Alexis and I actually bought WJOB a little more than ten years ago and for the first three years we tried several different morning hosts and a few different formats - including oldies, women's talk, and national talk. So one day in a rather impulsive manner I asked everyone to leave the building and the next morning I grabbed the microphone and started talking.
That was, of course, not the original intention. We didn't buy WJOB so I could ride my bike to the station every morning and talk on the radio for four hours. But seven years ago we were about to fail. We had purchased, in 2004, both the local radio station and the local weekly newspaper. I had closed the newspaper in 2007 and WJOB was running out of money. So I grabbed the microphone, and, like the red wheelbarrow, that has made all the difference.
And out of all the things - good employees, colorful locals, radio itself - what most makes it all worth it? That's pretty easy. Callers. We're blessed with the best callers in America. Some may not make sense, and some have the hardest heads in America, and some are completely unlikeable. But it adds up to really colorful radio and I am grateful for that.
Because, you see, it wasn't me that rescued WJOB. It was the other way around. I was a floundering ex-trader looking for somewhere to land. You people gave it to me. Thank you.