10 Questions with ... T.A. Walker

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I started in radio in 1995 at a little station in my college town in Bolivar, MO (KYOO-A/F). Then I went on to produce the news for KYTV and intern with David Letterman. I spent time at Air America Radio as an on-air producer for The Randi Rhodes Show. And for the last 11 years, I was working as on-air producer/co-host/MD/PD/ for The Mo and Sally Morning Show and Kool 105.5.

1) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?

What's great is I am attending college online (and I can go to school from anywhere). It's an excellent Masters program at Georgetown University, in Washington D.C., and is lead by the best Marketing professionals in the country. I hope to be accepted into their Doctor of Liberal Studies program next Fall!

2) Some people get discouraged or enlightened with the business when they actually step out of it for a while. Tell us your observations from the outside.

Radio needs to be working on what's next for local content. Otherwise, it may become as irrelevant as Blockbuster Video is to Netflix. As smartphones begin to take over dashboards in cars and (as one OM I interviewed with pointed out) as driverless cars come to fruition, we need to have a business model in place to ensure we are able to deliver on-demand local content.

3) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?

Someplace where I can work on what I mentioned in question two. I'd like to be a part of a morning show or programming team that isn't afraid of embracing the future of radio and trying new things, and learning from our failures and taking pride in our successes.

4) Are you spending as much time listening to the radio as you used to?

No, but I am obsessed with KGSR in Austin, TX. They reminded me of why I fell in love with radio; the camaraderie between hosts, and the localization (this station has a mission to keep local live music thriving in the live music capital of the world, and they even dedicate an hour every night to new music). Somewhere along the way, with radio consolidation, I forgot some of the basics that KGSR executes flawlessly daily.

5) How are you finding the "courtesy level" at places you've applied?

Everyone wants to be courteous, but everyone is so busy multitasking they tend to forget to say, "Thanks, but no thanks, we have found someone." As a medium, we have a lot of work to do to reach a professional level of courtesy as seen in most industries.

6) What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?

This is the first time I've been on the beach in 21 years, and it was my own doing! I put in my notice and left iHeartRadio in West Palm Beach because my father had passed away and my disabled mother got cancer and I felt like my character on the morning show had run out of things to say. I went back to help mom out, and help with things around the house, and start grad school. I would love to stay here in Austin, but things have settled around here and I am ready for my next adventure.

7) What's the most unbelievable question you've ever been asked in an interview?

Ha, not so unbelievable, but I was shocked by the reaction to my answer. I was interviewing at a radio station in Tampa, FL and I was asked if I got this job how long would I commit to being PD of this radio station. I said three years (because that's when my continuing education would be over) and the OM was shocked and said that wasn't long enough. Now I worked for iHeartMedia for 14 years and Chili's Grill and Bar for 10 years (so I have no fear of commitment) and I felt like I stayed in those places too long compared to my peers. I just found his reaction humorous. The interview ended right after that response.

8) What has been your biggest career accomplishment? ?

I am very proud of working with Dave Denver (iHeartMedia) to transition WOLL from a Classic Hits format to AC without changing the name of the station or the personalities on the station. The station went from #12 to #2 with adults 25-54, and we were able to grow our older audience by making the music younger (weird I know).

9) What's the most unbelievable on air bit you were allowed to do?? ?

Allowed? Well, we didn't ask. But iHeartMedia was flipping the dial positions and formats of six radio stations in the West Palm Beach and Ft. Pierce markets on Friday, December 13th, 2002. So I was working for Randi Rhodes, and we decided our little liberal show on 1290 WJNO needed to get in on the action, and we flipped to Alternative Rock. Even the traffic anchor played along. Hysterical. We definitely added to the chaos of format flips and changes, and we got more news coverage than the other stations.

I got to play clips of the stunt on Randi's last show on Premiere Radio Networks.

10) With consolidation, there are definitely fewer jobs. How do you separate yourself from the pack?

Having more skills. I think today's radio professional needs to be able to do analytics, edit videos, create commercials, logos, and print ... oh, and have an award-winning personality.

Uh oh ... now you're on your own for getting new music. If applicable, name your three most recent purchases since leaving the biz.

Shinyribs (Austin local favorite, "Donut Taco Palace"), KGSR Broadcasts Vol 24, and Taylor Swift (don't judge me).