This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948. To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.
Beaver County is often cited as being a “hotbed” for football talent. There are dozens of players that have played professionally over the years, and a good handful or so active in the N.F.L. right now. While not as familiar to many people, but just as impressive, is the fact that Beaver County has also been a “hotbed” for broadcasters, producing many national caliber on air talent and management people over the years. One of the shining stars that originally sat behind a microphone for the first time in Beaver County, and then go on to achieve big things is Gene Romano.
Gene Romano grew up in Ambridge and started working at WMBA while still in high school in 1976. Romano continues to live in the Pittsburgh area and was interviewed for the recently published book , Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA. “Romano wanted to do sports play by play initially and that was what sparked his interest in radio, and WMBA would have been a natural fit for a young man wanting to break into that aspect of broadcasting, With Bill Fontana, Chris Shovlin and Jay Knafel calling the action, WMBA had a huge sports presence in Beaver County and was sometimes doing three high school football games in a single weekend, many of which happening at Romano’s alma mater, Moe Rubenstein Stadium in Ambridge. Like many broadcasters, though, sometimes availability dictates what direction one travels in their career. For Romano, that meant cueing up records, taking requests, reading the weather and other fine details of hosting a top 40 music format show. It was a direction and a path that he continued to follow all the way up to creating and shaping the sound and image of some of the nation’s most popular radio stations, including local Pittsburgh legendary rock radio station, WDVE.”
These days, Gene Romano, manages and directs a huge staff of announcers across the country as a programming executive for iHeart media, but one of the lessons that he learned on how to direct and encourage his fellow radio station staffers, happened many years ago in the Duss Avenue studio of WMBA. Romano happened to be on duty on on August 16, 1977, the day Elvis Presley passed away. When interviewed for the book, Romano shared an amusing story about that occasion: “The program director told me to play Elvis music, and I really didn’t know or care alot about Elvis, I liked the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Springsteen and others. So, I really didn’t think anything about it and didn’t really understand what the fuss was all about, but I did what I was told and played the Elvis Presley songs. It’s funny, because nowadays, I’ve had to have that same conversation with announcers and programmers at iHeart, like when prince died and when Tom Petty died. Sometimes, the announcers didn’t know alot about those singers, and I had to fill them in and relate how important their songs and contributions were, just like I had to be brought up to speed about Elvis back when”
Later on in the publication, Romano’s biography is recounted and is just as impressive as any one of the Beaver County football players who has had a hall of fame career: “Gene Romano graduated from Ambridge Area High school in 1977 and had already started working at WMBA in his junior year. It was in State College, while attending Penn State University, that Romano landed his first full time Program Director job at WQWK from 1979 to 1981. After the college town job, Romano greeted Allentown residents as they woke up each day as the morning show host and Program Director at WZZO until 1987. Then, he moved back to Pittsburgh in 1988 to serve as the Program Director for WDVE, a position he held until 1997 when Romano accepted a position with Jacor Communications in Cincinnati as National Director of Rock Programming. After being promoted to Senior Vice president of Programming in 1999, corporate mergers and acquisitions between Jacor, AM-FM and Clear Channel, then allowed Romano to move back to Pittsburgh and work out of their Greentree station cluster offices. In 2004 Romano’s title was again upgraded to Executive Vice President of Programming for Clear Channel Communications- Radio Division, a post he continues to man, but under Clear Channel’s new name, iHeart Media.”
70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by Abbey Carpet and Floor, Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County, Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency, Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins