Jo Interrante was a native Texan who made her mark on Bay Area broadcasting as news director at KFRC in the 1970s. In that position, and later in a role as vice president of programming at the RKO Radio Networks, Interrante helped develop a news and information style that broke new ground. One former staffer remembers the “Interrante Way” as consisting of short sentences, use of powerful verbs, tight soundbites, and plenty of “natural sound”. The goal was to take radio news in a new direction, relating to a younger, smarter audience.
Born Ann Lillian Goodfleisch in Dallas, Interrante attended the University of Texas and worked as a Braniff Airways flight attendant. She managed a blues band and stayed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 for the full three-day run. She worked as a music director and weekend news anchor at Dallas stations KVIL and KNUS for years before a 1973 move to the Bay Area.
Interrante joined the KFRC staff as a news anchor and would soon be named news director. When KFRC’s owner, RKO, launched the first satellite network in 1979, Interrante moved to New York as part of the management team.
She returned to the Bay Area in 1981 with then-husband Rob Sisco to found IS INC, a music radio show production company based in Mill Valley. The firm produced MusicStar and The Hot Ones, as well as John Leader’s Countdown America and Countdown USA.
Interrante returned to her native Dallas in 1993. She was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.
Jo Interrante passed away in 2023 at the age of 79.