Bobby Skafish ( ) is a long-time radio personality in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area.

Early life and education

Skafish was born in Indiana circa 1953/1954. He has four older siblings. His father was a milkman and his mother was a part-time employee in school cafeterias. Skafish attended Gavit High School. He then attended Calumet College for a year before transferring to

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

where, as a senior, he worked on the campus radio station.

Career

Skafish began working as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

(DJ) on WWJY ( WFLM at the time) in

Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,884 per the 2023 American Community Survey. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became ...

, then moved to

WXRT WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an alternative rock radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station broadcasts from a transmitter atop John Hancock Center and its studios are located at T ...

in Chicago six months later where he became one of the best known radio personalities in Chicago. In 1983, he moved to WLUP (commonly called "the Loop"). At the Loop, Skafish called himself "Rob S." on the air. By 1990, Skafish was on the air for the afternoon drive and was considered one of the Loop's anchors. In 1993, Skafish moved to

WKQX WKQX (101.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring an alternative rock radio format, format known as "Q101". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area. WKQX's ...

, then to

in 1994. In 1997, Skafish hosted and produced hundreds of original programs for

to celebrate its 25th anniversary. WXRT released Skafish in 2006 in what it said was an effort to communicate to its listeners that the station is not "frozen in time". Next, Skafish aired on

WDRV WDRV (97.1 FM, "The Drive") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. Its studios were originally located in the John Hancock Center. On May ...

as the afternoon personality from 2007 to 2015. In 2016, Skafish published his book ''We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters''.

Notes

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Hammond, Indiana Indiana University Bloomington alumni Radio personalities from Chicago Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-radio-bio-stub