This week we celebrate 21 continuous years on the airwaves and begin our 22nd broadcast year. We started in September 2001, two weeks after the tragedy of 9/11. We started on one of the worst radio stations in DFW; all the ads were offshore gambling sites and gentlemen’s clubs, but people called starting day one. After six months, we moved to the legendary WBAP from 4-6 Saturday afternoons, and then a year later, we took over the premier time slot, 9-11 AM and we’ve been there ever since.
In 2006, I sold all my dealerships and was going to just do the Saturday WBAP show, but a Houston radio station showed interest in the show, so we started doing an additional two hours there. The growth continued to San Antonio, and Austin, then we hit the West coast in Sacramento. Los Angeles came on next and then we added Cleveland, Lubbock, Detroit, and the list continues to grow.
Our staff has grown through the years as we constantly work on our website. My car reviews and videos are much different today than they were in 2009 when I started doing them. Our first newsletter went out in 2008 and was a page and a half long, done in a Word document with no pictures or graphics, nothing like what you see today with tens of thousands of subscribers.
We dove deep into social media some years ago with the show facebook page that has over 20,000 followers. We tweet and we post on Instagram. All this is time consuming, but keeps us closer to you, our family.
There are so many to thank, I am sure to forget someone, but here we go:
First, my wife Kelly for understanding I will be gone 50 to 51 Saturdays a year, making vacations difficult. Also, for understanding I work on the newsletter for hours at least 3 nights a week, every Sunday, and often deep into the night.
My trusty sidekick, Kevin McCarthy has been with me from day one, and I’d have never tried this little dream without him. Tom Haynes and his group from Acuity Strategy working behind the scenes on the business side of the radio show. Our Superstar Executive Producer Amy Plemons who works tirelessly on content online, helping with the newsletter, and reviewing cars.
I thank our WBAP Producer, Lee Riza who is also the General Manager at the radio station I own, KPIR in Granbury, TX. I can’t say enough good things about our national show Producer Duane Sedge, and Tom Wilson who proofreads this newsletter every week. I also thank Todd Chambless, he and I spend quality time every single week producing commercials for our dealer affiliates.
I thank our station affiliates all over the country and their employees who keep the show on the sir. Sincere thanks to our dealer affiliates across America for standing behind what I say on the air and taking great care of our listeners even in trying times like we’ve been through the past year and a half.
Lastly, I thank you-our listeners and newsletter subscribers. You are the reason we do what we do every week. I set out twenty-one years ago to change the perception that all car dealers are crooks, and to take the mystery out of the car business. Without you, there is no Car Pro Show, and I thank you for your trust, for patronizing our sponsors, and for being part of the family as we enter our 22nd year of broadcasting.