Pete had only been in Jack's office a few times over the years, since Jack preferred meeting around the old dining room table in the break room.
Along one office wall was a treasure trove of memorabilia from Jack's life as a State trooper and a bunch of early signs, mugs, and posters dating back to when Jack bought the station.
Behind Jack's chair on the credenza next to the large bay window was a long line of station honors earned by WRSE staff. Pete smiled to think of the small role he played in winning a few of those.
"Pete," Jack began as he lowered his frame into his green leather desk chair, "I've been thinking about this a long time. We have a lot of long-time employees, folks who understand Roseville and realize how WRSE and WMJM are part of the community. But, none of them get it like you do."
Pete's eyebrow (he was teased about that on occasion, but what's he supposed to do about it) went up when he heard Jack's very kind compliment. "Well, Jack, I don't know about that."
"I do, and I can read people. You are the person I want and Roseville needs.
"Starting this year, I want to start paying you with shares of our privately-held stock. 10% this year and another 10% each year for the next three. Because I think you need your own skin in the game, I'd like to sell you 11% of the remaining shares. You can pay me for them over the next four years."
Pete sat there. "Thank you, Jack. I'm honored you would consider me for this, but I don't know if I'm ready or able to be an owner."
"That's the other part of my offer," Jack continued, "I want to introduce you to station ownership. You will be part of owner meetings and some of the prep work I do before meeting with staff leadership. I'll arrange monthly sessions with the accountant because you need to learn the books.
"And, I notice you haven't mentioned it, but I'm going to bump your pay enough to help you pay for half of the 11%. What do you think?"
Pete sat silently thinking and wondering about everything Jack told him. "Sir, this is incredibly generous and I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but would it be OK if I take a night to think about it? I'll be here for the morning news tomorrow - I can talk with you when I'm off the air. Is that OK?"
"You got it, Pete. I look forward to continuing our conversation."
The two men shook hands. As Pete left the office he thought about tonight's game and the upcoming noon news on WRSE. Oh, he thought, maybe on my station. His pace quickened as he approached the newsroom.
Inside a quiet Gus & Tom's, Kathy and Steve were reviewing the first three weeks of the football season. Coach Suter and Coach Sawyer walked in the front door and joined the two at the studio table.
"Coaches," Steve Jackson greeted the two men who were enjoying their new found fame thanks to the weekly broadcasts, "it's good to see you, we're just getting started. Coach Suter, what do think about what we've been doing so far?"
"Well, son" Coach Suter always called Jackson son, "I think we're doing pretty well, but we can get better. What I've been thinking is Coach Sawyer and I could bring more to the show than what we're doing."
"That's right." Dick Sawyer said, "We talked before the season of getting us to some game sites. How about if we do that for the pregame show and get back here for half-time?"
"That's a good idea," said Kathy. "We'll need to keep the remote close enough so you can get back, but I think it's a winning idea."
Steve turned to Coach Suter, "Coach, I think we need to get you on the air sooner in the show. Maybe a one-minute wrap of the night's games right after Kathy opens the show. Do you think you could do it?"
"You betcha! I've been practicing with a stopwatch at home."
Gus and Tom's filled with laughter - the on-air team was ready for their next game.
After the meeting, Steve stopped by Karen's for a sandwich he ate while driving back to the station to meet with Jeff. The two were talking earlier in the week about ideas for the FM station. Before they introduced the idea to others they needed to get it ready.
Jeff was in the break room at the dining room table when Steve walked in. Two cold Diet Mt. Dews sat on the table, sweating.
"Steve, my idea is we go interactive with the show from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. During the day from 6 to 6, we'll take requests via Twitter, Facebook, and through a web survey. I figure we might not get enough individual requests to fill that much time, but we can use similar music to fill in the gaps across different music genres."
Jackson took a second drink of Dew. "Wow, that's quite something. Is it even possible?"
"It is and it won't cost much. We have the usual rights fees like we have for any music, but through those channels we can play nearly every song ever heard. We pre-set limits in the styles of music and program the kind of music from hour to hour. Best of all, if the voters opt-in, we can tell them when we'll play their song."
"That's great, Jeff. I was thinking about something else. Right now we let the music play during morning drive on FM with simulcasts of the news at the top of the hour. I think it's worth trying a morning drive show on WMJM that stands on its own. We can't compete with the big city rock stations, but we can be a voice for local music. It may take some time to figure out who those voices are, but I suggest we start with Emjay and her friend, Excuse me, I mean husband, Jake.
"We do it as a trial for a month and see how it goes?"
Jeff stood to finish off the Diet Dew. "I think this sounds pretty good. Let's refine our ideas and meet back Monday at this same time so we can be ready for a meeting with Jack."
"Alright, Jeff, sounds good to me. I gotta show to do. I'll shoot you an email if I think of some ideas for your plan. Please do the same for me. See you later."
Chapter 23 continues "On The Air," tomorrow morning at 9.
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