become evident in a second - whose philosophy was "less is more." At the time, they still wanted content, but trying to figure out how to do it in "less is more" world was challenging. I'd get to the end of a music sweep and had been told to billboard the artists coming up. Plus there was a promo liner in that position. Like a half-wit, I'd do a quick artist billboard, try to include some content on one of the artists, then the liner, and hit the stopset. Then the PD told me I needed to find a way not to "stack and stash", i.e. don't stack the billboard, content, and liner all one after the other. I wondered, "Well, then how the hell do I execute your format?"
I started listening to old airchecks of Bill Drake-style Boss radio and later, John Rook-style Top 40 jocks. Drake especially was famous for terrorizing jocks into doing lightning quick breaks. As I listened to those airchecks, I realized that it was indeed possible to pack stellar, relatable content and the formatics into quick breaks and it actually sounded better. For an example, listen to old KHJ airchecks, or listen to one of Brant Miller from KX95 Denver. He had it mastered.
But then again, radio was fun for most air talent back then. The pay was decent (in larger markets), and off-the-hook performance was rewarded. The extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and the raw talent don't seem to be there as much these days. There are definitely exceptions. But not a ton.