COVID Year Highlight Reel with Eamon McKeon, College third year
COVID Year Highlight Reel with Eamon McKeon airs Thursdays 8–9 p.m. on WOBC.
What is your show about, and how did you choose your content?
My show is essentially a rehash of a show I first did my freshman spring and have since done twice. Each week, I pick out a new music journal, blog, magazine etc., check out their list of the best songs of the past year — 2020 in the case of this semester — and put together a playlist made up of different picks from their list. In making this playlist each week, I try to stay away from the big name artists who already have a lot of time in the limelight, as well as songs that are already well known. Something that I’ve really enjoyed about doing this show has been coming across artists and songs who occupy that kind of mid-tier level of fame and recognition, where they have a bit of a following, but they’re definitely not chart-topping, radio-dominating pop stars — not that there’s anything wrong with that, just not what I’m going for with this show. It’s been a really fun way to kind of keep myself up to date with what’s going on in the current musical landscape and fill in any gaps of artists and albums I either meant to check out but never got around to, or just flew completely under my radar. I’ve come across some of my favorite songs and current artists by doing shows of this theme, and hopefully I get to introduce some of these same artists and songs to my listeners.
Is there a particular format you follow? What is your recording process like?
It’s relatively loose. I generally start off my show by playing the first song of my playlist and follow it by introducing the station, myself, the show, and then just kind of banter for a few minutes. As I go through the rest of the playlist, I’ll sometimes talk a bit about a song before or after I play it if there’s something about it that stands out to me — maybe it’s my favorite off the playlist, a song I’ve already heard and really love, an artist I’m generally not into, etc. But I mostly just go though the music, throwing in station IDs and PSAs as time permits.
What has been a challenge you faced while broadcasting this semester? A success?
Since I’m fortunate enough to have my show in-person this semester, I haven’t had to face too many challenges regarding my broadcasting process. The WOBC board has done a really wonderful job of keeping the in-person programming experience as close as possible to how it was in pre-COVID times while also following necessary safety and cleaning protocols to keep the station clean and all DJs safe. That being said, doing my remote show last semester was for sure a bit of a different experience.
How long have you been doing your show? How have you noticed things change with the pandemic?
I’ve been hosting shows on WOBC since my first semester here at Oberlin, with my current show being my seventh. I think it’s really wonderful how despite all the changes in campus protocol that have been made to combat COVID-19 transmission, the in-person broadcasting experience at WOBC has stayed pretty true to its original form.
Can you provide a sample that gives us a taste of what COVID Year Highlight Reel is about?
All the playlists here that end in 2020 are playlists I’ve made so far for this show — follow me on Spotify and I’ll fall in love with you.
Anything else you’d like to include?
Massive thank you and shoutout to all the board members who’ve been keeping WOBC running and thriving this past year. It’s definitely been a way trickier year to be in the positions they’re in, and they’ve been working tirelessly to keep things going smoothly.