For Part 3 of my Q&A with Mark Packer, the Packman talks about leaving WFNZ, deciding to work at SiriusXM and what his future holds.
Matt: What was in your mindset when in 2010 when you left WFNZ in Charlotte?
Pack: I didn’t want to leave ‘FNZ. I had no interest in leaving. I had been asked many times if I wanted to leave Charlotte and I didn’t because my family loved it here and our show had been syndicated and we had unprecedented success with “The Primetime with the Packman” show from a ratings perspective and a marketing perspective and a brand. Again, I was very comfortable living in Charlotte and I didn’t have any interest in leaving at all.
The only reason I left is because CBS was making such ridiculous cutbacks I thought, “I’ve had enough!” and I walked. I didn’t think there was an appreciation (at CBS) of what we had acquired and accomplished. They were just looking at it strictly from a budgetary standpoint. That turned me off. I said “I’m gone!”
I’m sure they didn’t think I’d ever walk but when they decided to make the second (budget) cut, I said “I’m outta here!” So I didn’t have any plans to leave, but I wasn’t going to put up with getting treated in that respect because I thought it was wrong—and it was wrong!
Then all of a sudden some guy by the name of Fishman said, “Hey, why don’t you do some stuff for SiriusXM?” I really didn’t even want to get back into radio because when all that went down I was so turned off by how that ended in the negotiations that I felt I needed to get away from radio for a while just to see if I wanted to keep doing it.
After three or four months of sitting around, thinking about, “What am I going to do next?” I still felt like there was some unfinished business to attend to. Maybe doing a national show would be something totally different –and it was! When SiriusXM presented the opportunity I was like, “Let me give this a try just to see where it goes.” And it was totally different. Terrestrial radio vs. Satellite radio are really two different beasts.
I looked upon it as another challenge—something I hadn’t done. There was nothing else really to do in Charlotte—in terms of being #1 or creating a show that was so unique. There really wasn’t anything else to accomplish on that end, but dabbling in the National part of it was something I had never done. So I figured this was the next challenge, let’s go see where it goes and the rest is history.
Matt: The great part of that was the technology. You didn’t have to move your family to New York or Bristol, or LA to host a national radio show. For SiriusXM you can do the show from wherever you are
Pack: Agree 1000%. I’m so blessed in this profession because you usually do bounce around from market to market like a gypsy. That was not the case for me. It started in 1997 and for 13 years I was at the same radio station in the same town and still able to have a life with my wife and our two girls. I wasn’t looking to bounce to Atlanta or the next big market that you want to go to. That’s why I was completely comfortable. So when this (SiriusXM) came up and I could stay here and my wife and my girls were happy about it, it just seemed like a no brainer. Not to mention a new challenge for me.
It all works out. Sometimes you wonder “How did that thing go so South, so haywire?” but in the end it all seemingly works itself out and certainly did in my case.
Matt: Is there anything that you have not done in your career yet that you are interested in doing?
Pack: I’m gonna keep doing this until I don’t have fun doing it. The cool thing about life for me right now is when I get outta bed, I’m excited to get to work. I don’t know how I could say, “By the year 2023 I don’t want to do this anymore.” I don’t know, maybe by 2023 I’m doing three shows a day!
I don’t have a finish line. When I reach a point when I get out of bed and say “I’ve done this a thousand times before and I don’t want to do this again,” That’s when I’ll know that it’s time to stop but I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. There’s so much stuff I want to attack each day. Again, the creativity part to me is the most fun. You have a blank canvas every day to create, to entertain and to learn. People that you want to meet. Things you want to go and do.
For example, we started the interview talking about going to the Red River Showdown. As many great things as I’ve done in sports I had never been to that game. After spending the weekend and going to the state fair and meeting people and going to the OU-Texas game. How is it possible that I’ve been doing this for 21 years and never been to this?
There’s all kinds of things I still want to do. I don’t think I’m at the finish line but I’m gonna know it before anyone else does. I’ll know when all of a sudden I don’t have the energy to get fired up about this every day. When that happens I assure you I’ll walk away.
You can hear Mark Packer weekday mornings alongside Wes Durham from 7-10am Eastern on “ACC This Morning” on SiriusXM’s ACC Channel-371 and every afternoon from 4-7pm Eastern on “Off Campus” on ESPNU Radio, SiriusXM channel 84. You can find Mark on Twitter @MarkPacker.
Matt Fishman is a former columnist for BSM. The current PD of ESPN Cleveland has a lengthy resume in sports radio programming. His career stops include SiriusXM, 670 The Score in Chicago, and 610 Sports in Kansas City. You can follow him on Twitter @FatMishman20 or you can email him at FishmanSolutions@gmail.com.
