Aces of Trades: Radio is a life-long love for Marion's Tom Kennedy at WZMO
He found his life’s work as a teenager.
“I took an interest in radio in high school,” recalled Tom Kennedy. “But radio was not one of those industries where you made a good living unless you were one of the big-time, power DJs, which I never was. So for the next 40 years, this was always a part-time position.”
Today, Kennedy owns and operates WZMO in Marion — 104.7 on the FM dial.
“The station’s main studio is located in my home,” he continued. “A few years ago, this was kind of a running joke to be operating a station out of my home. Then the pandemic came along. Several stations contacted us to find out how we did it, software we used, etc. As they were all trying to play catch up, we were already there.”
“The advantage now,” Kennedy added, “is that I don’t have to get up in the mornings, with the exception of school superintendents calling in school delays or the 911 dispatch center calling in with snow or other emergencies.”
Tom Kennedy, by the way, grew up as Tom Wagner.
“When I began my broadcasting career, it was typical for DJs to use a pseudonym, or air names," he explained. "For a short while I engineered for a great Columbus TV and radio personality, Spook Beckman. We were in a program break having coffee one day and he said, ‘Well, what are you going to call yourself?’ I’d toyed with names to this point. I thought anything would sound better than Wagner on the air. It happened a story came down the AP teletype wire about one of the Kennedys. ‘There it is,’ Beckman said. ‘Kennedy. You can be one of the Kennedy boys.'”
Wagner/Kennedy grew up locally, graduated from Marion Catholic High School, then studied journalism and radio. He worked for a time at WDIF in Marion, then spent several years at WYNT in Upper Sandusky. He also worked with Marion City Schools. After retiring from there, he said, came boredom.
“I was just too bored,” Kennedy explained. “So in 2014 I applied for an LPFM station. LPFMs are non-commercial stations limited to only 100 watts. They typically serve only a county. Now with internet streaming, our little station has global reach. It amazes me when I look at our internet stat counter to see where listeners come from, and how many folks listen to our station.”
The station plays a mix of music from the '70s to current fare. It also airs a national network newscast and local weather forecasts. And they produce a number of local programs.
“If there’s any one thing that stands out about Tom Kennedy, it’s his dedication to the community,” assessed on-air personality Greg Dunham. “Tom is always ready and willing to help promote, in any way he can, events in and around Marion that shape the city and surrounding county.”
Veteran broadcaster Jeff Ruth agreed.
“Tom really cares about his community and his listeners,” said Ruth. “He literally never takes a day off with editing and programming duties, weather and school updates, and running a station 24/7. He takes tremendous pride in the fact WZMO is his radio station, and he wants it to sound as professional as possible.”
“I’ve gone off the path many times,” Kennedy conceded with a grin, “sometimes to smell the roses, sometimes to catch poison ivy.”
“But the fun has been now doing full-time what I’ve always loved," he concluded.
For more information, log on wzmofm.com.
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at news@marionstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Local radio station owner Tom Kennedy is doing what he's always loved
