There are tons of nicknames out there. You’ve got Stan’ The Man’ Musial, Ed’ Too Tall’ Jones, and Earvin’ Magic’ Johnson. We can add Scott ‘Rhino’ Rheinhold into that mix. Scott Rheinhold is also known as The Terminator, but more on that later.
When he was eight years old, Rheinhold’s father gave him a Care Bear microphone, which they attached to an FM radio.
“My first guest was probably my little brother,” Rheinhold said. “I was doing play-by-play for a Jets and Giants football game. I didn’t have many friends, just kind of kept to myself. I had one best friend, and we hung out at the radio station all the time.”
Rheinhold said Rhino is a nickname he used throughout his time in sports but admits it’s a horrible conservative talk show name.
“RINO means something totally different in politics,” he said. “But I’ve kept it because I really am a Republican in name only because I am a conservative.”
Rheinhold has been in the Atlanta radio market for over 25 years. He started his radio career in New York at 95.5 WPLJ as an intern.
“When I was interning at WPLJ, I knew radio was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
An admitted Family Ties Alex P. Keaton devotee since he was 13, Rheinhold said it was politics first and sports second. Probably a good call as he was 5’4” and quickly recognized any thoughts about playing hockey at a higher level weren’t in the cards.
“I wanted to do play-by-play for the New York Rangers.”
He was all set to join the Army and go to Fort Benning, Georgia, to train. A week before his ship date, they discontinued the program he had intended to pursue.
“My family had already moved down to the Atlanta area. I went to community college and was looking for some way to get back into radio. Some kind of shortcut. I ended up at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.”
He grew tired of the left-leaning ideology in New York and yearned for what he perceived was a different attitude in the south.
Rheinhold moved to Atlanta in 1994 and finished school, and accepted a job in 1996 as a producer and production director at 790 The Zone in Atlanta. Two years later, he became the promotions director at WSTR Star 94 in Atlanta.
It was Rheinhold’s goal to learn everything he could about radio, making him indispensable to the station and perhaps avoid being in the sights when it was time for firings.
“I’ve never been fired from a station,” he said proudly. “If I could do everything, somebody before me would probably get the ax.”
Rheinhold said that was his figurative blackmail. Did you need someone to do production? Look no further. Do you say you need someone to host a show? I’m your guy.
“They called me the terminator. (Told you.) When I left a station, then came back, other employees somewhat jokingly said, ‘Whose job are you going to take?’ I didn’t particularly like that.”
Rheinhold wasn’t about to apologize for being valuable. He said he’s very loyal and did what was asked of him.
Next up, a job with Dickey Broadcasting as they launched 680 The Fan. He was a producer, reporter, sports update guy, and personality working on The Buck and Kincade Show.
“Throughout my career, David Dickey has helped guide me,” Rheinhold explained. “I wanted to be the best at what I do, and he felt the same way.”
Rheinhold said program director Matt Edgar is also someone who has had his back.
“Matt always told me to keep going, do what I had been doing. When the pandemic hit, he would call me and say he knew things were difficult and the station needed me back. He’s the kind of guy I always looked up to.”
Yet another influence on Rheinhold was Mike Thompson. He was someone that pushed him to the next level and someone he respected.
“I was lucky to meet him. He encouraged me to make things funny, weird. Mike knew I understood radio. I was doing a sports update. I attempted a Mike Tyson impersonation. I could barely get through the rest of the segment because I was laughing so hard.”
Rheinhold said Thompson not only understood what he was doing, Thompson told him to do more. He said Thompson knew what was entertaining. The audience would forget whether the Braves won a game, but they wouldn’t forget the Tyson impression.
When he was a kid, Rheinhold had the chance to meet an idol.
“I just had to get Donald Trump to sign my copy of The Art of the Deal. I was a big fan of his back then. So, I saved my lunch money to go to a benefit dinner. I was wearing a pink tie to stand out, and he noticed and commented on the tie.
He said he wants to run into Trump again and might wear his pink tie.
“I’ve covered Trump at a lot of events. He has a different dynamic. I think he was a fantastic president but not a great orator. He’s also clearly a narcissist. He is always jumping off the page. I think that’s unfortunate because his policies were sound.”
Rheinhold said he thinks the January 6th Commission is distracting us from things that are really going on, kitchen table topics.
“It’s purely done to keep people away from voting for Trump again. They tried to get Marjorie Taylor Greene and failed.”
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican. Rheinhold said if your goal is to shut anyone down, you will push the political agenda.
“It goes both ways. If Republicans win the midterms, I promise they’ll hold special committees to call out Dr. Fauci, both Bidens, Afghanistan, Chuck Schumer and blame them for the ills of the world. It’s just how it’s done.”
Rheinhold co-hosts Morning Xtra with Tug Cowart on Atlanta’s only Conservative News and Talk Station XTRA 106.3 FM.
“Tug is an amazing guy. Very faithful friend. I consider him one of the greatest guys I’ve ever known. Exemplary as a father, and it’s great to have him in my corner. Sometimes on the radio, hosts will seem friendly and appear to get along. They’re laughing and seem like best friends. Off the air, it’s different. With Tug, we really do laugh, talk, and share ideas.”
Rheinhold said it’s the same way with David Dickey, and that’s why he won’t leave.
“We flipped to conservative talk last year,” he said. “While working in sports, Carlos Medina, Tug, and myself were in the corner of the lunchroom talking politics very quietly. We called it the bullpen. And this went on for a while. We didn’t want to do it in front of other people because an unwritten rule is you never talk politics in a public setting. You must have respect for others. We’d talk about taxes, Obama, whatever.”
At one point, they decided sports wasn’t working. David Dickey is a more conservative owner and felt the market needed a new voice. WSB was their biggest competitor and went after them.
Dickey knew he had a lot of the right people in place. During the pandemic, Rheinhold started a YouTube channel and always talked about politics.
“On the air, I shared how the women in my house would go through the toilet paper. So, I collected the empty rolls and hot-glued them together to make a crown. I wasn’t Hannity; I was just having fun.”
All he’s wanted to do is live a happy life. At this point, he’s not overly concerned about what he says.
“I still deliver my points in an honest and funny way. If it’s controversial or not, I don’t care.”
Influences outside of radio included George Bush for a while. “The family changed, so I dumped them.”
Reagan was number one for Rheinhold. “He’s my George Washington. Reagan changed everything, especially the way we look at the economy.”
According to Rheinhold, the Atlanta audience is predominantly conservative, not necessarily Trump conservatives.
“I’m sure Trump thinks the establishment Republicans are taking over. The very thing he intended to stop. He’s attacked because he’s an outsider. Does he bring some of it on himself? Sure he does.”
He said Trump would go into a meeting with Kim Jong-un, shake his hand, but warn him he’d destroy him if need be.
“Some were afraid Trump was a warmonger. I don’t care if he rode a horse shirtless every day with Putin; he kept Russia at bay. Trump let it be known he would destroy them if he had to. Trump is a narcissist, but you almost needed him to be.”
That he is.
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
