Are you thinking of working in Radio ?

On this episode of  Carlene Tonight/Diva Tonight we talk to Jennifer Kowalyshen about working in Radio during a pandemic. 

Jenn gives a perspective on the industry and how many who work in Radio are feeling the effects of lockdown

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We're altered by mom. And this is Carlene tonight.

Carlene 0:04

Hi, I'm Carlene. And this is Carlene Tonight. We have a guest that we've had on the show before. Her name is Jen. Hi, Jen. Hello, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Good, thanks. How is it working from home?

SPEAKER_02 0:21

There was a time that I really hated it, uh, kind of at the beginning of all this, because I was like, I can't stand being here anymore. But now I'm like, you know, with the thought of possibly going back soon, I'm like, man, it's pretty nice like being able to walk five steps to work, you know, and like not have to get in the car or go out in the cold or do any of that stuff. So yeah, I'm kind of loving it right now and kind of realizing that I like it more than I thought I would.

Carlene 0:45

Oh, you've gotten used to it. I mean, it it saves commute time, you know, there's gas money, all that kind of stuff. Oh my god, saves so much money. But we're spending, I find I'm spending more money on food.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Us too for sure.

Carlene 0:57

I ate less when I was working at the office. I don't know. Like I would have a late breakfast and then lunch, and then sometimes I'd have dinner, sometimes I wouldn't. But I don't know. I noticed that I don't know if it's because we're eating all our meals at home. I'm like, holy shoot, I'm spending quite a bit on groceries, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. And we get so like it's been a challenge, like cooking every day. It sounds like such a simple thing, but like when you have no other option but to cook for yourself all the time, it's like, um, yeah, restaurants just opened up last week here in Hamilton, so or a couple of weeks ago. So we like went out like the first weekend. Like, okay, me and my mom went out. Yeah.

Carlene 1:34

Yeah, I'm so jealous of you. So um, for those who don't know, Jen, Jen is, I guess, are you program director or like manager at 92.9 to grand? So I actually have like a lot of titles. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Creative writer, producer, I'm uh office manager, um, on-air host, um, and I'm like a promotions assistant too. Wow.

Carlene 1:57

All the things all these years later, you know, it's been like 10 years since we started Humber, eight years since we graduated. And I the reason I have you on the show is just to talk about like how things have changed in a year, like, you know, from like last year to now, getting down to the nitty-gritty. I think like radio has definitely changed, um, especially because like you said, you're working from home. A lot of announcers are at home right now. So I just have a few questions just to talk about the industry because it's so reliant on sales. So radio's changed during the pandemic, especially in advertising. How has that been impacted?

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Uh well, the obvious thing, like when we first shut down a year ago, um, all these businesses had to close their doors. So, you know, a lot of them pulled advertising because they stopped making money and couldn't have people in the store. So, you know, there's a few that stayed on, thankfully, you know, some businesses did stay on, but a lot of like the local clients, uh, we lost a lot of them. Like it was just all of a sudden cancellations coming out all over the place. And it was just like a huge hit, but like totally understandable because these businesses weren't operating. So, like they don't have the money to pay for advertising for something that's not open, right? So we we lost, you know, I think every media company that relies on advertising lost some sort of money, like when that all started, when businesses stopped selling things, they have nothing to advertise, right?

Carlene 3:27

Yeah. And so what kind of advertisements are you guys doing now? Are you doing um virtual?

SPEAKER_02 3:33

It's all sort of like the, you know, the way things are done is still the same. Um, it's just that, you know, obviously for the sales reps, like getting sales has been really challenging over the past year. Um because again, when you can't go and see people and make those connections and have business meetings, like, you know, um the that personal connection is a little bit lost. But you know, they've been managing doing virtual meetings with clients. Um like for us on the creative side, like, you know, I'm still I can do my job from home because I write scripts and even like production, you know, we have software now that we have at home that we can do. Our producers are still going into the radio stations, but you know, we're basically trying to have as few people in the radio station at a time as we can. So, you know, we'd have just one producer, the writers all are all working from home. There's a big chunk of time we just sort of started letting it happen again, but where we couldn't have clients in to voice anything, you know, a lot of them want to voice their own commercials and like have been doing it for years, and suddenly we couldn't do that. So we had to like adapt because there was uh clients who still wanted to continue that. So, you know, if you hear some stuff on the radio that's like you're I don't know, if you've got a trained ear and you're like, that doesn't sound quite professional, it's probably because it's a client who like recorded it on their cell phone and emailed it to us because we had no way to like actually have these people into the studio. So there's been a few like little tweaks like that that we've had to deal with. Um overall, we're still, you know, functioning mostly normally um in the creative department. And now, since like things are different and we know how to keep things safe, because we do have a separate studio for people to do voice work in. So now that we know about like you know how to sanitize and distance and all this stuff, like we have all that stuff in place now. So we have been able to welcome clients back.

