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To have an illustrious career takes dedication, perseverance, and a lot of ingenuity and creativity (and perhaps a little luck). Eric Stanger is no exception. “[Sean Hannity] was 27 years old, and I was 21. I just remember thinking, ‘I’ve never heard anyone in their 20s on the radio. It was just so interesting, like you can be in your 20s and give opinions on the air,’” the Senior Vice President of Operations for the ‘Sean Hannity Show’ remarked.
Stanger was an intern for WGST, Hannity’s original home station. He was determined to find a way to be a part of the show. “I started leaving notes and [Hannity] was like, ‘Who’s this kid that’s leaving me notes every night? Let’s get him on as a producer’. That’s how I got started. I got very lucky.”
Their friendship now spans 30+ years. While the pair have worked on-and-off together during that time, their respective careers have grown equally both in front and behind the microphone. “It sort of blows my mind to even say that sentence because I still think I’m 25 years old, so how could it be 30 years ago?”
30 years can feel like yesterday in news. However, the news cycle moves so quickly, yesterday can feel like a year ago. Stanger believes this election cycle is no different. “It’s been a challenge only because this has been such an interesting and different kind of an election because you have a candidate who was a former president. Then you have another candidate who has just become a candidate. Biden only dropped out in July, and it feels like years, but that was three months ago. It just moves so quickly, and Sean is very adept at staying ahead of the news cycle.”
As Hannity’s success grew, so did Stanger’s. The latter becoming the former KABC and WABC Assistant Program Director, and Director of Talk Programing at ABC before rejoining Hannity’s team. Stanger believes the biggest part of Hannity’s success is, “He’s just focused on what we’re always focused on and that’s delivering information and opinions to the audience that expects it from us. It hasn’t really changed much this year, even though it’s been a crazy year.”
Being a part of the Hannity team there is a lot expected, especially from the listeners. “I think that the expectations are that we deliver Sean’s analysis and opinions on politics. But he is also very adept at breaking into breaking news coverage if there’s a hurricane or if there’s, God forbid, a shooting or some breaking news event. [Sean] is a member of the media. He delivers his opinions, but we also can pivot if needed, to cover breaking news and just deliver straight news coverage and interviews of newsmakers without opinion.”
It’s this talent which Stanger believes sets Hannity apart from other talk hosts, and likely why he is number one. “I’ll give you an example. When that horrific shooting happened in Las Vegas back in 2017, we were on a plane the next day. We wanted to be there to cover it. We talked to ATF, FBI, local people at our radio station cluster at the time. A couple of the guys that worked at the station were at that event and could give eyewitness details. There’s just something in the news business about being on scene.”
The need for Stanger, Hannity, and the team to be live on location also has benefits for their 700 affiliates. “It gives you honor and authenticity that otherwise you would miss and that’s a benefit to stations because either they have somebody who’s willing to go out there and do it, and have a presence on location instead of the station not having have the staff to send somebody.”
For those looking to become the next great news anchor, Stanger recalled what he looked for in talent as Assistant Program Director at KABC, “Somebody who’s really knowledgeable and has the ability to communicate to an audience in a warm way. I think warmth is really important. For a radio show, I definitely want to hear humor, and that you’re knowledgeable. A little bit of arrogance is fine, but not too cocky. But I would just say that warmth is really important and the knowledge of the issues and being able to communicate effectively and in a compelling way.”
One great thing about modern technology for those looking to take to the mic is, “There are a lot of really great podcasters out there and there are a lot of podcasters out there that are green and have a lot of work to do. But the talent pool has never been bigger. It’s so easy now to start a podcast or get yourself on YouTube. I would just say to any young talent starting up, just get yourself out there.”
For those who might not want to take to the mic and instead follow in Stanger’s footsteps, he said, “Get to know the talent rather than getting to know your programing bosses. That is the best thing I ever did in my career. I became friendly with Sean and really got to know him and how it all works. That really helped me in my career when I started working with other talent. If you’re working at a radio station or TV station, I would do what you can to get to know the talent and what their needs are and how to meet those needs as a programmer. Do that and you’ll be successful.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
