Cardinals Radio Contest Draws Hopefuls from Richmond Heights, Clayton

KMOX 1120 AM, the CBS radio affiliate in St. Louis, wants to be more engaged with its vast audience. So over the course of the last month, KMOX has conducted simulated live tryouts with the goal of selecting a winner to join sports director Tom Ackerman as an on-air announcer during baseball spring training in March.

The lucky contestant will get an all-expenses paid trip to Jupiter, FL to work alongside Ackerman during “Total Information AM and PM” shows at the St. Louis Cardinals' spring training.

The winner will be selected from some 125 candidates. The field has been narrowed to 10 finalists selected by website visitors, who may vote in an online poll through noon Feb. 21. The overall winner will be announced Feb. 22 sometime during “Total Information AM or PM” and serve as the sports voice of KMOX from March 18-22.

(Vote in the KMOX spring training correspondent poll.)

It's part of a new strategy that KMOX marketing director Mike Phillipi and programming director Steve Moore developed.

Phillippi, a 2004 graduate of the University of Missouri, performed as Truman the Tiger while at college.

“We want KMOX to be a source for all news in St. Louis. Of course we are big on the Cardinals and the Blues," he said. "But this next year and a half will be huge into politics and we will have plenty to offer our listeners.”

“We are very strong in listeners ages 35 to 55 and we want younger ones, too,” he said.

The broadcast contest fits nicely into the station’s mission. Listeners showed up on Wednesdays at different locations for auditions for several weeks.

While neither made it to the final round, two of the candidates who auditioned last week at J. Buck’s in came from the Mid-County area:

Jorie Jacobi, Clayton

Jacobi is a graduate of and Washington University in St. Louis. She is doing this sort of as a lark.

“My dad thought this was fun," Jacobi said. "I said, 'What the heck, I might as well try.'”

These days, Jacobi is interning for Twist Public Relations in St. Louis. She has her goals set on a career move someday to New York City.

Jennifer Murphey Workes,

She works in the merger and acquisition department of Clayton's , a company that works with risk management, insurance and reinsurance.

She has four children ranging in age from 6 to 13, and all attend schools in the
Her audition began mostly as a dare in the office and resulted in something she felt she could do quite well. She’s awaiting the outcome of her tryout.