Tony Healey Manger 2EL 1089

“I fell into it by chance,” said Tony Healey as to how he came to work at Orange’s 2EL Radio Station.

“They were looking for another person and I was looking for a job at the time. I came in and there I was. I got it. That was 17 years ago.”

Tony has had more than a few jobs in his time. On leaving school, he also left the Country for England, where he spent five years managing an electrical goods store in between travelling the continent.

On his return, he worked for David Jones, a Farmers Cooperative in Wangarata, then moved to Orange to take a job as the administration manager with Grace Brothers.

“Then I left and worked in the Ag Department in personnel and then I had two service stations here in Orange, but they were closing them down and I came in here. I was brought in as a salesperson and then people left and I’ve been manager for 16 years.”

Founded in 1935 (originally as 2GZ), today 2EL is part of Bill Caralis’ Broadcast Operations Group.

“There’s 47 other stations in the network. Close to us, we've got Bathurst, Mudgee, Dubbo, Parkes, and Young, that all belong to the same networks.”

As manager, Tony had to learn his way around the sounds desk, and while he does the odd interview from time to time, he leaves the on-air work to others.

Selling, writing and creating advertisements is a big part of Tony’s role, as is pitching it to just the right audience.

“You've got to do your background work with the customer, because they might say I only listen to X, but their customers don't,” he said. “So, then you've got to find out who they listen to or when. If you are selling sportswear maybe John Laws in the morning is not where you should put your ad,” he said.

“Then there's always government laws to comply to, so every month we have to do our Australian music content, the percentage of Australian performers we broadcast and also the percentage of new Australian artists... there's also reports on playlists, promos, themes, production, music, online music, broadcast schedules, if we get any complaints in writing then we have to report on those…

“But, it's friendly place to work. In the 17 years we have lost two staff, which is really good. So, it is a friendly place to be.”