RADIO STATION WITH THE BEST AFTERNOON DRIVE SHOW:
94.7 WQDR, Lisa McKay

BEST RADIO STATION:
94.7 Today’s Best Country WQDR
Lisa McKay says live and local are what makes country music station WQDR great.

CM: Who are your favorites?
McKay: I love Gary Allan’s voice, and really enjoy pretty much any song Zac Brown Band releases. Plus ‘Let Me’ by Jason Michael Carroll always gets turned up!

How do you prep for your show?
First I make sure I know everything that is essential for our listeners: traffic problems, breaking news, anything that might make someone late getting home. Then I have tidbits about local events, artists and pop culture that I lay over song intros.

Finally, WQDR always has fun contests, so I try to alert listeners through Facebook, Twitter and on-air about how to win and when to play.

So you’re a dog person; how many pups?
We moved here from Richmond with seven. That was 11 years ago, and we’ve lost all but one to old age. Butterscotch is 15 and doing well. CJ is 3 and from the Wake County SPCA, and Hobie, is 2, from the Wake County Animal Shelter.

More about McKay:

• Also wears a sales hat at WQDR; has billed more than $1 million for Curtis Media Group.
• Holds a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications studies from the University of Virginia.
• Has three decades of experience in radio, including nine at WQDR.

RADIO STATION WITH THE BEST MORNING SHOW:
G105.1 WDCG, Bob & The Showgram

BEST RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:
Bob Dumas, G105.1 WDCG
Always fun, often offensive — that’s the Showgram, and it gets readers’ top ratings year after year. Featuring Bob Dumas, Erica DeLong and Brooke Hoover, aka Peanut Butter, the show has been going strong in the Triangle for two decades.

BOB:

• Began hosting the Bob’s Buddies Radiothon in 2008 to benefi t the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation; since then, G105 listeners have donated more than $500K to the cause
• Has his own salsa company, called Bobby J’s
• Lives in Apex; says he’d be “an idiot” to ever leave
• Predicts “more clowns, and conversations about the pros and cons of broccoli” for the show in 2013

ERICA:

• Durham native, Peace College grad
• Joined the Showgram as a sophomore-year intern
• Life philosophy is, “The glass is always half full.”
• Favorite pastimes include hanging with the fam, shopping sales, and checking out new restaurants

BROOKE:

• Wants to be a 64-color crayon box, multidimensional and full of imagination Sorry … we don’t know what that means, either.

BEST TV NEWS ANCHOR:
Bill Leslie, WRAL 5

You’d never guess it, but distinguished WRAL-TV news anchor Bill Leslie once kept company with mountain moonshiners. Well, long enough to get the story, anyway. That got us to wondering what else we didn’t know about this newsman. Here goes:

Early job: The Book Store, sweeping floors and framing pictures for 45 cents an hour. His dad owned the place.

School: UNC-Chapel Hill; radio personality Rick Dees was his best bud.

Post-college roomie: Musician John Tesh
Joined WRAL-TV: 1984, as managing editor
News philosophy: Be fearless in the pursuit of truth.
Awards: More than 75! The only two-time Peabody Award winner from N.C.
Most rewarding work: Environmental reporting, 1989-93, which led to a) Congressional investigation and new Navy rules requiring recycling gear on ships, and b) action in the N.C. General Assembly to prosecute people who pollute.
Extra-noteworthy interviews: President George Bush, 1991; Charles Kuralt, 1997; Rev. Billy Graham, 1996
His music: Acclaimed composer, producer, arranger and performer; eight Celtic fusion CDs; performs with Bill Leslie & Lorica; plays guitar, Celtic flutes, sings. Newest album, Grace of the Wild, due out this year.

Bill Leslie photo by Dave Severance. Showgram photos courtesy G105.