The Infinite Dial

Name:
Jon Daniels

Current Title/Position/Company:
Program Director/Afternoons
94.3 WMJC / Long Island, NY
Long Island Radio Group, Inc.

How did you get your start in radio?
When I was in college at Cornell, I was lucky enough to get an opportunity on local station WVBR. Cornell didn't have its own radio station, but at WVBR, I was able to get on the air, and learn the business, and actually became President/General Manager there for three years. Here on Long Island, I got an internship at the old WLIR, which helped take my career to the next level.

What are your career goals?
To be a successful programmer & manager, working for a great company in a great market...and perhaps loftier titles that would have me overseeing the programming of multiple properties.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love how it's different every week, every month, every year. There's always new music, new ideas, and new challenges. I also love the variety of tasks we do: from being on the air, to interacting with clients, to conducting research, to creating promotions, to meeting the listeners in the field. No two days are ever the same!

What are the biggest challenges ahead for radio, from your perspective?
**Getting younger generations to "use" radio the way their parents do, where it becomes a primary source for music & local information.

**Finding a way for competitors within the industry (and even within local markets) to work together to ensure that the future for our industry is strong. With new technologies developing, what's more of a threat to your station: the station across the street, or the internet?

What have you learned that you would most like to pass on to your fellow under-thirty-somethings?
Victory Is In The Details. That's one of my mottos...getting the basics done is simply not enough. Mine the details to ensure that your plan really is a winner. Work hard to ensure that all the details of whatever you're doing get done the right way.