Lisa Berigan: The Queen of DC’s Classic Rock Radio Rocks Living On Music
ALEXANDRIA, VA – These days, the options people have to listen to music are vast. Music streams everywhere, the sources for finding any song, any album, are available in an overwhelming myriad of ways. But that hasn’t stopped terrestrial radio — where content is broadcast by a land-based radio station and and received locally as in all the radio stations we’ve all known and loved for decades — from continuing to be a force and a presence in people’s lives despite the numerous musical options. And BIG 100 based in DC is no exception, the classic rock staple is still alive and well and continues to positively bring music and related information to the people of DC, Maryland and Virginia who still yearn for that radio feel.
Longtime BIG 100 midday host Lisa Berigan, who joins Steve Houk on Living On Music this Monday at 7, has been a solid and respected mainstay of the DC region’s radio world for over 15 years, and knows that although terrestrial radio is still forging ahead, that you have to continue to expand and develop new ways of existing if you’re going to stay true to the radio life.
“I think you always have to evolve, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in radio right now, an evolution,” said Berigan, who has been in the radio business for over 25 years with previous gigs in Philadeiphia, Chicago and Seattle among other markets. “I don’t only do the radio show, I do podcasting, I host a nationally syndicated radio program ‘Live In Concert’ broadcasting across the country, I’m on social media, I do interviews, I’m out in the community hosting events. I think even though there are other things that people have discovered, other platforms, they’re still gonna come back to their local radio station.”
Over time, Berigan has garnered a devoted following in her long run at BIG 100, and that still-evolving bond with her rock-fan audience has been a very important element of her career. “I feel like I have a personal connection with my listeners. My show is interactive, I’m still somebody you can call up on the phone and request a song, we’re connected on social media, I’m out there next to you jumping up and down screaming my head off at the concert at Jiffy Lube Live. I’d like to think that I’m their friend and I’m grateful for my listeners staying with me.”
Another positive element of Berigan’s classic rock world is the loyalty she garners from those who had radio as a staple of their youth, which includes the music she and her colleagues play every day. “I think I’m lucky being in the classic rock format, most of my listeners grew up with local radio, whereas a teenager today may not feel radio is as important to them. Radio has always been so important to people my age, I think it’s always going to be an important part of our lives.”
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