1-4-2012
As the number of programming jobs declines in the radio industry, those that are willing to work longer hours, do a lot more work and be agile in what they do are finding new opportunities. Bob Lonsberry has been in talk radio fulltime since 1995 and he's still around today. Before getting a regular shift on radio, Lonsberry was a columnist for the Rochester "Democrat and Chronicle." He started as a fill-in host on Rochester (NY) powerhouse WHAM, he did mornings (from Rochester) at KNRS in Salt Lake City, has filled in for Glenn Beck, Art Bell, Michael Reagan, and worked two stints as a host of the Premier syndicated "Weekend" program. This week Clear Channel announced that Lonsberry will add the Syracuse market (WSYR, 3PM-5PM) to his schedule which includes WHAM in Rochester (9AM-1PM). Rochester and Syracuse are several hours apart in upstate New York.
Lonsberry tells Radio Ink he plans to make his program work in the Syracuse market by making it local and getting to know and love that city. "For 10 years I did the most local show in Utah from a studio 1,700 miles away. I did that by working harder, and by immersing myself in the community and its people. I will spend a lot of time in Syracuse. I will walk its streets and come to know its priorities. Basically, it's like when I was a newspaper reporter and I was assigned to cover a new town or beat. You study hard, you meet people, you figure out the players, you try to get a sense of the place. That's what I will do in Syracuse. And I imagine it will be great fun. Learning about a good place is a positive experience. Content of the Syracuse show will be about 80 percent local. It will be, in every way, a Syracuse and WSYR show."
Despite his willingness to learn new markets, increase his working hours and the drive to make his show local in markets he is unfamiliar with Lonsberry has a few doubts about the future of the media. "Everyone who asks me about a career in radio -- or newspapers or television -- I tell to go to law school. Or dental school. Or some school where they will learn a trade that will let them make a living. I'm uncertain of the future of radio. My hope is that it continues largely as it has, and unless the suits get in the way, it will. I admire and appreciate new media, and I think the Internet and its associated technologies will become the new delivery device, but at the end of the day, a guy in his car listening to the radio works -- as long as something real and compelling keeps coming out of the speakers. The best advice I can give is true in every part of life -- be yourself. We right now are an industry dominated by half a dozen giants who suck all the oxygen out of the room, with various of us minor leaguers impersonating them around the edges like a bunch of sycophantic minnows. Any number of hosts do their particular impersonation of Rush or Rome without ever quite grasping the fact that Rush and Rome got to be who they are because they were who they were. They stood on the basis of their own uniqueness and talents, and anyone else who is going to be worthwhile is going to do the same thing. I don't sound like anybody else. My show is just different. That has defined my success and my failure. Success in that audiences like me, failure in that bosses and programmers aren't quite sure how to take me. It's kept me a minor leaguer, but it's given me a wonderful job talking to audiences I truly love. So be yourself. We are a nation of 312 million people. In that mix there have to be some great folks, if they'll just be themselves. We all know fascinating people, and most of them aren't on the air. And that's too bad. Love your audience, have something to say, and say it well. And don't forget it's show business. You are the dancing monkey who offers encouragement and entertainment to hard-working folks who are trying to get through another day.
Lonsberry says his show is optimistic, not antagonistic. "I believe in asserting something positive, I'm not shouting something negative. Also, I am about 80 percent local, in terms of content. I apply the principles of conservatism to local issues. I also recognize that life isn't all politics, that nobody is always right and nobody is always wrong, and that you should have a good time. I think a show should have a high entertainment value, with a fair amount of humor, that it should respect and support community values and that it should, generally speaking, stand for God, family and country. I hope to be the guy next door, who cares about his kids and his town, and who has something more to say than that Obama is a louse."
Lonsberry is an Army veteran, ?an emergency medical technician, the holder of a pistol permit, an elected member of his village board and a marathon runner.? He?s also a commentator on NRAnews.com. Most impressive, he is a father of 8 kids ranging in age from 8 months to 26 years.
Reach out to Bob HERE
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http://www.facebook.com/boblonsberry
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