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10 Questions with ... Kenny Weaver
November 25, 2019
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I started in radio in 2014 as a part-time board op, running and producing a play-by-play baseball broadcast on a low-power AM station in Lancaster, PA. After two seasons of that, I was promoted full-time to run Promotions for WLAN, WLAN-A, WRFY and WRAW-A. I picked up overnight and weekend shifts on FM97 and Y102 after begging my PDs to give me a shot. Two years ago, I was offered the opportunity to produce and co-host the morning show on Y102 after bosses started to notice the natural chemistry Andi and I had, as we share an office space all day, every day.
1) How would you describe your first radio gig?
My first radio gig was as a part-time producer and board op for a nightly baseball broadcast for a local independent team in Lancaster. I still worked full-time during the days in retail, so I spent eight hours a day selling and fixing computers and then spent another four hours every night in a dark studio, by myself while listening to a remote voice broadcast. The bad nights were the ones with rain delays and extra innings.
2) What led you to a career in radio?
Harry Kalas. I remember listening to Phillies baseball on the radio as a kid and thinking that that is exactly what I wanted to do when I grow up. As I got older, my love for radio grew and I knew that I wasn't going to stop until I made that my reality.
3) Y102 has consistently topped the ratings, usually with double-digits. How do you folks protect the fort and the heritage?
We do our best to embrace the heritage that we have in our community. We're lucky to be working with a brand that is as well known locally as Y102 is. But it's a balancing act between embracing that heritage and staying fresh and young. We have made a concerted effort to keep a blend of music, from current to '80s. The brand is strong, but we are always working to make sure that the brand stays relevant to a younger listener, too.
4) Is there a typical day for the Andi & Kenny morning show? What makes you two click?
The typical day with Andi and me is mostly goofy. When we get into the studio, we're laughing and joking with each other right away. Show prep tends to be pretty easy; we tell each other everything that happened the night before, everything that made us laugh. And we go on-air with the stuff that we laugh the most at. Andi will typically handle the social media, while I handle the producing and audio.
5) How important is social media to your success and can you pinpoint one thing that always makes some noise in that lane?
Social media is huge for us and we've come to realize how much and how fast it changes. What might have gotten traction for us one month, suddenly isn't this month. For a while, Facebook Live was the hot thing. Then it was "Post a GIF." It's just a process of moving things from one thing to the next and staying ahead of the curve for our listeners. If I had to go with the "thing" that tends to do best on a consistent basis, we always find our listeners enjoy sticking with one side or the other if Andi and I are in a debate. A #TeamAndi or #TeamKenny kind of thing. They love when we rip on each other.
6) You're also doing promotions. How many stations across the cluster are you involved with, and how do you keep it all together?
I run promotions for four statiosn across the market (which is shared between Reading and Lancaster). Two are clearly busier than the other, FM97 and Y102. My two Spanish stations aren't as busy, but we're working on ideas to grow them promotionally as they are beginning to pick up some ratings.
7) "Local, local, local" has always been radio's mantra. How do you keep your station visible and involved in the community?
Oh, wow, we do a whole pile of community-minded things to make sure that the community knows we are here and a part of their experience. We actually just wrapped a Radiothon to support a local organization dedicated to supporting families dealing with pediatric cancer and raised over $55,000. Andi and I were live for 13 hours two days in a row and were blown away by the connection we felt to our community. But that's just the most recent; between a weekly animal adoption feature, to food drives, to toy drives, to supporting Pride, we're constantly doing work for our community.
8) If you could pick one "dream" guest to sit in on the show with you and Andi, who would it be?
That depends on the bit. I make fun of Andi a lot for loving Sugar Ray (she doesn't), so Marc McGrath for the sake of our listeners? If it was up to me, I'm a super radio dork, so Broadway Bill Lee would be cool. If we're doing straight interview style stuff, there are so many folks who I would love to ask questions to. I feel like Patton Oswald would be a fascinating person to talk to. Or Chris Pratt.
9) Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?
The person who has had to biggest influence on my career is Derrick Cole. He hired me for that first gig; he was influential on my full-time promotion. He airchecks me; he pushes me out of my comfort zone. When I first started picking up overnight airshifts on FM97, he encouraged me to do some tracked and some live so that I could start to get a feel for both. And even now, as he's been promoted and is out of my local region, he still texts me with encouraging words, little bits of advice and random GIFs of Adele to make me laugh.
10) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
Quality content wins. I always try to remember that, with anything I put together. Whether it's a promotion, a community event or an on-air bit. At the end of the day, quality content is going to win out against anything else. Always try to position anything that comes out of your mouth with the "Is anyone going to care?" filter.
Bonus Questions
If someone were visiting Reading for the first time, what would you make sure that they saw before leaving town?
Reading is a cool city and there are a few things that we are known for. The Pagoda is the big thing. Right on the top of the mountain, you can see it when you're driving into the city, bright and bold above everything else. But, for me, food always wins. Because I'm a fat guy. So, I would say you need to eat some of the awesome food around us. From PA Dutch food (if you're into butter and salt), a restaurant in an old castle, we have some awesome food in Berks County.
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