On AIR: WGLS general manager reaches a Milestone
On AIR: WGLS general manager reaches a Milestone
October 20, 2006
Award to recognize Hogan's contributions to radio arts in Philadelphia
The Motown Sound got Frank Hogan interested in broadcasting, but it's Rowan University students that really keep his radio juices flowing.
"I love the aspect of helping these kids in the field," says Hogan, general manager of Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM, the University's award-winning, student-operated radio station. "I get a big kick out of that."
Though his early leadership style led Rowan's student newspaper to call him a dictator, Hogan, since 1991, has consistently raised the bar at WGLS, challenging--and expecting--students to attain a high level of professionalism while providing them with the nuts-and-bolts skills they need to succeed.
Over the past dozen years, WGLS has won 112 regional and national awards, including honors from American Women in Radio & Television, the national Society of Professional Journalists, the Philadelphia Press Association and The Communicator Crystal Awards.
In 1997, WGLS was named the College Station of the Year by the National Association of Broadcasters.
Now, Hogan, 56, chairman of the board of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, is about to pick up some hardware of his own. On Nov. 1, he'll receive the Achievement in Radio (AIR) Milestone Award in recognition of his "remarkable career longevity and outstanding contributions to the radio arts in Philadelphia."
Sponsored by the March of Dimes, AIR Milestone Awards also will go to Terry Gross of National Public Radio's "Fresh Air"; the now-retired Tom Moran of WIP, WWDB, and WPEN; Tony Brown of WDAS; and Thera Martin Connolley of WHAT.
Like this year's awardees, Milestone recipients are a virtual who's who of Philadelphia broadcasting. They include Sid Mark, Georgie Woods, Jerry Blavat, Bill Campbell, Bill "Wee Willie" Webber, Bob Pantano, Dick Clark, Helen Leicht, and Ed Hurst, among others.
Throughout his 35-year radio career and his involvement with the Broadcast Pioneers, Hogan knows or has worked with most of the Milestone awardees and dozens of other well-known Philadelphia broadcasters--from Howard Eskin to Captain Noah.
A native of Philadelphia's Logan section, Hogan, one of eight children, hung out at record hops hosted by WIBG?"Wibbage"?the city's leading AM station in the 1960s. Drawn to the music, he quickly became enamored with the art of broadcasting.
He learned about the business?engineering, producing, being on air?at those record hops, talking up The Geator (Blavat), Frank X Feller, Rod Carson, and Philly radio engineering legends Harry Donahue and Jay Cook.
"I had a lot of great influences," says Hogan.
In his late teens, Hogan hosted his own Cottman Avenue record hops in Northeast Philadelphia. By 1972, he was chief engineer at WPBS and WYSP (which had been WIBG-FM).
From 1977-87, he was a broadcast engineer, producer and disc jockey at WFIL-AM, which, with swagger, had dethroned the beloved "Wibbage" as the city's top station.
"I worked with some great jocks," says Hogan. "There was such an excitement at WFIL. And you learned how to do it right. The original 'FIL guys came in as underdogs and succeeded. They had a real 'FIL attitude."
In 1987, Hogan became vice president and general manager at WTYO-AM in Hammonton. "It was the hardest three years of my life," he says. Though he had already been teaching courses at the University, he joined Rowan and WGLS full time in 1991.
"I thought Glassboro was where Jesus lost his shoes," the Washington Township resident jokes. Rowan was the right fit, he says, because he was able to work with students daily and to use professional skills to improve the station.
At WGLS, he promotes a hands-on, do-it-right learning environment that's as much about how to deal with people and how to work as a team as it is about how to run the board or give the station's "Target Weather Forecast."
"He told me once, 'If you say the word 'exactly' again, I'm going to kill you,'" assistant general manager Derek Jones, 27, a 2001 radio/television/film graduate, says with a grin.
"I had never met anybody like him before. I had worked with a lot of straight-laced people and my parents were very low key. Frank is exactly a 180 of that. He was climbing the walls here. At first, it was jarring for me."
"It's nice to know someone was going to be so honest and upfront," says sophomore Julia Giacoboni of Cedarville. "Everybody appreciates what he has to say. You know he's not going to sugarcoat anything."
The motto at WGLS, which plays classic rock, is "The Music that Matters." And it does, to both Hogan and the students. The play list includes everything from Springsteen's "Jersey Girl" to Kiss' "Beth" to The Who's "Pinball Wizard."
"The students love this music. They do," Hogan says. "They were fighting with Derek last week about adding Tom Jones' 'It's Not Unusual' to the play list."
As for his Milestone Award, it's a nice honor. But, truthfully, Hogan dislikes the fuss.
