The Industry

     This blog is seriously the coolest thing. I have been saying how I received a lot of feedback from industry professionals and Ed Bain was one of them. Now if you are not from Vancouver Island, Ed Bain is a celebrity here. He runs a fantastic morning show on The Q and also is the weather guy on CHEK TV. I grew up listening/watching him so it was really cool to hear from him and this is what he said.

Hi Mitch

Looks to me like your heading into the broadcasting job hunt with a full head of steam good for you! I started in this game in 1974 in small town Sask and unfortunately it was much easier then to get work in broadcasting  than it is now (my little “fly by night” near correspondence broadcast course actually guaranteed you a job if they accepted you!)
I mention this because even though small town Sask was not very appealing to an 18 year old living in Edmonton, I jumped at the chance because I wanted to get on the air in the worst way (a dream I had for most of my life). With that in mind I would encourage you to consider living wherever you have to to get going in this game. Now more than ever is no time to get picky as the job numbers just aren’t there like they used to be.
I would also encourage you to get involved in everything you can when you do get that 1st gig and try to be as multi useful as possible, the guys that can do it all are the ones that retain the work.
It’s a wonderful industry Mitch and I don’t mean to paint a dismal picture but at the same time I want to be honest with you the money is generally low to start and the opportunities are not as plentiful anymore but believe me doing something you love for a living is the greatest thing in the world.
I feel very lucky to have been able to survive this long in radio and television and I’ve loved every minute of it and I’m sure you will too!
Good luck Mitch.
Ed Bain

Ed brings up a couple really great points that I think some people might not think of. First, the small markets is where we will probably start off. Personally this excites me. Why? Because you get to do everything… or at least a lot of stuff. In a major market you would be hired as a producer for example, and you would produce and go home. In small markets you could be a producer in the morning, be on air in the afternoons and be the music director. How cool is that?! Next and I think this one people don’t realize right away. Radio does not equal wealth. It does not pay that well. Perhaps once you have established yourself and have a morning show spot your pay might be decent but starting off your cheque might not have as many zeroes as you hope. However just like Ed says if you are passionate about what you do, why does it matter? Money is just paper. Radio is a career.