Midwestern Radio

A series of jokes in a chat room would lead to an offer to become the Program Director for a new radio station in Keokuk, IA. The owners had just bought the FM side of WCAZ in Carthage, Illinois. We would become "The All New 92 WZBN" at 92.1 on the FM dial. It was going to be "classic rock" and they wanted me for the job. My father convinced me not to take the job sight unseen so I flew out to Keokuk, IA (through Chicago onto a puddle jumper) and met the station manager and some of the staff. They showed me the old station where they were still broadcasting out of and the new office they'd be moving into. It seemed like they wanted a New Director, which I told them I wasn't qualified to do. (Not that I was qualified to be PD but this was small market.) They said that I was the guy they wanted. I decided to accept the job for $17k/year.

The day before I was to leave, the station manager called me and told me the format was sitching back to oldies due to public pressure. I figured I could handle that having worked at an oldies station and decided I'd take the job anyway. So with my car packed up, I made the two day drive from Massachusetts to Iowa.

Upon arriving, I got a room at a hotel across from the radio station. I unpacked my car into the room and was there for a few days while I searched for an apartment. I found a two bedroom apartment for $270/mo being rented by the station owner's brother-in-law. This is also when I met the station owner for the first time.

The Fine People of Iowa