Todd Andrew Schnitt (born January 24, 1966 in New York City) is an American radio personality. Schnitt hosts two different shows daily from the Clear Channel Broadcast complex in Tampa, Florida. Schnitt, using the radio stage-name “MJ,” hosts the long-time MJ Morning Show and the nationally syndicated Schnitt Show.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Contents |
Schnitt has credited MusicRadio-77WABC (New York City) with his interest in radio broadcasting. As a young boy growing up in Nanuet, New York in the early 1970s, Schnitt became fascinated by WABC and listened as much as possible. In late 1976, Schnitt’s family moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia.
In 1982, at the age of 16, Schnitt landed his first part-time job at the now defunct WCPK-AM 1600 in Chesapeake, Virginia. During his high school years he worked at numerous Hampton Roads, Virginia area stations including WVAB, WNIS and WNVZ (Z-104). Schnitt attended Ithaca College in New York and worked at the Cornell student-run station, WVBR.
In 1986, he returned to the Hampton Roads area and scored his first full-time radio job at WRSR-FM (97Star), which soon reverted back to the call letters WGH-FM. The name MJ Kelli was first used at WGH-FM. The name MJ was created because the 97Star program director was adamant that Todd Schnitt was not a good radio name. In August 1988, Schnitt moved the MJ Kelli 6-10 PM show to cross-town rival WNVZ (Z104). In 1989, Schnitt was hired by Scott Shannon at Pirate Radio, KQLZ in Los Angeles as creative director and assistant program director. Schnitt later rejoined Shannon at the revamping of WPLJ, New York which had originally signed on as Mojo Radio in April, 1991.
Schnitt left New York City in late 1992 to start The MJ Kelli Morning Show, his first morning-drive program (6-10 am) on WOVV (Star 95.5), West Palm Beach, Florida. He was brought to Tampa, Florida to anchor the new morning show on WFLZ (The Power Pig). Schnitt was teamed up with BJ Harris, the Power Pig’s program director to form the MJ and BJ Morning Show. Harris left the show on February 7, 2001. The show was renamed The MJ Morning Show.
Schnitt hosts The MJ Morning Show under his “MJ” personality. The show is broadcast Monday through Friday 6-10 am on flagship WFLZ/Tampa, FL and syndicated to KSLZ/St. Louis (Z107.7), WNWW/Jacksonville, FL (97.9 RadioNOW) and WFKS/Melbourne, FL (95.1 KISS-FM). The show focuses on current events, lifestyle news, pop-culture and personal experiences. The program is mostly a talk format but plays about two songs per hour.
The Schnitt Show is a conservative radio talk show that airs Monday through Friday 3-6 pm ET. Schnitt describes himself as a “fiercely independent conservative with libertarian influence.” The show consists of news, political commentary, lifestyle and pop-culture with sound bites and parody material. The Schnitt Show is syndicated by Compass Media Networks[8][9] and is heard on nearly 50 stations across America and on XM Extreme Talk 165. The program first launched October 1, 2001 on WIOD/Miami and later on January 7, 2002 on WFLA/Tampa.
Schnitt resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife, Michelle, and two children.