(February 26, 2014) Kevin McNabb’s new sportscasting job is returning him to his roots. An STAA client, McNabb has accepted a position as Sports Director for Three Eagles Communications’ group of five radio stations in Columbus, NE. In addition to play-by-play of high school sports, McNabb will also have an on-air shift on KLIR-FM and will eventually host a coaches show.
It’s a big change for a guy who spent 1994 through 2010 broadcasting minor league baseball for the Omaha Royals.
“It’s radio sports, which I what I went to college for at the University of Nebraska and worked in for a few years after college, before beginning a 20-year career in minor league baseball,” says McNabb.
Prior to broadcasting baseball, McNabb did news and sports for several radio stations in Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. The opportunity to work in Columbus nearly came to McNabb nine months ago.
“I actually talked with [station Operations Manager David Gustafson] about coming on board last summer, but I had just accepted a sales position with Cumulus Media in Colorado Springs and wanted to give that a shot. I learned that working solely in radio sales just made me miss working on-air — probably more so than if I had stayed out of radio altogether.”
McNabb’s advice to other sportscasting job seekers is to be prepared to work long hours. “But if sports broadcasting is something you love those hours are worth it,” he says. “Also, realize that working hard and doing a good job is no guarantee of employment. In fact, if you work for an entity that goes through an ownership change, you will probably either lose your job or have your role changed dramatically. At least, that was my experience (and the experience of 16 co-workers) in Denver radio, and again as a minor league broadcaster in Omaha.”
“I’d like to thank Lisa Cherry, the GM and David Gustafson for giving me the opportunity. Three Eagles Communications has an outstanding reputation in the Midwest, so I feel very fortunate to have been hired by them. Now we’ll see if they can teach an old dog new tricks, as the last time I worked for a radio station, we used cart machines and turntables!”
(Visit Kevin’s STAA Talent Page).