Joe Leary
Joe Leary
- Columbia Academy Broadcast graduate; CFCP Courtenay; CFUN Vancouver 1980s;
music director/p.m. drive then mornings CHRX
Vancouver 1988-94; weekend weather Citytv CKVU-TV
Vancouver current; Vancouver Province Air Traffic columnist late 1990s-2005
Even his
high school yearbook (he graduated from Vancouver's Killarney) tells us that Joe
had his sights set on being a radio DJ from a young age. He began his
professional radio career in 1977, then moved to
television (at UTV) in 1994. His happiest career memories to date come from
hosting Joe and the Rocket on CHRX AM600 with favourite
morning sidekick Rochelle Dentry.
Extracurricular:
He drinks
litres of Coke every day. He listens to 80's music
incessantly. But Joe's most guilty pleasure of all is his addiction to
less-than-educational (but undeniably entertaining) programs like Blind Date, Elimidate, and Banzai.
Little
known facts:
Given the
chance, Joe would love to host his own outrageous daytime talk show.
***
Freelance
writer and broadcaster Joe Leary, who writes a column on radio for the Vancouver Province, does not believer the
transmitters are doomed yet. "I think people like to hear a little bit of
local flavour and content," he says. "The
Internet might attract the dweebs and the real audiophile listeners, but I
don't think it will appeal to the masses." While many commercial stations
broadcast on the Internet, there is no financial gain to be had-the numbers do
not show up on ratings, and some stations even strip their advertising.
"It's just something they can brag about-we're on the World Wide
Web," he says.
BC Radio History