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Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
WAl\ R.\;o'. - The Suffolk County News - October 20, 1994 I.r 8realda51 e.u' ge,. file. going in tile ntornin, by Susan Kane It's 8: 13 a.m., the middle of the day for WALK R.adio's Breakfast Club. \I could llave a pizza easy now,\ quips Susan Murphy, news director for WALK's popular morning show. In what seems like a moment, she eyes the clock on a c()ntrol board that would challenge even the computer literate, scans the \Wire 8rowser\ to her left for late-breaking news and checks in by two- way radio with one 'of the show's airborne traffic reporters. All this, and mo-re, while fielding questions from a newspaper writer who wants to know what it's really like to be a member of Long Island's most-widely-listened-to radio morning team, and cheerlUlly at that Which is, in and of itself. pretty remarkable, considering the fact that she's been up for over six hours and at work for nearly five. Meanwhile, in a separate. glass-enclosed studio. the two other main members of the WALK Break- fast Club - David Weiss and Mark Daniels - are taking calls from listeners trying to answer the day's \TV Trivia\ contest'question. Among those who get through is a woman who wants Daniels and Weiss to wish her IO-year-old daughter a happy birthday .. in a big hurry. ··She·s leaving for school in two minutes,\ the woman says nervously_ ··We'li do our best,\ Daniels assures her. before moving on to the next caller. There's time to record two. maybe three more answers in the minute or so remaining on the song thalt's being broadcast over the airwaves as all this behind-the-scenes maneuvering is taking place. A few calls later, they have their trivia winner. who guesses correctly the name and key characters of the TV sitcom, MlJd About You. They tape part of the conversation, to be aired after the song is through. Someone phones to ask a question about an item on Murphy's 7:55 a.m. newscast. Back on the air, Weiss does a sports update. completed during the last commercial. They wish the IO-year-old a hap- py birthday. with seconds to spare. The busiest show on WALK Radio's 2-4-hour-a-day lineup. the Breakfast Club is also its highest-rat- ed entry, according to the East Patchogue station's program director, Gene Michaels. The show. which is aired over 97.5 FM between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. Monday t~rough Friday, has consistently ranked number one among Long Isla:nd morning radio programs in surveys conducted by Arbitron. the Nielsen ratings company of radio. \People shave to it, people get dressed to It, people get their kids off to school to it,\ Michaels said. About -42,700 people in any given 15-minute period from Queens 1:0 Montauk, according to Arbltron's spring ratings. Michaels said. For Weiss, Murphy and Daniels - who along with traffic reporters Bobby Knight andJim Buckley, weath- erman Pat Pagano and veteran WALK broadcaster Bob Klein comprise the Breakfast Club - the show's appeal lies in its \uniquely Long Island\ focus. In addition to Murphy's twice-an-hour newsbreaks. there are regular reports on local road and weather conditioAs, and information about special events that are coming up. \And anything else we can provide in the way of entertainment,\ adds Weiss, who is the program's resident sports nut. \Most of our listeners are literally in their cars en route to work,\ he said. Beyond all that, there are the unique personalities of those who make up the Breakfast Club, and the special \bond\ that has developed between them and their listeners in the five years they have been together at WALK, Michaels said, \People think of them [Weiss, Murphy, Daniels] as friends, almost relatives,\ he said. \When David's wife had a baby recently .. when Susan got married, people sent gifts.\ For Murph)', pan of the Breakfast Club's popularity is due to the fact that, despite all the good- natured, on-the-air I>antering that takes place between them, she, Weiss and Daniels are actually \very good friends\ thaqenuinely enjoy each other's company. \We couldn't work together if we didn't like each other,\ she said during an interview last week. \We all have our roles,\ Murphy added. \David is the wisecracking sports guy who always has a funny line. Mark is our technica' genius who's a wizard at the control board. And I'm the voice of reason, who occasionally gets a funny line or two in.\ Most of the ma~erial used on the show is ad-libbed. Weiss said. \Some is prepared, but a lot is spontaneous,\ he explained. It's a balance that the three are somehow able to maintain, both on and off the air. Asked by a reporter during a music break at the studio recently what college he attended, Weiss, in a rare serious moment, answered that he started out at SUNY at Oswego, but ended up transferring to study communications at Curry College in Massachusetts. No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Daniels. who was listening nea'rby, jumped on the line for all it was worth. \And was it spicyt' he deadpanned, not missing a beat. •