Carlene 5:19

Yeah, but how long you haven't been at the station in how many months now?

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Uh for me, like I've been basically working from home since March. But there are I go in once a week because I have a show once a week. So I go in to do my show, and I also cover on air for other people. So when I'm covering five days of on air stuff, um, I go in to the office. It's just easier for me. Like I can technically do it from home, but the quality's not as good. And um yeah, just I find a I'm focused way better when I'm like actually at the radio station and not working from home. But uh yeah, so that's been a big thing too over the past year for me personally. Um, I'm the backup to so many different people now because we had to lay off not that many people, but you know, some part-time staff, um, you know, like like the events cruiser people, for example. There was no more events, so we literally didn't have any work for them to do anymore. So, you know, those those kind of people, those those kind of jobs are kind of non-existent right now. And just those are the kind of people that help out in other departments and stuff. And so, like now that sort of support staff that like us, like the full-time people would call on, they're not there anymore. So, like we I have to cover for I'm the backup producer, I'm the backup creative director, I'm the backup like midday host sometimes, sometimes the evening host. Like, I have all of these different things that like you know, I I love doing all of them, but like it has to be like I'm just listening to you, and I my head is spinning.

Carlene 6:53

Like, I just you know, yeah, I think I I wanted you to come on the show to explain how this pandemic has really changed the industry. It's not just radio, it's film and television. Everything to do with entertainment, but we realize that you know, um, people still listen to the radio, they're probably listening more now just to have that voice, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yeah, uh, we've found over the past year, um, you know, tuning in the car obviously has gone down because people are driving anywhere. But tuning in at home, listening online, that's gone like way up. Like our numbers are way bigger than they've probably ever been. Because people, yeah, everyone has music at their fingertips. You can play whatever you want, but like sometimes you just want to hear another voice, especially if you live alone or something, you know. So we've our online presence and interaction on social media and stuff that's gone like way up like compared to previous years.

Carlene 7:49

Yeah, I haven't been listening to radio too much at home. I do live on my own too. And um, yeah, just being able to talk to someone, I feel like I talk more on the phone because I'm not doing those social settings, like you said. But this, this is just so unpredictable. Like, what do you see happening in the next year? Like, we're in March, and it feels like it's it doesn't even feel like we're in March. It feels like I've been through like half the year or yet. It's been so long, like you know, all this time inside.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Yeah, it's been different because like I I find like you know, if we're doing nothing pretty much for the past year, like for me, it's like flown by. And I'm like, where has the the last I can't believe it's been a year that we've been home? Like, how did that happen? Like, how did we get here? But yeah, like hopefully, you know, once vaccines roll out and numbers go down, and hopefully we don't have any further, you know, huge hurdles to get through, we're still not through this virus and all that. But like as things start to open up, you know, radio sales should go up and media sales in general. Um, when businesses can reopen again and they're making money again. And it's gonna take a long time to get back to where we were, I think, pre-pandemic. Um, but like, you know, hopefully this summer, like, you know, kids that are graduating, that kind of thing, uh, out of radio um or other media, you know, look for those cruiser jobs and those like part-time fill-in, you know, street teen, that kind of stuff, because those don't exist right now. And they're gonna need all those people back. I mean, I know our company has told anyone, you know, that was laid off that they're gonna get the first phone call back. Um, but there may be, you know, be people that have moved on or got other jobs at other radio stations in the meantime. So there's gonna be a lot of those entry-level openings, like once the world reopens and we can go out to events again, you know, like we we're gonna wanna be everywhere we can because we haven't been anywhere for the past year, basically. So, you know, I think there is some hope for the industry. Um, it's always evolving, you know, from going to apps or online or from you know from what it what a radio used to be. Like it's a very, you know, social media interactive kind of um industry now. And I think as long as it continues to evolve and uh the community still seems to have uh, you know, a reason to listen. Like people want their local news, people love getting prizes, you know, and like I want to go to a concert again, you know. Yeah, oh my goodness, yeah, that's another big thing, you know. It's like yeah, you know, on our country station, like we're at every big country show, and it's like, you know, we haven't been out and haven't been able to interact with all the amazing fans and listeners and stuff, and that's that's a big thing that we're missing. So once that all happens again, there's gonna be jobs doing stuff like that. So it's a good entry-level kind of way to get into the industry post-pandemic, I think.

