The switch from analog to all-digital is the biggest change Joe Lomonaco ’93 and Chet Walker ’78 have experienced. Meanwhile, Hughes was among the first personalities in the country to move from terrestrial to satellite radio, without Federal Communications Commission oversight and with paid subscribers. Even how people consume their news and entertainment is significantly different, says Norma Holland ’97, morning TV news anchor at 13WHAM News in Rochester. “Viewer habits are the biggest change in 17 years. We as an industry have to adapt or we will be obsolete,” says Holland, who posts on Facebook, tweets and reads comments online throughout her broadcast and day. “Habits have changed, social media have changed and smart phones have changed how we produce our product and how we present it.”
Meet some of our Geneseo alumni who have long careers on the air …
Gregg Hughes ’86: Voice of comedy and controversy fter the radio prank in which he pretended the mayor of Boston died in a car accident with a prostitute, Gregg Hughes ’86 turned on the news and recognized where the reporters were swarming. His lawn. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, they just started the news from my front yard,’” he remembers. “It was unbelievable. I had cameras and TV crews camped out trying to get a statement from me. You can see somebody looking out through the blinds, and that’s me.” Hughes — known as “Opie” of the “Opie & Anthony Radio Show” — never thought anyone would buy into the April Fool’s Day joke. The PR frenzy ultimately got him and partner Anthony Cumia fired, and hired anyway at WNEW-FM New York City, their biggest gig yet. It was a time, says Hughes, when talkradio jocks could really push the envelope. No more. That has been the biggest change he has experienced in his 27-year career as a nationally known — and controversial — personality. At a mall signing in Massachusetts, Hughes found a line of fans wrapped around the building, chanting their names. In New York City, their show was syndicated in some 30 markets across the country, reaching 20 million listeners — the equivalent of every person in New York state.
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“In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t keep up,” says Hughes, who never wanted to be anything but a radio host. Hughes chose Geneseo for air-time opportunity as an undergraduate, hosting AM and FM shifts, and working as a DJ at Fat Augies and The Inn Between. He worked in Buffalo and Rochester before his break in Boston. In New York, Hughes says they took more chances, until another racy prank made national news, this time taking them off terrestrial radio. It signaled a shift in radio culture, says Hughes: Companies just aren’t willing to accept risks. “They took a number-one show off the air, which was unheard of,” says Hughes. Since 2004, the show has a new home and its own channel at SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM has 24.4 million subscribers. Hughes and Cumia’s show has evolved, with discussions of issues of the day, comedy and interviews with Quentin Tarantino, JJ Abrams, David Lee Roth and others. Hughes says he’s become a better interviewer; the show’s more cerebral. “I think it’s just a good solid comedy show, but we have no problem getting serious if we have to,” he says. — Kris Dreessen
Norma Holland ’97: Telling the story of her city orma Holland ’96 was elated to walk across the commencement stage, but there was little time to celebrate. She had to work the next day as a TV reporter. Holland’s experience as a GSTV anchor on campus helped solidify her interest in broadcast journalism and land an internship her junior year — and then a part-time job as a senior — at 13WHAM News in Rochester, N.Y. That was 17 years ago. She’s worked her way up from cub reporter to morning news anchor, a role she’s she had since 2003. “People wake up and they want to know what’s going on,” says Holland. “We present it in a way that’s palatable at 5 o’clock in the morning.” At her start, Holland’s internship was sort of a coup. Aimed at minority students, the paid position usually went to those at big-name universities. She went for it anyway. “I knew I could do the job,” she says. Much like the unrelenting pace of TV news, Holland’s introduction to the field was brief; she had to be a quick thinker.
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Follow her on Twitter: twitter.com/norm