For 35 years, Tom Cuddy has set the programming tone in New York, 12 of those at 710 WOR. However, the radio veteran never wants attention or credit. He says it belongs to the different teams he has worked with over his career.

“So I believe that, if you can bring someone to the microphone who is well versed in all the issues of the day, but can also bring some humor to it to balance it out, that has worked for us,” Cuddy told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.

His dream began as a preteen when Tom Cuddy received a tour of WBZ through a school project, “And it looked like the disc jockeys were having so much fun on the air. I said, ‘I would like to do that one day as a career.’”

By his freshman year of high school, Cuddy had his own show on a commercial radio station. He has always worked in radio since then. Some notable positions and stations he’s worked at included WPLJ-FM, overseeing programming of the ABC-owned FM stations, and was Executive Producer of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem.

It’s this very same passion he looks for in his team. “I get a lot of applications from people early in their careers that do not show passion and do not show the commitment to homework.” To be a part of the team takes a lot of work and dedication.”

Cuddy pointed to Mark Simone as one of the most dedicated people in the craft.

“Mark came to New York right out of college in the 70s, and he’s been on New York radio since the 70s, which in a business that does not promise you stability or longevity. He is one of the unique talents that has survived.”

Cuddy went on to say, “[Simone] is out every night of the week, having dinner with newsmakers, celebrities, politicians, and people whisper things in his ear that he knows that no other talk show host knows. Then he’s able to share with listeners. He is truly engulfed in this city, and he does it with a very dry sense of humor, which people enjoy.”

Tom Cuddy believes being well-read and versatile is also an important part of being in news and on the radio. Another key member of the WOR team joined just last year, News Director Larry Mendte. Cuddy has been a fan of the 97x Emmy Award winner for many years.

“So, when the opportunity popped up for him to work with Len and Michael in the Morning and all of us at WOR, I was ecstatic that we were able to bring in a talent of Larry’s caliber.” Mendte was also the original co-host of the syndicated Access Hollywood.

It’s personalities like the above that makes WOR so special and loved, but it’s not always just a passion for radio that makes a team great. It’s the collective knowledge of the group that brings so many listeners to the AM station. “When we put together our morning show, Len Berman had been successful for over 30 years as a sports anchor in, New York television, and Michael Riedel had been successful for decades as the most read Broadway columnist.”

Tom Cuddy went on to say, “So both these guys had successful careers doing something else than what they’re doing. And they both have second careers in radio as a talk show host, even though none of them had searched out.” What many of WOR’s voices have in common are dynamic personality and humor. “It’d be a boring radio station if they have a lot of cloned-sounding, personalities and people who are very similar in many ways.”

Making sure there is a variety of personalities helps appeal to many listeners but comedy is essential to keep them coming back. “Morning shows and music stations are known for their humor and comedy. Not so much on talk radio. Rush Limbaugh, who’s the biggest talk host that this format has ever had, he was very successful in trying to intersperse humor in what he does. But there’s so many talk people who host shows across the country, it’s all serious, serious, serious. So at WOR, we try to combine the two.”

Over the years Tom Cuddy has seen a technological shift in the industry, some of which has aided radio stations, like social media. “Social media, like any other tool that you have, can be misused. But I think as far as getting people’s attention, it has been a a good thing for us. We certainly have noticed it. When we post something on social media that has just happened, we’re going to delve into a breaking story or an exclusive interview. We can see, through the numbers that we can track on streaming.”

He did note others think it takes a little of the mystique of ration away. “[Before social media] you might not always known what the disc jockey looked like and now it takes a lot of that imagination away, that we had, for most of our careers.” However, he believes it is a great asset to news talk radio.

As for the future of radio, he believes technology will only help AM radio stations. “The thing that has changed in our radio industry recently is how people use it. Being in an AM radio station [we] don’t have the cumes of FM stations. AM stations have not sounded as good technically as an FM station. A lot of that is changing now with smart speakers.”

Cuddy believes another positive is streaming. “I think that’s something which has been a big positive for AM radio because if you listen on your phone it sounds as good as FM. So, that technology change, I think, has been a shot in the arm to AM radio.”

