One of the hallmarks of any great leader is sharing the credit with his or her team. Hall of Famer Dave Gorab, Class of '93, rose through the ranks of WJPZ to become General Manager at a very successful time in the radio station's history. From there, he eventually became VP and GM of talk programming at SiriusXM Radio. Throughout this episode, you'll hear Dave give the credit to those around him.
That starts with his arrival at the station, and the mentorship of people like Hal Rood, Scott Meach, Henri Ferri, Kelly Sutton, and more. He also speaks of contemporaries like Brian Lapis and Scott Taylor.
Dave certainly paid it forward, as you'll hear in a clip from a previous podcast episode. Matt Friedman, '94, talks about a lifelong lesson Dave taught him.
You'll hear about some amazing things WJPZ did in the early 90's - from giving away cars and cash, to figuring out how to get a buy from Pabst Blue Ribbon, with their slogan, in a way that was legal on a non-commercial radio station.
Dave also tells us about, in his words, "the worst negotiated deal in WJPZ history," which he still catches flack for. But you'll also hear his surprising reaction when 93Q sabotaged a Z89 remote.
Following graduation, Dave tried radio sales and hated it - he missed being part of the creative team. This led him to a career in talk radio, working with Jim Cramer on "Mad Money," and eventually joining up with something called satellite radio in 2004.
There were lessons learned at WJPZ that today's guest applies every day now at SiriusXM. This was true as they built some amazing brands in the talk space, and also when they had to pivot during Covid, as you'll hear.
Something we didn't mention in this episode is Dave's massive equipment donation to WJPZ when the station's gear was on its very last legs. You'll hear about that in Friday's episode with John Ferracane, from the Class of 2003.
Join Us in Syracuse for Banquet on March 4th: https://bit.ly/WJPZ50BanquetTickets
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast is produced by Jon Gay '02 and JAG in Detroit Podcasts
Want to be on the show? Email JAG at jag@jagpodcastproductions.com
Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/
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