Carlene 10:36

Yeah, I'm Carlina. This is Carlene tonight. I have with me Jan Koalishan, Jennifer Koalishan. She's at 92.9 the grand. What time is your show on?

SPEAKER_02 10:46

I'm on Sundays from nine until midnight, but uh, you know, over the summer, I also manage all the the bookings for the on-air stuff for the holidays and they're they're booking time off. I guess we're hopeful things are gonna happen. So I'm gonna be on air a lot this summer, like different day parts.

Carlene 11:02

I know. So you can listen to Jen on Sundays from nine to twelve at 92.9 the grand to be hopeful. What advice do you have for the class of 2021? Uh, the radio school, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Again, kind of just just echoing what I just said, you know, there's gonna be those jobs. Um, they might not be your dream on air job, but like I've seen people that have started as cruiser and now are national voices, you know. So, you know, get those entry-level jobs wherever you can. It's a really fun industry to be in, you know, if you can get into events and promotions and that kind of stuff, it's like a good stepping stone to getting on air. Right now, like on-air jobs, like always, they're they're difficult.

Carlene 11:42

Yeah, is it important to have your driver's license? I remember my my professor saying that.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Obviously, if you want to drive like a station vehicle around to events, uh, that's that's a very important. But there's also options to be like on the street team where you know you might ride in the back of the vehicle with the guy that's driving. Or, you know, if you live somewhere that has public transit, like you if you could take the bus to events, you could there's still like work you can do if you don't have a license. But if you don't and you want to work in radio, it's a good idea to get one.

Carlene 12:09

Yeah. I was just wondering if that limits yourself, you know, if someone doesn't have it, like I guess the advice is to try and get it now. I remember it's so I don't know if you remember this, but I remember Sheila, our coordinator, saying, get your license now, you know, like all those little advice that they gave us. I was like, you know what, they were on to something, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Yeah, it just you know, especially like in this industry, you might need to work anywhere, you know, and like there's a lot of small town radio jobs. And if you're willing to move and go do that kind of thing, a lot of them don't have buses. You like you need a car to get around. So it's it's uh it's definitely a good idea to get your license if you want to work in radio. It just opens up a lot more avenues for you to go down.

Carlene 12:54

Yeah, it's been quite the year, and I I thank you for coming and talking about this and you know, just being hopeful about the future of radio because we just don't know how long it will last, but eventually things will get back to what it used to be, right? Yeah, here's hope and thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Yeah, it's uh gotta try to stay positive. I mean, this is the industry I work in, so I don't want to talk myself out of a job, right?

Carlene 13:20

Yeah, no, definitely not, you know, um virtual reality, like we just, you know, doing a lot of things virtually, but um radio is still it's still here now, you know, and it's it's gonna be here for the long haul because we love that voice, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Yeah, I think as long as we keep having connections with people in the community, like and you know, there's so many great organizations, charitable organizations and stuff that we help out. And like I hope that never dies because we need that.

Carlene 13:50

Yeah, eventually it will it will come back, it will come back. We just don't know when the future, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, right, Jen? That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Even if it's been a whole year.

Carlene 14:08

Pretty much. Oh my god. I'm Carlene, and this is Carleen tonight. Jen, if people want to follow you, are you on social media?

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Yeah, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, at Jen Coalition. Uh, that's a mouthful. But uh, if you go to the 92.9 the grand uh website, I'm on the on-air page, my name's spelled out there. Um, and I have a Facebook page, so you can find that by searching for Jen K Radio. That one's nice and easy.

Carlene 14:34

There we go. Jen K Radio. Thanks, Jen. Thank you. Take care. Hi, I'm Carlene, and this is Carleen. Tonight we have for you the band, Altered by Mom. I know them personally, and the reason we're playing their music is because I think it's important that music and relationships go hand in hand. This podcast is for you, dedicated to you, and everything you do in your life. And I think it's important that when we take a break from the everyday and we take time to listen, that we listen to music. So here's a song from one of our favorite bands, Altered My Mom. The song is called Hey Ashley.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

I couldn't see. I am someone doesn't care about your philosophy. This is Caroline tonight. We're altered by mom.