Chapter Text
The Idea
Kenosha, 1980
Working for WAVR 98, also known as The Wave, was an encouraging step up from WFPP for Donna. After she and her group of male friends graduated from Point Place High, she decided to pursue her original dream of attending college, which led her to become a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, just outside Kenosha. Her prior radio experience earned her a student position at the bigger station that covered a much wider area than WFPP. During the day, they could be heard within a 50-mile radius. At night, during AM transmission, when radio waves travel farther, they reached all of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, as well as parts of Iowa, with varying levels of static.
And that was precisely why she thought her idea could help her develop a proper career even before she graduated with her Communications degree. The Wave’s daytime programming was solid, but she believed they could make better use of nighttime given their far greater reach after sunset. Her days as a DJ were now behind her, and as enjoyable as it had been to play Hot Donna, she had since realised she was much more interested in what happened outside the recording booth. Her previous experience had given her an immediate leg-up, and while she hadn’t been entrusted with much responsibility so far, she wasn't being sent on coffee runs or to fetch LPs from the archives like some of the other students and part-timers. That gave her more time to actually witness the day-to-day of producing shows and running the station, leading her to realise something painfully obvious.
When she first approached Rick, the station manager, at the Christmas party, her confidence bolstered by the wine and beer she had consumed (bad mix), he obviously hadn’t taken her seriously in the moment. He had been quite drunk himself, but apparently not too drunk to have forgotten about their short conversation once he woke up the next day. He had called her into his office on her first day back and made her go through her idea again, in a bit more detail.
It was quite simple, she thought: the station mainly broadcast music at night. There was Toby’s show from 9 to 11 pm, where he alternated between playing the newest chart toppers and talking about celeb news and random stuff she wasn’t even sure he cared too much about. Other than that, there were no regular DJs behind the mike until their morning show kicked off at 6 am. Her direct boss had told her that they used to have a late-night talk show until a few years ago, but the host had moved back to Alaska or wherever, and the station had decided not to replace him as the show hadn’t been successful enough to justify paying another full-time DJ.
As far as Donna was concerned, that would have been the right moment to try something new rather than throw in the towel and accept the fact that wider coverage didn’t automatically mean higher numbers. However, that overcautiousness could now play into her hands.
So, she laid out her proposal to Rick:
They should start a new show after Toby was done for the night, right in the slot their old talk show had occupied. Make it a mix of talk and music radio, preferably with two young hosts bouncing off each other. Younger listeners were a safe bet if they got the tone right. Who else listened to the radio late at night after all? Truckers? There were enough dusty country and pure rock stations across all state lines for them.
She knew for certain that many of her classmates at UW simply didn’t tune in to their station at night because they preferred to listen to their own records or watch TV if all that played was an endless loop of essentially the same music night after night. She was fairly sure the same was true for younger listeners across the country and beyond. However, if they had two young hosts, encouraged their listeners to take part in the show, and played a more diverse selection of music, they could succeed. She had seen it at WFPP: Young listeners were attracted to her because she… Well, they had marketed her as Hot Donna, and sex appeal was a big part of it, but they also felt like they were listening to one of their own. They had been listening to one of their own.
“Would you be one of the hosts?” Rick asked after listening to her.
She shook her head. “No, I’m done with that. I want to assist with the production side of things.”
“Well… I’d rather have you co-host than a complete newbie, if I’m being honest,” he said with a frown, but she had prepared for this scenario.
“I understand you’re concerned about investing in something that isn't a guaranteed success, but it wouldn’t a daily show. I’m still studying, and the hosts would also be busy with college or work. I believe it could give the show a real edge if the hosts are new to all of this. Our target audience would be university students and young professionals. Listening to people who haven’t yet figured everything out and aren’t full-time DJs reciting the same old script could genuinely appeal to them. Make them seem more approachable. Especially if we want to encourage listeners to participate, send in letters, or call in with questions. Plus, inexperienced part-timers wouldn’t be as costly...”
Rick stared at her quietly for a few moments before giving a chuckle. “You’ve prepared all the right arguments, huh? And why do I feel like you already have hosts in mind?”
“Well…”