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Jeff Romard

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Sep 4, 2006
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Sydney, Nova Scotia
So who else is in radio? tell us about yourself

I have been working for 10 years in the Sydney NS market. I do mornings at CJCB 1270 AM and I do a VT/produced request show weekdays and VT weekend mornings at 98.3 Max FM. I fill in on 94.9 The Wave from time to time. I just did my first out of market VT shift yesterday at CFBC in St John NB. Likely just a fill in for vacations
 
Started at rock station WZZO-FM in Bethlehem, PA in 1981...
running around in a 6-foot chicken suit.
https://951zzo.iheart.com/
Learned to run the board and did weekend overnights,
until the commercial copywriter moved into sales, and I took over.
I was their Production Director for 33 years, as the station was sold to a corporate media company.
We changed companies and changed names many times,
until we were part of a four station cluster (f*ck) under Clear Channel.
My "position was eliminated" at the end of 2014.

Worked part time at the classic rock station in town WODE-FM until 2016.
Assistant production Director and weekend on air.
https://www.999thehawk.com/

Finally found another Production job in Reading PA, at the locally owned (non corporate)
AM News Talk station WEEU-AM. (we have live, LOCAL talk and news 6am to 9pm)
https://830weeu.com/
Been here ever since, and have also ventured into occasional on air stints,
filling in for some of our hosts.
 
Started at rock station WZZO-FM in Bethlehem, PA in 1981...
running around in a 6-foot chicken suit.
https://951zzo.iheart.com/
Learned to run the board and did weekend overnights,

My first day board oping was for a remote. They forgot to tell me it was two remotes at the same time sales messed up and sold them both. It was a bit of trial by fire LOL

Here's a pic of the board I was operating..Not me in the pic

1594907895095.png
 
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Geesh...
only two of us (still) work in radio.
Or, maybe only two of us will actually admit that we do?

That is a sad example of how bad the industry is these days.
 
Geesh...
only two of us (still) work in radio.
Or, maybe only two of us will actually admit that we do?

That is a sad example of how bad the industry is these days.
It might/could have been 3 had I not been blessed with some erudite, sage, unselfish and, as it turned out, great advice in the early 90's when I was seriously considering a career change to on-air terrestrial radio broadcasting. On the advice of a friend already in radio, I met with PDs from 2 of New Orleans' big stations, at the time one Top 40 & the other Classic Rock.

These trusted allies of my true friends were willing to share information that an outsider would have no ability to learn or predict. In one of the meetings, the PD called in her station's Personnel manager to share her experience & advice.

After these meetings, I was disappointed and dejected with the developing reality that I was made aware of by these generous individuals. My decision to not change careers was heavily influenced by the advice and information that was truly prophetic and, no doubt, beneficial.

My life would be substantially different had I not been so blessed.

Our creator places us where we need to be, not always where we desire to be so that in the end, we will have been in the better/best place for the journey.
 
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Our creator places us where we need to be, not always where we desire to be so that in the end, we will have been in the better/best place for the journey.

I felt that way when I got my big break.
I was literally at the right place at the right time.
But I should have known better, when my big break was in the form of a 6-foot chicken.

Problem in my case is (was)...
the radio business was pretty much infallible right thru the 2008 dip in the economy.
By the time I saw where it was headed,
I had been doing it for more than 20 years, and was not "trained" to do anything else.
Don't get me wrong, the journey has been WONDERFUL...
and I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

You are very lucky you got that advice.
 
Geesh...
only two of us (still) work in radio.
Or, maybe only two of us will actually admit that we do?

That is a sad example of how bad the industry is these days.
It might/could have been 3 had I not been blessed with some erudite, sage, unselfish and, as it turned out, great advice in the early 90's when I was seriously considering a career change to on-air terrestrial radio broadcasting. On the advice of a friend already in radio, I met with PDs from 2 of New Orleans' big stations, at the time one Top 40 & the other Classic Rock.

These trusted allies of my true friends were willing to share information that an outsider would have no ability to learn or predict. In one of the meeting, the PD called in her station's Personnel manager to share her experience & advice.

After these meetings, I was disappointed and dejected with the developing reality that I was made aware of by these generous individuals. My decision to not change careers was heavily influenced by the advice and information that was truly prophetic and, no doubt, beneficial.

My life would be substantially different had I not been so blessed.

Our creator places us where we need to be, not always where we desire to be so that in the end, we will have been in the better/best place for the journey.
I also considered terrestrial radio and like Rocky, I had friends in key places (some still are) that helped me see what was on that other side. I was also thankful for that insight.
 
WFHN/Fun 107 - New Bedford/Fall River MA, 1993-2000. Production Director & Afternoon Drive
WWKX/Kix 106 - Woonsocket/Providence RI - 1996-1997. Weekends.

(20 year vacation... then...)

WCTK/Cat Country 98.1, Providence RI. 2020- Part-Time Production and Weekends. Crossing fingers for a full-time offer in the fall.
 
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WFHN/Fun 107 - New Bedford/Fall River MA, 1993-2000. Production Director & Afternoon Drive

(20 year vacation... then...)

WCTK/Cat Country 98.1, Providence RI. 2020- Part-Time Production and Weekends. Crossing fingers for a full-time offer in the fall.
I used to go to New Bedford and Fall River fairly often back in the 90s .. Acushnet and Lightolier were 2 customers of mine near there.
 
I also considered terrestrial radio and like Rocky, I had friends in key places (some still are) that helped me see what was on that other side. I was also thankful for that insight.

I got that same advice and still steamed forward. I was hoping for a couple of years it's a decade now. There's been layoffs along the way I so far have made the cut.

The best advice I got was have fun with it while you're there it wont last forever
 
WCTK/Cat Country 98.1, Providence RI. 2020- Part-Time Production and Weekends. Crossing fingers for a full-time offer in the fall.

We have a "Cat County" in my town, except they are WCTO.
(Is yours a Cumulus station?)

Also, don't be surprised if your "full time offer" looks more like a "part time" one.
(in other words, don't expect it to be a livings wage)
 
We have a "Cat County" in my town, except they are WCTO.
(Is yours a Cumulus station?)

We're owned by Hall Communications, a small family-run company. 25 stations in the group. https://www.hallradio.com/ .

Also, don't be surprised if your "full time offer" looks more like a "part time" one.
(in other words, don't expect it to be a livings wage)

Oh, I'm fully aware of that. Even the part-time work I'm doing for them is mostly for fun (I get paid hourly, but it's not far off from what I could be making if I was working at Target). The reason I'd love to get the full-time offer is mostly to give me something to do all day. Weddings aren't coming back big anytime soon, I doubt I'll be doing a single holiday party this year, and I really need to keep myself busy.

When I left radio back in 2000, I was working 45 hours a week for a station that just got bought by Citadel and was making a whopping $18,000/yr. So much for fame and fortune...
 
I did college radio for 4 years, the last year as station manager. I actually started on the air doing a top40/rock show while I blasted disco music in the booth. The last year I built the group up to 15 people thru my use of wine & cheese after our weekly meetings. People would walk by see the spread, ask what the hell is going on and signup. We had a lot of fun, I got a office, a place to store my DJ equipment and access to a huge library of music.

A year or so later one of my mixtapes end up in the hands of the head of the advertising department of a NYC radio station WBLS. They were in the 1# slot and wanted to continue to expand their market out into the suburbs. So I get a call to put together 1 hr mix program for Saturday night. I had to run out rent a 1/2 track reel to reel do a program and get it to the station ASAP. They loved it because of crazy mix of all types music geared to both the city & suburban market. I ended up doing 2hr mix programs with some big name DJs. Eventually that was changed to 30 mins supersets played during the daytime. The one perk was the station’s parties at many of big clubs in NYC, most featured lots of artists, some would become huge. The other was the Ability to go to most of the major labels in NYC and directly pick up records. All fun for a time then like everything thing change, they started giving us playlist and other crap. How can you play cutting edge new music from a company playlist? I never planned on a career in radio but when the crap started if I did that would have changed my mind. Anyway I was a Aerospace configurations engineers and they started me flying to the west coast. That job I loved, CA was nice, loved visiting but never wanted to move there.5DD8B9B1-7CB3-495B-9749-4F08EDD74C4F.jpeg531B257E-B312-446C-A8AD-EC897C1C000A.jpeg
 
Look at young Kevin ... :)
 
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I wish I had taken more pics of upstairs when we were there it was very old. It was like taking a trip back in to the 60s when you went up there. You could actually still smell the smoke in the newsroom on damp days. Our new studios are top notch on the main floor of the building
 
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