Last week, WRVA announced that long time sports talk host Rich Herrera had been tabbed to become the new morning host of the Audacy Richmond news/talk station.
It marks not only a change in format but a change in scenery for Herrera, who will move to Richmond from his current home in Tucson, Arizona.
But that move isn’t going to waste. In his first official act as a WRVA host, Rich Herrera is turning his cross-country move into social media and digital content for the news/talk brand. In a video series dubbed “Herrera Across America,” the new morning host is documenting his travels and stops along the more than 2,200-mile journey.
He says the idea was a natural one.
“It’s something that I was thinking about: when do the people on the East Coast and the West Coast talk to the people in the middle of the country?” he shared. “So when we decided to drive to Richmond, I said ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we stopped and we talked to people along the way?'”
With a sponsor in tow, Herrera set out a plan. A road map, if you will, of how the trip would go. He and his wife — who he admitted was “doing most of the driving” — would stop at gas stations, truck stops, and rest areas and speak with average, everyday Americans to get their perspective on four questions.
“We ask them ‘What do you love about America, if you could talk to a founding father, what do you want to say to them, we’re asking what the big pressing needs and issues are for America, and then finally, how do we bring people together?’ Our country is so divided, and it’s really been inspiring. It almost brings you to teares when you see these people. They’re just random, everyday Americans.”
Additionally, Rich Herrera is stopping at interesting sites on the way to Richmond, like the George W. Bush Library in Dallas and Graceland in Memphis, as well as stops planned in Nashville and other planned pit stops to gather content before reaching Richmond.
Herrera has a long history in the sports talk radio format. He’s worked at large stations like 790 The Ticket in Miami, 97.3 The Fan in San Diego, KNBR in San Francisco, KMOX in St. Louis, in addition to his time at Infinity Sports Network — previously known as CBS Sports Radio — and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.
With all of that experience in a different format, it would be easy to question why the change to a different format with a different company more than 2,000 miles away. But Herrera said the chance to work at a heritage brand like WRVA was too good to pass up and gave credit to Audacy executives like Chris Olivero, Jeff Sottolano, and Drew Anderssen for giving him the opportunity.
“I did a couple of sample shows of what it would be like. And (Anderssen) said ‘You actually might have a knack for this. You’re pretty good at this.’ And he goes ‘Let’s see if we can get you to fill in at some places and kinda kept me in mind. I said ‘If you find the right place where I could take my skill set and come to a new radio station.'”
A little while later, the call came in that WRVA morning host John Reid was going to exit the Audacy Richmond station in an effort to run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. When asked if he would be interested, Rich Herrera didn’t hesitate.
“That’s a legendary station,” he said of WRVA. “I did a couple shows out there and said ‘Wow, this place is special. and I was thinking to myself ‘If you’re gonna be anywhere, wouldn’t you wanna be in Virginia for the anniversary of the 250th birthday of our country, on a station celebrating their 100th anniversary?’ I’m in. I want this job. And I’ve been filling in for the last, I don’t even know how many weeks.”
He added that reactions from his friends in the sports talk radio world have been overwhelmingly positive since the news was announced last week.
As he gets set to get to Richmond and get starting as the morning host of the heritage signal, the new WRVA host shared that he has some experience in landing in a new market. He hopes those past experiences help him hit the ground running.
“You have to be authentic, you can’t just read something in the newspaper. You gotta go see it,” he said. “I have a rule. I won’t say anything on the radio that I won’t say to your face. So I better make sure I go meet you face-to-face before I start talking about things on the radio. And the other part is, I’ve done this just about everywhere we’ve gone. I want to give back. My dad was an amazing person. He was a migrant farmworker who grew up to be a cop. All he cared about was making a difference. And he kind of imparted that on me and my siblings. So we’re gonna find some things at WRVA in Richmond that I can I can get involved with.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity. Audacy Richmond is so supportive and encouraging me to be out in public and be part of the community, which is one of the reasons why I said ‘Hey, listen, I’ll jump from the desert and cactuses of the 48th state and great Mexican food and move across the country to one of the original 13, just because this opportunity is incredible. And I’m just grateful, thankful, and excited.”
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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.
