KABC – 1995 – 1997
I started at KABC working part time on the weekends. My shifts were from 7am to 2pm both Saturday and Sunday. My main duties were to handle the 7 phone lines, ferreting out the good calls from the absurd and then quickly putting the calls up on the screen so the host could take them at will. It was definitely a bit of a juggling act; listening to the show while at the same time going through calls at warp speed.
Call screening is definitely a skill. During my training I was introduced to the many callers who would call 100 times a day to try to get on air. They would often pretend to want to talk about the topic and then once on air will spew something about John Lennon’s killer. Keeping these people off the air was paramount, but after a while, I became pretty adept at recognizing even the most disguised voices. Soon listening to the callers, typing up their questions all the while still keeping up with the show became second nature. I even befriended some regulars.
The weekend shows consisted of lifestyle programming ranging from the Pet Show with Warren Eckstein, to the Cooking Show with Melinda Lee, to the Car Show with Leon Kaplan to the Restaurant Show with Merrill Schindler to Politics with Susan Estrich. While getting to work at 7am was not my first choice, I loved the variety of topics and all the hosts.
I enjoyed every show, but The Pet Show became a favorite. Warren exuded charisma and was incredibly kind. People started calling hours before the the program even started asking to wait on hold hoping to talk to the pet guru. The questions were as wild as the show like, "I sleep with my iguana, my cat and my dog, but my iguana and my wife don't get along." You couldn't make these calls up. I grew up with animals and adored my pets, but Warren taught me a deeper respect that has stayed with me to this day.
Susan was another host I immediately looked up to. She had an amazing resume as the first woman to serve as a campaign manager for a presidential campaign in addition to her courageous work in the law profession. She was incredibly bright, quick, fun and was never too busy to help. She gave me hours of free career advice not mention some great lessons on life.
After I mastered the weekend shifts I started filling in for weekday shows including Michael Jackson, Dennis Prager and Larry Elder. Although I didn't agree with all the views of the hosts, it was exciting to be focusing on the issues of the day. I even got some occasional air time when a host would ask my opinion.
Radio is a tough business and it kind of blew my idealistic mind to see certain practices I only thought existed in movies like Wall Street. I saw numerous talent who had been on air for years be fired and not even get the chance to say goodbye to their listeners. I kept my head down during those moments.
I spent the next 6 months filling in for producers covering every imaginable shift - including the 5am shift which meant I needed to be there by around 3:30am. It was pretty brutal and although you were done by 11am, my body clock didn't take to the odd hours. When not working I would actually put a note on my alarm clock telling me I didn't have to work that day due to waking up countless times panicked I missed my shift. I eventually got used to the odd shifts and fell into a groove. I loved meeting all the guests ranging from prominent political figures to celebrities, reading the books sent by publishers and scouring five newspapers a day for daily items to discuss. This was before the internet so I had my trusty ruler to tear out stories from the various papers. Wow how things have changed.
Finally a full-time producer position opened up on KABC's sister station KMPC and I became the producer of the Joe Crummy and Merrill Markoe show. It was a relief to finally have a regular shift, but after about six months, the station chiefs called us into a meeting to explain that they were turning the station into Radio Disney at 10pm. We were all laid off like that. Such was life in radio. It felt pretty shaken - how could people do that to one another, but I knew it was nothing personal, just business. In those moments we don't always see the why or what we are going to do next. In fact I was quite panicked, but that experience helped me to decide to go back to grad school which would prove to be one of the best experiences in my life.
