Years ago, the great comedian Norm MacDonald was fired from doing the “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live. It was because one of the higher-ups at NBC was friends with O. J. Simpson, and he demanded that Norm stop doing jokes about the ex-football player and accused murderer.
After that, Norm was on Late Night with David Letterman, wondering and griping a bit about getting fired. But Norm also quoted something that Letterman had told him about the bosses of network TV –
Major league baseball runs a commercial during a change of innings that says, “Every good player knows the value of a coach.” And that’s true, but I think the opposite is true, too – every good coach knows the value of a great player.
A lot of good coaching is just staying out of the way, or just gently carving at the edges of things – because…they’re good. They don’t need a lot of, “This is how we do this.” In radio/TV/Voice acting, it’s more about “This plays to your strengths more,” or “It’s better if you stop here instead of adding one more thing.”
Coaching is a two-way street. Hard to do on your own.
It’s important to take stock sometimes, and wonder “How did this happen?”
Case in point, promos for a show playing DURING that show. Yes, I know, TV does it all the time — to the unheard voices of people screaming, “I’m watching the show NOW!” at their TV screens.
A generation – maybe more – of young people wanted to “Be Like Mike” (Michael Jordan, of course) when I was younger.
In the radio arena, I wanted to be like Larry Ryan. Larry’s a legendary morning man in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. And besides a terrific, inviting voice and a laugh that makes YOU laugh, Larry embodied what I wanted in my life – to be successful, well-liked, and have a long career.
So, as everyone does, I did my best “impression” of Larry.
Once, years ago, I decided to audition for a Talk station in Dallas. A friend of mine said that they had an opening, and at that time, I had never done Talk.
So I fashioned a “sample plate” of subjects I thought would work, and sent it to the Program Director.
Boy, was I wrong. Continue reading
“The Dean of Science Fiction writers” is the title given to Robert Heinlein, author of “Stranger in a Strange Land,” “Starship Troopers,” and the wonderful book “Time Enough for Love” – among many others, was both an author and aeronautical engineer. That led to amazingly predicting many things that we now take for granted in the real world.
A very talented woman I’ve coached on and off for years faced a challenge recently with a station’s Program Director wanting the air talent to do “teases” of what they’d be talking about a few minutes later.
So, she reached out, asking how to handle it. Here’s part of what I sent her, with a couple of added thoughts… Continue reading
Many Music Radio Program Directors who were too late for the Top 40 wars really don’t understand how proper formatics work – or even what they ARE.
Example: If you wait for that last LOGICAL moment to start the next song, then talk (or where the next element, like a “sweeper” or Imaging piece should hit), you… Continue reading
One of the most crippling thoughts in radio is “That’s good enough.”
The reply from the Listener’s end of the radio will often be, “No, it isn’t.”
I spent practically my whole on-air career being part of stations that knocked off the competition if they thought “good enough” would win. Continue reading
My dear friend and associate John Frost and I talk to stations all the time about what their Strategy is. (Hint: “What you want to happen” is not a Strategy.)
I talk to air talent all the time about what their specific strategy is each day. And I push them to think about these questions… Continue reading