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10 Questions with ... Zack Jackson
March 24, 2020
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Did mornings at WKRQ in Cincinnati in 2000, afternoons and mornings at WXWX in Philadelphia in 2001, been doing mornings at K92 since 2002
1. How would you describe your first radio gig?
Terrifying and weird! I never had a job in radio until I started doing mornings in Cincinnati (outside of doing 12-6a every other Saturday night on Star 93.7 in Boston from a demo tape I made in my living room), so I got thrust right into morning drive. In hindsight I think I made a lot of mistakes, but also learned a lot from those mistakes, and also earned my “you got fired in radio” stripes in the end.
2. What led you to a career in radio?
One of my best friends in college was Danny Meyers. When he moved to Boston to do nights at Star 93.7 he and I were roommates while I worked for a music promotion company (The Planetary Group). When I left that job, he helped me put together a demo tape at the house and the great Ron Valeri agreed to give me a part-time gig while the two of us thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do a morning show together some day?” After that, Danny and I were asked to fill in mornings for a week while the regular show was on vacation and ended up getting offered mornings at Q102 in Cincinnati.
3. Who are your cohorts on the Mornin’ Thang?
Monica Brooks has been with me since 2006 and Antoine Terrell joined the team last year.
4. You’ve been waking up the greater Roanoke area for 18 years! To what do you owe your longevity?
Outside of a general hatred of moving and packing, I’ve truly made a home here in Roanoke. My wife owns a business here, my kids love it here, and we have great friends and a great support system. I’ve never been a “oh you gotta be in a major market” kinda guy and instead wanted to be able to capitalize on a great situation and truly be able to make a life and be a fixture within a community.
5. Does the show use outside prep services or do you keep that in house?
We take advantage of some great prep services--Wise Brother, United Stations, and Nineball to name a few. I’m also a big prep nerd, so I compile my own stuff as well, but I love having the outside help to go with it.
6. “Local local local” has always been radio’s mantra. How do you keep yourself and the show visible and involved in the community?
With consumer access being so easy to, well, everything. I think it’s important to be able to add that extra connection with our community. They can basically listen to any radio show or podcast on Earth, so not only do we have to compete from a content perspective, but we have to go that extra mile to show them that we are real humans who care about what happens in their lives and the community as a whole. We’ll do just about anything that makes sense … high school pep rallies, animal adoption events, coaching youth sports, radio station tours, etc. etc. Working at a radio station used to look like the coolest job in the whole damn world, and I think we got away from giving the younger generation that “magic” feeling. We take an almost throwback approach to it all and want to excite people and touch their lives whenever possible (and as early as possibly in their lives). My kids are 7 and 10 and their friends still LOVE radio, and we have to take advantage of that or we’re going to be extinct.
7. Which social media platforms do you use to engage with your listeners these days?
We’re certainly trying to interact with as many people as possible in whatever capacity we can. Instagram is probably my favorite since I’m a big food nerd and I like showing off my food nerd creations.
8. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
Great content will yield great results. I don’t care if we’re on the radio, the internet, YouTube, or some social media website we haven’t even started caring about yet, the single most important thing is doing compelling content that people care about. Without that, you’re dead.
9. What was your favorite station when you were a kid? Jock?
Growing up in Massachusetts I was a big WZOU fan and my favorite jock was “The Incredible” Bob Campbell. Fast forward 30 years and I walked into our News/Talk station one morning and this guy I had never met before was filling in and introduced himself as Bob. Guess who??? I just about pooped my pants when I realized it was “THE Incredible” Bob Campbell!!! Radio is such a small world, which is one of the things I love about it.
10. Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?
There are a TON of talented people in this business that I’ve been lucky enough to be influenced by (aka stolen bits from). When I started doing mornings I always admired the work of people like BJ Shea and Migs, Jeff and Jer (and Little Tommy), Mojo and Spike, Ace and TJ, Bob Dumas, Rick Rumble, Eric Rowe, Danny Vigil, Tom Morgan, Dana and Jayson, etc. I could probably list names forever. And of course, bonus props to Danny Meyers for helping me get in this business in the first place (or maybe I should be cursing him for dragging me into all this?).
Bonus Questions
If you could pick ANYONE to plug in across from you folks some morning in the guest chair, who would it be and why?
Howard Stern all-day. Master interviewer, supreme talent, and the king of truly OWNING your content and brand and not letting some corporate a-hole strip it all away from you.
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