https://radioink.com/2016/06/27/joan-hamburg-2016-radio-ink-miw-legend/
RI: Why did you get into radio back in the 1970s?
Hamburg: It was purely by accident. I was writing stories and copy for New York magazine at the time, and my editor said, “You know, there’s a local radio station that’s having a hard time with its 10-to-midday guy, and they’re looking for another personality.” The guy was Clay Felker, who was a famous editor of magazines, and he said, “I really want you to audition for this thing.” I said, “What do I know about this?”
To make a long story short, I auditioned at Sunday night at 9 o’clock – I did that and sort of forgot about it. A couple of weeks later, I get a phone call: “Congratulations. You are the new 10-12 host on WMCA.” Which now is a paid religious station, but then was a Talk station and the home of The Good Guys.
The job they offered me was the slot where Bob Grant was. Grant had a big mouth and insulted a lot of people. They said they couldn’t deal with it and they were looking for something else. That’s how I got the job. I said, “Why me?” They said, “We were inundated with letters from your 9 o’clock, one-hour, Sunday night audition.” It turned out that all my relatives, and I have a large family, decided, without telling me, to write in and say, “Whatever you had at 9 o’clock on Sunday night was the best thing we’ve heard on radio.”
RI: Why did you get into radio back in the 1970s?
Hamburg: It was purely by accident. I was writing stories and copy for New York magazine at the time, and my editor said, “You know, there’s a local radio station that’s having a hard time with its 10-to-midday guy, and they’re looking for another personality.” The guy was Clay Felker, who was a famous editor of magazines, and he said, “I really want you to audition for this thing.” I said, “What do I know about this?”
To make a long story short, I auditioned at Sunday night at 9 o’clock – I did that and sort of forgot about it. A couple of weeks later, I get a phone call: “Congratulations. You are the new 10-12 host on WMCA.” Which now is a paid religious station, but then was a Talk station and the home of The Good Guys.
The job they offered me was the slot where Bob Grant was. Grant had a big mouth and insulted a lot of people. They said they couldn’t deal with it and they were looking for something else. That’s how I got the job. I said, “Why me?” They said, “We were inundated with letters from your 9 o’clock, one-hour, Sunday night audition.” It turned out that all my relatives, and I have a large family, decided, without telling me, to write in and say, “Whatever you had at 9 o’clock on Sunday night was the best thing we’ve heard on radio.”