Reading the trade press, we see too many reports of our peers who have been told not to return to the building following a discussion with management. I don’t know about their severance packages, but losing a gig is tough, especially when you’re older. I can speak from personal experience, having lost jobs late in radio my career. It’s not fun.
Long ago, I was having dinner with Paul Jacobs, and he offered a telling comment. He talked about people in their 50s who lived the “radio lifestyle,” and when their jobs suddenly disappeared, they hadn’t made any financial preparations. Their situations became precarious.
I could take this column in the direction of asking you to donate to the Broadcasters Foundation of America, a worthy charity that helps our friends in the business who are in need, especially as this column will appear on Giving Tuesday. I’ve made donations every year for nearly twenty years and have included the BFOA in my estate plans. If you can help the BFOA and your fellow broadcasters, please do.
Recently, I spoke to a friend who is considering retiring from radio. One question I threw at him was, “What do you plan to do with your day after you retire?” In my case, I was lucky. Between writing for Barrett Media and now serving as the faculty advisor to WWHR-FM (Revolution 91.7), the student radio station at Western Kentucky University, I’m busy. I’ll spend some of December working on lectures and such for BCOM 360, Programming and Research in Electronic Media, which I will teach at WKU starting in January. Perhaps you want to volunteer with a charity, travel, play a lot of golf, whatever. My advice is to think long and hard about it before you make a move, or your employer makes it for you.
Some of you may not plan to quit. One of my favorite people, and likely one of yours as well, Mike McVay, will probably keep going strong until he’s 100 or so. And at 100, he will still dress better than anyone else in the radio business. He once told me that he doesn’t play golf or do the other retiree things. He does radio, or if he made the comment today, he might say audio.
As an aside, Mike is being introduced to a new generation at Western Kentucky. He was kind enough to cut a short video for Revolution to teach all our newbies how to be an on-air talent, and viewing his piece is a required part of their training. In the business, everyone knows Mike McVay, whether personally or by name. For students, we have to tell them about his connection to Stephen A. Smith. At that point, they’re very impressed that Mike would cut a customized video for us.
Checking my Facebook feed the other day, there was a picture of a sort of “last supper,” actually a dinner with a small group congratulating Vin Ciavatta, one of the funniest people around. “Yo Vin,” as he’s known to many, retired from Nielsen on November 30 after nearly 25 years with the company, going back to the Arbitron days.
The man has been in the radio business his whole career, starting on-air as many of us did. Vinnie McCoy, an air name that might trigger some brain cells in perhaps two or three people in New England, jumped to the sales side mid-career and found a home at Arbitron, survived Nielsen, and finally said “Arrivederci,” most notably on his timeline, not that of a corporate finance department. It was a class act on the part of Rich Tunkel, John Snyder, and Brendan Kane to show up in Providence. Even Brad Kelly made the trip in from the Eastern Shore!
During my time at Arbitron, Vin and I would chat regularly, sometimes about business but typically about minor league hockey, specifically the American Hockey League. I grew up watching the Rochester Americans, known locally as the Amerks, and he was a Providence Reds, now Providence Bruins, fan. My phone would show a 401 area code, and upon answering, I’d hear, “This is Jack Butterfield calling from the American Hockey League office.” For those of you who are not AHL aficionados, Jack Butterfield was AHL president from 1966 until 1994, a fact that is certain to arise in many sports trivia contests.
This wasn’t my typical research or industry issue column, but sometimes it’s valuable to highlight all the good people in the radio business and names that you may not see in the trades. In this case, I wish a wonderful retirement for Yo Vin and his faithful canine companion, Otis, a native of my current “hometown,” Bowling Green, Kentucky. Vin, I hope you have a long and enjoyable retirement, and someday soon, we’ll catch an AHL game together.
Let’s meet again next week.
