10 Questions with ... Tom Clay

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• Local boy makes good, going from KSCB in Liberal, Kansas to KYSN Colorado Springs, WEEL in DC, and then off to the mountains of Colorado again, a travail of the See America Radio Tour that included stops in Houston, Miami, Austin and San Antonio, with a final arrival at gate 13 here in Beaumont, and the ALL NEW AM 1300 KSET.

1. How did you get your start in radio? Why radio?

Local high school radio show "The Redskin Hour" on KSCB sounded like a lot of fun, and it beat sacking groceries at the Ideal Food Store.

2. About what are you most passionate these days?

Making this radio thing work in the new paradigm. A need for local and live programming that makes a difference to the local listener, something unobtainable with national syndication.

3. You've launched an all-local talker in Beaumont. How did this project come about? How does someone get a station off the ground -- with local talk all day, no less -- in this day and age?

HOW did this happen? Lawsuits and much gnashing of teeth. Really. Then we decided that since we had to build an AM we had to do something special with it. Local Talk sounded like a great idea. We found Jack Pieper hanging out at the local golf course, and then we spoke with others who eventually became our staff, and we all came to the decision that doing something special was what we wanted to do. We worked out deals that made it lucrative enough to gather up a staff of talented, experienced individuals that have a desire to make a difference.

4. How are you planning to differentiate yourself at KSET against your competitors, especially against an entrenched morning guy who's been there for decades?

Simple, we are local from 6 to 6. Their morning guy, bless his heart, does what he does, and he has been doing it for years. We offer a fresh, different morning show in that we do far more news and information. As for the rest of the day, not a problem. The other guys are 9 hours of the same politics every day, and we won't be. They do politics, we do health, they do politics and we do computers, they do politics, we do news and entertainment, they do politics and we do LOCAL politics and more. Simply put, we are local more than they are, and people can actually CALL IN and get on the air here.

5. You spent time in San Antonio and Kansas before embarking on this project; how different, if at all, are you finding Beaumont from your prior stops? What's your take so far on the kind of city Beaumont is -- the people, the politics, the lay of the land?

Beaumont is the most conservative place I have ever lived, even more than the land of Sam Brownback and Reverend Phelps. That is NOT to say that it is backwards, far from it. But it is a city that has a lot of local pride, history and people that care about what goes on here. Even the Democrats are more conservative than most Republicans. The flip side of that is for every church, there is a corresponding honky tonk, bar or nightclub. People do like to have a good time in the Golden Triangle, and I think that the economy is on the uptick in the future.

6. Who are your mentors, influences, and heroes?

First jock I ever remember hearing was J. Michael Wilson when he was on KOMA in Oklahoma City. I also remember hearing Charlie Tuna all the way back to Wichita, Kansas. Influences, oh, everybody. Admire in this business? Everybody that still has a job. Mentors? Jack Casey, Gregor Vaule, Steve Scott, Jeff Tyson and Mom.

7. What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

Open mic while anchoring a 6pm TV newscast, calling the floor director scatological names while the bride walked down the aisle accompanied by my tirade..I do radio now.

8. Of what are you most proud?

My kids.

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

...massive infusions of coffee.

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

Best, Be yourself, Worst, Be yourself.