Last week, I wrote about my ongoing battle with Siactca
As I said, my GP finally sent me to a pain management Doctor who couldn’t recommend any treatment until I got an MRI
So, armed with his referral, I made an appointment at a nearby Hospital.
All was well, or so I thought, until the day before my appointment, the bureaucracy began when they called to cancel my appointment because they needed an ‘Oth.’
“An Oth,” I said, “What the hell is that?” She explained that my doctor had to sign off on the procedure before they could proceed.
“That I understand, I said, but I don’t understand the word you’re using to describe it.
She laughed and said, “Oh, I’m sorry, ‘Oth” is short for authorization.” “Ahh, of course,” I said, “Medical Jargon.”
As I got off the phone, I realized that every profession must have its own jargon, including Radio so I’ve listed some of ours below
GM, GSM SM, PD, MD, Ops Mgr. IT Guy, Board Op, Promos, Music Sweeps, Clusters, Tower, Transmitter, Carts, Cart Machines, Q tips, Log, Format, Traffic, Prize Pigs, Playlist, Currents, Powers, Re-currants, Power Oldies, Weekend shifts, Countdown, Breakfast, Middays, Drive Home, Nights, Overnights, A Shitload, 60s, 30s, Splicing Block, 15, 71/2, Reverb, Mic, Copy, Balls, Compression, Splicing Tape, EQ, Qued, Cart Tones, Record Burn, Burnt, Street Rips, Blowing Out the Phones, Cans, Boards, The Book, Ratings, Rating, TSL, Cume, AQH, Day-Parts, Recycling, More Highs, Separation, Record Ducks, Talking up the post, Mic Pop, Slip Que, Charts, #1 With a Bullet, Stiff, Double Daggers, Cans, The War Chest, Appointment Tune In, PPM Device, Pay Olla, ARB, Neilson, CDs, Surveys, Qued, Fast Forward, Rewind, VU Meter, Jox, Surge Hours, 10-in a row, Sweepers, Liners, IDs, ,Dead Air, Twin Spins, Triple Play, 50 Thousand Watt Blowtorch, Diary Keeper, Stunting, Commercial Free, Sample Size, Hot Line, Warm Line, Psychographics, Call Out, Non-Spot Revenue, Hot Zips, Remotes, Marketers, Researchers, Appearances, Demos, 12+, 6+,, 18+, The Money Demo, Music Marathons, Spoken Word, #1, Talk Show, AC, Top 40, Screamers, Image, Lighting Up The Phones, M-O-R, CHR, AOR, Hit-Line, AM Stereo, Cold Calling, Production Music, Stingers, Wild Trax, Rating Parties, Music Systems, Day-Timer, Hitting The Post, Trade, Audio, Show Prep, Block Programming, Elevator Music RPM, etc., etc. What else ya got? 
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS
Why does the noise in our heads prolong our stress but not our joy?
Who decided that women not of our blood deserve half of everything we have?
How you used to do it and how you should do it now is a subject worth thinking about.
Only you can determine your worth.
Why do our laws seem to protect the bad more than the not-so-bad?
It’s gotta be so cool to be a young tech guy in the computer world. I liken it to attending my first Dee Jay meeting, where I told my boss that what he was proposing would never work because my friends and I don’t like that shit. No, I didn’t get thrown out of the meeting. Perhaps my boss was smart enough to know that the young are always on to something.
Speaking of the young, maybe we should turn a few radio signals over to some kids and see what they come up with.
To get something you want but don’t have, you usually have to give up something you do have.
Why do folks enjoy arguing more than talking?
When I walk away, I don’t do it to hurt someone but to save myself from being hurt.
Radio didn’t create specialism; banks did. Their bad!
Geo: Wow, Ivan, you were all over this as I wrote it. I hear you, though; it’s tough to be optimistic about much nowadays.
Geo: I love all the ornaments women come with, Wendy, but nobody died in a knife fight over “cleavage.” 🙂
Geo: You’re right, Jed; that promotion inspired Jim to do our version of “The Great Race ” at WIBC in Indy and KVIL in Dallas.
For a peek at upcoming Blogs or to see some you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.
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Steve Eberhart: “..why not turn over some radio signals to kids?” Interesting question because “back in the day” when radio was great, weren’t we all just kids running these multi-million-dollar properties?
Look at stations today, there aren’t many 19 or even 25-year-old air talent out there, much less 25-year-old program directors with fresh from the street ideas that lead to greatness. There are a lot of 55+ program directors and managers that really don’t have ANY fresh new ideas other than reducing costs to temporarily make the bottom line look better to the board of directors. (Jargon)
Geo: You’re so right, Steve, when I was 30, Ted Rogers turned his Toronto radio station over to me so I could put a new format on the air that had never been heard before. One of us had to have been crazy.
Jerry Kiefer: How’d you forget prize closet? You did get all the rest…. (Jargon)
Geo: Had to leave a little something for ya, Jerry.
Doug Thompson: George, what about lay-overs and ‘puker’, aka ‘Ronnie Radio’? “Walking the post? You’ve got splicing block and splicing tape, but I didn’t see one sided razor blade. Course that may have meant something different once the FM stoners came along.
Geo: I knew there’d be more Dougie.
Jack Schell: Yo!, George! I forgive you for not including one of the major radio jargons, DJ. S’ok. Y’know? Jack (Jargon)
Geo: Had to leave a little something for ya, Jack otherwise I’d never hear from ya Y’know. 🙂
And PSA?
Little Jim: Wow, Uncle Geo! After all these years of thinking you and the ol’ man came up with the great race only to find out from Jed Duval that you guys “appropriated” the promotion from one of Hugh Hellers stations! OMG! What next? Was The Magic Ticket, or the Last Contest “appropriated?” How about “taking out the garbage?” My world has been crushed! LOL (Jargon)
Unc Geo: Our race was kinda on steroids though Jim because we raced around the world rather than over a bridge. The Sugar Daddy was appropriated from the Last Contest but the Magic Ticket and the march to the garbage can were original.
“ Speaking of the young, maybe we should turn a few radio signals over to some kids and see what they come up with.”
Somewhere in the late 90s, after the Evergreen/Chancellor merger but prior to the Clear Channel/Chancellor merger, there was a long interview with Jim DeCastro who was then running Chancellor after Scott Ginsberg’s sudden departure. It was in R&R iirc and attempted to justify the ability to own 5 properties on a band.
In essence, his argument for owning 5 signals was so the Companies could take more risk experimenting and programming one of the signals towards an underserved portion of the audience that did not have to be a winner.
I could only laugh when reading the article and said to myself “is anyone really buying into this?” Yes, that’s what investors and Wall Street really wants to hear as it’s so good for stock prices! The FCC ate it up though.
And in retrospect, it’s hard not to argue that the biggest risks were taken by Companies when their back was to the wall with 1 signal they had to invest in to get it right because there was no other option.
Look at Evergreen with WLUP, KKBT and even later with WKTU in New York. 1 signal. It was all in. No option but to make it work, yet these were not head on attacks, but finding an opening that wasn’t being served. And serving them. (Jargon)
Geo: As I discovered years ago, Randy, rich guys only part with their money when they’re desperate. Back in the day of one AM and one FM, they thought if they weren’t #1 they’d lose money, so they’d turn their stations over to Mavericks.