Joe Connolly spent more than 30 years at WCBS 880 before the station ceased operations earlier this week. He was a hot commodity and was scooped up by 77 WABC, and he couldn’t be more excited.
As one might expect, after being the subject of losing his job due to a corporate decision to end his radio station, one of the biggest things Connolly is excited about is returning to work for a station that features local ownership, as 77 WABC is under the direction of John and Margo Catsimatidis of Red Apple Media.
“My excitement level is DEF CON Five or whatever it is,” he joked. “The energy is just so high here. But people are really nice and very friendly. I’m really looking forward to getting back into locally-owned radio. I think that the key to the future of radio is a large part the fact that it’s locally owned. That’s how it was when I started out in radio many years ago. They were usually locally owned stations, because the local owner cares about their community, and this is local ownership at a whole new level. All of the things that they’re doing, they’re really — I hope, I think, — helping a lot of radio stations learn how to thrive again through new ways.”
In his new role with the station, he’ll host one-minute features on local businesses. Business Success Stories with Joe Connolly will air on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with Connolly featuring interviews with local business owners to detail what has led to their success.
Joe Connolly wasn’t always a business reporter. In fact, he got his start in the sector completely by chance.
“I got the business news job a long time ago when the business guy called in sick. So I started doing his reports,” Connolly admitted.
He’s been covering the Big Apple business beat ever since. It’s something the new WABC reporter quickly learned to enjoy.
“I immediately loved covering business news, because most of the time you can give people useful, usable, good information, helpful information that they can use to try to figure out how to get a better job, how to negotiate for a raise, or how to save money. “With the business news, I immediately found that you didn’t have to fight to make your stories relevant, because they were about money and educating your kids.
“As a reporter, even if you go to a one-alarm or two-alarm fire, you try to find something to make it relevant. We’re always trying to make whatever we cover relevant, and the business news is instantly, automatically relevant.”
While talking about business was always instantly relevant, so were the stories of the people behind those operations. Joe Connolly told Barrett Media he enjoys telling the stories of merchants big and small.
“I started covering small and mid-sized businesses, and I really like being with business owners, because they are solutions-oriented. They find a way through problems. They’re not just hand-wringing, and I always try in my business reports to include solutions, or potential solutions to economic issues, not just list the list for problems. And business people are like that. They’re very solutions-oriented. So it’s a great beat to cover because sometimes you can report, something that helps people.
“I like to pride myself on doing a business report using no numbers,” Connolly said. “But often, the best business news stories are just talking at a party or social gathering. It’s often possible to do a business story with no numbers in it.”
So, combining his love of reporting on business news and telling the stories of business owners and operators, coupled with working for a locally-owned station like 77 WABC, is essentially a best-case scenario for Joe Connolly after the demise of WCBS 880.
“I love business news. I’m thrilled to be back on locally-owned radio at a very unique level.
“There are a million stories. New York is people of all ages, all ethnicities, all experiences, all backgrounds,” Connolly added. “It’s endless. And they love talking about their business. Business owners love — this was part of the reason for my success so far on this — business owners love talking about their business and hearing other business owners talk about their business.”
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
