U.S radio heavyweight Roger Morgan has shared his Asian radio experiences with asiaradiotoday.
Having recently returned from Asia following my first-ever visit, I’m still reeling from the state of radio there and hoping that my counterparts throughout Asia recognize the amazing opportunities that await them through the medium of radio. In short, I was tremendously impressed.
My own broadcast career started in the late 60’s at a small hometown radio station in Oregon. In search of employment to pay for my college education, I stumbled across a radio station not far from my home, went inside and, in my best “radio voice” – I applied for an on-air job! Needless to say, the application didn’t go entirely as planned.
I got that first radio job, alright and while I don’t know what the position is called in Asia, but here in the U.S., it’s called “a gofer” – ( go for this and go for that!). I was lucky and soon found myself behind the microphone due to some unexpected eliminations of staff members and a shortage of replacements.
One of my first assignments was to interview the reigning Miss America! Wow…what an assignment! I got the news with very short lead time and sadly, discovered that there was no available tape recorder on which to record the interview. Not wanting to miss the opportunity of my young life, I quickly rigged up a portable record player, running a mic cable into the top to make it look like a recorder and off I went for the interview. It was my first brush with all that was to lie ahead in the way of amazing opportunities.
Within 3 years, I had made my way into Oregon’s largest radio market, Portland, at the leading rock station, KISN. I was put into the afternoon “drive” position as the replacement for a jock known as “The Real Don Steele”. Don had been hired by a Los Angeles station and was on his way to becoming one of America’s most legendary radio personalities.
Following just over a year at KISN, I was hired in a larger Pacific Northwest market, Seattle, at KJR radio. 6 months later, KNUZ in Houston hired me and I found myself in a huge radio market. Fast forward a few years to San Francisco and legendary station KYA in 1974 where I was hired to do weekends but at a salary that topped any I had previously earned. 2 weeks into that assignment, the morning jock at KYA left and I was placed in morning drive and a mere two weeks later, assigned the program director’s job. Cash Box Magazine referred to the meteoric rise as a “Cinderella” story. Whatever it was, it was exciting beyond words!
Not more than 6 months into the dual assignment of morning personality and program director, I met one of America’s up and coming actors, Michael Douglas, who was co-starring in detective series for ABC Television filmed in San Francisco, “The Streets of San Francisco”. That led to small parts in 14 episodes of that show as well as a cameo role in the Clint Eastwood film, “The Enforcer”. Radio had marched me from a small market in Oregon to America’s 5th largest radio market and roles in leading television and motion pictures!
In 1998, I created a syndicated radio program, “Rock & Roll Rewind” that eventually was syndicated in more than 200 U.S. markets and overseas in 18 countries. In 2000, I was invited to serve as a preliminary judge for the Miss Universe Pageant on Cyprus and later that year, a small role in a feature film, “.Com For Murder” starring rock stars Huey Lewis and legendary British rocker, Roger Daltrey of “The Who”. During that entire time, I maintained my role as a radio personality and daily thanked my lucky stars for having placed me in the dream job of a lifetime.
I purchased my first radio station in 2001 in the U.S. Virgin Islands on St. Croix and the station became the leading radio station in the Caribbean and resulted in a front page story in the Wall Street Journal in 2007.
OK, there MUST be a lesson in all of this, right? There is. If you’re in radio today, no matter where you are, realize the amazing power of the medium to connect you to a future that could easily be beyond your wildest dreams. Work hard, be honest, deliver your best performance and earn all that radio is capable of providing you.
Today, I’m in broadcast management. I was named in 2013 as being among the top 12 Directors of Broadcast Sales in America. Yes, I pinch myself daily and wonder what lies ahead. That visit to Asia that I mentioned in the beginning of this story? It was to visit KISS – FM in Singapore and the Maddy Barber morning radio show. Maddy invited my fiancé and I to visit the show and allowed me to actually propose to that fiancé on her program. It was at KISS FM that I discovered that radio in Asia is extremely healthy and vibrant!
And the next adventure? I’m not sure but it would please me tremendously to have the opportunity to manage a large English-speaking radio group somewhere in Asia. Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong? Who knows? I think I would jump at the opportunity. And radio is just the miracle door-opening key that has given me a dream life.
Here’s my contact information: www.rogerwmorgan.com Let’s see what miracles await!