WJPZ at 50

Chris Bungo and Rocco Macri met at WJPZ when they were working in production and promotions, respectively.  Their friendship has led to a business partnership of over 3 decades, creating the first-of-its-kind software for radio stations, Promosuite. As members of the Class of 86, today's guests have the rare vantage point of joining the station on AM, but witnessing the transition and the power of...

There have been several long-lasting relationships formed over the 50-year history of WJPZ, and today we look at a special one - Alex Brewer ('12) and Molly Nelson ('14). Two avid sports fans, from Maine and West Virginia, respectively, both came to Syracuse for the student media capabilities.  When Molly arrived, Alex was already two years in, and she developed a crush.   A future ESPN employee w...

(Disclaimer: This episode contains more "explicit language" than most. That's what happens when two Malden kids get together.) If you've been to the annual WJPZ Birthday Banquet, chances are you've enjoyed the jokes from our MC,  Class of 1995 alum, and stand up comedian Stephen Donovan.  And if you came to this episode needing to laugh, you're in the right place.  Steve takes us through his very...

Jeff Kurkjian hasn't been out of college a decade yet, but he's already been a successful major market morning show host in Cleveland, Las Vegas, and now Philadelphia.   Today, we go through his time at Syracuse, as well as his many stops since.   You'd be hard pressed to find a more positive guy in our organization, and you too will likely come out of this listen with a smile on your face. Jeff's...

Chances are, Chris Godsick has been chewed out by more Hollywood A-listers than you've met in your lifetime.  But we'll get to that. As a member of the Class of 1987, Chris was a sophomore when WJPZ moved to the FM dial.  He really captures the enthusiasm and excitement of that moment.  The radio station's passionate staffers could now be heard in the market, and soon they were pulling ratings awa...

Today we are joined by another member of the great WJPZ Class of 1995, Mark Verone.  Mark grew up listening to the station, even when they worked with Whirlin' Disc DJ's coming to East Syracuse Minoa High School. Mark was determined to work at Z89 - even if it took a brief detour to Onondaga Community College before eventually transferring into Newhouse and SU.   The first half of the 90's were a...

It would be most football fans' dream to work backstage with NFL legends Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson and more.  Today Bernie Kim, from the Class of 2002, takes us on his journey from WJPZ to what's known as the "Avocado Room" at Fox Sports in Los Angeles. Like many in the WJPZ Family, Bernie got to Z89 with an intense love of sports - and he was able to marry that with comedy on-air...

Hall of Famer "Merry" Mary Mancini has done it all - both in her time at WJPZ and since.   When the University took over WAER, she found a better, more tightly formatted, home at the world's greatest media classroom.  Starting (like many of us) as an overnight jock, she eventually became part of the Crazy Morning Crew and also music director. While she's quick to give credit to other Hall of Famer...

On social media, you won't find a more enthusiastic supporter of WJPZ than Jordan Hayes, from the Class of 2014.  He tells us how he first found the station in fifth grade as we played "Summer Girls" by LFO.   Once he found out the station was run by Syracuse University students, he knew that's where he wanted to be.   At Baldwinsville High School, he worked at WBXL.   From there he went to OCC an...

You may know today's guest as a former General Manager of WJPZ.  You may know him for his major market news career, between Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, and now KNX in Los Angeles.  But you may not know how much of the current station was built with his hands.  We cover all of that today with Alex Silverman, from the Class of 2010. Alex talks about getting to Syracuse and loving radio, but not...

Today we sit down with Mitch Reiter, WJPZ Class of 1979, to go through his journey from AM 1200 in Syracuse to running Camp Towanda in the Poconos. Mitch paints a picture of the old station inside of Spectrum Sundries, now the site of the Sheraton on campus.  And we spend some time talking about the leadership of classmate and WJPZ Hall of Famer Mike Roberts. Mike recruited Mitch to the radio stat...

Allie Gold, Class of 2015, joins us today.  She's a former general manager of WJPZ, and is currently the digital content manager for Elvis Duran and the Morning Show at Z100 New York.  Allie, like many of us, talks about her obsession with the radio growing up.  Given how far out on Long Island she was, she was more of a WBLI P1 than Z100.  But BLI is what made her fall in love with radio. She got...

Chances are, you won't find an alumnus from our group who interfaces with current students the way Josh Wolff ('03) does.  Sitting on both the the Alumni Association Board and the WJPZ Board of Directors, this former station Program Director is always there to answer a student question. We open today's show by asking Josh about his journey to Syracuse and Z89.   Jag talks about how Josh was instru...

