Veteran broadcaster
Bob Saye
is a staple on Vancouver radio dial. 
Bob Saye, Paul Anka & Judith Saye 
The morning man on 600AM Vancouver In recent years his morning co-host was Shawn Webster. Bob is a man that sticks to his values. He is going it alone these days on morning drive. Shawn Webster is working outside radio and Bob marches on doing what he does best connect with his listeners. Bob Saye is a funny character who can make you laugh without any warning. He has teamed up over the years with Bill Courage, Dean Hill, Graham Hatch, Stirling Faux and Shawn Webster. Bob hails from the East of Canada but the West is home. Air-Checker sits down for a 1-on -1 with Bob Saye.Airchecker: Hi Bob, great to have you on Air-Checker. You are the morning man on 600AM. Vancouver. Bob I have to ask off the top. With the recent approval by the CRTC of a new frequency on the FM dial for 600AM. 600 will go silent shortly. Are you going to be part of the new FM?
Bob: At this point I don't know. No decisions have been made on who will be the on-air talent at this point. Love to be a part of it but we'll see.
Airchecker: you graduated from Humber back East. First radio gig at Q107 Toronto. First job, you landed in the majors. Not bad ROOKIE.
Bob: I was very fortunate. Dave Charles was the original Program Director at Q107 and he was terrific at giving young guys a chance. He hired me out of Humber College to do a feature on weekends called Album Replay. It was an all night show and we played and entire album with the only break coming after each side of an album. In the late 70's compact discs were not around. The only time I had to talk was between sides. Not a lot of pressure and a perfect situation for someone just starting their career.
Airchecker: A 7 year run on 99.3 The Fox Vancouver. How did it come to be that you were heading West to Vancouver from Q107 Toronto?
Bob: I was fired from Q107. It's a part of the business that most of us experience at one time or another. Dean Hill had worked at Q107 and had left to come to Vancouver to work at The Fox. He recommended me to Don Shafer who was the P.D. at the time and Dean put in a few good words for me. That is how I wound up in the West.
Airchecker: CFOX would of been a Moffat station pre Corus. The Fox was a power house station back in the 80's. Lots of creative jocks working the airways. What was the experience like for you at The Fox?
Bob: It was a ton of fun. Lots of talent from Dean Hill to Jeff Hamilton. I probably learned the most in terms of writing and delivery from Kerry Marshall. It wasn't until I worked at The Fox and working with Kerry that I really became confident and comfortable and developed my on air style and personality.
Airchecker: You and Bill Courage were a great team on Rock 101. Do you miss working with Bill Courage? You guys had huge numbers on CFMI.
Bob: I have been blessed to work with some super talented people.Stirling Faux, Dean Hill, Graham Hatch, Shawn Webster and Billy. Aside from being incredibly talented, Bill, more than most, understands how radio works and what makes good radio. He is able to paint great word pictures and that is why he has been so successful wherever he has gone no matter what city and what Format. Not all on air talent are able to pull that off. Do I miss working Bill? You bet.
Airchecker: Do you still talk to Stirling Faux? Another versatile jock you teamed up with. A radio duo with great chemistry.
Bob: I talk to Stirling on a regular basis. He is currently in Calgary. We first met when he was at CFMI and I was at The Fox. We went flying with Bud Granley at the Abbotsford Air Show in his P52 Mustang. We did have good chemistry right from the get go. I always thought part of the reason was because we came from similar backgrounds. We are both from Toronto and raised good Catholic boys and we were close in age. There were times when I wouldn't even tell Stirlng what I was going to talk about and he would know exactly where I was heading. Stirling is also very well educated and well read. He has also traveled a fair bit so there is barely a topic that he doesn't know something about so you can bring anything to the table and Stirling will be able to jump in.
Airchecker: I know you walked away from your career at Rock 101 based on a value issue. I admired you for going with your gut feelings. Your career could of ended but things worked out well for you. Lets look back in 2008 what are your thoughts today?
