10 Questions with ... Don London

NAME:Don London TITLE:VP/Entercom - Norfolk, VA STATIONS:WPTE, WWDE, WVKL & WNVZ MARKET:Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News COMPANY:Entercom BORN:Bridgeport, CT - (12/10) RAISED:CT, Long Island, NY, Chesapeake, VA, Birmingham, MI

Please outline your radio career so far:

Air Talent positions at WHNN/Saginaw, MI; WAKY/Louisville, KY; and WQMF/Louisville, KY in the early 80's. Programming posts include WIZM/La Crosse, WI; WZPL/Indianapolis, IN in the mid to late 80's; WWDE/Norfolk, VA; WNVZ/Norfolk, VA; and WVKL/Norfolk, VA for the past 15 years.

1) What Got You Interested In Radio?

I grew up on Long Island, NY listening to WABC/NY, in Chesapeake, VA listening to WGH-A, and in Detroit listening to WXYZ, CLKW/Windsor, WDRQ, WMJC and WRIF/Detroit. When we'd visit my grandparents in San Francisco, I'd listen to KFRC/San Francisco. These were some of the greatest radio stations in America at the time, which served as an incredible early education when I was dreaming of working in radio.

2) How would you describe your first radio gig?

My first radio gig was in college at WCHP/Mt. Pleasant, MI working for free from 9 pm to Midnight, four nights a week on a Top 40 station. I later became the PD there at the age of 19 making $30 per week. It was a campus outlet where I worked for a little spending money, some college credit and some great experience.

3) Who were your early influences?

On the air it was people like Cousin Brucie and Harry Harrison on WABC, Dick Purtain on WXYZ, Scott Miller on CKLW, Jeff & Jer on WDRQ, Rod Prahin on WWWW and WMJC, Arthur Penthollow and Jim Johnson on WRIF and Dr. Don Rose on KFRC.

4) What is your favorite part of the job?

No two days are the same. We have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people in the audience and in the lives of our employees every day.

5) Describe a typical day in your position?

It's a whirlwind of meetings, juggling and completing many tasks at once, and spending time with our people so we reach our goals as quickly as possible and prepare for the next stage of our cluster's dominance.

6) What do you like best about your job?

The best part of my job is the fact that I love what I've chosen to do for a living and that I feel like I get paid to pursue my hobby and passion in radio. I don't see it as "working in radio." My least favorite part is putting out fires that slow me down or slow down our organization's progress.

7) How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?

This is a very competitive market for a metro its size. We have a lot of radio stations here and many stations have what sound like similar formats to the casual ear. We have four stations that could be considered AC, four playing Alternative Rock in one form or another, two Sports stations, two Country stations, and it goes on and on. There are 26 stations in this market above the line that get some ratings in the Arbitron survey. It's a lot for the 41st Metro with a population of about 1.3 million people.

8) What other market or area appeals to you?

I like Miami and Scottsdale for vacationing. New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles are always great to visit. This is the market that appeals to me most at this point in my life.

9) Who do you consider your radio mentors?

Rod Prahin at WMJC was a great on air mentor. I had the pleasure of working for great programmers like Dave Brewer at WHNN, Mike McVay at WAKY, and Tom Owens at WQMF who spent a lot of time putting up with all of my programming questions and talking to me about radio.

10) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now, what you didn't then, would you still do it?

I sure would. This has been a terrific 28 year run so far and I've said a million times, it sure beats working for a living.