10 Questions with ... Roy Prescott

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

My resume reads like a tome: Grease Monkey/service station owner, bartender, fitness club management, sports shop salesman, market & deli owner, craft beer salesman and then radio.

1.How did you become interested in radio?

My parents listened to the radio. It sounds cliché, but I had a 9-volt AM transistor radio that I hid under my pillow, listening to music and Red Sox games at night. As I started collecting 45s, we had an old phonograph and I would spin discs for my sisters pretending I was the DJ playing “the most from coast to coast.”

2. How has transition been going from morning show host to now programming WMWV? What adjustments have you been making?

I host Morning Drive solo (since about 2003) with no production team, then move on to programming, which still includes production. too. Finding time to spend on our music is the biggest challenge. Oh, since 1999, I have hosted our three-hour Wednesday night blues program, The Blues Summit. The biggest challenge is filling the shoes of the great MDs before me going back to the 1950s! I always say that founder Skip Sherman, who owned the station until 2002, created the Triple A format. He was playing cool music before anyone knew it was cool!

3. How would you describe the music on the station?

Listeners say we are eclectic. I take that as a compliment.

4. How do you stay in tune with your audience?

We are very connected with our community. I am very active and see many listeners when out and about. They are not bashful about telling you what they like or do not like about WMWV. I really enjoy that. Being located in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire, people come from around the world to visit. They fall in love with the area and station, then stream us from their hometown. We are the “Voice of the Valley.” Remote broadcasts are important. Social media, too.

5. What are some of your biggest challenges as an independent station?

Actually … I feel that being locally owned is an advantage. The boss is in every day and loves the station. He does production and cuts tracks, too. We talk music often. Aside from corporate accounts, most of our advertisers are locally owned businesses and they are listeners too! It gives the station a real homey feel.

6. Tell us about some of the station’s key benchmark events.

I think the longevity of WBNC-AM then WMWV-FM is the benchmark.

7. Tell us a bit Conway and the White Mountains region.

The area was one of the birth spots for skiing going back to the 1930s. The mountains are beautiful year-round and the rivers a special too. There a 48, 4,000-foot mountains, so there is plenty of hiking. We also have Mount Washington standing 6,288 feet, the tallest peak in New England. The Appalachian Trail crosses through the mountains. Over the years, the area has also become a shopper’s mecca with tax free shopping.

8. What has been your biggest career highlight?

The market & deli I owned was a nice success story, but the hardest I have had to work. When I sold it in 2000, I went to work fulltime at WMWV. From P1 to DJ at last!

9. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

Honesty is the best policy.

10. Fill in the blank: I cannot make it through the day without …

… HUGS!!! Boy do I miss them in the current climate.

Last non-industry job:

Beer salesman for Tuckerman Brewing Co. A wonderful family owned brewery.

First record ever purchased:

introducing…The Beatles on VeeJay. When I was eight years old. I knew there was something special going on. I still have it!!

First concert:

Strawberry Alarm Clock with Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, 1967.

Favorite band of all-time:

Depends. The Beatles and the Grateful Dead are usually up there. I am also nuts over Lake Street Dive!

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?

Alpine, Nordic and Back-country skiing. Cycling and hiking with my girl and dog. Oh, and sleeping!