Radio a big draw for Amanda Logan

To say Amanda Logan has always dreamt about being on the radio is a bit of an understatement. Somewhere at home in a shoebox there’s an audiotape of Logan pretending to be a radio DJ. She was in grade 3 at the time.

“Years later I saw a Much Music tour, which convinced me to really consider a career in broadcasting,” Logan recalls, acknowledging that it wasn’t exactly an uncommon aspiration. A lot of people graduate from broadcasting programs every year. How would she approach the industry differently?

While in high school, Logan volunteered at the local Rogers Cable Community Channel that served her Mississauga neighbourhood. Despite her young age, the station wasn’t shy about letting her try every task behind the camera, including directing, teleprompting and even makeup.

“The only thing they wouldn’t give me was an on-air position, because they said I looked too young,” she smiles. It’s a nice problem to have. Still, her volunteer time amounted to an amazing education in community television, and she advises other would-be broadcasters to do the same.

“Show your interest in the industry by volunteering your time. It makes a big difference,” she says in no uncertain terms.

After graduating from John Cabot Catholic Secondary School in 2004, Logan enrolled in the Broadcasting and Film program at Centennial College to further refine her skills and knowledge of the industry.

Logan enjoyed the small classes at the college’s Centre for Creative Communications in mid-town Toronto, and liked the fact that her professors were involved in broadcasting and often worked on outside projects in addition to teaching.

A key benefit of Centennial’s program was the job placement that put Logan out in the field, in her case, working at Crossroads Television System (CTS), a Christian-based broadcaster. She toiled as a chase producer, which required a lot of research and quick turnaround to keep the production on schedule. She also was given the opportunity to do some on-camera reporting.

Upon graduation in 2007, Logan worked around the GTA on short-term assignments in various capacities, including a job at a Corus Entertainment radio station in Hamilton, where she set up remote broadcasts around the city. Her one steady job was as a receptionist at a Toronto post-production company. In 2008, she decided to concentrate on radio work, which invariably meant leaving Toronto.

“When you work in broadcasting, you should be prepared to move around a lot,” Logan points out.

Her career move took her to Regina, Saskatchewan, where she worked for two years as the evening and weekend announcer on 104.9 The Wolf, a contemporary rock station operated by Harvard Broadcasting.

Logan jumped at the chance to come back to Ontario and to work for Corus Entertainment again, this time, at Rock 101.9 in Cornwall. After a few months, she shifted to the sister station, Variety 104.5. She also found time to work on a local television program to keep her TV skills fresh.

Today she works as Variety’s afternoon drive host, and produces the weekly Top 20 Countdown hit list. Logan is also the station’s music director, programming the playlist listeners hear every day.

“Corus has been very supportive of me and my aspirations,” Logan says. By way of example, she points out that Corus made room for her to work at one of the company’s flagship stations, Toronto’s 102.1 The Edge, on the weekends. It’s a four-hour drive Logan gladly makes, because it means working in a major market – one that happens to be her hometown.

Add in the volunteer work and freelance writing she does, and it’s easy to see that Logan possesses an ambition and drive that makes employers sit up and take notice. No surprise that she earned a Young Broadcaster nomination during Canadian Music Week recently. She chalks it up to her laser-like focus on her career goal, as well as a good grounding in the business, thanks to her broadcasting program.

“I wouldn’t be a good networker if it wasn’t for Centennial College,” she says. Anyone contemplating a career in radio or television would be wise to follow Amanda Logan’s trajectory closely.

For more information about Centennial College’s Broadcasting and Film program, click here.