Right for Radio

“I decided radio just wasn’t for me,” said Pete Rightmire while a student at Xavier University.

Nearly five decades later, the Cincinnati native could smile at the irony.  He became one of the rare few to both launch and conclude a career at the same station—WVXU, Cincinnati’s public radio outlet.

Peter Rowe Rightmire’s career spanned video production, media advertising, public radio, and higher education. The first in his family to attend college, he started at Cincinnati State, earning an associate degree in accounting.

“Even while there, I had decided I didn’t want to sit at a desk and crunch numbers all day. A good friend turned me on to a possible career in media. I didn’t even know you could go to school to work in radio and television. Then it was either the University of Cincinnati or Xavier. XU was on the ascendency in the mid 70s.”

That friend, Kim Flick, became one of Pete’s most important influences. 

“She was very driven and very smart,” he said. After joining the staff of Xavier’s WVXU, she rose to become operations manager. “It was a student-operated radio station, a wonderful opportunity for students to be innovative and imaginative.”

Pete also got his start there. In 1976, he convinced station manager Dr. Jim King to let him spin his own records on a Saturday program called When Swing Was King. The big-band show, co-hosted with Flick, steadily built a follo

wing.

But once Pete discovered television, radio lost its grip.   

At Xavier’s TV Center, he came under the guidance of engineer Mike Geis.

“(Mike) was very gruff. He spoke his mind, but he also had an amazing work ethic. Technically, the guy either knew how to operate it, knew how to fix it, or figured out a work around. Mike Geis was probably one of the most influential people in my career.”

Geis remembered the feeling as mutual: “Pete was good to be around. I didn’t let him slide on anything. He’s a good worker.”

A Career in Motion

After graduating in 1978 and struggling to find work, Pete returned to Xavier to assist Geis. He also freelanced before joining Midwest Communications in 1979, where he reconnected with his former professor, Jay Adrick, now the company’s executive vice president.

“Pete came on board initially to demonstrate the Z6 editing system and train new purchasers—TV stations, production houses, schools, and trade shows,” said Adrick. “Good editor and good instructor. He did a wonderful job at that.” 

Midwest soon tapped Pete’s accounting skills, moving him to regional administrator.  He returned to Xavier again, this time as XU TV studio manager for 1982-83 school year, before circling back to Midwest as its Marketing Communications Manager,

When Midwest closed in 1991, Pete launched PR Communications, a successful consulting career, serving video equipment companies and ad agencies, helping them develop and refine their marketing efforts. 

handling its state and regional roadshows, including their major exhibit for NAB (National Association of Broadcasters). 

Radio Calls Him Back

Yet radio never fully let him go.  In 1994, he returned to the airwaves at WNKU-FM. 

“Pete sent me some of his writing and offered to do humorous commentaries for our air.  They were great and I took him up on the offer right on the spot!  He was an excellent writer and our listeners loved him and his humor!” 

That lead to a talk show producer and fill-in host roles which all ended in 2005 when Cincinnati Public Radio bought VXU and  hired Maryanne as News Director.

This time WVXU wanted him back—this time as producer of Impact Cincinnati.

Call it the Zeleznik connection.    In 2013  she asked Pete to produce a new show  “As expected he again was great when we started Cincinnati Edition.  He was the original producer and the only full-time staff.  Cincinnati Edition would not exist if it weren’t for his hard work.”

At WVXU, he became known for his work ethic.

“Pete got in at 6:00am after a full morning swimming laps,” reflected producer Selena Reder.  “He’d sit in the darkness of his office, clacking away at the keyboard.  No time for lunch. He kept a big mug of coffee and a jar of nuts at his desk.

“I first started working for Pete when I came to WVXU as a part-time assistant producer for Cincinnati Edition,” said Reder. “I had been producing for years, but it was nothing like the marathon of booking that Pete had been living with, producing an hour-long live program five days a week. Pete taught me to work efficiently, challenge myself, and screen the barrage of calls that came in during the show with keen scrutiny. He helped to shape the producer I am today.”

Pete retired from WVXU six years later, becoming the only Xavier University Communication Arts graduate to both start and finish a career at the station where it all began.

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Life Beyond the Studio

Along the way, he met his wife, Nannette, then a pre-med student at Xavier. Dr. Nannette Bernales and Pete celebrated 40 years of marriage in 2023. They raised two sons—Nicholas, a chemical engineer in Minnesota, and Zachary, a professor at the University of Alabama—and are now grandparents.

Looking back, Pete credits mentors like Adrick and Geis, and friends like Flick, for shaping his path.

“Still if I could do anything differently,” he admits, “I’d have taken it all more seriously. I definitely had more fun at Xavier than I had a right to.”