Dan Mandis interview

Jeremy Levy here with you to bring you my interview with Dan Mandis.This interview was fun to do, and I learned a lot from him.Jeremy Levy: I know that you were Dr. Laura’s producer in the late 90’s, but is this how you got your start in radio? If not, could you please give a brief history of how you got your start in radio?Dan Mandis: My journey in radio started at the College radio station and fell in love with the records, and all of the equipment. . It always fascinated me. So, I started working at the college radio station. I started doing behind the scenes things like producing shows. I had a love of radio for a long time because my Dad would often have the radio on in the car, and he would often listen to talk radio while we were in the car together. After college I started working as a talk radio show producer I started working as a traffic reporter, and then a newscaster. When I started working with Dr. Laura on over nights on KFI.JL: What are some of your favorite memories of working in radio either as a producer, or as a talk radio show host, or as a program director?DM: I feel like I’m still making amazing memories still. My favorite memories so far are meeting the talk radio show hosts that I had grown up listening to and then working on the same radio stations as them. For example, Peter Boyles. I had heard of Peter Boyles, but getting a chance to work with Peter was a wonderful experience for me. With working with some of these amazing broadcasters would somehow rub off on me. That is the amazing part of working in radio for me.Jl Note. That’s exactly how it has happened for me. When I meet these radio talk show hosts, or people that have been on the radio it is an amazing experience for me.Another wonderful memory with the Dr. Laura program was finding radio stations for her show to be on. That was an awesome memory as well.Jl: I know that you are the program director and a radio talk show host. How do you balance your time, and your family?DM: It is difficult sometimes, but I love the radio industry. Sometimes you need to make decisions. Sometimes you need to make a decision about moving your family. Radio is a difficult career to navigate. As far as being a program director and a radio talk show host I told the company I work for that my first passion was to be a radio talk show host. I am fortunate that at the station I am working for now these hosts at the station have been in the market for a long time. The morning guy knows what he is supposed to do. The mid-day guy knows what he’s supposed to do, and my afternoon guy knows what he’s supposed to do. This job is pretty easy because everyone knows what he’s supposed to do.JL: What are one or two strengths of Colorado radio and what are one or two weaknesses of Colorado radio today?DM: One of the strengths of talk radio is that talk show hosts get to share ideas with their listeners. Music radio you just to share music with the listener. For example, on my show today I mentioned the Brady Bunch house, and I asked is that house still around? I got some phone calls telling me the history of the Brady Bunch house. I had 7 or 8 phone calls right in a row of people telling me if the Brady Bunch was a 1 or 2 story house. The thing I love being on WTN radio is that I get to do a show that is interactive but it’s just for Tennessee. We had a shooting here at one of the movie theaters a couple of months ago, and I had people calling in who were there and giving accounts of what they heard and saw. These examples are special memories for me because it reminds us how connected we are on this side of the microphone, and how connected the listener on the radio is. Podcasts are great, but they can’t connect you to the callers that call in to the show like the radio can. One of the weaknesses is that you do have a lot of people that are doing amazing things with podcasts, and face book live streams. That’s a problem that radio is going to face. You do have a lot of new media that is with a lot of newer technology.JL: What would be your advice for someone wanting to get into radio?DM: DM: My advice is to do what I did start out as a producer, and work your way up. You might not be able to get your first opportunity in a big city. You might have to move to a smaller city to get your start. Then learn all you can about the radio in the radio station. Weather it is running the board or answering the phone when people call into the shows. If you want to be a talk show host, there are many different avenues to doing that. You don’t need to be someone like Mike Huckabee to do that.I really appreciated Dan’s insight into the radio industry, and I agree with him. I listen to talk radio because of the different ideas that the hosts and callers bring to the different shows.Thanks for tuning in.Jeremy Levy