Marc Germain

Marc Germain (born May 28, 1967) is an American radio talk show host. He was previously known as Mr. KFI and Mr. KABC on account of his radio shows on their respective stations. He currently hosts his own internet radio show, The Marc Germain Show.

Marc Germain
Born (1967-05-28) May 28, 1967
Los Angeles, California, United States
Alma materCalifornia Polytechnic State University (attended)
University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A. 1989)
Children2
Career
ShowThe Marc Germain Show
StyleTalk radio
CountryUnited States
Previous show(s)Ask Mr. KFI (1992–1996)
Ask Mr. KABC (1997–2007)
Websitemarcgermain.com

Early life and education

Germain was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and was raised mainly in Woodland Hills and Tarzana.[1] From ages 2 through 8, he lived in San Diego near San Diego State University.[1] He graduated from El Camino Real High School.[2]

He attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California after being rejected from the University of California, Santa Barbara twice.[2] He was able to transfer to UCSB for his junior year, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science in 1989.[1][2]

Radio career

Start in radio

Germain’s first venture into radio came at the age of twelve in 1979. His father, wanting a hobby for each of his sons bought Germain a ham radio. Taking the amateur radio test twice, he was unable to pass the algebra content of the test due to his age (although he did pass the Morse code portion "which was very easy"). He was only able to use the radio to receive and not to transmit. However this was also the time of the citizens' band radio boom, so he obtained a citizens' band radio, and was able to acquire a then-necessary license for that. As stated by Germain, he was mostly active on channel 19 and went by the handle of “King Cobra”.[3]

While completing his degree at UCSB, Germain felt drawn to the business of talk radio.[2] Germain called local radio station KTMS and offered his services to get a break in the radio industry.[2] He was initially rejected, but through UCSB's campus job placement center was able to secure an internship.[2] Within a year and a half, Germain was the assistant program director.[2]

Move to KFI

Germain returned to Los Angeles and landed a job at radio station KFI.[2] After assignments screening phone calls for the station, Germain was given his own weeknight show, Ask Mr. KFI.[2][4]

When KFI moved Phil Hendrie's show into Germain's time slot in 1996, the station offered him a different time slot, which Germain refused and led to him departing KFI.[5]

Mr. KABC

In January 1997 after a 3-month contractually mandated non-competition period, Germain brought his show to KABC as Ask Mr. KABC.[5] As part of promoting his show on the new station, newspaper ads ran in Los Angeles area papers claiming that Mr. KABC had been switched at birth and that explained his time as Mr. KFI. Later he would sometimes be known simply as "Mr. K". Initially, the show received poor ratings due to inconsistent time slots.[6] The show was frequently preempted by Los Angeles Dodgers games while Germain also spent time filling in as a morning talk show co-host with Brian Whitman.[6]

Germain's show began to blossom in March 2000 when KABC management dropped Stephanie Miller's syndicated show and increased the run-time of Ask Mr. KABC from one hour to three hours, occupying the two hours that Miller's show previously held.[6][7][8] Germain stated, "Her [Miller's] show was cancelled because the station believes that I am a better fit and that my ratings are on the rise."[9]

Midway through 2006, KABC pushed the start of his show back an hour to make room for a syndicated show from New York hosted by Mark Levin. In early 2007, KABC wanted to push Germain's show later in the evening for another hour of Levin's show.[10] KABC and Germain couldn't come to an agreement, with Germain citing family considerations, and the two agreed to part ways.[10]

KTLK

It was announced in March 2007 that Germain had joined a revamped KTLK lineup, which had just dropped its Air America affiliation.[11][12] However, Germain's stint with KTLK was short lived with his show being cancelled in December 2007.[13][14]

Talk Radio One

In July 2008, Germain launched Talk Radio One, an internet only "radio" show. [15] At first the shows were "Skype-cast" and he mainly talked to others around the world via Skype. When Skype ended that aspect of service on September 1, 2008, Germain resorted to a mixture of live shows and podcasts.

Other projects

In November 2008, Germain filled in at KGO.[16]

In February 2010, Germain joined Doug McIntyre and Red Eye Radio. The production, a part of Cumulus Media Networks, was heard nationally. The show ended in December 2011 when Cumulus handed the show over to two different hosts.

Personal life

His wife, Ann, is from Long Island, New York. The two met after she hired him to work at KFI.[2] They have been married since July 1992, and have a daughter and a son. Germain and his family left the Los Angeles area and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Germain is the youngest of four sons. His brother, Paul Germain, is an animation screenwriter and producer best known for Rugrats, Recess, and Lloyd in Space.

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References
  1. "Mr. KABC Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. Retrieved 2014-12-04.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  2. Gilbert, Matthew A. (Spring 2004). "UCSB Alumnus Becomes Mr. KABC: Beloved Southern California Radio Icon Who Can Change Your Life in Magical Ways" (PDF). Coastlines. Santa Barbara, California: UCSB Alumni Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-06-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Archive of podcast from Jan 28, 2010 Timemark 30:18
  4. https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Other-Documments/LA-Radio-Guide/LA-Radio-Guide-1995-11-12.pdf
  5. Sokolsky, Bob. "Hey, mister! Is that you on KABC?". The Press-Enterprise. Riverside, California. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  6. Wells, Sandy. "Mr. KABC: The comeback kid of talk radio". Pasadena Star-News. Pasadena, California. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  7. "THE BUZZ.(L.A. Life)". Los Angeles Daily News. Los Angeles, California. March 4, 2000. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. "Miller out at KABC". Orange County Register. Santa Ana, California. March 3, 2000. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  9. Wagoner, Richard (March 10, 2000). "Make way ... here comes Mr. ABC". Daily Breeze. Torrance, California. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  10. Roderick, Kevin (February 13, 2007). "Mr. KABC is out". laobserved.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  11. Roderick, Kevin (March 1, 2007). "Mr. KFI KABC KTLK". laobserved.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  12. Margulies, Lee (March 27, 2007). "Tilden returning to KABC-AM". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  13. Roderick, Kevin (January 1, 2008). "Germain running out of letters". laobserved.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  14. Lycan, Gary (December 31, 2007). "Mr. K is the latest radio personality to lose his job". Orange County Register. Santa Ana, California. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  15. "Archived Shows". Talk Radio One. 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  16. Roderick, Kevin (November 23, 2008). "Mr. KABC KFI KTLK KGO". laobserved.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
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