We should all remember, in connection with our study of radio (chapter 6) how important the FCC is in regard to the licensing and re-licensing of a radio station. Licensing and or re-licensing of a radio station is NOT a given or is NOT an automatic.
Some radio stations actually are turned down on their applications for re-licensure--for various reasons. (broadcasting obscene or indecent material; being unfair to a political candidate; broadcasting libelous statements; levying unfair advertising rates—charging one rate to one person or firm and another—much higher rate—to someone else).
The FCC requires that radio stations, to keep their licenses or to be re-licensed, have to operate as a service to "public interest, convenience and necessity.”
Keep in mind that radio and TV (electronic forms of mass communication) are unlike print inasmuch as print (newspapers and magazines) are not regulated in any way by the federal government.
So why is it that the FCC gets involved with the licensing (and regulation to some extent) of radio and TV stations? We will discuss this in class. But chapter 6 (page 111) touches on the reason for FCC regulation of radio.
Some folks who work in or own radio or TV stations, think that FCC purview is an unfair slam against the electronic media. But, again, remember why the federal government has its fingers (some would call it “sticky fingers”) on radio and TV but not on print media such as newspapers and magazines.
It should also be noted that radio is becoming, increasingly a niche medium of mass communication--what with the examples of radio stations that have, for example, a country and western format, or stations that have a soul format, or stations that appeal to oldsters like yours truly who can't seem to escape the time warp of the great, fantastic, enlightening, uplifting music of the 60s and 70s (The Supremes, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, the Mamas and Papas, Aretha Franklin--oh, what an era of music!— and I can still get it via stations on my Sirius XM radio.
Other popular radio formats include: classic rock, gospel or religious, sports, news/talk, adult contemporary, Spanish (see page 122 in our textbook).
Today, as chapter 6 notes, this is the era of “narrowcasting” in radio. Know what this is and be able to give some examples of it.
As to who does what at a typical radio station, what follows is a sketch of the key players at a station and their duties/area of responsibility. Of course, this will vary a bit from station to station, depending on how individual stations are set up in various markets, but the following structure can help your understanding of the personnel makeup at a typical radio station:
General manager runs the radio station.
Program manager oversees what goes on the air, including news programs, the station’s format and any on-air people.
Sales people who are called account executives sell the advertising for the programs.
Traffic people schedule the commercials, make sure they run correctly and bill the clients.
Production people help with local programming and produce commercials for the station.
Engineers keep the station on the air.
Administrative people pay the bills, answer the phones and order the paper clips.
At a small station, as few as five people will handle all of these jobs. Easiest to break into that first job in radio by finding a station in a small market or small town. You can learn to be a generalist and then move to a larger market.
But enough for now. More about the ins and outs of radio when we focus on it in class this week. See you all very soon.
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