Bob: Not initially. I wasn't able to get full time work in radio for a couple of years and I wound up making a tenth of what I was making at ROCK 101. My wife and I lost everything including our house and although things are better now we still haven't fully recovered financially. However, if I had to make that decision again, I would, even knowing what my wife and I would be going through. For the two of us that says we made the right decision. I mention my wife in this because you can't and shouldn't make that kind of life changing choice unless you and your partner are in total agreement. And in that case we were. The whole process made our marriage stronger.
Airchecker: I read a quote that you said " It's a role I'm playing" " Listeners may think they know who I am, but they don't, they know a bit of me." What do you mean by this?
Bob: The person that comes across on the radio is just a part of who I am. So listeners get to know that aspect of your personality but they don't the whole you. People have said to my wife, her name is Judith, that it must be so much fun to live with me because it would be a laugh a minute. And although I can be funny at home trust me it ain't a laugh a minute. Some of the things I say on air I don't really believe or mean. It is a means to an end..an attempt at being funny. So in some cases listeners will think I have an issue with a person or organization or I lean a certain way politically when in fact it could not be further from the truth.
Airchecker: How's Rona Raskin? Did you two not have a TV cable show together at one point? I remember seeing you two in a hot tub together on Shaw?
Bob: I haven't seen Rona in several years so to be honest I don't know how she is doing. The show you refer to that was on Shaw was in fact her show. The name of it escapes me at the moment. She had a show at CFMI as well and that is how we got to know each other. She asked me to guest on the TV show a couple of times to add a little humor and it turned out that I became a regular contributor. The hot tub thing was a segment we did on men losing their hair. I wasn't totally bald at the time but I was losing it. So off I went to have a weave done. We were in the hot tub to show that it wouldn't come off if you were under water. For some reason I didn't like the weave. It drove me crazy and was glad to have it removed after two or three weeks.
Airchecker: You keep re inventing yourself. From PA announcer at BC Lions games. Talk show host on CKNW. Various formats in music radio. You appear to have done it all.
Bob: Pretty close I guess. Although I would use the term talk show host loosely in my case. For the most part I have done various music formats and although the music is the most important aspect of the station, I have always felt my focus is what happens between the songs. So for me it didn't matter what kind of music I was playing, as long as I knew the audience the station was trying to reach , I could work at any station whether they were playing opera or classic rock.
Airchecker: Why did you choose radio as a career?
Bob: I was watching Brian Williams do a sportscast during the evening news on the local CBC affiliate in Toronto and he mentioned that the Radio and TV program at Ryerson was putting on a sports broadcasting seminar featuring Fred Scambatti of CBC Radio and TV,
Ralph Mellanby who was the executive producer for Hockey Night in Canada at the time, and Scotty Connell who was a producer for NBC Sports back then. I thought I would check it out and after going to the seminar decided I would give it a try. I wound up going to Humber College to take their Radio Broadcasting program.
Airchecker: You took broadcasting school. Can a person still get into radio today without schooling?
Bob Yes. There is a guy who works at CHFI in Toronto who didn't go to broadcast school. I think today that is pretty rare. It would seem to still be the best route to take to get into the business. Usually the schools have connections with radio stations for setting up internships and getting that first job in smaller to medium markets and in rare cases major markets.
Airchecker: What's one of your great moments in Vancouver radio for you?
Bob: Some of the interviews I have done. Gene Roddenberry the creator of Star Trek. B.B. King the great blues guitarist comes to mind. Flying up to Hay River in the NWT because the people who lived there listened to ROCK 101 on satellite and they wanted me to MC a curling bonspiel. It brought home the impact radio can have on people and that what we do, although "it is not brain surgery" as my friend Bill Courage would say, it can play an important role in their lives even if it's to bring a few laughs into their lives every day.
Airchecker: Tell us a funny radio story?
