Carl Blare

Part 15 radio stations inherit plenty from the long history of station staffing.

Part 15 radio stations inherit plenty from the long history of station staffing.

It’s a book length story, but originally there was the lone inventor proving that sound could be transported invisibly by air.

The formation of business models took on a life of its own as retailers, churches, schools, newspapers and orchestras looked into radio as a possible vehicle for distribution.

Many trial and error operations started in the 1920s which opened the door on staffing the radio station.

Commonly, there were management staff, sales departments, musicians who pre-existed before the employment of phonograph records, announcers, and of course…. the most necessary engineers.

Over the course of time efficiency consultants and cost trimming managers began a trend toward staff reduction, which today finds one engineer serving multiple stations, a lone secretary in charge of transmitter readings, commercial scheduling, public relations and mopping.

At the end of this long staffing evolution is the part 15 radio station where the owner is the funder, staff and, in many cases the audience.

This subject came to mind when I started listing all the jobs involved in running a radio station, all the titles we can legitimately claim, and the giant resume we could load with professional experience sub-titles.

The inventor R. Buckminster Fuller came up with one job title that covers “being able to do everything.” He called this by the title — Comprehensivist.