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An Unorthodox Journey Led Jeff Katz to Radio

Katz landed his first radio job in sales at WFPG, a station in Atlantic City, and got his start in radio due to the maudlin fact people die.

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If you want to capture Jeff Katz’s attention, clonk him over the head with a folding chair or put him in a bone-crunching bear hug. I guarantee you he’ll respond.

“Every Saturday, it was me, my dad, and pro wrestling,” Katz said. “Most of my job was to hold what we called ‘rabbit ears’ for better reception.

Katz said his favorite wrestlers included Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino. 

“Bruno had a bear hug. He was just one of the strongest guys in the world. Sammartino was as wide as he was tall, and people loved him. “He was the King of the WWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation,” Katz said. 

Whether pro-wrestling is real or not, Katz will tell you everyone involved was sworn to secrecy, but not so today. “It was presented as a sport, not an event. It was a competition governed by the state athletic commission.” The states wanted their taste of the revenue. 

The ten-year-old Katz was self-described as dorky and nerdy-what a catch. 

“I loved to do a lot of writing, had that transistor radio glued to my ear,” Katz said. “I was the guy who always admired radio people. Not just the on-air guys but the news people behind the scenes. People that told stories that captured your attention.”

Katz tried to learn from everybody, even if they were 821.2 miles away. “One of my first jobs was in Atlantic City. After work, I’d go by the shore with my radio, and I was able to pick up The Loop in Chicago.”

He said Steve Dahl had a big impact on his developing his radio self. Katz admired other radio people too. But he said Dahl took chances nobody else did. “He had feuds with his neighbors and talked about it on the air. Dahl would plant giant trees to upset and get back at them. He also had his being late to work sponsored by a paying advertiser.”

A quality Katz saw in Dahl was honesty. “Nothing was off-limits for him. He said he lived in an affluent area with doctors and lawyers. Even though he was ‘only’ on the radio, he made as much cash as they did.”

Katz was born and raised in Philadelphia. “I still care for the city,” he said. “Very much a blue-collar, working-class city. Most of the folks that work there had to take showers when they came home.” What Katz means is in whatever industry they made their living, they were sure to get sweaty and dirty. 

Early on, Katz said he was sure he was destined to become a ‘practitioner of the dark arts’ or a lawyer. The former probably is a more appropriate description of the job. However, that plan was derailed when his father had a heart attack.

“He always had an impeccable sense of timing,” Katz jokes about his father. Instead of going to law school, Katz became a police officer in public housing in Philadelphia. 

Most of the folks that lived there were kind, and others, not so much. “It depended on who you were talking to,” Katz said. “What you found was there were a lot of grandmothers who were terrified of what was going on outside their doors. They were almost like prisoners. Then you had a collection of young punks with no respect for anybody, including their moms and grandmas.”

Katz said you routinely dealt with professional criminals who had a unique perspective. “They’d tell me they knew they were going to get busted for this and that once in a while. But they still got away with 19 of the 20 they committed. They kind of wrote off the bust as a price of doing business.”

Working with that kind of stress and adversity taught Katz a great deal. “I have a good bullshit detector, and I’m able to tell who is running a game on me,” he said. “It’s been 25 years since I’ve worn the uniform, but I still have friendships with a lot of the people I worked with.” Those relationships have given Katz impetus to help those who are still on the force. “I developed such an appreciation for the guys and gals who protect us daily; I felt it was my calling to give something back to them.”

Katz’s way of giving back manifests in his work with peer counseling among officers. He volunteers his services and offers assistance through the police academy. 

Here comes the radio career. He grew up listening to Joey Reynolds of WFIL and WIBG in Philadelphia. 

Katz said Reynolds was doing ‘talk radio’ long before people knew what it was. The longtime radio personality had one of the classic radio DJ voices but talked a lot, complaining about things in the world. Reynolds seemed to resent the fact that he was obligated to play music.

“He’d talk about how he’d get into trouble if he didn’t play records,” Katz said.

“He’d say, ‘I hate it as much as you do.’ I remember he was doing a personal appearance at an appliance store. I saw him standing near the washers and dryers, and he was wearing an incredible black satin WFIL station jacket. Man, I wanted one of those.”

Katz said Reynolds was hysterically funny on the air and always worked on the edge; his toes were always on the line. “In many ways, he was the precursor to Howard Stern,” Katz said. “Years later, we were on a panel together, and I told the audience Reynolds was one of the reasons I got into radio.”

Reynolds got up from his chair and came over to him, faux tears in his eyes, and Reynolds apologized  for being a reason Katz decided to go into radio.

Katz landed his first radio job in sales at WFPG, an easy-listening station in Atlantic City. Katz got his start in radio partially because of the maudlin fact people die.

“In the sales department, we had a one-sheet that touted us as the number one music used in funeral homes.”

A lively endorsement for any radio station. 

“I did that for a bit; then there was an opening on air, the graveyard shift. I went to our sales manager and mentioned how I’d love to be on the air. He asked me to follow him to the ‘big board,’ which revealed I had sold nothing in January and zilch in February. In short, he felt he had nothing to lose in letting me go.” 

He worked from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., and it was phenomenal. “I felt I’d won the lottery,” Katz said. “It was six days a week, and I got to speak on air probably once an hour. I’d do the ‘tide reports’ at the fishing pier.”

Isn’t that how Cronkite started?

While Katz got his on-air start via dead people, he said radio folks entered their career in a variety of ways. “I think a lot of people just fell into it, kind of like me,” He said. “Others came from music backgrounds, some from the legal world.”

He’s been informing and entertaining listeners in Virginia for ten years. Katz has found a sense of duty and humility as he grew older, but it wasn’t always that way. 

“I’ll admit that at one point, there was no bigger Jeff Katz fan than Jeff Katz,” he said. “That’s not me anymore. There are people I’ve known and still know whose ego makes it very difficult to get both in and out of a room.” He says family grounds him these days, as much as his need to give back.

“My daughter has special needs, and I’ve learned so much from her. She’s a reminder of what is and isn’t all that important,” Katz explained.  

He said the Katz you get at the radio station is the same guy you get at home, perhaps just a bit louder. “My wife Heidi will jump on me sometimes, telling me I talk for three hours a day on the air and sit in a corner at a party. She’d say, ‘You’re as quiet as the couch you’re sitting on.”

Heidi’s grandfather was a postman, riding a horse to make his rounds. When Katz told him he was on the radio every day, the man asked, ‘What else do you do?’ The innuendo being; you couldn’t make a living by doing something so silly.

Well, one man’s career is another man’s horses–t. 

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BNM Writers

News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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8 Ways to Take Your Commercials From Drab to Fab

Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials.

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Another reason to read this column, I often add an Easter egg. We are in the advertising business. Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials. Frequently, clients write these ads. You can excuse it if the spots suck. But when the commercials are written by Account Executives or the production department at the station, it is kind of unforgivable.

I am going to share the most meaningless phrases in commercials.

Locally Owned and Operated

Customers do not care. If customers cared about a business being locally owned and operated, Walmart would not exist. People want service, selection, and value. They do not want to get soaked. When you purchase something, are you willing to pay 20% for a local company? If you say yes, you are wrong. People want a deal.

The Phone Number

Doing 70 down the 405, John slammed on the brakes to write down the phone number for an amazing HVAC Company. That is not how it works people. HVAC companies rarely have or should have regular customers.

Normally, your AC is out. You call the HVAC Company that you are familiar with. Radio advertising allows people to have “TOMA”: Top of Mind Awareness. There are stats that show when a company is advertising on your radio station, their website shows an increase in traffic. When you needed a service for your home, you hit Google and choose the company that you’ve heard of. It’s that simple. I actually heard a commercial asking listeners to add a businesses phone number to their contact list. That is a moronic use of advertising real estate.

Street Addresses

“Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is located at 106 East Governors Drive in Peoria.” 

The people listening cannot process that detail. You could say “Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is on Governors Drive just off 10th in Peoria.” That is almost digestible. That creates a picture of where it is.

Trust me, people interested in prime rib will Google you and load the address in their navigation system. Spend that precious spot time selling the experience of the restaurant.

Always Using the Company Owner/Founder in Commercials

Sometimes, it is amazing when business owners are their spokesperson. They have passion and are natural salespeople. Some business owners are terrible at speaking about their product.

When you have a business owner who is a natural promoter, they can drag listeners into their business. I once worked with a family who owned a couple of hardware stores. They spoke about the benefits of visiting their stores. It was heartfelt and real. They promised that their employees can help solve any problem in your home. If you went to that store and had a simple or complex problem, the employees helped you out.

I once worked with a man who owned a really nice flooring company.  For whatever reason, he thought that he was funny. He had spots written by him, his wife, or a kid. The ads were dreadful. They were not funny at all. Account Executives need to talk these clients out of doing commercials like this. Nothing says wacky hijinks like flooring.

Overuse of Numbers

“We have grapes at 99 cents a pound, Chuck steak at $1.99, two-for-one zucchini.”

Trust me, no one driving in city traffic can keep track of that. “The 2025 Chevy Chevette is back with 45-mpg efficiency and amazing 18-inch tires. Prices start at $19,999…  The New Chevy Silverado starts at $32,999.”

It gets really confusing fast.

WWW.

Yes, I hear commercials saying check us on the internet at “W-W-W dot business name here dot com.”

WWW is assumed and not needed anymore unless you are running a Commadore-64 with the latest floppy disc technology.

Yellow Pages Ad

“Check out our new ad in the Yellow Pages!”

OMG, no one reads those damn things anymore. Most people born after 1960 just toss those suckers in the trash. There was a time when the Yellow Pages were the largest revenue generator in advertising. Yes, a book of ads. Like Facebook, without your buddy’s political, vacation, or food posts. It was just ads. Zero content.

I had stuffed salmon tonight that I engineered myself. I would make Sydney Sweeney quite the trophy husband. Set us up. Hey, I am single. It was not that long ago that you would hear a radio ad that promoted a coupon in the Sunday paper.

Well, that copy should be deader than a doornail.

Amateur Theater

A husband and wife discussing their lawn and how she heard about Telly’s Lawn Service from her friend Stacy. 

Those commercials are obviously contrived and not interesting at all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open every commercial must have an attention-grabbing opener. “Totally Jammed…  The floor covered with the guest towels. Fearing the horrific consequences of another flush…  I did the right thing. I called ABC Plumbing. Quick service, a great price, and peace of mind.”

The next time that the plunger is failing to get the desired results, the listener of that commercial will identify with the very realist scenario.

We are in the advertising business. Use radio as it was meant.

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The Lost Art of Using Sound as a Springboard

Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

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Jon Stewart was the first guy to do it — take a politician’s words from the news of the day or week. Search his or her entire past and find a sound byte saying the exact opposite.

It became an art form – and a great way to keep people accountable.

Most radio operations don’t have the resources necessary to consistently do something like that, but truth be told, that kind of journalism isn’t really the point of this week’s column.

It’s an example of the simple power of sound. We need to use it more within our shows. Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable, and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

Speaking from experience, not doing it is lazy.

Doing it takes minimal effort and helps conversations tremendously – especially when it’s in real-time. I know. I’ve been there – missing opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t think of it, ask for help or just do it myself.

Put simply, good sound is a better springboard to a question than just a question.

Just the other day, I realized how well it works and how little I’ve been doing it.

Here’s what happened.

We have one particularly heated congressional race in our state. The Republican candidate is running for a second time after narrowly losing in 2022 in an election where Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidate from the same party got smoked, and the Republican presidential candidate lost the state as well.

This time around, there’s a struggling Democratic President with real doubts about the economy and the country’s standing in the world.

Put simply, the Democratic congressional incumbent has a massive task ahead to get re-elected.

On my show, I try to be consistently independent and be a place for both parties to appear with the expectation that the conversations will be fair and honest.

The Republican candidate came on the show earlier this month, and we went through a number of issues. Connecticut is a relatively strong Democratic stronghold, where the party controls the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the entire congressional delegation.

Having said that, the largest voting block is unaffiliated, so appealing to independents is crucial for either side to win. I asked the Republican candidate twice about whether he will support Donald Trump, and both times, he equivocated. I asked the follow-up, we were on the record, so I moved on.

The following week, his opponent, the Democratic incumbent, was scheduled to appear on the show. Before her arrival, I realized the Trump Q&A should probably be replayed for her. Duh.

My producer found it, clipped it, and had it at the ready. I felt that I should have realized it sooner and not put some added strain on my partner’s morning routine. He was fine, but it definitely added unnecessary work within the show.

Lesson learned.

The sound byte worked well. I played it. She responded. We moved the story forward, and it was compelling – as you might imagine, the topic of Trump vs. Biden is pretty compelling these days.

By no means did it create a “wow” moment. That would be a little much. But it did make the show better, using the opponent’s own voice as opposed to my paraphrasing something. That lends credibility, not only to the topic but also to the show. He gave this important answer on our show, and she gave her response … on our show.

My final thought on this is that we (I) need to look for more places to utilize sound as a springboard to conversations, as opposed to simply raising the topic and discussing it. Maybe you’re already good at it and do it all the time, but this past week, I realized I need to push myself to do it more.

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