Radio World is proud to introduce a new series of stories that profile the next generation of radio and broadcast engineers. “Next-Gen Engineers” looks to raise awareness of the broadcast engineering profession for young people, shine a light on the new talent entering the workforce and hear fresh takes on the future of the industry.
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For Rachel Haggerty, radio engineering is quickly becoming a lifelong passion.
Haggerty is a regional engineer for iHeartRadio in New York City. At age 29, she helps oversee seven stations — five FM and two AM signals. That includes heritage stations like 100.3 WHTZ(FM) “Z-100,” 104.3 WAXQ(FM) “Q 104.3” and 106.7 WLTW(FM) “Lite FM.”
“I truly enjoy what I do and can’t picture myself doing anything else,” Haggerty told Radio World.
It all began with her college radio days with WSOU(FM) at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Then, upon graduation, Haggerty kickstarted her career with the help of the Technology Apprenticeship Program of the NAB Leadership Foundation.
“I’m very fortunate to still be working with most of the engineers I met during my apprenticeship,” she said.
We caught up with Haggerty via email to learn more about her college radio days, as well as her passion for the industry and future aspirations.
Radio World: How did you get interested in radio? Where did you get your start?
Rachel Haggerty: Growing up, I always remember listening to the radio in the car, and my dad had a radio in his shed that was always on. As a kid, I would call in and make requests and try to win ticket giveaways. When I got to college and I found out I could be a part of that [with student-run WSOU], it was a no brainer. I got more and more involved and asked our engineer a lot of questions.
When graduation was approaching, my general manager recommended a program the NAB Leadership Foundation was running called the Technology Apprenticeship Program. TAP gave me the tools to start my post-college career.
We started at the NAB Show in Las Vegas where we attended sessions, networked with radio and TV engineers and toured a local Las Vegas TV station. Afterward, we were given books and apprenticeships at stations back home with the goal of getting certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.
(Haggerty earned her Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer certification from SBE in December 2021.)
I spent two months with iHeartRadio in New York City shadowing the engineers, learning how to solder and run cables and setting up and running remote broadcast events.
RW: Can you please describe the radio work you do now?
Haggerty: I’m usually at the studios taking care of any issues anyone has in the building, from computers to consoles and audio routing. Sometimes I will assist at one of our four transmitter sites. Every day is different and that’s my favorite part of the job, because it keeps me on my toes and I’m always learning and adapting.
I have a list of things I check every morning when I start my day, then I’ll work on some tasks like terminating new fiber optic cable in a studio. I’ll also keep an eye on my email, texts and logs to catch and respond to any problems that may arise.
RW: What’s the most interesting experience you’ve had in the radio engineering world so far?
Haggerty: It’s been most of my after-hours experiences. In college, there was an instance when the station ent off the air while our engineer wasn’t available. I stayed with the alumni who came to help us get back on the air all night until I had to leave to get to my part time job the next morning.
That was the first time I saw a transmission line and how it can get damaged, and then how to replace it.
Basically, any time I’m learning something new is interesting to me. I try to take pictures, take notes and ask as many questions as I can.
RW: In general, how do you think radio resonates with peers your age?
Haggerty: I’m 29 years old and I believe a lot of people my age still listen to the radio. My friends and I still listen when we’re in our cars, and I’ll get a message every so often from a friend about how cool it was that they heard a certain song. In college, we consistently had large groups of students coming to check out the radio station to see how they could be a part of it.
Of course, my perspective may be skewed because so much of my network comes from college radio or an NAB show, but my sample of peers makes me think radio is a part of everyone’s lives whether they know it or not.
RW: What are your future aspirations?
Haggerty: I hope to continue my radio journey by learning new things every day and creating opportunities to gain more experience. I’m really fortunate to have been welcomed by such an amazing group of engineers here in New York City who continue to share their knowledge and help me grow.
I still have a lot to learn, so I plan to keep on doing what I’m doing, knowing one day I will be able to pass it on and teach the next generation.
RW: Any other thoughts?
Haggerty: I’d like to thank everyone that helped me get to where I am today. My college radio mentors, Mark Maben and Frank Scafidi; the NAB Leadership Foundation’s Michelle Duke and Paloma Johnson-Walker; every member of the iHeartRadio NYC engineering and IT team that I’ve ever worked with; Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio’s Launch Program and my mentors Maria Laing and Lou Taylor; every friend that’s ever had to wait for me because I was responding to a work call; and my family for not freaking out when I changed my major to communications so I could pursue radio!
Read our Next-Gen Engineer feature on Jake Bleck.
Text above been updated to reflect that the Technology Apprenticeship Program is produced by the NAB Leadership Foundation.
