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Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
His name is Ben McCully and he does the afternoon drive shift at Barrie's Rock 95. He took the opportunity on National Radio Day to explain why he wanted to get into radio and the one event that prompted him to go after his dream, while still a kid in a small Nova Scotia town.
And it all started with a syndicated oldies show hosted by CHUM's Charlie O'Brien.
The Cool Story Of Why I Got Into Radio
So what about you? What was it about the medium that attracted your attention and enough perseverance to wind up at a station?
In my case, I never wanted to do anything else. Even as young as 5 or 6, when someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, my answer was always the same. "I wanna be a disc jockey like the guys at CHUM!" I never did get to work there, but my time at CFTR was just as good.
What's your story?
- RadioAaron
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Re: Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
RadioActive wrote:
In my case, I never wanted to do anything else.
What's your story?
That’s always my answer too.
Similarly, my first job was at my favourite station as a kid…sort of. While the frequency and call-letters were the same, the former Top 40 was now all-sports. Still, the thrill of being behind the board of that station never faded, even if it was babysitting ESPN radio at 3am
- newsguy1
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Re: Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
I fell in love with radio from the first day I visited the UBC radio station, CITR.
As a child I had been involved in acting but never thought I could make a career out of it.
But radio showed me I could actually do that while still having a level of theatrical performance in my life.
Through university my friends and I took CITR from a small campus carrier current AM station to an FM cable station that was heard throughout Vancouver.
After graduation I took a demo tape all over BC in my car, held meetings at radio stations and hoped for job offers.
I really wanted to be a DJ, but the first job offer came from CJAT in Trail BC to be a daytime newscaster.
I had never been in reporting or journalism, but the gig was daytime hours and it offered me a job that paid 50 dollars more a month than my other offer -- to be an overnight DJ on a new radio station in Vernon, BC.
Then fate entered the picture.
With pretty well no expertise in journalism I found myself working at a radio station that was at the heart of a labour dispute that made provincial history.
Our station was also part of a BC chain of stations flagged by the mighty CKNW in Vancouver.
They called my on the phone every day for updates on the famous West Kootenay school dispute.
So I applied to NW for a job in the major market.
The irony is they told me they had no openings, but I also applied to NW's arch rival, Jim Pattison's CJOR.
They hated NW so much that when I told them NW turned me down, they hired me on the spot.
From that day on I worked in news, learning the ropes as I went.
With a brief stint in Victoria where I did morning news, I got hired in Toronto and one thing led to another.
There's lots of stuff in between but that's the Cole's notes version.
- DOPEfm
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Re: Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
What's your story?
Caught 50 watt CHRY 105.5 FM (with their awesome early hip-hop shows at my childhood home of Markham) back in the 90s (along with weekends on CKLN 88.1 FM).
I started volunteering with CHRY in 1993, and have been djing ever since.
Landed at CHSR FM in Fredericton from '97-'01 (won show of the year in 2000)
Joined CFMU 93.3 in 2004 and still programming weekends here
I've also joined forces with CFAJ 1220 Niagara last year and continue a weekend specialty program there.
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
My eighth grade teacher was a former radio newsman who kept his hand in reading weekend newscasts on a fill-in basis. He invited me to observe him one Saturday morning and from then on, I was hooked. I wound up haunting the station and going out with the reporters to cover city/regional council meetings and even sat with in booth with the sports director when he called the PBP of our local junior hockey team. From there, it was a short step to Ryerson (now TMU) and a career that took me to such exotic ports of call as Moose Jaw, Lloydminster and Regina before two years in Edmonton and then on to Ottawa and covering federal politics.
- paterson1
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Re: Why Did You Get Into Radio? Barrie's Rock 95 PM Drive DJ Explains
My story wasn't a clear path to radio. I first fell in love with broadcasting at a Leafs-Boston game in 1965, when I was nine. Myself and two of my older brothers had tickets to the Saturday night match and we were seated about 20 feet away from the CBC lower camera near the ice. Great seats!
I spent as much time watching the cameraman and what he was doing as I was watching the game. After that night I knew I wanted to be in broadcasting. I had planned to be a cameraman or in some capacity behind the scenes in TV.
When I went to college, our course was both Radio and Television. I found myself gravitating more and more to radio. Did the morning show on the campus radio station for four months and became the music director for two years.
In second year I had a full time job at CBC radio for four months during the Montreal Olympics. CBC had hired a bunch of students from Conestoga and Ryerson to cover during the games. CBC was host broadcaster and a lot of their Toronto staff went to Montreal for training and to cover the games. After this I was pretty much hooked on radio.
First job after graduation was at 580/CKPR Thunder Bay as the evening jock from 6-10pm. A few stations later, I proceeded into radio sales which I did for about 7 years. Then moved onto the newspaper business in sales. I actually enjoyed the newspaper business as much as radio, and the pay/benefits were better.