10 Questions with ... Chad Baker

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I joined the college radio station at Eastern Illinois University while working on my Psychology degree in 1998. A year later, I would be hired to do weekends at WCBH/Effingham, IL. After two part-time stints in that market, was hired in 2005 to be the Sports Director for Cromwell Radio's Effingham market, where over an 8 year stint I helped expand the coverage of the sports department and eventually helped in launching their ESPN affiliate. A regime shift left me on the beach for a few weeks and I landed with WMIX/Mt. Vernon, IL, where I spent four years, primarily as a news director and host of their weekend local news and events program. From there, my family relocated to Danville, Illinois in 2017, first as morning show host and account executive for WITY before moving across town to Neuhoff, taking over middays at D102 along with music director and social media manager duties among other tasks. I am also a member of Neuhoff's inaugural Fast Forward Leadership Program.

1. How would you describe your first radio gig?

It was pure radio nostalgia, whether we are talking about the college gig where we had stacks of discs, tapes, albums, and/or mini discs and created the music log as we went along or my first commercial run where I learned very quickly that the studio magic that Hollywood puts on for you is the same illusion that they use for fledgling movie stars. The studios were outdated, poorly maintained, coffee stains everywhere, walls were stained yellow from years of smokers coming in and out, and equipment that was all on its last leg...they definitely tested the skills of the engineers at that time. But, I loved it. I never wanted to leave. There is a mystique to being able to learn and work in a place like that that I will always appreciate.

2. What led you to a career in radio?

I have always had the ambition to do something with music and/or sports, and I was never good at playing either. I enjoyed engaging with others regarding

these topics and I saw an opportunity to be creative, to be a voice in the communities I served, and to be honest, I was bored with the radio product in the area I lived in, and felt that maybe I could offer an approach that nobody else was doing. After spending several years as a substance abuse counselor and working only part-time in radio, I decided to just take the dive and enjoy what I do on a daily basis, and my motivations that led me here are just as strong as when I started.

3. Are you wearing more "hats" than you have in the past?

I would say about the same. Just fancier hats now. I always have come in with the expectation of the roles that were given to me and do those to the best of my ability, but I also tend to try to find something that is not being done and try to do more. In Effingham, that was growing our local and regional sports presence and adding at that time a stronger net presence through social media, podcasts, and website at a time when many of our small market competitors had a minimal presence. In Mt. Vernon, it was taking a 15 minute interview that was done merely for public file purposes and turning it into a weekly half-hour local interview program highlighting the news and events of the region and creating a locally produced sports talk show for our sister station that oriented toward the scores and progress of the teams during the week rather than cliché-filled coaches interviews. Now, I'm in a situation where I came into a staff that was working ahead of the curve, so it's just seeing what I can do beyond my title to give us that little extra "wow factor" that maybe you wouldn't expect from a small market. But, whether it is the tasks that I have on a daily basis, or stepping in to board op a game, stepping into the newsroom to for a newscast, or changing the water cooler, I stay busy.

4. What role does social media play in how you interact with your listeners?

The bulk of our listeners follow what we do on Facebook. It's an easy route for them to catch up on what they might have missed out on during their day if they weren't tuning in. I'm working on doing better at this in the New Year, as it takes a bit more of a narrowed focus than what I am used to having with my personal page, where I typically get into meme wars and complain about the sports teams I follow.

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

I was fortunate to come into a station that is engrained very well into the community. The first station of our cluster has been here since 1938 and was the station that actors Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman worked for during their younger years. It is a town with a lot of pride, even in the face of rough economic times. But, the relationship the station has with the community and is reciprocated by the community back to the station through events such as our Easter Egg Hunt, our Sports Media Camp for kids, an event known as the Duck Out, where we rent out the local arena and have a vendor fair at the end of the work day for area women to come and enjoy, and saluting our Vermilion County Heroes with a breakfast and award ceremony are just a few examples of that relationship.

6. What is your favorite part of the job?

Really, it's been the flexibility. Certainly, there are time sensitive components I have to be in house for, such as my shifts, meetings, client recordings, etc. There are days I come in right before my shift, days I am able to leave early, and really this is where the industry is going. I can go out and immerse myself with activities in the community such as acquiring photos for our social media page or even working from home. It has helped this past year while I fought back from my cancer diagnosis and I was still able to perform my job without missing too much time.

7. Who would be a "dream guest" to have on your show?

I would love to have a full length chat with Matthew McConaughey regarding some of the roles he has played. It likely wouldn't be anything new for him, but he has always seemed like he would be a good interview to have.

8. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid? Favorite jock(s)?

When I was very young, we could still pick up WLS in downstate Illinois on even the worst radios. So, I had that as the example early on of what a "radio personality" was from Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards, and John Landecker. Later on in high school and college, WPFR and WZZQ out of the Terre Haute, IN market and 105.7 The Point in St. Louis is what I gravitated to. I was enjoying John and Deb in the morning on WZZQ when all of my friends were going crazy over Bob & Tom. In regards to sports, I always enjoyed the calls of Keith Jackson, Charlie Jones, Jack Buck, and Dick Enberg, and tried to emulate them the best I could.

9. Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?

Early on, I didn't feel I had much guidance, and just found various styles of other jocks I had heard down through time and just added it to my repertoire. I came in towards the end of the old guard where many of the folks I worked with didn't want to show you much of what they knew for fear it would make them expendable. Also, a lot of the early crews I worked with had quite a bit of turnover. I would say the two most instrumental in getting me to where I am now is Chris Russell, who I worked with in 2012-2013 at Cromwell, who is now in New York at WGWE, and Chris Hugo, who hired me at Withers and is still there in a much larger capacity now. Both those guys not only were great sounding boards for what I did during that time, but also gave me a long leash to be creative, which I didn't feel I had early in my career.

10. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

Change and adaptation are inevitable in order to remain. That is true of radio, of those who champion its continued existence, and those who work in the industry. It is unreasonable for me to come into 2020 with the same ideologies and perspectives that I had in 1998 when I started this path, or even as recent as the end of 2018, when I joined Neuhoff. Every station has individuals that make up distinct views of what the station or industry could be, and part of the fun of it is also some of the hardest work, which is changing your own perspective and adapting something that someone else brings to the table in your own outlook in order to create something new and prosper as a staff. I've worked with many more productive people than unproductive, both from a programming and sales standpoint, many that I really wish I could work with again, but none of that would've been possible with being steadfast in my own views of what the radio experience should be.

What is the first concert that you ever attended...best concert?

First concert was Journey and Bryan Adams at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, IN April 9, 1983. I was 5 at the time and we missed most of Bryan's set because we didn't take into account the time change from Central to Eastern. Best concert, believe it or not was Kid Rock. I had second row seats to a show in Bloomington, Illinois during the Rock N' Roll Jesus tour and his performance was worth twice my ticket price. It really pains me to say that because I have been to Bonnaroo, Farm Aid, and a few of the traveling festivals, but this show from beginning to end exceeded my expectations.