Rick Emerson

Infobox Radio Presenter
name = Rick Emerson


imagesize = 200px
caption = Rick Emerson
birthname = Richard Karl Emersoncite web |url=http://community.livejournal.com/rickemerson/122179.html#cutid1 |title=Minutes from "The Rick Emerson Show" 2/29/08|accessdate=2008-06-16]
birthdate = birth date and age|1973|03|07
birthplace = Kennewick, Washington
deathdate =
deathplace =
show = The Rick Emerson Show
station = KCMD-AM 970 The Talker
timeslot = Weekdays 11:00am - 3:00pm PST
style = Talk
country = United States
prevshow =
web = [http://www.rickemerson.com/ RickEmerson.com]

Rick Emerson is a radio personality most known for "The Rick Emerson Show", which was broadcast on a number of radio stations in Portland, Oregon and was nationally syndicated for a period from 1999-2001cite web |url=http://www.pdxradio.com/twist2001.htm |title=Twisting the Dial -- 2001|accessdate=2008-07-12] by NBG Radio Networkcite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54952636.html |title=NBG Radio Network Hires Michael James.|accessdate=2008-07-12] . The show began a new run on KCMD-AM 970 "The Talker," on March 13th, 2006cite web |url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=120699297745367100 |title=Geeks tune in to their time|accessdate=2008-06-26] . Emerson is also program director for AM 970.

Personal history

Rick Emerson was born March 7, 1973 in Kennewick, Washington.

At age 14 he began volunteering at a local radio station. After graduating fourth-to-last in his high school class, he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he eventually landed his first talk-show, broadcasting from a bomb shelter in the basement of the station's building and managed to earn a small, but loyal following. For many years listeners knew him as Rick Taylor, a last name that he picked out of a phone-book at the beginning of his career.

He was promoted to a position broadcasting during the afternoon drive in Salt Lake City where he co-hosted a show with Clyde Lewis. He became Program Director of KCNR in Salt Lake and helped create one of the most popular radio stations in Utah. A change in the station's format in 1997 left Emerson without a microphone.

Emerson moved on to California where he worked in a number of formats and cities and sometimes got through lean times as a convenience store clerk. A Portland Program Director named Bruce Agler saw potential in the young Emerson and offered him a job in Portland, Oregon in November 1997cite web |url=http://www.pdxradio.com/twist98.htm |title= Twisting the Dial -- 1998|accessdate=2008-07-17] . After a short period, Emerson's dream of national syndication was fulfilled,cite web |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SR&p_theme=sr&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF4972C9EEB4ED&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=A Familiar Rick is Back on the Air |accessdate=2008-06-16] however after three short years, Emerson was again fired. However, he had struck a chord with the Portland people, as was brought back to KOTK in the summer of 2001, and was soon paired with Tim Riley, a veteran broadcaster who brought a unique style of news coverage to his show. Mixed with a series of producers, the show took off.

Emerson's program and cast has been subject to the fluctuations of the Portland radio market. There have been at least two significant periods where Emerson was off the air. First was the "unpleasantness" that occurred between Emerson's syndicated show and his transition back to Hot Talk 1080, KOTK. A second gap occurred after the show was pulled off the air by corporate broadcaster Entercom, which spawned the "coffee cup crusade". The show's listeners, incensed that the last local general-content talk show had been taken off the air, deluged the Portland headquarters of the broadcasting corporation with coffee cups to show their support for Emerson.cite web |url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=29741 |title=Static follows Entercom’s move |accessdate=2008-06-16]

CBS radio, reacting in part to the strength of support for Emerson throughout the metro area, decided to give Emerson an opportunity to re-tool Johnson 970, an all-comedy radio station. Broadcasting from "the plushly appointed but not overly ostentatious studios high atop the bottom of the KOIN tower", Emerson was back on the air with producer Sarah X Dylan and Tim Riley. Within months, the station was retooled as "AM 970, Solid State Radio" and took on a line-up of syndicated broadcasts from around the country, including Tom Leykis and Phil Hendrie, both of whose programs had been previously paired with Emerson on other stations. Rick's fans are loyal, as evidenced by a May 2008 listener party, where friends of his show and listeners held a roast in his honor.cite web |url=http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=11930 |title=Rick Emerson "Weenie" Roast: It Was Kind of Like Oz (HBO's Prison show, not the Land of Munchkins) |accessdate=2008-06-16] The over-the-top performances by the roasters is continually talked about, not just on the show, but by people all over the city.

Filmography

* "Remote Control" (2004)
* "Bigger Than Jesus: The Diary of a Rock & Roll Fan" (2005)
* "Rock Roundtable" (2005)

References

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS4Fsc2IiVs Mark of the Beast? - NBC KGW news segment on Horns Across the Hawthorne event.]
* [http://www.pizzazzmagazine.com/misc-int-rick-emerson.html Radio Show Host Rick Emerson] , from Pizzazz Magazine

External links

* [http://www.rickemerson.com Rick Emerson's Website] The Official Site for The Rick Emerson Show, as well as Rick's Blog
* [http://www.biggerthanjesus.net The Official Bigger Than Jesus Website]
* [http://www.tegianzone.com/rick_emerson.html Commercial-Free Podcasts of the new version of the Rick Emerson Show]
* [http://community.livejournal.com/rickemerson/ Episode Minutes]
* [http://www.970.am Website for AM 970: Solid State Radio]
* [http://www.wonderstrucks.com The Wonderstrucks Website]
* [http://wweek.com/editorial/3220/7347/ Return of the Pleasantness - Willamette Week]