The Sound Off Podcast

Susan Knight and I haven't seen each other since Labour Day 1995. We had just come back from the Molson Polar Ice Party in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. She was working at 92 Rock in Sudbury and from there went to Chatham, Ontario and then Mountain-FM in Squamish, B.C. The rest is a blur but there were stints in Kelowna, Calgary and Victoria, B.C. whee she is now covering a maternity leave at 91.3 The Zone. Y...

September is an exciting month that comes complete with the hopes and promise of a new year. I took some time to hang with family recently and take what is normally a slow time of the podcast year to unwind a bit. I took some radio notes and read a few things and am sharing what came bubbling up. Think of it as some sort of lame meditation. In this episode, you'll hear why the word retirement pops...

Morgan McCarthy is the host of the 715 Newsroom, a local Wisconsin online radio news source that provides news in the Chippewa Valley area in a way that is never boring. They also have a podcast called News Makers that is currently on its 22nd episode. You'll hear Morgan's voice on radio shows owned by Midwest Family Broadcasting all over Wisconsin. Morgan's original break in radio (WDRK 999 The C...

Chris Byrne is the afternoon drive host at Pure Country 89 in Windsor. He believes a relative unknown in the radio business but we have memories and remember him changing the sign in Fort McMurray when its residents returned after 2016 fires caused a mass evacuation. Chris was let go in 2020 from his morning show position in 92.7 Rock in Sudbury, but has happily resurfaced at Pure Country. In this...

Catherine O'Brien is the owner of Branch Out Programs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The California transplant turned in her career as a tax preparer for one in podcast. We met back in 2016 in Chicago and have made it point now to meet on a regular basis to help one another with branded podcasts. Sadly, this being another year of COVID, I won't get to see Catherine again - but instead decided to get t...

We spoke with Skywalker, aka Jarrett Galeno from K104 in the Hudson Valley. Skywalker is a personality you might hear on other stations across America in Cookville, Tennesee, Rutland, Vermont or Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He lives and breathes radio and has stories from New York, Boston and Connecticut to share from his radio path which started back in the late 90's. In this episode, you'll hear how Sk...

JJ Kincaid does mornings at New Country 101.5 in Atlanta. He's been in radio since the 90's, making his mark at CHR stations across America, including KDWB in Minneapolis and Z100 in New York. I've been fortunate to meet JJ and get to know him over cocktails, but I also made sure his show was a stop back when I would wake up and listen to morning radio. (The pandemic has meant I do a little less n...

Terry DiMonte takes a break from taking a break from social media and joined me to talk about his summer live from my dining.room. Since his "retirement" from CHOM last May, he's enjoyed sleeping in and visiting with friends. I am very honoured to be his friends and a stop on the Winnipeg tour. Terry has long roots in Winnipeg that extend back to his days at 92 CITI-FM and working in the same buil...

Researching for podcast episodes is different in the pandemic. I often have met the person long before I interview them. Perhaps we shared a coffee or drink, maybe we worked together or I saw them speak at a conference. Perhaps I grew up listening to them, worked in the same market or interviewed them for a job. The pandemic has turned some of episodes into radio Lava-Life dates. That's what happe...

Yes it has been five years since we had Jessica Rhodes from Interview connections on the podcast. Since then Jessica has grown the business to a six and now 7 figure business. How did she do it? Small steps and "grind and grit". In this episode I reconnect with Jessica , 5 years in between episodes and ask her about some of the business moves she has made like getting a physical office space, part...

John Mamola is the program director of WDAE, the sports station in Tampa Bay. We had him on the show back in December of 2019 and his life sounded busy. With the arrival of COVID, the sports world got turned upside down. For many stations, the arrival of COVID meant a decrease in workload - but not in Tampa Bay. The city really started to stir with arrival of Tom Brady in March of 2002. From that...

There are a lot of things that come to mind when you hear the name Stu Schwartz. The Ottawa morning host has been a radio staple in the market since the mid-90's, first making a name for himself as Stuntman Stu, then as a sports fixture on Team 1200 AND in-house announcer at the Ottawa Senators hockey games, and now overall radio powerhouse at Move 100. He's not ready to put himself in the categor...

