Joe Crain:
CLASS OF 1984
Cairo High SchoolClass of 1984
Cairo, IL
Southern Illinois University - CommunicationsClass of 1988
Carbondale, IL
Joe's Story
Life
I've been married to Ann since 1996. We have two wonderful children, Megan (3/26/98) and Thomas (10/20/00). They can be a handful at times, but overall they're both great kids with an appetite for learning. At 4 1/2, Megan was already reading some books geared toward grade school aged readers. Now that Megan's in grade school, she continues her love of books---especially mystery books. Thomas is all boy and constantly tormenting his sister and getting into all kinds of trouble. He loves playing basketball and baseball. Ann is a Physical Therapist with one of the local hospitals and when we started our family, she reduced her work schedule to part-time status in order to spend more with the kids.
Career wise... After SIU I worked for a couple of years in St. Louis for CBS Radio. After that I entered the management side of broadcasting with a Wisconsin based broadcast group and worked for them at several of their stations in Duluth, Minnesota, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Omaha, Nebraska. It was during my time in Omaha that I met my future wife, Ann. In 1994, I changed companies and career focus by taking on my first talk radio position at a News/Talk station in Peoria. Starting in the Spring of 1996, I was able to enjoy both the management side and the on-air side of the business here in Springfield. I was the program director of NewsRadio 1240 WTAX-AM and the Afternoon Drive host on the Oldies station, COOL 101.9 FM, and occasionally co-host "The WTAX Morning News Watch" on the AM side.
Unfortunately in November 2003, the station's ownership faced numerous financial difficulties and had to consolidate a number of positions. So, after nearly eight years with the company, I found myself out of work.
Thankfully, my wife was able to return to a full-time position at the hospital and I've shifted into stay-at-home dad status with the kids. This change hasn't kept me from staying involved in the media. In September 2004, I started as the weekend weathercaster for WICS-TV "NewsChannel 20", the central Illinois affiliate for ABC-TV. In March of 2008, I was promoted to the weather anchor position on the #1 rated morning news show in central Illinois---"SUNRISE THIS MORNING" from 5a-7a weekdays on "NewsChannel 20". In addition to the morning show, I also anchor the weather during "ABC NewsChannel 20 Midday" weekdays at 11am.
In addition to the TV gig, I'm doing free-lance voiceover projects for a friend's ad agency in Chicago and for agencies here in Springfield. (a complete run-down of all the stations and gigs in my broadcast career are in the "work bio" located elsewhere on this site!) And, I've completed the three year on-line degree program through Mississippi State University to earn my certification as a Broadcast Meteorologist. Now I'm beginning the process to apply for membership to the American Meteorology Society and the National Weather Association to earn their "Seals of Approval" for excellence in broadcast meteorology.
We've been in Springfield, IL for 12 years and love it. It's a great community to raise a family. We have wond...Expand for more
erful neighbors, great friends and are living the good life.
Workplace
In junior high I started hanging out at our local radio station, WKRO-AM in Cairo, IL, where a guy by the name of Danny Mac let me run the controls and make an occasional public service announcement.
At the end of my freshman year, I convinced the Program Director of nearby KYMO-AM in East Prairie to hire me for weekends and fill-in duties and, as a bonus, finally started to get paid for being on the radio!
In college I worked various shifts---including 2 years as PM Drive host on the FM side---at WCIL-AM/FM in Carbondale from 1984-88. During my senior year at SIU, I also started doing weekends and fill-in shows at then CBS owned KHTR-FM in St. Louis (the sister station to legendary KMOX-AM).
About a year out of SIU, I left St. Louis for my first full-time gig with Midwest Communications at their station serving the Duluth, MN area---WTBX-FM with studios in beautiful Hibbing, MN. After a few months on the job I was promoted to Program Director and within a year and a half of first starting there, I got a promotion and transfer to the company's top station, WIXX-FM in Green Bay, WI. At WIXX I handled the afternoon drive show, was the Music Director and Assistant Program Director.
In the fall of 1991, I left Midwest Communications to take the Program Director position with KGLI-FM in Sioux City, IA. I hated Sioux City and the station, so I returned to Midwest Communications in the fall of 1992 to go to work as Asst. Program Director for KYNN-FM in Omaha, NE.
In Dec '94, I left Midwest Communications to get my first opportunity in the ever-growning News/Talk format and host an afternoon talk show on WMBD-AM in Peoria, IL. After Peoria, I began a long tenure with Saga Communications in Springfield.
At various points from June 1996 until November 2003, I programmed Saga's News/Talk WTAX-AM, Country WYXY-FM, Oldies WQQL-FM, Classic Rock WYMG-FM and Adult Contemporary WMHX-FM. Additionally, I was also on the air in various shifts with those stations as well as Saga's Top-40 WDBR-FM.
I remain very proud of some of things I accomplished as Program Director in Springfield during that time, including WTAX-AM twice earning "station of the year" honors from the Illinois Broadcasters Association and WYXY-FM's morning show receiving a national nomination for "best morning show of the year" in 1999 from the Country Radio Broadcasters Association.
Finally, in September 2004 after being off the air for close to a year, I made the transition to TV as the Weekend Weathercaster for WICS-TV "NewsChannel 20", the central Illinois affiliate for ABC-TV. In March of 2008, I was promoted to the weather anchor position on the #1 rated morning news show in central Illinois---"SUNRISE THIS MORNING" from 5a-7a weekdays on "NewsChannel 20". In addition to the morning show, I also anchor the weather during "ABC NewsChannel 20 Midday" weekdays at 11am.
It's going to be interesting to see where and how far the jump to TV will take me in the future. As we like to say in the biz... STAY TUNED!
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