Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 11, 2008 at 10:25:56:
In Reply to: WLIT removes Melissa Forman, voicetracks from Phoenix posted by chicagomedia.org on November 10, 2008 at 15:19:20:
Back in Chicago
November 11th, 2008
As you probably read in the Phil Rosenthal article in the Trib, I'm back on the air in Chicago, doing afternoons on 93.9 the Lite. I'm really happy to be working with Melissa, Robin, Dave, Rick and the whole crew.
As anyone who knows me knows, I love the computer geekery of it all, but when it comes right down to it, communicating about the station and what's important to Lite listeners in Chicago is the main thing. Our lives are so different in 2008 than they were a few years ago. My boss is two doors down from me, but we communicate mostly through email. Part of my airstaff is based in Phoenix, part of it in Chicago, a bit of it in San Diego, and one guy is from London. Ironically, it's the British guy who I see every day in the studio! He's local!
Legendary radio personality Tom Joyner traveled every day between Dallas and Chicago, doing Mornings in one market and Afternoons in the other. American Airlines eventually retired his seat at an event in Joyner's honor. The amazing thing about technology today, is that I can experience more of life in Chicago (and have in the 5 years since we moved to Phoenix) via the internet than I would be able to without the net, but flying back and forth. All the time required for travel would mean I'd know the O'Hare to Michigan Avenue and Sky Harbor to Van Buren Street routes really well, but not a whole lot else.
It's such a different world, but we all have to admit, an interesting one, right?
Our neighbors, Lee and Missy fly Bears flags on their house, we watch WGN News (when Fox 10's not in news!) and I live in constant hope/dread that a Portillos will open close by (hey, they opened one up near our place in Burr Ridge! I can dream!). If Caribou Coffee were a franchise, I'd open one up myself, I love that place so much (especially the one in LaGrange, where I spent most of our last trip at a couple weeks ago).
Phoenix, where both my wife and I went to college (ASU) is important to us, but we definitely think of ourselves as bi-locational. Like tens of thousands of our neighbors, we're Chicagoans who love the Valley of the Sun, as schizophrenic as that makes us. But if you've never been here, come for a visit, and I think you'll begin to understand the place a little better. You'll feel very much at home here, surrounded by Cubs and Sox fans. Phoenix is definitely it's own city, but you can’t mistake the foundation it's built on. If you mention "The Mayor," there's as much chance the person you're talking to is referring to Daley as Gordon.
As Phil said in the piece, we're already in Christmas Music at KEZ, since for the first time in the 15+ years of doing this (yes, KEZ was the first to be crazy enough to completely change the format to Christmas Music), we've never had a competitor before. So between that, and the fact that it turned cold here last week, I decided on Friday to flip the switch and stop worrying about the perfect time to do it. :-)
As far as flipping the switch on Lite? Well, I haven't a clue as to when that's happening, but I doubt we'll wait for Christmas Eve!
(Kevin Gossett's blogsite)