The HEA Cafe

If you’re writing about radio, it’s hard to skip these folks.  And why would you want to?  They’re the face of the radio station.  Listeners may refer to them as DJs, but in my experience, within the station they’re always referred to as “jocks.”

Here are the typical air shifts, and some of my (subjective) personal observations about the types of people who inhabit them:

The morning jock:  This is the high-profile air shift, the one that people are listening to when they drive to work (usually 5 to 9 or 6 to 10 AM).  Likely to be funny; also likely to have the biggest ego at the station.  And don’t get me wrong, the jocks ALL have egos, and some wear theirs more nicely than others.  The morning show person may be an arrogant so-and-so or a glad-handing charmer.  Either way, he/she probably gets paid the most, often has lighter off-air duties, and may be resented by the other staffers who wish they were in his/her shoes.  BUT – the morning shift is also the hot seat.  Management looks to the morning show to bring in the listeners and keep ‘em listening … so this person is under a lot of pressure to perform.  Unless they’ve been doing it for years and years, in which case they’re so well entrenched in the listeners’ minds that they’re well-nigh indestructible.  Oh, and if there’s a morning show team, chances are, they squabble — how happy would you be to see ANYONE at 5 AM?!  Plus, there’s the duel of egos … usually one of them is the dominant on-air personality, while the other is the “straight man.”

The midday jock:  On the air from about 10 AM to 2 PM.  This is generally treated as the listen-at-work shift, if the station’s music format is office-friendly at all.  The midday person is often female, and in my experience, usually pretty easygoing.  (Not that you can’t turn her into a scheming, clawing ambitious witch if you have a mind to….)

Afternoon drive:  From 2 or 3 PM to 6 or 7 PM.  Listeners are getting back in their cars, so more personality is called for again – this person often offers a lot of entertaining or newsy tidbits on the air, often bantering with the person who calls in with the traffic reports.  This is a hoppin’ shift, and usually calls for an energetic personality.

The night jock:  On the air from about 7 PM to midnight (notice how the air shift just got an hour longer?), this person often handles requests and dedications.  A lot of their callers are going to be teens or pre-teens.  If the jock is young enough, they may thrive on this audience, but most of them would probably prefer one of the previous shifts.

The overnight jock:  VERY few people thrive in this spot, from midnight to 5 or 6 AM.  (That’s right, some overnight jocks have a 6-hour shift, while most daytime shifts are 4 hours.)  It’s usually the starting rung on the ladder, so you can learn from your mistakes while fewer people are listening.  The overnight jock may be rarely seen by the rest of the staffers … or, like my heroine Christie in LOVE ON THE AIR, they may be working very hard to be as involved as they can and learn how to advance to the next level.

So, if these jocks are working 4 to 6 hour air shifts, sounds like a pretty cushy gig, doesn’t it?  But a lot of energy gets expended talking to people, and by that fifth hour, fatigue really sets in.  (Plus, by that time, some of the songs you played the first hour are probably starting to repeat….)  And, in most cases, a disc jockey’s work isn’t over when they get off the air, unless they did their other duties before they went on the air.  We’ll talk about those tomorrow!

Sierra Donovan
LOVE ON THE AIR, Avalon Books
www.sierradonovan.com

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