by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
It’s not often that a person winds up in the profession they dreamed of as a child. But that’s the way things have worked out for Bob Schuman, the host of WOKV AM-690’s morning news show.
In Schuman’s case, however, his introduction to the radio business was a bit on the dubious side.
“A friend of mine brought me a radio transmitter when I was a kid,” said Schuman. “We had some tech-savvy friends that could increase the signal’s strength and before long we were illegally broadcasting.”
And it gets even better. When the group was old enough to drive, one would go to a public phone booth that doubled as a request line to prevent the station from being tracked by the Federal Communications Commission. From there, Schuman’s luck found him in summer school for flunking algebra his senior year of high school. There, he pointed out that the neighboring Carmel High School was breaking a broadcast law: they weren’t telling people their station information on the hour every hour.
Lucky for him, he was overheard by the program director.
“We became friends and later he urged me to apply for an overnight news position,” said Schuman. “And I sent in my tape and heard nothing until two weeks later.”
Schuman was hired, but as always there is a story behind it. His tape was heard as an accident, but there was no mistaking the talent that Schuman possessed.
And as the saying goes, it’s history from there.
Due to the transient nature of the radio business, Schuman and his family have moved around a lot. But he says they were happy with it.
“Surprisingly, the wife and kids were fine with moving,” said Schuman, who has lived in almost every major city in the United States. “The kids actually loved it.”
Schuman admits he has two passions: family and traveling.
Outside of radio, Schuman runs a travel Web site with his wife, Cindy. The site, www.webtravelguide.com, documents their international travel experiences with “honest reviews.” But how did he go from radio news host to travel guru?
“I always talked about traveling on the air,” said Schuman. “And eventually I had my own blog and then my own domain. And people from around the world look at it.”
Not all of his experiences have been pleasant, and the site has documented evidence of not only his personal experiences but also comments from readers.
For example, when he and his wife went to Japan, they ate at a renowned Tempura restaurant. Unfortunately no one in the restaurant spoke English, so he had to point at a display to order. The food was terrible in Schuman’s opinion and the review reflected it. However, a woman e-mailed him saying that she laughed at the review and suggested that next time to go with someone that spoke Japanese.
“After that, I went back and changed the review,” said Schuman.
Schuman puts four hours per day into the site, which is maintained by Cindy, who oddly enough wouldn’t have her career without radio. It all started because Schuman didn’t like a radio station’s site.
“We were trying to figure out who we could hire to do a page for the Morning Show and she said to let her try,” explained Schuman. “We loved it as did the station manager and she ended up doing the entire station’s site.”
And now that’s her full-time gig.
While his travels have taken him around the world, Schuman remembers one September that he was in Greece.
“We didn’t hear about 9/11 until right before the second tower fell,” said Schuman. “On our plane back home we flew over New York and you could see all the smoke floating around. People weren’t scared on our plane, they were mad.”
When he began his career in radio, Schuman explained that it was all live shifts with a producer for every shift. He also noted that companies are beginning to eliminate their employees.
“It used to be the radio business,” said Schuman. “Now it’s the business of radio.”
But he maintains that he likes the company he works for, Cox Radio. And in his experience he has met plenty of famous people, including President Ronald Reagan.
“When Reagan came in, he made his speech and was out of the building pretty quick,” said Schuman. “And his presidential counselor at the time Edwin Meese told us that he wasn’t normally like that and that he was just having a bad day.”
He adds that former “Tonight Show” emcee Ed McMahon is “the nicest guy in the world.”
Admitting that the schedule Schuman keeps is one that “you don’t get use to, you just learn to cope with,” the NASCAR and hockey fan begins the day at 2:15 a.m. to be at work by 3:30 a.m. Schuman starts the day by gathering sources for stories to run by the news director. From 4:15 a.m. until 5 a.m. Schuman prepares for the show, putting together “teasers” for the news stories, getting sponsor information from producers and gathering a forecast from Jack Boston. From 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Schuman is on air.
“The time goes by really fast on air,” said Schuman, who calls himself the “traffic cop” of the news show.
Others, however, might call Schuman a prankster.
It’s a tradition that started in school, where he was the Zack Morris of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Ind. It is a part of Schuman that has followed him into adulthood. One of his most brilliant schemes has come in the form of leaving a message for people while they are at an out-of-town hotel.
“I make the message something that people will talk about,” said Schuman. “And I make them write it down rather than put it on voice mail.”
But Schuman has also had practical jokes played on him. For instance, his car was once turned into an ice cream sundae.
“It took me five times in a car wash to get it cleaned,” said Schuman. “But it was great. Jokes are good and break the tension at work.”
But it’s been a bit too soon for him to pull his antics in Jacksonville.
“He hasn’t necessarily played a joke on us,” said Jared Halpern, a morning news anchor and reporter for AM-690. “But he is always quick to get a joke out in the morning.”
“They haven’t gotten to see the pranks yet,” adds Schuman.
But he is well-liked amongst his colleagues.
“He is a blast and fun to work with,” said Halpern. “He gets excited about news, and it’s contagious for the entire staff.”
The Mandarin resident currently has three cats and an elderly dog: Freeway, Grizwold and Smokey are the cats and Cody is an 18-year-old dog given away by Schuman’s mother. Schuman also supports charities like daniel, St. Jude’s and the Jacksonville Humane Society. He and his wife have two children Rob, 33, and Christie, 32, and four grandchildren.
“I listen to as many people as possible (on the radio),” said Schuman but added that Paul Harvey is his favorite because he is “very conversational and the best communicator.”
Though he’s only been a Jacksonville resident for 15 months, Schuman likes the town and the fact that he gets more visits from his family.
“Moving to Florida tends to do that,” said Schuman.
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