Pave, from your posts, I wouldn't listen to your radio show.
Howard Stern has callers... I have trouble turning off the show when I reach my destination. CBC 3 has no callers. I have no problem turning off the show when I arrive.
The only example of a non interactive show that can make me listen is Alan Cross.
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My favourite caller is the play something good guy.
"Hey, why don't you play a good song?"
"Every song I play is good, or I wouldn't play it on MY show. They are all scientifically proven 'good' with reems of data gleemed from your facebook "
I wish I got calls on my show.. I ask my audience questions, try to get them to interact... but it's rare that anyone calls... Gotta love small markets!
Hands down my favourite phone call EVER went like this:
Me: Hi Jack Them: What's your phone number? pause Me: Are you sure you don't already have it? Them: nope Me: 280-Jack Them: Ah, Jack, that's the part I didn't have.....
Safe to say some of you radio "complacency" staff are getting tired. I always answer the phone. I know many who don't and will only open up the lines when necessary. Larry & Willy have never ever not answered there phones. When they were on the Fox always answered the same on JACK. Don't let your "ego" get the best of you when a caller says something stupid.
To The Top 40 ! Move up to an adult oriented station you might just get better conversations. If you can relate to your audience on the air(top 40 12/14/15 years old) the phone should be easy for you. Lets also remember some people in radio just can't relate when there speech is not rehersed. A great jock can do both and pull this conversation your way.
Larry & Willy always answer their phone? Who informed you of this? Have you ever board opped for Larry & Willy? And while I pepper out the questions: Have you ever stepped outside of your radio head and watched people with a radio on while the jock is talking about dating horrors, relationship disintegration, or Hollywood fodder? Excuse me if I'm missing the more poignant topics that seem to 'drive callers'. Let's distinguish the difference between 'talk' radio and 'music' intensive radio.
This has been yet another great learning tool for a somewhat-green radio *kid*. I've always wondered about the whole "Get calls on the air!" thing because so many stations have different opinions. One jock always told me "Calls on the air is for jocks who aren't creative enough to think up their own material..." and another has said "Our station has a rule that you need a minimum of 2 calls per hour during your show..." I know some jocks I've listened to will actually come up with a "Topic of the Day" or "Topic of the Hour" to generate some discussion, but I've always been flabbergasted about how they come up with a topic that's going to generate calls.
Safe to say some of you radio "complacency" staff are getting tired. I always answer the phone. I know many who don't and will only open up the lines when necessary. Larry & Willy have never ever not answered there phones. When they were on the Fox always answered the same on JACK. Don't let your "ego" get the best of you when a caller says something stupid.
Don't get me wrong - ALWAYS have your fingers on the phones and your other fingers on Burli to record each and every one of them. For every nine dog turds, there's always one gem that is well-spoken and eager to play along.
But callers are the number one cause of jock support group meetings at the local pub.
These people listen to commercial radio. So often, in fact, that they feel they need to interact with it. You're going to find some weird folks on there.
And do yourself a favor. Keep the relationship limited to the phone.
By no means am I saying phone calls on radio are meaningless. I'm talking about the hard-ons who can't face the fact that life has changed since 1982 and a jock should be focused on being precise and to the point on a break. Don't focus on 'calls' if you're on a music intensive station. Be yourself, deliver the message and feeling of your station. If calls happen, great. If not, you still had listeners, don't let anyone in programming tell you otherwise. It's like sending sheep for water in the desert...a nearly impossible feat with the exception of the odd puddle. Lazy programming. A PD who sends their jocks off to do the impossible for the lowest amount of pay. Again, talk radio's a different beast. I've never worked it, so I won't venture there except to say when I 'listen' to talk radio, I personally enjoy the personalities who can keep me interested and 'wanting' to call.
Hands down my favourite phone call EVER went like this: Me: Hi Jack Them: What's your phone number? pause Me: Are you sure you don't already have it? Them: nope Me: 280-Jack Them: Ah, Jack, that's the part I didn't have.....
Also - on the topic of Larry and Willy - they don't have a board op. They run their own board board and they're pretty darn good about picking up the phones. It can be a bit laborious when you have "relationships" with callers over the years but they do their best to make sure they talk to folks.
It breaks down to the very simple but sadly overlooked philosophy of customer service.
You build your program and brand one customer at a time and that is what listeners of your show are, your customers. Whether they make it to air or not doesn't matter. You craft your breaks, and if a calls serves the message better, run it.
The great Quincy McCoy in his book "No Static" talks about it in chapter one.
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I never opp'd for Larry and Willy, but I grew up loving their program and I called their show twice in my lifetime... and both times they answered the phone.
Something else to think about .... I understand that many of the telephone calls .. especially late at night .. are more than annoying .. but Flamethrower is correct in suggesting that answering the calls is a matter of customer service. And also to be considered is that many of those callers will simply call the newsroom .. should they not get their satisfaction in annoying the jock who has a lot of other noteworthy things to accomplish at that point in time. That is also annoying ...
Yet .. the saddest part involves those who simply need to be heard; -- the jock and the newsroom may really be the last bastions of who is still awake at those late and early hours. Had it happen twice in major market newsroom in central Canada where I was expressly told, "Don't hang up !!" .. followed by the horrible threat that the caller was going to kill him- or herself once our conversation was over. Not even thinking that it may simply be a hoax, the conversation continued until medical help was summoned for the caller (on another line) .. and the caller was beyond grateful a few days later.
Thanks for answering the question as to whether you've opped for Larry and Willy or physically seen them answer phones. Since I've taken the time to look over these pages, I've seen a ton.....a copious amount of misinformation and downright negativity to some posters simply asking questions. Anyone ever have to sit in airchecks when the PD pulls out the "have you ever listened to (Major Market Superstar), and low and behold, you're lost in the moment when suddenly, out of his/her ass comes an aircheck of the exact personality? Miraculously, despite your intent to learn and grow, you're being compared to some mega-jock who answers the phones regularly and now YOU should be doing that too. Matter of fact, even though you're working small-medium market, you're being asked to 'work the phones' into your show because that's how they do it in the big leagues. (Don't ever be successful at it, because, as I'm sure many will agree, you won't be paid like the superstar you were told to emulate. Unless you have the talent to be part of the small, miniscule percentage of people who work the major market drives and have a population to get the calls from.) All I'm trying to say is: If it happens, it happens, but don't let the 'old school' ways of doing things get you down. It's just not the same anymore for terrestrial radio. If you're a good personality, you'll be engaging, you'll be inviting, and you'll represent the station well. The phones will happen naturally, you won't have to pretend to be anything you're not, and the best part is: the calls will seem like you've just been buzzed by your best friend. They just don't teach that in the Old School anymore. Check the prep sites or the propeganda your PD gives you, they still have a subject area called "Phone Topics". By the way, more than a few of us had, and will have the chance to sit in the studio when geniuses like Larry and Willy are working. We've seen how many people are involved in making these shows a success. It's never just 'one' jock. It's a small percentage of people we're being told to 'emulate'. They get paid well for what they're doing. Absolutely, let yourself set goals, but set them yourself, and find someone who knows what's happening in today's radio world to help you along. Again, thanks for answering the previous question.
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