VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

Who does the hiring/casting of a station's imaging voice? Is it the P D? is it the head of production? or is it the suits at the top of the corp?

-Anthony

Chuck Davis · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:42 am Post subject:

Typically it's the PD and Creative Director that will pick.

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

thanks, chuck.

kgenus · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 11:09 am Post subject:

Unless it's the case of synidcation, in which case the answer is just, "Yes"

Maybe it's just me, but I am hearing a new trend which c/losely follows networks, multiple voices, a station voice, a program/show voice....
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Jim Barton · Guest

Something I've always thought was downright weird... 10-15 years ago, networks had exclusive voices, just like local stations. With the advent of ISDN, first the O&O's, then the major markets, then the medium markets, all fired their station announcers and brought on hired guns (ISDN guys who offered a favorable rate with the promise of market exclusivity.)

But still, the networks had exclusive promotion voices. Then those exclusive network guys began working with multiple networks. A perfect example is Joe Cipriano. To my ears, he was the Voice Of Fox. Then all of a sudden, he became one of the main voices of CBS. But whenever I hear his voice, I hear "...The Simpsons!"

Don La Fontaine is in a category all his own. He's not only the king of trailers, he does promos for all the networks now.

What's your opinion of this phenomenon? Is it no longer important to be able to identify a broadcast voice with a broadcast entity?

Jim

Philip Banks · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:41 pm Post subject:

It is important to have the right voice, a good voice, but exclusivity costs and the voice of the network brings nothing to the brand that can be measured in $ terms so why waste dollars for meaningless exclusivity?

A company approached me a few months ago and asked about an exclusive. I said it would be prohibitively expensive, they laughed. I gave them the ball park six figure estimate and they stopped laughing.

billelder · Guest

In my case it's the Program Director. However, I get my liners from the Assistant Prog. Dir. most times. Now, my friend Joel is a staff announcer for NBC. He does outside narrations but is not on any other network.

A hysterical thing happened when I put the letters for P.D. on this board. You get this: Hobo Laughing

How appropriate. <g>

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

that's funny, bill, because that's why I seperated it in my post... but somehow Chuck pulled it off and I don't know how.

NEway - Banksey makes alot of sense in terms of cost for exclusivity. I'm approaching a local station because they are relatively new (format-wise) and they have gone through 2 voices since the new format - and the new voice is obviously American when he speaks Spanish so I'm trying to pitch my bilingualism (is that a word?). They, just like Mr. Genus mentioned, are also using other voices - but they are native Spanish to supplement for certain promos and wording. Although I know a sales rep there, he hasn't done much in terms of pulling for me so I'm going at it myself.

-Anthony

COURVO · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: TV?

Anthony,

Your question just says "station". Do you mean radio or TV?

If TV, I'd say the lion's share of decision-makers for daily news promotions announcements are the Dept. Heads of the promotions/commercial production departments. Sometimes it's a news director, and even a station General Manager who has a lot of say in the final decision of who the station's "voice" should be.

Dave C.
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Drew · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject:

Actually, Dave it's all of these guys: Hobo Laughing

. We all meet and decide by committee. That's modern broadcasting. We meet, kiss a little ass, kiss some more ass, have more discussion, then I usually pull a Joan Crawford and tell everyone we really need to sh*t or get off the pot.

Might explain why I'm on my seventh or eighth news director job Ninja

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COURVO · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Drew....good to know the same mind-numbing meetings occur across the broadcast spectrum...'always assumed what went on around the conference table was of CIA-Level security status. WMD's in the newsroom!

Dave C.
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on your phone at courvo.mobi
702.610.6288
"I'm not a news anchor, but I play one on TV."

donrandall · Guest

I have been the PD at a few radio stations in my time - in one case, I just went ahead and did what I wanted to do - and on those occasions where the GM called me in to his office and asked for an explanation, I just explained the features and benefits and if that didn't do it, I told him that the guys at corporate told me to do it. At another station, I couldn't get anything done until it was discussed at a management meeting and a decision came from it. Not much gets done when ya have to have a meeting to discuss whether another meeting would be necessary to discuss the issue. Hey - let's vote on it and decide whether to have a meeting to decide a date for another meeting at which we will discuss the merits of having a meeting to discuss the idea.

Once the real meeting took place, upon hearing the suggestion, the owner and his GM were quite predictable, and would offer one of two canned responses: 1) Oh, but we've ALWAYS done it THIS way. 2) Oh, but we've NEVER done it THAT way.

Doc · Guest

The day of the program director is long gone, which is why I hung up that hat 18 years ago. Meetings and committees are, for the most part, excuses for nobody to have to accept responsibility. During my programming days, when I was offered the position, I used to say, let me do the job you hired me to do and are paying me to do and stay out of the way. If it doesn't bring you results, can me and find another. I could boast several successes, but, that's not why I write this post.

By and large, program directors are merely figureheads. And, it's too bad because there's plenty of programming talent out there.

Back then, it worked. Never would today.