Monday Memo: Do You Still Have the Dream?
By Holland Cooke
Consultant
Fellow longtime, long-ago DJs: You know what I’m talking about. And it’s a life sentence, eh?
Like The Manchurian Candidate…or Jason Bourne…we share a recurring nightmare. But in our case, the dread is fear of dead air.
You’re on-air, alone in the building, late at night, as studio equipment starts failing, one device at a time. Then the phone.
Computers? I was of the vinyl and tape era, but if you jocked later on, that early Scott Studios screen locks-up. As does the other computer. So, you can’t just…read things.
The only thing that works is the microphone. And as you vamp, desperately…the reverb seems to be getting deeper…
It could be worse. You’re not on TV.
As one of our colleagues recommended here a couple weeks ago: “Prep like the phone is broken.”
Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of “Spot-On: Commercial Copy Points That Earned The Benjamins,” a FREE download; and the E-book and FREE on-air radio features “Inflation Hacks: Save Those Benjamins;” and Multiply Your Podcast Subscribers, Without Buying Clicks,” available from Talkers books. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke