Behind the Scenes

Chemistry in broadcasting

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Honestly, we’ve only met in person a couple of times.

Let’s back up.

It’s easy to underrate chemistry. In the business of broadcasting, you can always shuffle the interview around, pull the relevant cuts, and maybe edit out the “uhs”. Every broadcast we do at Brownfield is finite and sometimes it becomes about stretching your content to fit. If you’re lucky, you’ve got too much stuff and have to cut.

Live radio is a little different. Sure, you’ve got the same hard start times and hard end times as your taped programs. The difference is that occasionally, things go wrong live. It happens. You can almost plan for something to go wrong. You shake that off and on to the next one.

One thing you can’t plan for is chemistry. You know it’s there when you meet face to face, or talk on the phone, or sometimes even over email. If it is there, you can develop it, hone it, and make what can be unpredictable a little bit less so.

I’ve had a lot of luck in my life in general and in my chosen career in particular. One of the luckiest things that’s happened to me is my chemistry with David Kohli. Like I said, we’ve only met in person a couple of times. That happens when one of you is in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the other is in Jefferson City, Missouri. In the slightly more than 12 years I’ve been with Brownfield, working with that guy twice a day, once live and once taped, has been something that has made me a better broadcaster. Ahead of our 1245 show, 3 minutes, hard and fast, live, we chat for a few minutes, sometimes about the markets and sometimes not. I’ve gotten to know him and he’s gotten to know me. He’s become an advisor. He’s become a friend. There’s a trust. I also think there’s some chemistry.

David and his wife Jean, who is amazing in her own right, are retiring at the end of 2014. I’ll miss having him on the live shows. I’ll miss having him on the taped shows. Mostly, I’ll miss talking to him every day.

They’re not closing the book though, David and Jean are just starting their next chapter.

I had a chance to talk with David recently, reflecting on his time in the business and his work with Brownfield, with an eye on what’s next. He’ll still be around, just not as much.

I’ve said it a few thousand times, but it’s worth writing down: “Thanks, David, have a great rest of the day and we’ll be talking to you just a little bit later.”

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