August 26th was a day of new beginnings at WINY radio station in Putnam, Connecticut.  Longtime afternoon show host Josh Sanchas decided to move on to new horizons and broadcast the sports in a different time slot.  Kaelin Anderson had been preparing for this opportunity for the past year.  She joined the WINY family in August of 2014 as the host for the Saturday Morning show.   The Saturday morning show is similar to the afternoon show in format, but the content is different.  It focuses on local news and events that occur in Putnam area.  “It was very easy for me because all I had to do was read off of the rap sheet they gave me”. Kaelin said.  “I enjoy both shows equally but the afternoon show is definitely more of a challenge.  I used to get nervous on Friday nights for practice because of ad-libbing but now words just flow out of my mouth”.   The structure for the afternoon show requires an outgoing personality because it is based more on entertainment news.  Celebrity Gossip was definitely the hardest segment to get used to.  Stories about celebrities require backstories so that context can be provided to the audience.  I would read stories about celebrities about 7 times so I could memorize what was going on in each celebrity’s life.  Now I can tell you anything that is going on with the Kardashians.

John Mahon, who has also hosted the afternoon show with Josh Sanchas has been with the station for more than 3 years.  He is the News Reporter/ Anchor for the show. In that time, he has gone through 2 host changes and that makes Kaelin the 3rd.  “I look for the best qualities and traits with the host that I’m working with so I can work with the person.  Kaelin brings a lot of charisma, personality, and energy to the show.”   Since her addition to the show, we cut down superfluous times.  For example, there are no recaps during the Top 5 segment.  Everything that is spoken is new and it makes the show feel more natural and spontaneous.

It appears the audience has adjusted to the changes as well.  Kaelin plugs the WINY Facebook page as much as she can during the show to bring traffic to the page.  This is in contrast to Josh’s show because he didn’t discuss postings on Facebook that much.  “I try really hard to eliminate mistakes before they happen on the show.  There haven’t been many bad things posted on the Facebook page.”

It looks like Kaelin is there to stay as host of the afternoon show.  She had some parting words to say for anyone that might be getting into the radio industry.  She believes that someone doesn’t need a degree to be good at radio.  “All someone needs is the right personality to get an entry level position and work hard at improving work ethic.  “Confidence is the most important thing because there will be criticisms all day every day while on the air.”  If someone is confident in those areas then they can definitely have their own show some day.

Putnam, Connecticut received a shock when they learned that the Afternoon Show with Josh Sanchas and John Mahon was changing.  Josh is still currently with the radio station, but he has moved to specializing in sports stories during the morning.  Kaelin Anderson was eager to take on the challenge of becoming a host for the show.

Naturally, she was welcomed by John and the two have become quite the team.  John said he has gone through changes on show before, but he has known her from working at the station before and it made the transition easy.

Putnam residents can expect to hear the two on the Afternoon Show from 2 PM to 6 PM.