By Todd Brommelkamp/KGYM Radio
When this station launched a three-hour afternoon drive show on July 5, 2011 a lot of people in Eastern Iowa thought it wouldn’t work.
It did and it has and will continue to.
It was an ambitious move, especially given the fact one of the two hosts had only a passing knowledge of the radio business. Three hours of sports talk radio in a state with no major league-level professional sports isn’t easy. Trust me.
Yet day in and day out for the last 8-plus years that’s what I’ve done here, for better or worse. Mostly for the better, despite my tendency for self-deprecation.
That will change on Monday.
If you were listening tonight you already heard the news. The Todd Brommelkamp Show with Alex Kuhn is scaling back to a two hour affair beginning next week. We’ll be off the air at 6 o’clock moving forward.
Why?
Blame me. This was my idea.
A lot has changed for me in the last eight and a half years but the biggest difference manifested itself in July of 2016. That’s when I became a father and that’s when everything changed in my world.
As my son has grown older it’s become more difficult to walk in the door each night knowing I’ll have a few precious minutes to play with him before it’s time for bed.
I love my job, I want to be clear about that. It’s never been more evident how special it is to work for a locally owned radio station that’s committed to its listeners than in the last couple days. A question that often gets asked around the building by those in charge is “What would make you happy?”
Several months ago I mentioned that I’d like to get off the air at six each night so I could have more time to spend with my family each night.
Careful what you wish for?
The hardest part about announcing this is knowing that we have a number of listeners who enjoy the third and final hour of the show each night. For some, it’s the only time they’re listening. I may be taking back an hour of my life but I’m also taking something away from many of you.
Shortening the show to two hours will allow Alex and me to do more with less, especially during the dead period for sports talk radio in Iowa after the NCAA basketball tournament and before fall football camps ramp up. What has been a great three hour show will be a tighter, stronger two hour show, in my opinion.
Our lineup of guests won’t change. You’ll still hear the same local and national voices that often join us.
One of the aspects I’m most looking forward to moving forward is an earlier arrival in the office each day. That’s going to allow me more time to spend doing something I’ve always enjoyed and that’s what I’m doing at this very moment. I’ll be writing more for kgymradio.com and working on some other things behind the scenes to make KGYM even stronger.
This is one of several changes we’ve got in store for our listeners in 2020 and I’m excited about the future weeks and months to come.
What I’m really excited about though is walking in the door tonight and having my son run up to me to tell me about his day before asking me if I’ll play with him.
Starting Monday I’ll have a lot more time to do just that.
