10 Questions with ... Eddie Davis

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

After a few years as a radio vagabond working at 1590 WARK in Hagerstown,MD, 1460 WPRW, Manassas, VA, 92.5 KSYN Joplin, MO, 97 WLHQ Dothan, AL, and WZXL Atlantic City, I was lucky enough to get a job at 97.5 WPST Trenton where I did mornings for 9 years. That was followed by a couple of years in mornings at 105.9 WHCN, Hartford and then back to Atlantic City where I have hosted the Lite Rock Morning Show on Lite Rock 96.9 WFPG since 2004. Not bad for a 29-year-old, huh?

1) How would you describe your first radio gig?

I was hired to do nights at 1590 WARK Hagerstown, MD right out of college. The job was a combination of jocking Top 40 music on AM and board op-ing the Baltimore Orioles Baseball network on nights they had games. The pay was $225 a week (ouch!) but I loved the work.

2) What led you to a career in radio?

I went to a live-in military high school (ouch, again!) where we were rarely allowed to watch TV, but the radio was always on. I loved the intimacy of the voice on the radio and the one to one communication. When I got to college, I worked at the campus station and loved it.

3) What makes your station unique? How would you compare it to other stations you've worked at?

Lite Rock is South Jersey's # 1 At-Work Radio Station and we focus on being a station that works at work musically. Long time station PD Gary Guida really sweats the music mix and it shows. Many stations claim to be good work day radio stations. WFPG really is! You'll hear us on in offices, supermarkets, or while at the doctor or dentist anywhere in South Jersey. The morning show sets the table for that workday listening with a smart mix of fun, features, games, local content and music.

4) Are you wearing more "hats" than you have in the past?

My primary focus is still the morning show, but with a significant digital role since WFPG became a Townsquare Media station in 2011. Townsquare Media realized early on the importance of combining a strong local presence on-air and with its digital and social media elements.

5) What are you doing social media-wise?

On-air talent is responsible for 8-10 weekly blogs focusing on local life and news which are posted to our websites and social media. This approach offers so much more to our listeners and the community than the competition, with the idea being that Townsquare Media stations really are the "town square" for news, interests and conversation about the local market.

6) "Local local local" has always been radio's mantra. How do you keep your station visible and involved in the community?

As the morning host, local involvement is crucial to my job. I hold a position that allows me to be a voice for local charities and causes that really make a difference in our community. I serve on the board of directors of Gilda's Club South Jersey, a local cancer support organization, and I am involved in supporting the Humane Society of Ocean City, and The Atlantic City Rescue Mission, and serve as MC at various charity events during the year. Through Lite Rock's Teacher of the Month promotion, I make monthly visits to South Jersey schools promoting excellence in teaching. All of these things are topics of conversation on the Lite Rock Morning Show.

7) What's the coolest promotion you've been involved with recently?

We just finished with our 13th annual Lite Rock's Valentine's for the Troops. We encourage listeners, schools, church groups and organizations to handmake valentine cards and bring them to us along with other supplies. We work with a New Jersey organization that ships them to American soldiers overseas around the world. We had our largest response yet this year.

8) What's the most unbelievable on-air bit you were allowed to do?

Years ago at 97.5 'PST, we did a contest in the radio station parking lot called "What's the most outrageous thing you would do for World Series tickets?" Let's just say things got a little more outrageous (and naked, gross and disgusting) than we anticipated.

9) What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

Three Philadelphia AOR stations in the middle 1970's: 93.3 WMMR, 94 WYSP and Q-102 WIOQ. They don't program them like that anymore.

10) What would you like to do to save radio from its "dying-industry" image?

Radio has been "dying" my entire career... after all, video killed the radio star, right? If you put on a compelling radio product, people will still listen.

For someone vacationing in your market, what one thing would you say they "must see?"

My hometown of Margate, right outside of Atlantic City, is the home to Lucy the Elephant, the world's largest elephant, 6 stories high, and the only one in America designated as a National Historic Landmark.