They Call Him The iPad Broadcaster

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Jeremy Leahy is the host of a program called Standing Ground. He has quite an interesting story after being let go by CBS Radio back in 2008. Leahy spent around 10 years in the radio business as a producer and on air talent. He thought he had shut the door on radio forever after being let go, then he says, something wonderful happened

Leahy started an independent podcast that he sent out to friends by email. They were basically 20-minute rants. After about six months he had a demo, sent it out, and was offered a one hour show on Red State Talk Radio. He then picked up a station in Florida and says there are more to come. What’s most interesting is that he does his entire show on his IPAD. His friends call him The IPAD broadcaster. We spoke to Leahy recently about his new venture.

RI: How and when did you get your start in radio?
Leahy: I started in radio in around 1998. I was working full time for an insurance company and began doing voice over work for a Boston morning show. I started interning a few mornings a week and in about three months or so I was hired by American Radio as the stations executive producer of the morning show.

What happened at CBS in 2008?
I left American Radio in 1999 and went to work for Greater Media’s WTKK. The station had just recently gone all talk. It was really exciting with all that was going on including an up an coming Presidential election. I was there until around 2006 and went to work back in morning drive as a producer/on air talent at CBS radio. In 2008 there were several cutbacks across the board which included producers. It was no great surprise with the economic climate that year.

What were you doing after you lost the CBS gig?
After leaving CBS I took some time to rethink things a bit and in 2009 I returned to school and earned a BA in political science. It was a great experience. After graduating I took any work I could get and kept my mind focused by reading as well as writing.

When and why did you start a Podcast?
I started doing the podcast in 2014. It was a great outlet for me. I love to talk! It’s the Irishman in me I guess. I felt like those two years back in school got my mind  spinning with a lot of ideas as well as opinions. I think the podcast was a great way to vent. The podcast was really about anything that was on my mind. I would talk about everything from politics to law to current events or something I experienced.

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How did you distribute it?
I assembled a list of friends emails and just sent it out. I would do one or maybe two a week. Each podcast was about 20 minutes in length.

How are you able to produce it completely from your iPad? What software are you using and how do you edit?
I was using and still using software called twisted wave. To many in the industry it’s very much like Soundforge . Simple click and drag. It was easy for me having been familiar with that type of editing system.

How did you connect with Red State Talk Radio?
After doing the podcast for about a year I sent all of them to a good friend of mine in Chicago who works as morning show talent and imaging director. He created an eight minute demo and I started to send it out to prospective stations. In 2015 I was contacted by the program director of Red State Talk Radio. The great and late Premo Mondone. I remember him saying to me on the phone, ‘I like what I hear so far’. He offered me a one hour slot twice a week.

How many listeners do you have and where are they coming from?
It appears now that I’m averaging anywhere from 600-900 listeners a month on Red State yet it maybe more with Tunein and other apps out there. It’s not bad considering I’m only airing six shows a month.

How are things going now and how do you plan to grow the show?
Things are going well. I’ve just been picked up by WJHC 107.5 FM TALK in Northern FL. There are some other stations that have expressed interest, yet nothing set in stone as of right now. The great thing is that at present I’m a free agent and I can broadcast Standing Ground anywhere I want. It’s fun being your own host, producer and program director. What started as outlet is really developing into something I never expected.

When you start something you never know where it may lead. The best part of it ? It’s a lot of fun!

Standing Ground with Jeremy Leahy airs Thursday nights at 8PEST on Red State Talk Radio. You can also listen on WJHC 107.5 in Northern, Fla . Sunday nights 11:00PMEST. Jeremy can be reached at  [email protected]

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