Scott Mason (radio personality)
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Scott Cary Mason (September 26, 1959 – April 19, 2015) was an American radio personality, executive and engineer who worked at Los Angeles stations KKDJ, KIQQ, KGBS/KTNQ and KROQ-FM. Mason had suffered from kidney problems for most of his adult life. He received a transplant in 1999 and a second transplant in 2012 and died on April 19, 2015.[1]
Radio career
Mason started in radio at age 14 in Los Angeles answering phones for Program Director Rick Carroll at 102.7 KKDJ ( Now KIIS-FM). At age 15, he acquired his 3rd Class Broadcast endorsed FCC License. When Rick Carroll and most of the KKDJ staff were released, Mason moved to K-100 ( KIQQ now KKLQ). At K-100 he was a board operator and worked for Eric Chase. During this time Mason obtained his First Class FCC License.
In 1976 Mason moved to a new L.A. Radio station called Ten-Q where he was an entry level engineer and answered request lines. Ten-Q had a Country FM sister station KGBS that he was a weekend DJ on. Mason also worked at KKOK (KBIK) in Lompoc on weekends during this time. He stayed at Ten-Q and KGBS until 1979 when it was sold and about to turn Spanish language.
In May 1979 Rick Carroll was hired to run KROQ-FM. Rick hired Mason to be a weekend D.J. and Chief Engineer while he was still a teenager. Since that time Scott worked every airshift on KROQ-FM at one time or another. Scott was an original host of Loveline with The Poorman, and Dr. Drew Pinsky.
One Saturday afternoon in 1981 Mason called himself "Spacin' Scott Mason" on the air. He was immediately called on the hotline by Rick Carroll. Rick told him to continue to use that as a radio name.
In 1999, Infinity Broadcasting's CFO Farid Suleman put Mason on the companies Y2K team. The outgrowth of that team was the CBS Radio Regional Engineering team. Mason was the West Coast Director of Engineering for CBS Radio, as well as maintaining his on-air shift at KROQ-FM, at the time of his death.
For nearly twenty years, Mason hosted "OpenLine", KROQ-FM's Public Affairs program. The show is heard every Sunday morning from 6-7 AM. In 2006 the show was also heard on KCBS-FM /JACK-FM. In 2008 the show was also broadcast in Los Angeles on K-Earth 101 (renamed "The Forum" for K-Earth broadcasts) and on 94.7 The Wave KTWV. The program streams online at KROQ.Com, ROQ of the 80's.com, KEARTH101.com, 947thewave.com, and www.ampradio.com