End Of The Eagan Era
• It was recently announced that Indianapolis radio fixture Bernie Eagan will soon be hanging up his headphones and heading into retirement, closing the book on a stellar 37-year career with Emmis. His last day in afternoon drive on AC WYXB (B105.7)/Indianapolis is Friday, July 20.
Rick Cummings, now Emmis President of Programming, was the PD of former AC WENS (Lite Rock 97.1)/Indianapolis and originally hired Eagan back in July 1981, a week after the format debuted. As Cummings recalls, “Bernie was aggressive in getting his demo to us right after we launched the company.” In 2002, Eagan crossed the hall to do mornings on B105.7 and later moved to his current 4-8pm shift.
Emmis News-Talk Sister WIBC recently did a nice profile on Eagan and his impending retirement, and almost casually mentions that, if you didn’t know any better, you would never guess that Eagan is blind. “It doesn’t matter,” Eagan says. “It doesn’t add to the show, it doesn’t take away from the show. If it made a difference, they probably wouldn’t have hired me,” he said.
Eagan’s wife Teresa drives him to and from work and helps him into the studio to get his show prepped. Once she sets up the computer for him, he’s ready to go. “A lot of times she’ll help me with transcribing things,” he said. “She’ll read them and I’ll write them down. When you’re blind, there’s no question there are certain things that somebody has to help you with, and Teresa is just great… She’s also a much better driver than I am,” he joked.
As Cummings told RAMP, “Bernie has had an amazing 37-year run and will leave in several weeks with his afternoon drive slot still among top rated. His has been a great career.” RAMP also reached out to Eagan and asked him about his future plans. He told us, “My plans are not to be on a schedule. I was lucky to have landed at Emmis. I couldn’t have made a better career move then that one. I have had an incredible 37-year run and I have lived my radio dream.” You are encouraged to share your best wishes with Bernie and Teresa at bernieeagan@b1057.com. [Special thanks to Blaine Thompson and Indiana RadioWatch]