Bob: Oh I remember back when I first started we did some pretty stupid stuff. It was before everything was on computer and newscasts were typed on paper. While someone was on air reading their newscast we would light their newscast on fire. I remember when I I was doing news on The Fox, Karen Hewko and Darryl Hebert got me. Karen called me out into the lobby to ask me a question. While I was talking to her Darryl went in and inserted some stories into my newscast that he had written. Of course they made no sense at all and for a moment or two I had no idea what I was reading.
Airchecker: That, was a great story. Who are the radio gods you admire?
BobI grew up in Toronto so radio people I really admired were Jungle Jay Nelson, Al Boliska, and Paul Godfrey on CHUM AM and CFTR respectively. Then as I got older and started to listen to FM there were people such as John Donabie and Pete and Geets on CHUM FM. They were radio superstars. The really cool thing was when I got into the business I got to meet and work with John as well as Geets. I still stay in touch with Geets. I never would have dreamed that when I was listening to Geets in the morning that I would become a friend of his one day.
Airchecker: What genre of music do you enjoy listening to? Given you have worked in many music formats?
Bob: The last five years have been interesting. A lot of artists I grew up listening to have recorded standards. Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler along with more current artists such as Michael Buble plus duet CDs by the likes of Tony Bennett. I have collected close to 40 CDs in the last five years of just recordings of the "Great American Songbook" so I have been listening to that a lot. That is kind of unusual for me. I find when you work at a radio station, no matter what the format, after a while the last thing you want to listen to is stuff you've been playing at work all day. So I love Blues music. I'm no expert on it but it is my favorite.
Airchecker: Do you listen to Internet radio at all?
Bob: I probably should but I am ashamed to say I don't.
Airchecker: Always interested to know about show prep. How do you prepare for the morning show? Do you and Shawn discuss together or who takes charge.
Bob: I have always had great success with relating to the listener what is going on in my life. But I don't just pass along what I'm up to whether it's going to a movie or out to dinner or talking about my personal life with my kids or wife. There has to be a twist to it to make it entertaining otherwise it's just boring chatter. That's what made working with Shawn so great because she would bring stuff that was going on in her life to the show as well.
I also try to make the show as local as possible. I think most announcers do that. I have the attitude if someone is from out of town and they are listening to you and they aren't familiar with what you're talking about then you probably have a lot of local topics being discussed and that's a good thing. Then you keep an eye on the news of course. As for who took charge. Shawn worked for both 600AM and JRFM doing traffic so she was kept pretty busy between her duties on JR and Co-Hosting with me. As a result I tended to set the direction of the show and we would discuss what we were going to say before we hit the air. But sometimes a bit can take a direction you hadn't planned and that can be better than what you had worked out before going on the air.
Airchecker: Bob. Not sure if you realize the fan base you have regarding listeners who grew up with you on Vancouver radio. Your reply to why you walked away from CFMI was admirable. Walking away from something you love is a tough one. You are a fighter. You continued to march forward despite finacial hardship. What about re creating the duo of Courage or Stirling? With Webster apart of the mix?
Bob: Bring it on. I don't know about getting Shawn back though. She has moved on to her career in real estate. I think that would have to completely tank before she would seriously consider making a return to radio. That would be great for me but not so much for her family. She has two young boys she wants to spend time with in the morning. Can't blame her for that.As for getting back together with Bill or stirling that would be outstanding. A couple of great broadcasters and even better friends.
Airchecker: What time do you get up for the morning show?
Bob Pretty boring. I wake up at 3:00am and make myself a mocha and usually have a toasted bagel. The cat and dog usually get up with me and I give them both treats and we have breakfast together. Then I head into the station around 3:20am and arrive by 4:00am. I go through the papers and the news wire services and set up the show for the morning. I'm on the air at 6:00am and off at 10:00am. After my shift I head to Stanley Park and run the Seawall. I do that three or four times a week if I can. Then I head back home and try and sleep for a couple of hours. Some morning people stay up and go to bed around 7:00 or 8:00pm.
