The Death of Personality

By Frank Absher

With apologies to singer Lloyd Price (who is still very much alive, thank you), walk, talk, smile, charm, and love may not be enough if you want to be a successful radio personality. I’ve heard too many people on the air who simply don’t have a personality – at all.

It may be hard to believe now, but back before the days of formula radio and liner cards, having a strong (and genuine) personality on the air was considered an asset.

Let’s look at talk radio. Today we have program directors who are responsible for major market stations and syndicated shows telling their so-called “talent” that truth isn’t as important as edginess. Chew on that for a minute. They’re saying it’s more important to provoke the audience with lies and purposeful deceit than it is to be truthful. Next thing you know, news departments will be told to blatantly lie if it’ll get bigger ratings…

Nah! That will never happen.

What should a talk host do, sell out or hold onto scruples? Listen to the radio today and you’ll have the answer. These folks think they’re performing a service by fomenting hatred through lies. In a way I guess they are. They’re bringing their bosses cheap ratings, and ethics and truth don’t matter. As an added bonus, you don’t need a personality in order to be able to shout untruths and belittle people.

For years I’ve bemoaned the fact that a station that previously was known for strong personalities, an award-winning news staff, and unbelievably high ratings employed a talk host who has no personality. The PD tried to loosen him up, but the guy still sounds like the top button on his shirt is too tight and his underwear is a size too small.

Listening to him is painful. The guy has no strong sense of direction. He focuses on himself instead of his guests. His favorite word is “I.” His self-confidence has always been low. The station’s ratings drop as soon as his show comes on and rise when he signs off. It hurts to listen to him.

What could the station do with a real personality in that shot? Ratings would be much higher, but so would payroll costs. Hmmm.

So you don’t need personality to get a job in radio today.

I remember my disgust years ago when I read Bartell national PD George Wilson’s reference to his announcers as “pieces of meat.” Now I realize he was just ahead of his time.

Recently on a long drive I saw a couple billboards seeking to entice unsuspecting kids to fork over thousands of dollars to one of those tech schools that purports to prepare you to be a broadcaster. The message was something along the lines of “Don’t just be a person. Be a personality.”

That would be fine, except for two things. Nowadays being a personality doesn’t mean you’ll get a job. In fact, it might work against you.

And you can’t teach someone to be a personality who doesn’t have one in the first place.

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