"I hate getting personal awards," he says. "There's no room for 'me' here. It's 'we.' We're a team."
The Motown Sound got Frank Hogan interested in broadcasting, but it's Rowan University students that really keep his radio juices flowing.
"I love the aspect of helping these kids in the field," says Hogan, general manager of Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM, the University's award-winning, student-operated radio station. "I get a big kick out of that."
Though his early leadership style led Rowan's student newspaper to call him a dictator, Hogan, since 1991, has consistently raised the bar at WGLS, challenging--and expecting--students to attain a high level of professionalism while providing them with the nuts-and-bolts skills they need to succeed.
Over the past dozen years, WGLS has won 112 regional and national awards, including honors from American Women in Radio & Television, the national Society of Professional Journalists, the Philadelphia Press Association and The Communicator Crystal Awards.
In 1997, WGLS was named the College Station of the Year by the National Association of Broadcasters.
Now, Hogan, 56, chairman of the board of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, is about to pick up some hardware of his own. On Nov. 1, he'll receive the Achievement in Radio (AIR) Milestone Award in recognition of his "remarkable career longevity and outstanding contributions to the radio arts in Philadelphia."
Sponsored by the March of Dimes, AIR Milestone Awards also will go to Terry Gross of National Public Radio's "Fresh Air"; the now-retired Tom Moran of WIP, WWDB, and WPEN; Tony Brown of WDAS; and Thera Martin Connolley of WHAT.
Like this year's awardees, Milestone recipients are a virtual who's who of Philadelphia broadcasting. They include Sid Mark, Georgie Woods, Jerry Blavat, Bill Campbell, Bill "Wee Willie" Webber, Bob Pantano, Dick Clark, Helen Leicht, and Ed Hurst, among others.
Throughout his 35-year radio career and his involvement with the Broadcast Pioneers, Hogan knows or has worked with most of the Milestone awardees and dozens of other well-known Philadelphia broadcasters--from Howard Eskin to Captain Noah.
A native of Philadelphia's Logan section, Hogan, one of eight children, hung out at record hops hosted by WIBG?"Wibbage"?the city's leading AM station in the 1960s. Drawn to the music, he quickly became enamored with the art of broadcasting.
He learned about the business?engineering, producing, being on air?at those record hops, talking up The Geator (Blavat), Frank X Feller, Rod Carson, and Philly radio engineering legends Harry Donahue and Jay Cook.
"I had a lot of great influences," says Hogan.
In his late teens, Hogan hosted his own Cottman Avenue record hops in Northeast Philadelphia. By 1972, he was chief engineer at WPBS and WYSP (which had been WIBG-FM).
From 1977-87, he was a broadcast engineer, producer and disc jockey at WFIL-AM, which, with swagger, had dethroned the beloved "Wibbage" as the city's top station.
"I worked with some great jocks," says Hogan. "There was such an excitement at WFIL. And you learned how to do it right. The original 'FIL guys came in as underdogs and succeeded. They had a real 'FIL attitude."
In 1987, Hogan became vice president and general manager at WTYO-AM in Hammonton. "It was the hardest three years of my life," he says. Though he had already been teaching courses at the University, he joined Rowan and WGLS full time in 1991.
"I thought Glassboro was where Jesus lost his shoes," the Washington Township resident jokes. Rowan was the right fit, he says, because he was able to work with students daily and to use professional skills to improve the station.
At WGLS, he promotes a hands-on, do-it-right learning environment that's as much about how to deal with people and how to work as a team as it is about how to run the board or give the station's "Target Weather Forecast."
"He told me once, 'If you say the word 'exactly' again, I'm going to kill you,'" assistant general manager Derek Jones, 27, a 2001 radio/television/film graduate, says with a grin.
"I had never met anybody like him before. I had worked with a lot of straight-laced people and my parents were very low key. Frank is exactly a 180 of that. He was climbing the walls here. At first, it was jarring for me."
"It's nice to know someone was going to be so honest and upfront," says sophomore Julia Giacoboni of Cedarville. "Everybody appreciates what he has to say. You know he's not going to sugarcoat anything."
The motto at WGLS, which plays classic rock, is "The Music that Matters." And it does, to both Hogan and the students. The play list includes everything from Springsteen's "Jersey Girl" to Kiss' "Beth" to The Who's "Pinball Wizard."
"The students love this music. They do," Hogan says. "They were fighting with Derek last week about adding Tom Jones' 'It's Not Unusual' to the play list."
As for his Milestone Award, it's a nice honor. But, truthfully, Hogan dislikes the fuss.
"I hate getting personal awards," he says. "There's no room for 'me' here. It's 'we.' We're a team."