For those believing the Washington hype of discarding AM radio for other services, Tom Cuddy doesn’t believe AM radio will wither away. “I really think that AM radio will always be able to offer things that FM won’t.”

After just sixteen months, iHeartMedia has silenced upstart Dallas talk station 97.1 The Freak, featuring hosts like Mike Rhyner, and flipped it back to its previous rock incarnation, The Eagle. It was, as I’ve said of mega radio corporations far too often in recent years, shocking but not surprising.

When I arrived in Dallas from L.A. 12 years ago I found a refreshing news and talk radio landscape. Though Dallas-Fort Worth is the fifth largest market in America there was nothing slick or big-time sounding about it. The stations that commanded the most attention from listeners were deeply rooted in North Texas. Local talkers and news personalities were (and still are) mostly homegrown and it showed. For a newcomer, it required some quick catching up but provided me with a rapid initiation into the club.

Texans are known for a lot of silly stereotypes but their reputation for open-hearted friendliness and a welcoming, can-do spirit are real. As a California transplant, it was exciting but sometimes baffling.

“It was very parochial, very insiderish; for some reason, I can’t put my finger on all of that made it more appealing.”

That’s Texas radio Hall-of-Famer Mike Rhyner, talking about the beginning of sports talk radio in Dallas-Ft. Worth 30 years ago. In that time KTCK has since won four Marconi Awards as the Best Sports Station in America.

The Ticket was borne of Rhyner’s vision and created by him with his homeboys, many of whom still work there today. In his 26 years at the Ticket, the Old Grey Wolf as he is called presided over a cast of local personalities who had their early doubts but believed in him. He swiftly led them to the top of the ratings, where they have remained unchallenged since. In January of 2020 Rhyner, approaching his 70th birthday, decided he’d done it all and announced his retirement.

I asked him if it was really retirement or if was it a sly Old Grey Fox stalking a new opportunity.

“At the time it was, it was retirement. I mean, I didn’t make one phone call trying to get another gig.  I didn’t talk to one person. I’d stayed in touch somewhat with some of the guys from back in the day, but I didn’t, not once did I say, man, I’d really like to get back into it or anything like that. That changed when the opportunity to do The Freak came along.”

Two years later he was back doing afternoons on iHeart’s 97.1 in Dallas, newly branded as The Freak. His old friends, Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade had convinced iHeart to switch the station to their new style of talk, upbeat, fun, and honest, heavy on local, relatable lifestyles. They brought in several popular local personalities and finally convinced Rhyner to join them.

 iHeart believed and supported them until they didn’t, just over a year later.

On my Conversations.buzz podcast this past Monday I asked Rhyner about the too-sudden surrender by the corporation. I said it takes a long time to create and grow an audience in talk. Rhyner agreed.

“If you’re going to get into talk radio you’ve got to have the stomach for the fight. Once they (corporations) get in there they realize there is much, much more to it than they had ever imagined. They lose whatever stomach for the fight they thought they had. The bottom line is you never get the time you really need.”

A quick aside to make the point: this past week the Radio Hall of Fame announced its list of 2024 candidates, including John Kobylt and Ken Champiou, who worked together for 36 years. It took more than three years for them to earn their following at KFI, Los Angeles. When they got there they never looked back.

In 16 months the Freak in Dallas was just finding its stride. The personalities were fresh, engaged, prepared, and focused. They talked about everything except politics. Sports is a big deal in Dallas, and so is entertainment, and lifestyle. They talked about it all and did so with solid information and engaging professionalism.

The word was out. The audience was growing. But not fast enough for iHeartRadio, which is a disingenuous name for a company that should be called iHeartFastProfits.

Mike Rhyner is a wise Old Grey Wolf. He’s been around long enough to know there’s nothing to be gained by biting the hand that once fed him.

“I’ve been reenergized by this (the Freak). I enjoyed doing radio again and would really like for something to pop up but if it doesn’t, that’s fine, too. Ya know? I’ve had more fun and better times in this game than most. And if nothing pops up for me henceforth I’ll just take my toys and go home and look back and say, ‘It’s been a good ‘un.’”

Of iHeart’s swift execution of the Freak, he is philosophically diplomatic: “We were brought on board to do a job there and we just didn’t get it done.”