I made the decision that I would nap in the afternoon and stay up later. That way I would spend some time with my wife and kids, especially when our kids were younger and into various activities. I usually go to be between 10:00pm and 10:30pm.I also work part time at Peninsula Runners in Langley. Usually a couple of afternoons a week. Along with working two days at the store I am involved in the running clinics they put on so I help with that on Wednesday nights and on Saturday mornings.
Airchecker: Your co-host on AM600 (was) Shawn Webster. What keeps a morning duo creative day in and day out over the years. Do you ever disagree about the direction of the show?
Bob: It can happen. But I have been fortunate to work with real pros. We put our egos aside and usually work things out.Most of the ideas we came up with we worked together on. As for what keeps a morning show creative every day for a long period of time, for me there are several answers. First you have naturally creative people. You have people who love what they do. You don't get up as early as we do every day and not look forward to going to work. The people I have worked with for any length of time whether it is Shawn Webster, Dean Hill, Graham Hatch, Bill Courage, or Stirling Faux, they cared about the finished product that went out on the airwaves. As well they were and are still good friends. I've heard some say it doesn't matter whether a morning team gets along or not. Maybe for some but not for me. If there is tension in the studio whether you realize it at the time or not it affects the chemistry and the creativity of the show.
Aircheker: You are a veteran broadcaster. How do you see personalities making a living in radio in the future? The combination of satellite radio, podcasting & online radio. What's your thoughts about the future of radio?
Bob: Oh boy. I think radio faces a lot of challenges. But they said radio was on its way out when TV came along and it more than hung in there. There is definitely a ton of competition out there but I still think people want to know what is going on in their own backyard and they still like to be entertained. Radio still offers a certain immediacy that people like so I think radio is here to stay. One of the issues radio faces is voice tracking. Not only does it take jobs away from broadcasters it also stunts the development of good broadcasters. I was having this very conversation with Chris Coburn who does afternoons at JRFM, the sister station of 600AM. It is difficult to find quality people and in some ways we have brought it on ourselves. However, usually challenges makes us better so hopefully radio will actually continue to improve in the next few years
Airchecker: Bob continued great success in your career. You have been a staple of Vancouver radio for many years.. I think it would be a great programming decision if you could get together on the dial with yourself, Courage, Faux or Webster in the morning/afrernoon drive. Lets hope a smart PD or GM would agree with us on Air-Checker team them up together. My vote would be for Bob Saye & Bill Courage. I bet those two would get huge numbers again. Thanks so much for your time you were a wonderful guest. I really appreciate you sharing some of your deepest thoughts both career wise and personal sacrafises as a result of following your dream. Wow, what a personality Bob Saye, I like his laugh (lets box it up) trust you enjoyed the career profile. You have our email aircheckerpsr@gmail.com feel free to contact Air-Checker. Yes we acccept comments suggestions, feedback or whatever else is on your mind. No charge to you, it's a free direct line.
Charlee Morgan is coming up as we feature the new sweetheart of Vancouver radio. We are the number one source in Canada nothing like us out there. Air - Checker, talking to one jock at a time, only on PSR.
As always we leave the last word on Air Checker for Bob Saye.
Bob The Last Word. I'll leave with this. As mentioned earlier I've worked with some outstanding talent over the years with Dean Hill, Graham Hatch, Stirling Faux, Bill Courage, and Shawn Webster. In their own way they have made me a better broadcaster. Thanks to all of them. It's been a fun ride so far and I hope I get a chance to have more of that fun for a few more years.
Broadcast program Humber College Toronto; CILQ-FM Toronto 1977-80; CFOX-FM Vancouver 1980-87; CFMI-FM Vancouver 1987-99; co-host Weekend Edition 1999-2001 and host Talk to the Experts 2001-03 CKNW Vancouver; CFL BC Lions PA announcer 1994-current; morning co-host CKST Vancouver 2003; morning drive host CKBD Vancouver Aug. 2003-current (vb)
Following audio is Bob Saye laughing it up in the morning with Shawn Webster on 600 AM.
Wake up with the 600AM Morning Show with Bob Saye Weekday mornings.
http://www.600am.com/ 
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