10 Questions with ... Kevin Begley

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I grew in Massachusetts 20 minutes south of Boston. Ran my college radio station at Curry College in Milton, MA. Interned at the late, great WFNX/Boston. Did overnights at FNX for a year after graduating in 2006. Then moved out to Los Angeles to produce Jonesy’s Jukebox on Indie 103.1. When Indie flipped, I headed back to the east coast and landed a gig in Richmond, VA as Music Director and Afternoons on Cox Media Group’s 103.7 The River. In 2012 I transferred up here to the Cox stations in Connecticut to be closer to home in New England. I’ve been programming Star and The Fox and doing afternoons on Star ever since.

1. How would you describe your first radio gig?

Lots of Red Bull. Overnights are no joke. The human body just isn’t built to work those hours. That being said…honestly, I wish we could bring that shift back everywhere. It was an excellent training ground for new talent. Perfect place to screw up and hone your skills. We use our smaller signals and weekend shifts for that now. But man, there is something special about hitting your first :12 post perfectly at 3:45a.

2. What led you to a career in radio?

In high school all my friends were in bands. I would go to all the shows and loved being part of that scene. I always wanted to be more involved rather than just being in the crowd. Sadly, I didn’t really have much musical talent or play any instruments. So, I figured “well, if I had a radio show I could just have all these bands on the air, play their songs, promote their shows, etc…” so that became my new mission when looking at colleges. I remember asking every school while touring the campus “do you have a radio station? I want to see that.” Then as the years went on, I fell more in love with the whole experience of working in radio, being on the air, meeting great people, and connecting with the different communities that I’ve worked and lived in. It’s a very rewarding career in that sense.

3. Star is geographically close to New York City and Long Island and not all that far from some of New England’s greatest radio stations. Is the proximity to all that an advantage for you folks?

Sometimes. For example, with Star it really helps when trying to book artists for our Acoustic Sessions we do or various events since a lot of them will tour and do promo runs right through Connecticut on their way to and from New York and Boston. Which helps us. The downside on the competitive end of things, is that you can hear ALL OF THESE GREAT STATIONS! From our parking lot you get bleed in from Market #1 (New York), #20 (Long Island), #53 (Hartford), plus all the stations here in Southern Connecticut. Like you said, there are some great stations in this area, so we just have to be on top of our game programming wise all the time.

4. How did navigating the pandemic make you a better programmer?

It really made me appreciate how resilient our whole team is. From the jocks all figuring out how to connect and broadcast from their homes while giving listeners a sense of comfort, to the sales department pivoting to come up with creative ways to help these local businesses and restaurants who were struggling, and our promotions team coming up with unique ways to keep our stations connected to our listeners even while there were zero events happening. Knowing you have great people around you makes it easier to be a better programmer.

On the tech side of things, it also taught me more than I ever wanted to know about VPN, networks, and automation setups. Ha!

5. You’ve been holding down afternoons for ten years at this point. What do you still love most about being on the air every day?

I’ve always said the day I come off the air will be the day I don’t work in radio anymore. It’s the most thrilling, exhilarating part of radio in my opinion. Not only the adrenaline of being live on the air talking to all these people, but then realizing how much it means to the people who are listening. Any time I have a listener come up to me at an event and reference something I’ve talked about on the air or how much a story I talked about meant to them it still blows me away. It’s such a special feeling.

6. Who would be a “dream guest” to have on your show?

Tom Brady. (Half of Connecticut would love it. The other half would hate me for it.)

7. “Local local local” has always been radio’s mantra. How do you keep yourself visible and involved in the community?

We do so much for the community with all our radio stations. It really starts with having such a compassionate mindset at the top, with our CEO Jeff Warshaw and our SVP/Market Manager Kristin Okesson. Their passion for helping others and serving the community reverberates throughout our team and company. Our morning shows (Chaz & AJ on FOX and Anna & Raven on Star) are really involved in a lot of local charities and organizations. Most of our jocks grew up here, so they live and breathe all things Connecticut. Beyond that, we are always looking for unique ways to make an impact. For example, we do something called the “Star Homeroom” every school year where we adopt a 5th grade class in Bridgeport and Anna & Raven (Star’s morning show) goes to their class once a month to do something fun for the kids. Really a great way to connect with parents, kids, teachers, and families in our area. The kids love it.

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

Don’t burn bridges. You never know who you’re going to work with, or for, next.

9. What was your favorite station(s) to listen to when you were a kid? Jock(s)? Growing up near Boston my presents in my 1997 red Saturn were…

WFNX, WBCN, WAAF, JAMN 945, KISS 108.
For jocks, I used to listen to Nik Carter on BCN a lot in high school. Opie & Anthony during their multiple stints on the Boston dial, and Matty on KISS. Which I believe is almost a rite of passage for anyone who has grown up in Massachusetts at this point right?. Dunkin’, going to Fenway Park, and listening to Matty in the Morning.

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

Keith Dakin first hired me as an intern at WFNX in 2005. It’s now come full circle as we’ve worked together here in Connecticut for the last 10 years and have become great, great friends over the years. Keith is one of the smartest, funniest, most creative minds in the industry. I’ve learned so much from him throughout my career about programming, being on the air, and knowing the top grossing movie of 1985 without Googling. (Spoiler: It’s Back to the Future)

A few others who I really respect, admire, and have had the pleasure of not only working with, but becoming close friends are… Max Tolkoff, Dustin “Fletcher” Matthews, and Melissa Chase.

With the Total Mortgage Arena at your disposal and an unlimited budget, which 3-5 acts would you pull together for a station bash?

Ooooh. Great question. There are SO many I would want, but I’d like to have the headliners be a “Reunited Fest” type theme.

Night 1: Reunited Oasis
Night 2: Harry Styles (Full solo set, but he then brings out a reunited One Direction)
Night 3: Reunited Blink-182