7/20/2011
Bernie Eagan just celebrated his 30th year on the air in Indianapolis. That accomplishment alone is certainly nothing to yawn about. But hold on, there's more. Not only has Bernie been in one market for 30 years, he's done it with the same company, Emmis. Make that two major accomplishments, 30 years in one market, 30 years with one company. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan says "Bernie was remarkable the first day he walked in to Emmis in 1981, and he's been a remarkably talented guy ever since. I am proud and honored he has chosen to spend his career with us." We spoke to Eagen about his longevity in the business. "First of all, I am living my dream. When I was 10 years old, this is what I wanted to do. People where I went to school said, ?You probably don?t want to do radio. I was so consumed with it that I just couldn?t see myself doing anything else." What a great attitude. Oh, and speaking of Bernie seeing himself, did I forget to mention, Bernie Eagen is blind.
Bernie Eagen does afternoon drive on Emmis' WYXB in Indianapolis also known as B105.7(Radio Ink Magazine has a full station profile of WYXB in the August 8th issue). Eagen says he started at WENS after it had been on the air for one week back in July of 1981. "I was working full time in Muncie. I heard about this station coming on and everybody was applying. I thought, ?Well, I have to apply too.? So, I did and I got a job doing weekends. I went full time in October of 1981 and was with WENS until 2002."
WENS is now HANK FM, a country station. Eagan says "They were going through some changes and the
people in charge said, ?We?d really like you to do mornings on B105.7. I'm really glad they did because I don?t think I would have made it 30 years with Emmis if I hadn?t because they were making a lot of changes. I started at B105.7 in August of 2002 and moved to afternoons about a year ago." WYXB Program Director David Wood says ?Bernie is an Indianapolis treasure. People have literally grown up listening to him. Bernie has such incredible passion for our listeners and for radio in general. I don?t know that I have met anyone that loves what they do more than Bernie?.
With all the new and always-changing technology operating a radio studio can be a daunting task for someone who can see. When Bernie first started his radio career, carts were still being used. Today, you'd be lucky to find a CD laying around a control room. In 1981 a DJ was still dropping a needle on a record. Today, one keystroke or screen tap does the trick. Bernie has weathered the changes. He does not have an engineer or a sidekick. He runs his own board and he goes out in his own remotes.
Back when the transition to computers was being made, not everyone was keen on Bernie being part of the future. "It's interesting because, when Emmis decided they were going to go to a computer system, they talked to a lot of people and said, ?Can you do something to accommodate a blind person? A lot of the companies said no. In fact one of them said, ?Why don?t you fire him?? That?s what I was told by one of our engineers at the time. Everybody was so loyal at Emmis. They went until they found a company that really did guarantee they could make it work. That happened to be Audio Vault. They set it up so that I can do most things with a keyboard. here are some things that I can?t do, unfortunately. I can run my own board. I can run my own show. I can even voicetrack if somebody sets it up for me. I have gotten lucky enough, that with keyboard commands I can do all the things that I need to do, especially when it comes to running a show."
Bernie admits, there is one thing that would frazzle him. "I love running my own board. That's second nature to me. The thing that can happen is, you know how computers are, if it crashes, I'm pretty much on my own. I have to call somebody immediately. Fortunately it happens very, very seldom. I am able to work around it pretty quickly. I have gotten really fortunate where that?s concerned. I run everything myself, even when I did mornings. I took the calls. I edited the calls. The whole thing all by myself and I loved doing it. I loved the challenge of it."
Bernie says when people told him not to get into radio, he just said to himself he wasn?t going to take no for an answer. "I had solutions to every question that somebody would come up with. I just got really lucky. Not a day goes by that I don?t think about the fact somebody else could be doing this shift. Somebody else could be taking this shift from me. If I don?t stay on my game that could happen. I try to work really hard and stay up to date on things. I am just having a blast."
"Listening to a lot of guys at WLS and WCFL, WCBS, this was the 60?s. First of all, the music was great, but I don?t really care about the music anymore. I play whatever they want me to play. I don?t care about that. The music was great. It sounded like they were having so much fun. I thought, this is what I want to do. I mean, this sounds like so much fun. When I got to Emmis, I had no idea I would be here this long. I figured I would be here four or five years, because, in the 80?s that is what everybody did. They lasted somewhere four or five years and then they went somewhere else. Jeff Smulyan is good to his people. It is a fun place to be, from my perspective. Everybody has their own perspective on things. For me, every day is a good day."
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