10 Questions with ... Jeff Zito

1) What was your first job in radio and early mentors and influences?

My first job was promotions at WSRZ (Oldies 106)/Sarasota, FL, which led to overnights on the Rock station, WYNF. Mentors included Scott Reinhart (Rhino), who encouraged me to pursue this career early on, and Lee Daniels, who hired me at WJBX (99X). I was always influenced by Howard Stern; growing up in NJ I listened to him constantly and bought Crucified By the FCC, which I memorized the bits from. Also, can't go without mentioning Bubba the Love Sponge, who I have now worked with here at WRXK and in Tampa at WBRN.

2) Was there a defining moment when you realized that this radio thing was it for you?

I was out of the business for a little over a year, when while working as an assistant golf pro at The Meadows Country Club in Sarasota. I got the call from Lee Daniels, the PD at WJBX/Fort Myers. I'd been so overwhelmed working in another field and was so happy to receive that call, that's when I really knew that this is what I wanted to do.

3) As PD of WRXK (96 K-Rock), this is a return to the station for you. How does it feel to be rocking Southwest Florida again?

Initially, after WBRN flipped formats less than a year after I got there, I had a sense of failure. I wasn't sure how it might be received that I was returning to Fort Myers so soon after leaving, but the welcoming from the listeners and management was just overwhelming. I couldn't think of a place I'd rather be.

4) 96 K-Rock is a heritage station. Besides the pillar of talent with Bubba the Love Sponge in mornings and Stan & Haney in afternoons, what makes this station so unique and special?

The attitude has always been a big part of what makes K-Rock. It's very in-your-face, from the imaging to promotions. We like to push things to the line.

5) Ft. Myers is one of the few markets in the country that sports TWO Active Rock stations. What sets 96 K-Rock apart from WXNX (93X)?

K-Rock is more of a traditional Active Rock station that's very personality-driven. We play hard Classic Rock mixed with 15 currents, where our competitor leans more Alternative.

6) What's your take on current Active Rock music and the format as a whole?

After a few years on the decline, the format is on the upswing thanks to a lot of gold artists still putting out great material. 2018 will continue to be great with new albums due from Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Tool and Godsmack.

7) Besides your role as PD, you're doing the midday shift between Bubba and Stan & Haney. With such talk-heavy cume coming from mornings and afternoons, how do you balance the music to keep the cume and TSL strong?

That's a great question, because it's not easy. The simplest way I can put it is that we have to make sure that during the middays we are playing the absolute biggest hits. At night, we open it up a bit, and we're live, where many stations these days are voicetracked at night. We are very active on the phones, with giveaways, etc. It's probably one of the toughest things to balance when you have two spoken-word dayparts.

8) Do you have any special features or benchmarks that you are doing during this time slot?

We started a feature called the Hair Ball back in September that we're getting a lot of great feedback on. We play a block of hair bands, from Def Leppard, Poison and Cinderella to deeper stuff, such as Danger Danger, Trixter and Britny Fox. It wasn't long ago that that stuff was deemed "uncool," but now it comes off as more nostalgic and fun.

9) 96 K-Rock recently had another successful gravy wrestling event before Thanksgiving of this past year. How did this whole event come about for the station?

Myself and my morning partner of over 10 years, Bob Garrett, came up with the idea one day as we were eating lunch at Quizno's and we caught Garrett drinking the side cup of gravy from his French dip sandwich. It has easily become the station's signature event of the year, where women compete for $1,000 in a kiddie pool of gravy on the night before Thanksgiving.

10) Finally, what do you like to do for fun and relaxation when you're not in "radio" mode?

I love to paddleboard, play golf, watch my son's high school baseball games and just chill whenever I get a free moment.