#MediaMonday – Bobby Rich
Today’s #MediaMonday comes to us from Bobby Rich, one of the newest members of the Arizona Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
Bobby is a life-long radio broadcaster, programmer, manager and Tucson’s longest running morning radio personality. You can hear “The Bobby Rich Morning Mix” on 94.9 MIXfm, Tucson weekdays from 5-9 a.m.
He is also director of community partnerships for Journal Broadcast Group-Tucson, whose two TV and four radio stations give special public service exposure to local non-profit organizations valued at $1.5 million a year since 2009.
So, Bobby, time to share!
What do you want to tell the blogosphere about yourself today?
Radio is my very first love. I got started when I was 14 and just kept doing it because I love what I do and I DO what I LOVE!
Typical of dj’s and program directors of the era, in the first part of my career I moved from city to city with any offer of advancement. After stops at stations in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Spokane; Miami, Philadelphia, New Haven, Conn., and Davenport, Iowa (to name a few) I found my place in the sun: Tucson. I’ve been here since 1992 (joining KMXZ/MIXfm in 1993).
In 1984 I decided to start pretending to grow up. Just a little.
After success with high-energy Top 40 formats at most of my stations, I returned to KFMBfm San Diego to face a new challenge: skewing the station I started in the mid ‘70s (“B-100”) a bit older, while retaining an up-tempo, contemporary feel. That became the format I’d been experimenting with at stations in LA and Philly.
Musically it was all the songs of the previous 10 years that shared chart success on both Adult Contemporary and Contemporary Hit Radio. It was a grown-up Top 40 station. Lots of fun, great jocks, great promotions, but all with a natural up-tempo presentation.
It was difficult to match the ratings magic of the original B-100, which became the first contemporary FM station in a major market to go number one (San Diego Arbitron 12+ Fall 1977). But it worked. The Hot AC version of B-100 was number one 25-54 during the ‘80s.
My MIXfm morning show (with Greg Curtis and Mrs. Grant) philosophy is what I call planned spontaneity. Half of what we do is stuff that we haven’t preplanned, and at least 75 percent of the stuff that we’ve planned never even gets on the air. We target women 25-54 and have consistently been at—or near—the top for 20 years.
Before being honored by the Arizona Broadcasters Association, I was presented with Greater Tucson Leadership’s 2012 Community Leadership Award for commitment, involvement and leadership in the Tucson community. TUCSON LIFESTYLE named the MIXfm Morning Show their “Best of City.” The Tucson Advertising Federation awarded me with its prestigious “Golden Mic Award” for contributions to charitable non-profit programs and community organizations.
As a hobby, I run an Internet radio station, Bobby’s B-100 (www.bobbysb-100.com). It is a tribute to the B-100 of the ‘70s and ‘80s and features the voices of 20 of the original jocks.
You can follow 94.9MIXfm on Facebook and Twitter. Contact Bobby at brich@jrn.com.
