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10 Questions with ... Eric Meier
May 16, 2006
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NAME:Eric MeierTITLE:PDSTATIONS:98.7 WLZWMARKET:Utica/Rome, NYCOMPANY:Regent CommunicationsBORN:Benton Harbor, MIRAISED:Benton Harbor, MI
Please outline your radio career so far:
2005- PD WCNF-WCSY/Benton Harbor, MI
1999-2000 APD/MD - WRBR/South Bend, IN
2000-2003 MD - WJEZ-WTRX/ Pontiac, IL
2004-2005 PD/MD - WLZW/Utica, NYSome great part-time stops along the way too: WTCF/Saginaw
WGER/Saginaw
WVTI/Grand Rapids
WNDV/South Bend
WCFX/Mt. Pleasant, MI
WHFB/Benton Harbor, MI1) What was your first job in radio?
My hometown station, WSJM/WIRX had a big marquee-style sign along a main road. I got $5 a pop to go 3 days a week after school and change the message on their sign.
After a lot of begging, they threw me on weekend overnights.
2) Was there a defining moment, which made you realize "this is it"?
I was doing a training shift at I-96 in Grand Rapids. It was about 11 at night. Their studios are downtown and about 9 stories up. I looked out the window, surveyed the city: the buildings, the lights, crisscrossing highway traffic. And I knew when I cracked that mic, I'd be a part of all of it. Very cool experience for a young man. It's one of my magical radio moments.
3) What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?
Maybe a courier. I drive around aimlessly for fun. It'd be nice to get paid for it.
4) What makes your station or market unique?
Lite 98.7 is one of those amazing AC stations that are more than a "listen at work" utility. This station IS Central New York.
5) How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with the satellite radio and Internet these days?
Stations that are local, truly local and not just giving lip service to localism, will always be relevant to listeners.
6) What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?
My lament is not unique: where will the next generation of talent be developed? I'm proud that WLZW still has live weekend overnight shifts.
7) Who is your favorite air personality not on your staff?
Grimm at WXDX/Pittsburgh. Nobody makes me want to stick around to see what's next like Grimm.
8) What is your favorite radio station outside of the market and why?
WDRV/Chicago. What a great unique concept. It's as Chicago as a Superdawg. Until I moved to New York, I'd lived most of my life within about 70 miles of the city, and the Drive had a preset on my car radio since it launched.
9) If you could add any one full-time position to your budget with no questions asked, what would it be?
I'd hire an assistant for my OM, Tom Jacobsen. He has to deal with a daily peppering of questions from me. I don't know how he finds time to program his own station.
10) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
Radio is a small, small world.
Bonus Questions
How did you get your on-air name?
An homage to an early radio hero, Garry Meier of "Steve & Garry" fame.
How did you get your present job?
Was convinced by management here that Central New York winters "really aren't that bad."
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