MORE FROM RON HANEY:
I knew when I was about 12 that I wanted to be in radio. I lived in Dallas and listened to the legendary KLIF. I would call and request songs (I still remember the number... 747-KLIF). Some of the world's greatest DJs came from KLIF: Russ Knight, Jimmy Rabbit, Paxton Mills, Mike Selden, Jim Taber and, of course, Ken and Granny in the mornings. Every week my mom would take me to Ray's Record Shop on Main Street in Grand Prairie and I would spend my two-dollar allowance buying two 45 RPM records (the price back then was 98 cents each with 2 cents sales tax so it came to exactly $2.00). One day it came to me while I was listening to KLIF. I thought ... what a neat job, the guy on the radio gets paid money to play songs.
So thats what got me started. Listening to KLIF, WLS (yes you could hear them in Dallas), KBOX, KELI, Tulsa, KOMA and all the other great powerhouse top 40 stations.
As I got older, I got tired of pulling up and moving every couple of years. After 8 years in Houston, in 1983 I had a chance to move to El Paso and start a new top 40 station. It was called B-94FM. After the "B", I worked as the chief engineer of KLAQ, El Paso's premier rock station. In 2007, after 17 years, the new owners let me go because after 17 years I was making too much money. This was the first time I was ever fired. An unusual accomplishment for someone in radio. After KLAQ I moved into television engineering at KVIA-TV the ABC affiliate and after only a few months was offered a position at Entravision Communications in El Paso where I've been since 2005. The stations are really great. Entravision has 2 TV and 5 Radio Stations here in El Paso. I am the Chief Engineer for the 5 stations as well as the I.T. manager for the hundreds of computers in the building. It keeps me busy but I like it alot. Everyday is something different so I never get bored. I have been in El Paso for 24 years so I guess this is where I will stay. Or mayby I'll move across the border to Juarez ... the Mexican food is better there.
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