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10 Questions with ... Jack Riccardi
May 19, 2009
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NAME:Jack RiccardiTITLE:Midday Talk Show HostSHOW:"Jack Riccardi 10 To 1"STATION:News Talk 550 KTSAMARKET:San AntonioCOMPANY:Border MediaBORN:Newton, MARAISED:Newton, MA
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Graduated Boston University, Magna Cum Laude, B.S. Journalism. Worked in Boston music radio 1984-90, started to do some talk radio in late '80s, moved to WGY Schenectady-Albany 1991 as they transitioned from FS/AC to talk, WOAI San Antonio 1994-99 (talk, middays), KTSA since '99, stints in middays and evenings.
1. How did you get into radio? Why radio?
I grew up with the best possible radio listening: WBZ, WHDH, WRKO, Kiss 108, WCOZ, WVBF, WEEI and all the incredible heritage AMs and FMs in Boston. I set out to be a print journalist, got shot down by the college paper, and was told to "settle" for the college radio station. It worked out!
2. About what are you most passionate these days?
Underlying almost every news topic today is this: is it up to me or up to them (government)? Will we have the freedom to prosper, fail, create, and innovate, or will we be drones? You almost can't stop me once I get wound up on this stuff, and it's fun, yet ultimately serious too.
3. You aren't as easy to pigeonhole politically as some hosts, being largely conservative but with significant differences with conservatives on some issues. Do you think that the general conservative talk audience can handle hosts who aren't "with the program" across the board -- what kind of reaction do you get from listeners when you take positions that conflict with the party line?
I liked Dennis Miller's answer to this: I wasn't hired to do a "conservative talk show". I am a conservative libertarian who happens to do a talk show. It's more important that I be entertaining, informative, good company for my listener, and sellable for our AEs. No ideological litmus test here! Sure, it "disappoints" some listeners when I explain why conservatives should support gay marriage, but what's cool is when you hear a caller pause and start to question his own orthodoxy on the subject. I won't say I "win 'em over", but I make 'em think and as a listener, that's what always attracted me to the legends like Jerry Williams, David Brudnoy, Gene Burns, Avi Nelson and many more.
4. Along the same lines but in a wider sense, as Republican Party leaders fight amongst themselves to seize control of the party's direction, where do you see the direction of the party, and the country, going in the next decade? Will the nation's politics continue to be polarized and dominated by the hard-right and hard-left or is there room for more varied voices under the party tent (and, for that matter, for the Democrats as well)?
Polarization is likely to continue without a "game changer", which could be something as awful as a terrorist attack or as wonderful as a charismatic, libertarian figure emerging in the GOP or even independently. In Grover Norquist's recent book "Leave Us Alone", he argues that it would make more sense to have coalitions or alliances among groups whose common desire is the freedom to do what they want as long as it hurts no one else. I think the simultaneous implosion of the Republican Party and the mainstream of the Democratic Party will make for strange bedfellows in the next several years. One thing I like to do on the show is demonstrate how many different kinds of people share that "Leave Us Alone" agenda: be it the Human Rights Campaign, the NRA or inner-city parochial schools.
5. Your early career was mostly in music radio before you segued into talk. What appealed to you about doing talk radio, and is whatever you loved about it then still around for you today?
The music radio I listened to and got to do was personality-driven. When I did afternoon drive on WVBF in the late 80s, on a hot-AC, we played seven or eight songs, did phones, top- and bottom- of the hour news, and trraffic/weather. For me, talk radio is where the personality went. Simply put, I just dropped the records and kept being me. If someone put a personality-oriented music station back on the air, I think it would thrive and I'd apply!
6. Local talk shows have been getting cut back nationwide; as a prominent local talker, do you see a future in terrestrial talk radio for local talk? What arguments would you make to a group owner who doesn't see the necessity of maintaining local talk on its stations?
Local talk radio seems to be terrestrial radio's best bet at the moment, so I think the cutbacks on struggling stations may be made up by other owners, even ones with underperforming FMs. If someone fires a well-respected local host, and you're running a weak-sister FM music station, hire that guy, put some syndicated talk around him, and at least now you've got something to sell. Local talk will sell better than canned, canned will sell better than most music formats. So, Mr. Owner, it's up to you!
7. Who have been your mentors and inspirations in the business?
My mentors turned out to be people I initially feared or disliked (because they were so tough on me!): My first ND, Te Leone at WNTN, music PDs like Mike Osborne at WXLO, Bill Garcia at WVBF, consultant Cary Pahigian... they pushed me hard, and it makes me sad to think that we don't have that kind of talent development with all the cutbacks today. Osborne would beat me up over an aircheck, and I was only doing one weekend shift a week. He really prepared and concentrated. These people cared about teaching what they knew, and preparing me for bigger, better stuff. Now, I never miss a chance to mentor or help, because so much was done for me.
8. Of what are you most proud?
I don't have any industry awards to speak of, but I am very proud of creating some innovative programming on my show, like "Finyl Vinyl" or "Gang of Four". I'm also my station's specialist for long-form programming, all the election stuff, breaking news and so forth. It combines my penchant for prep with the challenge of adlibbing on the fly.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ____________.
...God. And coffee.
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
Best advice: stop copying the style of DJs you like, especially when they are working in your market!Worst advice: Karen Blake on WZOU wanted me to use the on-air name Ricky Riccardo. Umm... no.
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