Dan Mandis Biography

Dan Mandis Age

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Dan Mandis Married-Wife-Dating

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Dan Mandis Radio

Since falling in love at first listen, Dan has parlayed that into a career. Over the past 30 years, Dan has hosted shows on some of the biggest talk stations in the country, including WMAL in Washington DC, KGO, and KSFO in San Fransisco, WBAP in Dallas and KOA in Denver to name just a few.

Dan has interviewed some of the most interesting people in America, from rock stars to politicians and he says it’s his favorite part of the job. He has also worked as an award-winning Journalist, Network Producer with Dr. Laura Schlessinger and he is also WTN’s Program Director.

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Dan Mandis Interview

• 10 Questions with … Dan Mandis

  Producer, Program Director and Host in Denver, Dallas. Fort Wayne, Colorado Springs, and Los Angeles before Nashville.

  1. How and why did you get into radio in the first place? What drew you to work in radio?

  Dan Mandis: I wandered into the college radio station at Mount San Antonio College one day… and fell in love. Talk Radio is something my dad listened to when I was a kid…so I understood it at a very early age. I was always fascinated by the personalities, especially the DJs: Rita Wilde, Steve Downes, and Mark and Brian over at KLOS for music. Something about that lone voice connecting to thousands of people listening..to this day is amazing to me.

  2. You have more extensive experience behind the scenes as a PD and producer than most hosts. How does that experience affect your approach to your on-air work? (Do you aircheck yourself?)

  Dan Mandis: I’m all about show prep. I work really, really hard on topic selection. Trying to find topics that are unique to my show but will still connect with the P1s of talk radio. Starting out as a board op, producer, then PD, and now host has really given me that appreciation for show prep. Interestingly enough, all those early years as a traffic reporter and news person also helped me with pacing and proper use of audio. I’m always asked if I aircheck myself… and no, I have a couple of PD friends who aircheck me from time to time but will admit that is a challenge. The other question I’m always asked is, why did a PD want to be a host, and it’s because I thought to host would make me a better PD, and the more I did it, the more I enjoyed it. Now I do both, and it’s the best of both worlds.

  3. What effect do you think the Trump administration will have on talk radio — do you see it as being a godsend for talkers, or are there pitfalls in the polarization of America? How do you approach programming and hosting political talk when not only are the two sides and parties extremely polarized, but even Republicans and conservatives aren’t internally unified?

  Dan Mandis: I think Trump will be good for Talk Radio because he is so compelling as a public figure and now as President. He says anything he wants and has a polarizing agenda, so we have rarely had prolonged slow news cycles in quite some time. My philosophy is to always be honest with the audience. One day I might praise Trump for something he has said or done, but it he does something I don’t agree with, I am not afraid to call him out… so over the last year or so, I have had all sides love me and hate me on any given day. That’s a good thing.

  4. You’ve worked all over the country. How does Nashville rate as a talk radio market? What have you found the predominant interests of the talk radio audience to be — is there more or less interest in local versus national topics?

  Dan Mandis: I have indeed worked all over, and to be perfectly (and brutally) honest, Nashville is a GREAT talk radio market because it has stayed true to having local talent on WTN. We are live and local from 5a-7p, and the listeners to WTN appreciate that. We have guys like Phil Valentine, who has been in this market for roughly 30 years. He’s syndicated but his home station is WTN. My morning show and late morning show (Ralph Bristol and Michael Delgiorno) have been on WTN for nearly 10 years, and both are simply incredible. Cumulus Nashville does an amazing job of justifying that local talent by selling endorsements and events driven by our strong personalities.

  I also do fill in shows for Cumulus all over the country, and I have found that the most engaged audiences are those with local personalities. WMAL in DC is one of my favorite stations to host on. VERY Engaged audience. WBAP and KLIF are Dallas is also fantastic. In San Fransisco, I’ve spent quite a bit of time guest hosting for Brian Sussman in mornings — again, great stations and great hosts mean an engaged audience.

  One other interesting thing I have found: There are listeners all over the country that SEEK OUT local hosts. I’ve had people reach out to me after hearing a show in Washington DC, then hearing me on the air the next day in Dallas, yet they live in Florida. They will listen to local shows all across the country and seek out those hosts they enjoy. As far as local vs national topics: just be a good storyteller, keep it entertaining and informative. That’s my focus, regardless of where a story originates.

  5. Who’s been your best interview? Your worst?

  Dan Mandis: I interviewed Steve Perry from Journey a few years ago. By far the best. From a political standpoint, (now VP) Mike Pence was always great to interview when I was at WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana when he was a Congressman. As far as the worst, no one person that would stand out, although the key to dealing with bad interviews is to cut your losses quickly and move on..and try and forget them as quickly as possible.

  6. Who have been your influences and inspirations, in radio and in life?

  Dan Mandis: Influences as a host: I spent many years producing Dr. Laura, and she remains a big influence. You can’t hear somebody in your headphones for years and years and NOT have something they say influence you. She connected with and engaged her audience in a way that was rare. She also had her haters, as all good hosts have.

  Other hosts I have always enjoyed include Mike McConnell on WLW, John and Ken on KFI in LA, and Mac Watson when he was on WRVA/Richmond (now at KTAR/Phoenix). Sadly I rarely get to hear those shows anymore, since I am so busy.

  Influences as a PD: David G Hall (KFI/KNX) and Greg Foster (KOA). Michael Delgiorno, my 9a-Noon host on WTN, was a Program Director for many years, and just talking to him for five minutes can inspire great ideas. He influences me daily just by talking around the coffee pot during the News.

  Who influences me in life? My dad, even 20 years after he passed.

  7. How do you and WTN use social media? How important are your stations, and your personal, social media presence?

  The key to any successful social media is making sure you are posting stories that are relevant to the audience. We use it to promote local topics, local storylines, interviews, and events. We all work hard on our social media pages, I try to engage the audience on social media as well as the radio. Often times I will use Facebook responses to specific questions in place of asking for phone calls, I will simply read some of the responses and move on.

  8. Of what are you most proud?

  From a career standpoint, that I have won awards and had success in different facets of the format, from News Reporting to Station Imaging to Program Director of the Year for Federated Media many years ago now. I’ve worked really hard to be versatile, which makes me more valuable to my current and future employers. I’m also very modest (LOL).

  9. Fill in the blank: I can’t make it through the day without ___________.

  …news. Coffee.

  10. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career?

  Respect everyone. Give people the benefit of the doubt. And help as many people as you can along the way.

Dan Mandis has been talking on the radio in one way or another for 30 years, and that continues at Super Talk 99-7 WTN. He was born in Southern California and fell in love with Talk Radio listening to it with his father in the car back in the 1970s!