Paige Nienaber knows radio promotions and marketing. He's been involved with some really big ones - and one that I definitely remember because I saw it play out on CNN. (Wild's infamous Haircut on the Bridge). In this episode, I ask Paige all about what makes a radio promotion successful, and how they changed over the course of the pandemic. In this episode, you'll hear a conversation about radio...

Christian Zyp is a host on Edmonton's CJSR's Moving Radio. But you're not listening to this episode for that. The story of our friendship begins on the radio in 1995 with the release of Van Halen's Balance CD. Back then radio stations were given advance copies and a "World Album Premiere". The special we ran only featured 9/11 songs on the CD. Where we the other two. Two drunk guys started calling...

Sometime back in 2008, Vinny Barrucco made the call to (then) Mix 96 to see if his skills acquired at community juggernaut K103 Kahnawake would translate into the Montreal mainstream. We know today that that answer is yes. The Montreal morning host has done most of the day parts on Montreal radio at the two of the biggest English FM's in the city, Virgin Radio and 92.5 The Beat. Today, he is a hos...

Steve Goldstein and I had a chat for this special bonus episode about how many podcasts there are. REALLY. Steve is the Founder/CEO of Amplifi Media, an audio innovation firm that offers counsel, production, and marketing of voice-first, podcast, and branded audio. Well-known as a thought leader in audio programming, marketing, and management, Steve often speaks about the...

Valerie Geller has inspired many to be better broadcasters through her work. Many of those lessons can be found in her 2011 book, Beyond Powerful Radio, the follow up to the 1996 work, Creating Powerful Radio. I would consider this podcast to be incomplete without an episode from Valerie. She is one of the most referenced persons in this series; not only from broadcasters, but now podcasters. In t...

Matt goes solo this week with some ideas for the Great Radio Reset. With the pandemic coming to an end and radio stations looking to the future, we've assembled a list of things to think about. Some are some old ideas that should come to fruition, while others where born in the pandemic. As always your feedback is welcome. Here are the links that I promised to list in the episode: Pat Holiday's 20...

Long before I even knew that Skye was friends with my super close cousin Kingman, I wanted to have her on the show. She was a guest with Sound Off Alum Jim Harold shortly after we all convened on Orlando for Podcast Movement int the before times of 2019. Somehow, I failed to meet Skye. I later received an intro through Kingman to connect and that was more than enough of a sign to do this episode....

One of our biggest podcast episodes was back in October of 2017 when we had Sheri Lynch on the show to talk about taking control of the Bob and Sheri Show. By control, that means retaining things like digital rights and having autonomy over your brand. The episode has remained popular over the years because of the number of radio people who have considered taking a similar jump. In fact, it is one...

Tech Survey has been an annual study by Jacobs Media since 2005. But 2021 will be one for the ages. Completed during a pandemic, Tech Survey 2021 tells the radio story of what happened to our radio listeners when Work from home, Zoom, masks, no travel, and a politically charged internet took hold. Originally, this was going to be a discussion about radio one year into the pandemic but how much bet...

Dani Stover has a wonderful studio with a beautiful sounding microphone and produces content for radio, and podcast. She's not the first unemployed creator to grace the podcast. Given the state of Canadian radio which is awaiting new regulations while dealing with the remnants of a pandemic economy, Dani is patiently testing the waters to rekindle her relationship with radio. I particular love thi...

Darryl Spring is passionate about rock radio. Although it started out with an attraction for what was coming out of the club shows of then CFNY-FM 102, Darryl knew radio was his future. From Loyalist College, to Q92 in Timmins, to Corus Radio in Toronto and Hamilton. His next two stops included Kingston and Ottawa, where there was great success, and some unfortunately timed circumstances. In this...

Tracy Johnson is a talent coach I had the pleasure of working with him back in 2013. His ideas and perspectives always resonated with both the Rock and Hot AC talent I was working with. I recall the ideas benefited not a personality's development, but soon after station morale and inevitably the ratings. Tracy also makes himself available to all performers with ongoing seminars. In this episode yo...

This week I spent some time looking out the window and thinking about a lot of the news that has been circulating in the radio business. Most of it worries me. People asking if Clubhouse is going to kill podcasting have it wrong - it stands to take the place of conversational and interactive talk radio. Other things I covered: Geddy Lee from Rush is not happy with Rogers simulcasting Blue Jays gam...