Hall of Famer Ed LaComb, from the Class of 1985, has been involved with the station for years.  He started his own imaging company, Digital Sound and Video , in 1998. He's spent most of the time since then working with the Program Directors of WJPZ to help refine the station's sound. Ed was also at Syracuse when WJPZ moved to FM.  He walks us through his time playing records overnight on carrier c...

Today we are joined by four WJPZ Hall of Famers, who will take us through the station's move to the FM dial in the 1980's - Bob Flint, Phil LoCascio, Eric Fitch, and Chris Mossman. In the Summer of 1982, there was a confluence of events, as Bob puts it.  WJPZ owed Syracuse University $5,000. The station's antenna was taken down, leaving it only to broadcast on TV's and carrier current (we explain...

Stacey Simms, '93, has done it all.  She's worked professionally in radio, in television, and now in podcasting.   (She also voiced the Greatest Media Classroom documentary for WJPZ's 40th anniversary!) Stacey temporarily walked away from Z89 early in her Syracuse career, but it was the staff of the station that eventually brought her back into the fold as an upperclassman and an alum.   Today, we...

T.J. Basalla and Kevin Rich are the best of friends, and like many of us, that relationship got its start at WJPZ.   Oddly, that wasn't what brought them together originally.  It was a shared love of another team - Michigan Football.  And while their initial connection was born out of Maize and Blue, their careers and lives since have a distinctly Orange hue. Both of today's guests talk about some...

Matt DelSignore was elected to the WJPZ of Hall of Fame in 2022, and will be inducted at this year's Banquet celebation. Growing up outside Watertown, New York, Matt's parents had season tickets to Syracuse Football.  But while most other Walkmans (Walkmen?) in the Dome were tuned in to the game on WSYR, Matt's headphones found Z89, then programmed by our own Neon Dion Summers.   The station sound...

Mike Couzens grew up listening to the radio in White Plains, New York.  So it's no surprise that when he got to Syracuse,  he immediately gravitated to both WJPZ and WAER, spending far more time in those facilities than on coursework. Today he tells us about being surprised, as a sports guy, when his predecessor Alex Silverman suggested he run for General Manager.  Throughout this episode, Mike ta...

Today is a very special episode of the podcast.   Three of Jag's classmates from the Class of 2002 reflect back on a day at the beginning of their senior year - September 11, 2001. Dave Peterson, aka "Peterman," was the station's GM and morning show host that morning.  Leah Hoffman was his co-host, out on campus interviewing folks about the Syracuse primary elections, scheduled that Tuesday.   Bre...

Chances are, if you have ever been involved with WJPZ, you know Matt Friedman from the Class of 1994.   This Hall of Famer and proud Michigander is one of our most active alumni.  (In fact, he even helped make some connections for this podcast.)  Today he takes us from his journey to Syracuse, through television news, and to the helm of his agency, Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications. Matt ac...

Geoff "Deaf Geoff" Herbert is a machine -serving as WJPZ's GM while working as a morning show host at a commercial station in Syracuse.   Oh by the way, he was working a night shift at Blockbuster Video (RIP) and somehow attending classes. Geoff was bitten by the radio bug early, serving as General Manager of his high school radio station in Acton, Massachusetts.  This experience made attending Sy...

Brian Lapis refers to himself as the "court jester" of WJPZ, but in today's interview, you'll hear the true passion he has for the radio station.   In fact, he starts by telling us about his biggest regret from his time at Syracuse - not joining Z89 sooner. Brian actually came in as a freshman working for Y94FM in Syracuse, before really becoming more involved with WJPZ in the second half of his c...

Scott Meach's contributions to both WJPZ and the Alumni Association are nearly immeasurable.   In two stints as General Manager, he and his team helped shepherd the station out of a mountain of debt, bring in some major market coin, and pull off some big-time promotions in the Syracuse market. In his time since graduation, he's served as President of a revamped Alumni Association, created the byla...

In the 50 year history of WJPZ, there have been many trying times and events.  But dealing with a once-in-a-century global pandemic was certainly a first for the station.  That's what Kyle Leff, Class of 2022, walked into when he was elected General Manager in the Spring of 2020. In this episode, Kyle walks us through 4 semesters of COVID-19 on campus and at WJPZ.   When everyone the campus shut d...