Tony Zazza
Encyclopedia
Tony Zazza is a radio personality, entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex for over 11 years.

Tony was born, June 25, 1975, in San Diego, CA. He's the eldest of 5 children and moved to Hillsboro, Texas
Hillsboro, Texas
Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County in Central Texas. The population was 8,232 at the 2000 census.Hillsboro, located on Interstate 35 where I-35E and I-35W meet south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is the primary center for trade and commerce in Hill County...

 after high school on a Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 scholarship to attend Hill College
Hill College
Hill College is a comprehensive community college located in Hillsboro, Texas.Hill College opened its doors in 1923, one year before North Central Texas College...

. After two years Tony transferred to Tarleton State University
Tarleton State University
Tarleton State University is a public, coeducational, state university located in Stephenville, Texas. It is the largest non-land-grant university primarily devoted to agriculture in the United States....

 in Stephenville, Texas
Stephenville, Texas
Stephenville is a city in and the county seat of Erath County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,921 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1856, it is home to Tarleton State University. Stephenville is among several communities that calls itself the "Cowboy Capital of the...

 and continued playing baseball.

Career Start in Media

At Tarleton, Tony began writing for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 covering the Metroplex's entertainment and music scene. He edited and reported on local events and interviewed Kidd Kraddick
Kidd Kraddick
Kidd Kraddick is an American radio host. His nationally-syndicated morning radio show, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, is based in Las Colinas, Texas, in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, and airs throughout the United States, syndicated by Kraddick's company, Yea Network.-Early life:Kraddick was born on...

 before starting his radio career in Tarleton. Before graduating, Tony auditioned for KDMX and was hired on his birthday in 1998.

Career @ KDMX

Working his way up from weekends, Tony became a fixture of KDMX's afternoon drive before eventually hosting the "Morning Mix". An early stunt received some criticism from the Dallas Gay community.

Awards

Tony was named On-Air Personality of the Year by AWRT (American Women in Radio and Television) in 2007, and was nominated for On-Air Personality of the Year in 2004 by R&R (Radio and Records) and The RMA's (Radio Music Awards).

Entrepreneurship

In January 2009, Tony was let go from KDMX as a part of Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 massive layoffs.

Tony has since begun his own Media Strategies firm to offer branding, exposure, marketing and advertising services to small and medium sized businesses called Zazza Media Strategies. Since July 2009 Tony has been back on the air at his old competition, 103.7 litefm.

Tony Zazza's Jingle Jet

In 2007, Tony lent his idea for Jingle Jet, a Fantasy flight
Fantasy flight
Fantasy flights are charity flights operated by a host airline for locally disadvantaged and terminally ill children to fly to a fictitious destination.The destination is often the North Pole, the home of Santa Claus' workshop...

 to take 5 deserving families on a trip to the "North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

" using the Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...

 and Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

 team plane to KDMX to sponsor. KDMX partnered with Tony for the event's first two years. Tony was allowed to solicit nominations for families who had experienced hardship through the year on the air.

December 22, 2009, was the first year Tony organized Jingle Jet without a radio sponsor. Sponsored again by the Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...

, Tony made magic for five families using the team plane. Mike Modano
Mike Modano
Michael Thomas Modano, Jr. is a retired American professional ice hockey player, who most notably played for the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise. He is the all-time goal-scoring and points leader amongst American-born players in the NHL, as well as the last active player in the NHL...

 and his wife, Willa Ford
Willa Ford
Amanda Lee Modano , known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001...

, are major supporters of Jingle Jet and for the first time, Mike was able to attend the event.

External links

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