10 Questions with ... Jack Silver

NAME:Jack Silver TITLE:VP/Program Director STATION:KLSX-FM MARKET:Los Angeles COMPANY:CBS BORN:Yes RAISED:Not yet

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

11 years at KLSX... with stops before that in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and St. Louis.

1. How did you get your start in radio- why did you choose radio?

Used to hang out at WLS and WCFL in Chicago as a grammar school kid... Just wanted to be a dj... Started working at the local station in my college town... and 32 years later... here we are...

2. About what are you most passionate?

Keeping things current and real. I love when radio is organic and not fake. The connection that is formed with the audience can be powerful when it's genuine.

3. How has KLSX been able to survive and prosper while other stations like it could not? Why has it lasted as long and as successfully as it has?

Patience on the programming side, and a killer sales staff on the revenue side has given us a lot of our success. Having Howard Stern for all those years helped obviously, but building a station after Howard was the plan. And with Tom Leykis celebrating his 11th year on the station, and Frosty, Heidi and Frank heading toward year 8 we have been steady all day for a long time. Now, with the explosive growth of Adam Carolla, and the addition of Danny Bonaduce, it feels like we've got another 11 years in us.

4. If you hadn't gone into radio, what would you be doing today?

This is all I've ever done... so I don't know. Some sales job, I guess... But radio has taken me from Chicago to Los Angeles, and great cities in between.

5. A lot of hosts have tried to do the young-talk format, but few succeed; you've worked with some of the most successful, from the guys at the Loop to the current KLSX lineup. In your mind, what makes a good, or great, host doing this kind of talk? What do you look for in talent for this format?

The common thread on a good talent for FM talk is "life experiences!" You need a person with a rich and deep passion for life, knowledge, information and pop culture. The best talent I've heard, from Steve Dahl to Russ Martin to Tom Leykis all share their lives in a real, personable and relatable way. The problem I hear with some hosts trying to do an "FM talk" type of show is that they don't really live the lifestyle of the audience. My advice to any aspiring host that wanted to fit into a station like ours is to "stop watching the Fox News Channel!" That's a good start.

6. Who are your mentors, your inspirations, the people you've learned the most from?

Started with Rick Balis in St. Louis... a very organized and knowledgeable PD and manager...

Then, Rick Lee in San Francisco... style and passion on and off the air...

Rick Dees at KIIS FM... taught me how to make a morning show "a business"....

Jimmy DeCastro and Larry Wert in Chicago... great managers and team builders.

Also, Steve Rivers all along my career... a true radio pro....

And Bob Moore here in Los Angeles... the best GM I've seen... passion, fun, sales oriented and on top of things.

7. Of what are you most proud?

The longevity here at KLSX.... Any time you can rack up a decade at one station, that's amazing... I always envied the radio people that spend a long time at one station... so I'm proud that I've been here so long.

8. What do you do for fun?

Golf game is getting better with time... if you call that fun...

Surfing is getting worse with age... need to get back in the water more often.

Family stuff is cool too... baseball with one son, concerts with the other ...all good.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ______________.

...CNBC. I'm addicted to the crawl on the bottom of the screen.

10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?

The best advice was "be humble".... from Shelly Grafman in St. Louis... I have always enjoyed when people with the biggest successes don't get too full of themselves...because you have to be nice to the people you meet on the way up...you'll see the same people on the way down.

I steer clear of bad advice... trust your instincts....