To which I add, of course not. You were still hiking up the trail. iHeart hired you and then cut you loose before you could reach the summit. After reading the latest bean count the jury in the boardroom reached a verdict: The Freak was an unproven asset; cut the overhead.

Skeptical and even derisive at first I came around to love the Freak. It was becoming the station of my professional dreams.

More from the Old Grey Wolf:

“Yeah, there are a lot of things that I really did like about it. And make no mistake, I’m not thrilled with what happened and the way it all came down but  I think we had a really good product. I think we did some really good radio.

“I know we don’t have the ratings* to substantiate that but as I would make my way around town, I had so many people come up and tell me that they liked it. It was neat to hear that.”

(*The most recent Nielsen ratings show the Freak, KEGL, with the second-highest talk station ranking among five in the DFW Metroplex. All except The Freak, the new kid, have been jostling for position for many years.)

Rhyner continues:

“I do think that we connected with a whole lot of people out there. And I do think that what we did is viable. And I do think that if there is some way that somebody a little bit more equipped, a little better equipped to take on such an endeavor ever wanted to again, then I’d love that.”

I do think we haven’t heard the end of Mike Rhyner in North Texas.

Rhyner’s crew of superb professionals now adrift are a homegrown radio dream team waiting to be enticed into a new chance and a promise: three or four years and a commitment to marketing, guaranteed.

It’s severe weather season across the Heartland of America. For millions of Americans, springtime brings thunderstorms, hail, strong winds, and yes, occasional tornadoes. Last weekend, there were 250 tornado warnings across the United States, mostly stretching from north Texas up to Nebraska, in the most intense severe weather outbreak of 2024 thus far. This should have reminded large and small market radio stations that we are often the lifeline for our audience during these severe weather events.

Specifically, as a News/Talk station, you will be expected to be a go-to resource for those traveling in their vehicles or at home if they’ve lost power and/or can’t access a television.

While it’s ideal to have a plan in place before the spring weather starts its instability, it’s never too late to reevaluate that plan and ensure your station is fully equipped to provide the listening audience with the best coverage possible. 

First, depending on market size, have a strong TV partner you trust. This is the easiest way to access severe weather coverage. As long as you have someone capable of potting up your TV partner’s coverage, you can run their coverage for as long as you’d like. And this is better than putting someone on the air who has never done severe weather coverage, or who doesn’t know the market and geography of the region. If you’re not entirely confident in the person who is about to crack the mic to cover properly, then don’t even think twice. Use your TV partner. 

I’ve bounced around radio stations throughout the Midwest recently and heard some horrendous weather coverage. Anchors and hosts mixing up counties, state lines, tornado watches vs. warnings, and more. They were disasters. Anchors on air admitting they can’t tell two counties apart. While you’re showing off your lack of geographical knowledge, listeners are turning to you to be experts to tell them whether or not they, and/or their families, are in harm’s way. And I’ll add that this example was in a sizable enough market that they likely had access to wall-to-wall TV coverage. There was no reason to keep the clueless on air to guess.

But plenty of small markets across the midwest may not have proper TV coverage, depending on their location. I experienced this early in my radio career in Woodward, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City television stations would do a decent job but not a great job covering the listening area.

As a result, every on-air staffer at K101 Radio was required to be able to handle severe weather coverage. That meant learning how to read radar, learn the counties in the region like the back of your hand, and understand the different warnings and watches while delivering the information to your audience concisely and coherently. The expectations of the late, great J. Douglas Williams were high.

Still, he knew the importance of being able to relay life-saving information to his audience in Northwest Oklahoma, Southwest Kansas, and the Texas panhandle, where his station was the go-to outlet for severe weather coverage.

While staffs are thin across radio, it’s not an excuse not to have a staff prepared for severe weather during the springtime in the Midwest. And it’s never an excuse not to cover life-threatening weather for your audience. It can be an excellent cume draw, no matter the time of day, and help build trust between your station and the listeners in your market.

Radio is losing audience share, just like all traditional media is, but one of the best ways to get it back is to quite literally “be there” for people when their lives are, or could be, at risk. It’s one of the great tools that separates radio from every other medium, and leaning into that for our competitive advantage only makes sense to remain viable well into the future.