Rod Arquette knew by the age of 12 that he wanted to work in radio.

“I just always thought that the guy on the radio was the coolest guy in the world,” he said.  A self-starter spirit, love of the work, and some fortunate connections have propelled his career in news media across the nation to become a familiar and trusted voice on the radio in Utah.

Born 20 miles from the Canadian border in Potsdam, New York, Arquette enjoyed the amenities of a small college town but yearned to be part of the wider world. Radio signals from the big cities connected the rural youngster and introduced him to renowned broadcasters.

“Late at night we could pick up stations out of New York City and Detroit, or any of the big cities,” Arquette said. AM radio’s far-reaching capability amassed substantial audiences at the time and FM radio was just making its debut. “I remember listening to Cousin Brucie on WABC in New York and John Records Landecker out of Chicago. These two are legends and I would just get captivated by their broadcasts,” he said.

Arquette grew up as the second of six children to entrepreneurial parents who maintained a strong Catholic home. “My Dad was a small businessman and really lived the American Dream,” Arquette said. He worked for a bread company and woke up at 3 a.m. to deliver orders prepared for clients. Arquette’s father then returned home after fulfilling bread deliveries all day to work as a butcher at night.

“My Dad would really work, he really taught all of us how to work hard. He’d be up early and probably wouldn’t go to bed till 10 pm, six days a week,” Arquette said. Later his father bought a local grocery store he named, “Arquette’s Superette” where each child worked to support the family business. Arquette stocked shelves as a kid and learned how to cut meat, although he acknowledges that he was never as good as his dad.

The success of the family business and his father’s other investments in a restaurant, a liquor store, and various apartments kept the Arquette’s very involved in the town. The family leaned Democrat, “but more of a Harry Truman/John Kennedy type of Democrat. I don’t think my parents would be members of the Democratic Party today,” Arquette said. 

His father also once ran as an independent in the local partisan mayoral race but fell well short of victory. “He didn’t want to offend people,” he said.

Arquette and his siblings often affectionally referred to their mother as the “Pope of the West.” She was a staunch catholic who was so conservative about religious tradition that she had misgivings when the church changed mass from Latin to English.

Though she raised her children in accordance with strong conservative traditions, Arquette’s mother was not overbearing and gave them room to choose for themselves. “I grew up in the late 60s and 70s, and we were all growing our hair long,” Arquette said. People would sometimes deride and disparage him and his friends for their long hair, “but my mother would say, ‘leave them alone. They’re fine.’” She was always looking out for her children.

As Arquette manifested more of his love for radio while in high school, his mother sought out an opportunity for him to help with a radio host. She asked Khan Eliot, the local broadcaster who called the high school football, basketball, and hockey games if her son could help. A few weeks later Khan asked Arquette to help him by working as the spotter, the person charged with identifying the ball carrier, tackler, etc. 

Working with Khan was his ticket in and after watching him and others announce games, Arquette was hooked. “I was just fascinated how he was able to do all that, and right away I thought to myself, ‘that’s what I want to do,’” Arquette said. “I just wanted to be in radio, media, or television. I didn’t care where, I just wanted to get into the business.”

For college, he wanted to attend the University of Texas, but decided to go to Central Texas University, which is now part of the Texas A&M system. The school ran a radio and TV station that helped Arquette learn the technical side of the business. In hindsight, he’s glad he attended a smaller school because of the hands-on opportunities it afforded. “[Central Texas] is where I really got on the air for the first time,” he said.

The university’s radio station featured an FM channel that played soft music with only a few broadcasts or news readings. “But it got me on the air,” Arquette said. The school also ran a TV station where the students were the directors and producers. “In this industry, you can’t really learn it in a classroom,” he said. “You’ve got to get behind a microphone.”

During college, he experienced one of the most challenging trials of his life – the unexpected loss of his father.

Arquette’s father died of a heart attack at the age of 48. “I think he just worked himself to death,” he said. The passing of his father was difficult for Arquette, then at college in his early 20s. “My Dad always believed in me, and I always appreciated that,” Arquette said. “But with his passing, I realized I’m kind of on my own now.” Although difficult, the passing of his father, and his mother years later, was a time of growth and maturity for him. 

“My Dad was a people person, he loved people. He just made people feel comfortable. And hopefully, I’m living life the way he taught me,” Arquette said. When his father passed, Arquette hadn’t seen him for over five years. “I hadn’t seen a lot of my dad, and then he was gone one day. And you know, you miss your father as you get older. You wish your dad was around to ask your father and your mother, how am I doing?” he said. 

Arquette adds, “Hopefully all us kids turned out the way our parents wanted us to, and I think we have.”

An opportunity at a radio station in Rexburg, Idaho opened after Arquette graduated college and they extended him a job offer. There he met his wife and covered the Teton Dam disaster back in 1976. His radio station was actually “wiped out” due to the floods, but KBOI, a station in Boise, Idaho got a hold of him and asked if he would do reports on the disaster for them. 

Six months later, KBOI offered him a position at their legendary station where Arquette worked for a couple of years. Eventually, an opportunity presented itself to come to Utah and work at KWMS for a station owned by businessman Sam Williams who was the husband of Shelly Thomas, a long-time anchor on Channel 5.

