Conversations.buzz

MICK MARTIN confesses that a few years ago he thought, “I’ve never done a damned thing.” But then he took inventory of his life in blues.

“I thought, well who have I played with? Bo Diddley, Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Smith at Carnegie Hall, Elvin Bishop, Nick Gravenites - I mean on and on and on and on and on… at the time it was like, well I’m not getting anywhere.”

This is a master class for radio in all markets. JOHN OSTLUND owns five stations in Fresno, California, because he loves radio. He remembers the recipe. He only runs five minutes of commercials per hour on all five stations and it works. John says, "Radio is too much fun."

At 31, DANIEL STARKS is the youngest radio station General Manager I've ever met. He's also one of the smartest guys I ever met in the business. Makes sense, right? Here he talks about his love of small-market radio and he brings with him serious major market experience.

“My job is to make you guys rock stars.” - Gavin Spittle to his staff at 105.3 The Fan

Dallas radio listeners were recently shocked by the news that MIKE RHYNER, also known as The Old Grey Wolf, had been fired by iHeartRadio and that the talk station known as The Freak would flip back to rock and roll as it had been just 16 months earlier. Rhyner is a radio legend in Texas. Over his 26 years at The Ticket in Dallas, he created the most unique and popular sports talk format in America. To date, the station has won four Marconi Awards as the Best Sports Station in America. Rhyner was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame on July 3, 2014. In this conversation, he talks about how both stations evolved through him and what went wrong with The Freak.

ROBIN BERTOLUCCI has been Program Director of KFI, Los Angeles, for 22 years and the station has never fallen out of first place. The thing that's remarkable about Robin is she hasn't got a lot of complicated philosophies about her job or her station. She just gets the best people in the news and talk business and lets them do their thing.

STEVE BEHM lives in the Texas Hill Country and has a million friends. He also has bladder cancer, a positive prognosis and a fabulous attitude. Steve makes the world happy wherever he goes.

In 1985 GARY GEROULD, DAVE GROSBY, and I were all in attendance for the birth of the NBA Sacramento Kings. 39 years Later The G-Man has been the only play-by-play radio voice the team has ever had. This episode is a reunion for the three of us as we relive the glorious history of my hometown's still beloved and only major league team. - Dave Williams, Feb. 25, 2024

Everybody who ever worked with CRYS QUIMBY adores her. She's smart, sensitive, a great leader and she knows news radio. Crys started her broadcast career doing TV news in Macon, Georgia. She soon found herself writing and editing at CBS news giant KNX in Los Angeles. She joined WBBM in Chicago, before returning to L.A. to oversee news and programming at KNX and KFWB. Eventually, CBS Radio bosses called her to New York, where she programmed WCBS until 2008. 

Is radio dead? Don't suggest that to KJ ALLEN. He and his longtime radio partner BENJI KURTZ have assembled a fleet of stations in small Georgia markets and they are flourishing. Their motto is BETTER LOCAL RADIO. Their company, OCONEE COMMUNICATIONS is doing what radio has always done best: serving their local communities.