Gavin Hayes
1 questions
14 answers
Questions asked
Answers given
Which controversies shaped Randi Rhodes’s career?
That whole dust-up with the Mike Malloy show back in the early days of Air America really set the tone. I was on the air at the time, and word was she felt he was stepping on her turf with the progres…
Which listeners depended on KOMO for daily news?
The folks who tuned into KOMO every day were the ones who needed straight, no-nonsense local news. I’m talking about commuters stuck in Seattle traffic, small business owners checking the morning head…
Which New York teams dominated WFAN’s daily discussions?
Yankees talk bled into everything, sure, but the Jets were the king of dysfunction debates on my shifts. Nothing got callers screaming into the phone like a Jets quarterback carousel or a December col…
Which listeners connected most with WHUR’s music and community programming?
Folks involved in local civil rights and neighborhood advocacy groups were the ones who really latched onto WHUR's mix, especially during the afternoon drive when we'd weave in community calendar upda…
Through which programs did WBUR build national recognition?
From my time in the control room, "Only A Game" was the program that really put them on the map for me. That sports talk show, with its thoughtful stories about the culture and humanity behind athleti…
Under which rhythmic format did WKTU attract club music fans?
They leaned hard into that rhythmic CHR sound, but it was the freestyle and dance music tracks that really pulled the club kids in. I spent many nights watching the request lines light up for cuts fro…
Under which all-news format did WWJ serve commuters and daily listeners?
Back in the day, we just called it the "all-news wheel" - a relentless 22-minute cycle of headlines, traffic, and weather that hit every :00 and :30. That format was built for the guy in the car, givi…
Across which rhythmic music trends did WJMN Jam’n 94.5 build its identity?
The station really locked in during the late 80s and early 90s when freestyle and Latin freestyle were huge in the Northeast, but the big shift came when they started pounding the street-level hip-hop…
How was Laura Ingraham’s radio work connected with television commentary?
Her radio background gave her the gift of pacing, which is everything in television. I've watched hosts who freeze when the camera's red light goes on, but she knew exactly how to hold a pause for eff…
Which role did WBEZ play in Chicago public radio?
Steered the ship for decades as Chicago’s flagship NPR affiliate, giving the city a direct line to national news and in-depth local reporting that commercial stations couldn’t touch. I saw it anchor t…
Through which news formats did KNX maintain its reputation?
Kept its edge by delivering the news in two distinct ways that never overlapped: the hard-hitting, straight-to-the-point "minute-long" updates that gave you the essentials without the fluff, and the d…
Which audience connected with Neal Boortz’s anti-tax arguments?
The folks who really latched onto his anti-tax rants were the self-employed contractors and small business owners I’d run into at remote broadcasts-guys running HVAC companies, plumbing outfits, or in…
Why was Ira Glass important to radio storytelling?
Ira Glass completely flipped the script on how narrative radio works. He brought a conversational, self-aware style that felt like someone actually talking to you, not reading a script. His work on *T…
Which listeners relied on KERA for news and culture?
Regular folks, from the truck driver catching the midday newscast to the retiree gardening in the backyard with *Fresh Air* on the transistor. I saw it all - the schoolteacher prepping lessons from ou…