The clip above is from 4 Guys in a Booth, the longest running radio talk show currently on air on WNYO, SUNY Oswego’s student run radio station. While the show has been on air for four years, I have been a producer on the show for three. We have won the Ozzie (Communication Studies Department award) for best radio talk show for two years running, including this year.
On 4 Guys in a Booth, four guys talk about absolute nonsense for two hours each Monday night from 9-11pm. Each of the four hosts are very different from each other. There’s John Mongiello, the funny one, Allen Wengert, the smart one, Brian Camporese, the lazy and nerdy one, and Adam Rosenbarker, the…how do I put this… not so intelligent one.
What makes their conversations interesting are what each host brings to the table. We also have three producers who plan content for the show and come on it regularly including Chris Walters, Tyler Baker-Carr, and myself.
I am the Executive Producer of the show, so my job is to help create content for the show, organize content, and assist the hosts while they are doing the show. All seven members of the show submit ideas each week for what we want to talk about, either through Google Docs or during meetings. John, Allen and I sort through the ideas and pick the very best ones.
My Mondays for the past three years have been completely absorbed by 4GB. I spend time organizing the show, writing my news breaks which I read on air, and making sure everyone is doing their part. If we have a guest coming on, I usually also make sure that they know what time to call in or arrive at the studio. I arrive at WNYO almost two hours before each show begins to finalize everything and assist in finishing what isn’t done.
The staff of 4GB are not just my co-workers, but also some of my best friends on campus. When we aren’t doing the show, we all hang out together. We have become very close over the past four years and it has made the show grow stronger as a result. When many people listen to the show, they say that they feel like they are sitting at the radio booth with the hosts and feel like they are part of the conversation. The strong chemistry between everyone who works on the show provides this grand illusion.
After producing over 50 episodes during the three years I’ve been with the show, I am very sad to leave it. We have improved greatly since the beginning and now we are preparing for it all to end. I’ve learned so much from trial and error when it comes to making people laugh and having people not tune out after five minutes. When the show is live, I just feel like I’m hanging out with friends for two hours. That’s how we all feel.
With one episode left, we are working hard to deliver the best show we can. Our series finale is at a special time on Monday May 12 from 7pm-10pm.
If you haven’t heard the show before, you can listen for free on our iTunes podcast. All of our past episodes are available to download. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
It’s safe to say after it all ends that my Mondays will never be the same again.