Jim’s Blog: Nine Years and Counting

Sometime, either this month or next, is my ninth anniversary working for Magic 98. Compared to Pat, Kathryn, Sara, and Lanette, I haven’t been here all that long, but it feels like a long time to me.
When I started working in 2008, I was already on another Mid-West Family Broadcasting station, 93.1 The Lake, a classic-rock station that no longer exists. But I felt like I’d be a good fit on Magic, and fortunately, management thought so too.
I felt like I’d be a good fit before 2008, if you want to know the truth. When we moved from Iowa to Madison in 2000, we hadn’t been here long before we discovered Saturday at the 70s. I remember saying to my wife, “Oh, they need me.” And eventually, fortunately, management thought so too.
In my nine years, I have been trusted to do lots of different things, both on the air and behind the scenes. I’ve been a newscaster and a traffic reporter and a fill-in host on every weekday show except for Delilah. (I don’t think she has my number.) I have come to work on 20 minutes’ notice, I have done two shows in a day, I have worked long stretches without a day off—and every minute of it has been a blast. (OK, almost every minute.) Holiday Wish day is a favorite day each year, and I enjoy the challenge of handling our severe weather updates at night, when they’re needed. But the day-to-day fooling around on the air is what I love the most.
The best part of this job, however is the people—and not just the ones shown in the picture, the people I see around the office, the best group of radio colleagues I’ve ever had. The people who listen to Magic 98 are pretty great, too. Whenever I wonder whether my work matters to anybody (a concern all of us have about our work at one time or another), you make me believe in it again.