KMWS was on 1280 on the AM dial and their plan was to take on the dominant KSL as a full-news station. Arquette moved his family to Utah to work at the start-up, but the business venture didn’t work. 

Williams sold the station, and everyone lost their jobs. A few days later, Channel 2 in Utah called Arquette to work as a producer. He produced, did some on-air reporting, and did some fill-in for anchoring. “I loved it,” he said. 

Around the same time, radio was changing. In 1988, KSL was looking to adapt by not playing any music on its AM station. “A lot of people were slowly moving to FM music at the time, which hurt full-news station like KSL on traditional AM radio,” he said. Arquette took the job and started working with news director Doug Miller. He worked there in the news department from 1988 to 2006. 

During the time, Arquette remembers thinking about how to grow KSL and find its “niche.” One morning he was preparing for work and the thought came to him, why not move KSL AM to a full-news and talk show format for KSL FM. “Well, that was heresy at the time,” Arquette said. At the time FM was traditionally only for music.

“When we made the switch to FM the industry went, ‘Wow, what are you guys doing,’” he said. Eventually, the industry embraced it and KSL succeeded.

The company then shipped him and his family to Seattle, Washington. KSL is part of Bonneville International which owns many radio and TV stations across the western United States.

In Seattle, the company decided to make the station an all-news station on FM radio, like what they did in Salt Lake City. Arquette worked there for three years before wanting to come back to Utah.

He came back to the Beehive state for an opportunity at Bonneville, but it didn’t work out. “So, I was kind of footloose and fancy free with no job,” Arquette said. But a few weeks later iHeart radio called and offered an opportunity to be a talk show host, which he had never done before.

“I had coached people like Doug Wright and Bob Lee before, but I had never actually anchored a talk show before. Even so, I jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

Arquette says he had to “reinvent” himself a bit for talk show host work. He hadn’t been on the air for a while after years in news management. But now he got to be on the air, “which was the whole reason he got in the business,” he said.

The Rod Arquette Show debuted on KNRS in Utah on August 2, 2010. “The first shows were pretty raw,” Arquette said. “Right away my wife said, ‘You’re saying umm too much.’” He worked at it and perfected his craft methodically.

Each morning, Monday through Friday,Arquette and his staff read the news of the day and create a show. “We start with a blank canvas each morning, decide who we want to interview, and put the show together every day,” he said. 

Arquette is passionate about radio hosting and talking about topics that impact our community and nation. Over the years, a lot has changed in the news media and particularly in radio. Political coverage and how our communities have political discussions has changed dramatically over the years.

“I think it’s become a lot more opinionated,” he said, “which is good.” The state of news media in America centers around a news stations’ proximity to either Fox News as a conservative station or CNN as a liberal station.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a ‘conservative station’ or a ‘liberal station,’” Arquette said. “Don’t be afraid to tell people what you think and tell them who you are.” He doesn’t like it when stations claim to be “fair” or “objective.” “I call B.S. on that,” he said. “People just need to pay attention to how they write stories, what angles they take and keep it in mind while reviewing their news content.” 

This is important, Arquette said because political coverage has changed. “I grew up with Walter Cronkite on CBS Evening News. I never thought about whether he was spinning the news,” he said. 

“Today, people get frustrated with Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson for sharing their opinion, but they do a very good job at covering the news throughout the day,” he said. It’s similar with MSNBC or CNN, they do a good job covering the news Arquette said, just keep in mind the political slant they take generally. 

Arquette is a bit concerned with how Americans have changed the way they engage in political discussions, particularly with their elected officials. “I think we put politicians on a pedestal sometimes,” he said. “We shouldn’t be afraid to ask them hard questions, and when we don’t get a satisfactory answer ask follow questions.”

Arquette encourages his listeners to read widely and deeply to form a well-informed opinion. “I listen to the New York Times’ Daily Podcast, it’s very well done. And I understand they have a liberal bent, and they’re rarely going to say anything nice about conservatives,” he said.

You need to listen to all opinions and then form your own opinion. “Don’t just listen to me, listen to liberal talk shows as well.”

Being a talk show host for the last 11 years has a purifying effect. “You really find out who you are as a person. If you try to fake it, the audience the see right through it,” he said. 

Authenticity is important in radio and in life. “Some people try to tell me that I shouldn’t talk about my personal life. I think that’s ridiculous,” he said. “People want to know who you are, they want to know that my wife is a farm girl from Southeast Idaho, and as independent as independent can be. That I’m a father, a grandfather, and that I love my grandchildren. They want to know that about me because they’re like that as well.”

If there’s one message that Arquette tries to convey to his listeners, it’s this: America is full of good people who are fully capable of caring for each other and solving national problems if they step up and if we give them a chance.

“Division and contention in modern media and politics can tear us apart. We cannot allow contempt destroy us,” Arquette said. “For example, I don’t often agree with Jenny Wilson or Erin Mendenhall, but I let people know when I do agree with them.”

“This is a beautiful state filled with wonderful people. I have called this state home for a long time, and I love it. There is a bond here among the people that unites us in getting stuff done. We may not agree on everything, but we can get things done when we work together,” Arquette said. “I guess that’s my definition of the Utah way.”