Completely by accident. That’s how Bob Johnstone started a career in broadcasting. After working as a professional musician, he had an opportunity to join the team at CKRW radio in Whitehorse, YT where his wife also worked. He started with commercial production and ‘on location’ broadcasts but it didn’t take long for him to land a gig as a morning show host. 

“I was always a musician and theatre kid and liked fiddling with production, so the commercial work came pretty naturally,” said Johnstone. “The on-air stuff was trickier though. I used to joke that I never thought I’d find something I wasn’t narcissistic enough to do. Talking into a microphone in a little square room – especially when you’re by yourself – is a very odd thing indeed.”

Fortunately, Johnstone is just one half of the morning show team on Power 104 Kelowna’s Best Rock. Weekday mornings, Johnstone is joined by Kieran Wilkie who, unlike his cohost, knew early on that he’d be a broadcaster.

“I started falling in love with radio when I did the announcements in high school,” he said.

Wilkie actually started as an intern at CKLZ radio in the mid 2000’s. At the time, the station was undergoing some renovations and Wilkie, affectionately known as ‘Big Ginger’ for his size and red locks, found himself performing a few unexpected tasks.

“Basically, the entire month I was there, I just moved furniture and helped lay down new carpet,” Wilkie laughed.

Bob and Big Ginger air weekday mornings on Kelowna’s Best Rock Power 104. The wildly entertaining duo believe the immediacy and intimacy of local radio is something no other medium can duplicate and when done right, it has the power to make a community a better place to live and do business.

“I hope we bring smiles to faces but I also hope we help foster a feeling of ‘we’re in this together’, whether that’s encouraging people to keep their money local, or just talking about shared experiences and things that we are all experience live, right here, right now,” said Johnstone. 

Bob and Big Ginger entertain through audio montages, comedy sketches, and spoof songs that help set them apart from their competition, but they have also managed to build a sense of community within their show by encouraging interaction with their audience. Most times, they say it is the Power 104 listeners keeping them on their toes.

“It’s the stories we share and the connections we make with people that are amazing,” said Wilkie. “Just the other day, a listener called in to the station to tell us that his wife was pregnant. He was so excited and we were the first people he told. What a huge honour that is, you know.”

As rewarding as it is to make someone laugh or smile, Johnstone admits there is a bit of a selfish component to his job – an opportunity to experience the area and the community from a unique perspective. 

“We get ‘sneak peaks’ and ‘behind-the-scenes’ glimpses at a lot of the amazing things that people are doing here in the Okanagan and its our job to determine what may be important to the listener,” he said. “We are lucky to live here and we are super fortunate to be able to start our day in service of everybody else who is waking up to their own version of ‘right here, right now.’

Bob and Big Ginger on Power 104 Kelowna’s Best Rock – a fitting example of why local radio matters.