Life is fiction, competition and contradiction

Back in the Spring of 2005, a certain local radio station (which recently changed its format to all-sports) was hosting a contest entitled The Next Big Thing. What it entailed was aspiring radio personalities sending in a demo tape of something resembling a radio show. If the Program Director (Joe O’Brien at the time) felt the demo showed potential, he would allow the radio host(s) to do an actual on-air radio show during the ratings graveyard of 2-4 pm on a Sunday afternoon (in the Summer, no less). Since I didn’t feel ambitious enough to do this on my own, I harassed begged encouraged my good buddy Greg to be my co-host. So on Father’s Day 2005, we were given the opportunity to go on the air! After the two hours was complete, I felt as though I could do another 2-3 hours, I was so amped up! Thankfully, we were given a chance a couple of months later to fill in on the regularly scheduled 4-7 pm Sunday show hosted by Dave Thompson (who is now a Minnesota State Senator). Suffice to say, I had been bitten by the proverbial radio talk show bug.

Thanks to my entering the blogging arena in late 2004, I got to know members of the Northern Alliance Radio Network (mainly Brian Ward, Mitch Berg and Ed Morrissey), who in some variation have been on AM 1280 The Patriot since March 2004. Occasionally I offered gentle reminders that I wasn’t a complete novice in the radio biz and thus would love to fill in on some broadcasts if the opportunity ever arose. It was about 2-1/2 years of badgering before I finally received a chance to be a substitute co-host back in January 2010. Over the next sixteen months, I landed several guest co-host spots to the point where I was making regular appearances every few months. Thankfully I had friends such as Kevin Ecker and Derek Brigham who were willing to be guest co-hosts, despite busy schedules.

All the folks whom I have named in this post have had a role, whether instrumental or minor, in my having an opportunity that I have craved for many, many years: my own talk radio show! I received a brief call last week from Operations Manager Lee Michaels who expressed an interest in my putting together a live, local show. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance and received confirmation yesterday that we are a go!!

The debut of my one-hour program will be Saturday, June 4 at 3:00 pm, immediately after Mitch & Ed’s show! As of right now, I haven't a name for my new program (i.e. "Volume II" and "The Final Word" have been used in previous NARN programs) but I would certainly welcome suggestions. Feel free to leave submissions in my comment section.

Thanks again to everyone for their well wishes and I hope to have you call in to the program (After all, it is about ratings).

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