Mike Hansen

Mike Hansen graduated from Columbia College in December 2005. Immediately following graduation Mike landed an On-Air position at a local hard rock station. Recently, he was hired as an On-Air talent in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Before he left for his new gig in Iowa, he took some time to reflect on his career thus far.

1. What or whom inspired you to get into radio?

I can honestly say that my love of music was the number one reason I wanted to get into radio. When I started getting into Metallica I was about 10 years old and at that same time, I started listening to the Chicago station Rock 103.5 and that station really got me excited at the thought of being able to listen to rock music, go to concerts, talk for a living, get paid and have a fun time doing it!


2. What class made you feel like Radio could be a career for you?

Honestly, it was right out of the gate when I took Radio Studio Operations. From the get go, we had to get in there and do mock radio shows and start to learn all the technical things that go into actually being on the radio. After taking RSO, Radio Broadcasting I and II were the ones that really brought out the personality in me and the kind of jock I wanted to be.



3. I think Fook, on-air talent at Q101, should feel like a proud papa seeing that three of his former interns are doing so well in the industry. How beneficial was that internship with Fook?

I have told everyone that I have ever known that the Fook experience was the best thing that I could have ever done! He knows how to put on a radio show and how to get the audience involved in everything he does. That experience I would never trade it for anything in the world because he is, in my opinion, the ultimate on air jock!



4. One of the things that I tell student's is that confidence is one of the benchmarks of success. Your demo, in my opinion, is a blueprint in a "how to prepare a demo" class. Approximately how many demo's did you send out, and can you give an example of the type of responses you received?

The demo is the most important thing someone walks out of the Radio Department with if their dream is to be an on air jock. Immediately when I was finished with school, I was sending out at least 25 a week all over the country. I was so committed to this that I was mailing each Program Director a separate package and actually mailing them. Each one cost about $1.35 to send but I did not care at all! I was ready for whatever opportunity came my way! I got hits on that demo from all over the country, from South Carolina to smaller markets in California and it really made me feel as though, I had what it took to make it! In the end, I got a lot of people telling me that they hired from within and I did not get the job, but just knowing people had enough interest to make the initial call, was very positive for me!



5. When you accepted the job offer at WIIL-ROCK in Wisconsin, what were your main goals going into that position?

My main goal was to get noticed and seen around the station by everyone who worked there. Obviously I wanted more airtime than just weekends but I knew that I was the "rookie" there and had everything to prove to them. I also knew that this was my foot in the door into commercial radio and that I was going to have to leave that particular station to kick through the next one but it was a good launching pad for my career.



6. You seem to have a wonderfully supportive family who really believe in you. Now that you're leaving the Illinois area, what will be the hardest thing to leave behind?

The hardest thing to leave behind is definitely my family and friends because I could not ask for better people in my life. A lot of my friends I have had for years but everyone knows that if I do not leave, I would regret it down the line. It will really be hard to leave my family behind too but they are very supportive and know that for me, radio is it! At the same time, I am just going to ROCK 108 in Waterloo, Iowa and it is really only a four and a half hour drive so it could definitely be worse.



7. Let's talk about the Iowa gig. How did that go down and how soon did you know that you wanted to nail down that position?

Well I know Julie K. from Columbia and from studio time and she had been telling me to get my aircheck to the Program Director Michael Cross for about a month. Finally, I was on allaccess.com and saw a job posting for the station and I jumped all over it! I emailed a copy of my aircheck and my resume to him at about 11:15 AM and within 2 hours he got back to me and wanted to meet me in person. The next day, I was on my way to Waterloo to meet with him. The day after that, I sat with him for three hours and finally he looks at me and says. "So I assume you are going to take the job." I looked at him and said, "Like there is a better move I could make right now!" And that was that!



8. You and Julie K. will now be working at the same station in Iowa. Did you hatch the plan that both of you would work at the same radio station during your hours spent in studio time?

Honestly, we had talked about what it would be like working at the same station down the line and maybe eventually we could get a morning gig or something together but then I took the job at WIIL ROCK and she took the job in Iowa so it seemed as though for now, we were going to be off doing our own thing and now, we will be rocking Iowa together! The interesting part about all this is the fact that at Columbia they tell you in classes that things like this happen and down the line you will end up working with people you know. We just had no idea that it would happen so fast!



9. After The Intercollegiate Broadcasting Conference in November, students talked about the alumni panel and how it motivated them with respect to their future goals. How did it feel to talk to students who are considering radio as a career?

I loved it! I am very excited and passionate about doing radio and talking to younger people who are very interested in doing it, made me feel good! That particular day, I could see the excitement in the kids and that they liked hearing about people who have gone through the program and could hear all about the post graduation experiences. It is always good to hear about what people are doing after they have gone through something like the program at Columbia just so they know that there is a future out there if you want it bad enough.



10. Your new position begins on April 7th. What can Iowa look forward to with "Hansen" on the way?

They don't know what is coming! I am going to throw everything I have into this and try and walk through a personality that people begin to know and love! I am going to make them laugh, make them rock out and at the end of the day, give them some of the best hours of rock radio they have ever heard!