The Boca Interview: Paul Castronovo

As South Florida continues to roll on, reinventing itself through more new waves of people, new money, massive development and shifting political alliances, a few things hold steady.

Paul Castronovo is one of them.

On the radio for more than 30 years with the iconic “The Paul Castronovo Show,” he’s South Florida’s longest-running radio host who’s managed to adapt to changing times while retaining market share. He’s added TikTok and Instagram to his platforms, drawing generations of new listeners while maintaining the singular comedic storytelling voice South Floridians have come to love.

Castronovo, now 62, once dreamed of being on “Saturday Night Live” back in his University of Florida days, but had no road map to get there. He found his way from comedy to radio in 1984—and he’s been dominating the airwaves ever since. Following graduation from UF, he worked at the original WSHE in South Florida, Orlando’s WHTQ, WZZR in Birmingham and Nashville’s WGFX. In 1990, he came back to South Florida and WSHE, teaming with a newsman he barely knew, “Young” Ron Brewer. The “Paul and Young Ron Show” was a massive hit, although Ron Brewer retired in December 2016, with Castronovo continuing on as solo host.

In addition to entertaining audiences for decades, Castronovo’s shows have extended into the charitable arena, raising millions of pounds of food for Feeding South Florida, among other endeavors. He has assumed leadership positions with the Miami Dolphins Foundation, co-chairing its charity effort, Fins Weekend, as well as serving as a board member for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Ocearch data-collection organization.

The Castronovo name has even penetrated the world of another South Florida comedic icon, Dave Barry, who named a character after him in his novel Insane City. And the self-anointed “clown prince of South Florida” has also been named an “Alumnus of Distinction” by the University of Florida.

Castronovo now lives in Boca Raton; he and his wife, Gina, have two sons, Nic and AJ. In addition to his place on the radio dial, Castronovo is also active on other platforms, including TikTok: @ThePaulCastronovo; Facebook: @PaulCastronovoShow; Instagram @paulcastronovoshow; Twitter: @castronovoshow.

In a recent interview, when asked what he sees as his greatest accomplishment, Castronovo said: “Aside from staying married for 25-plus years and raising two really cool boys into men, I think my greatest achievement is being on the radio and performing at a consistently high level in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market since 1984—with many changes, somehow not getting fired, and still doing it today.”

Castronovo is at iHeartMiami’s Big 105.9 mornings from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., with his signature mix of lively commentary, celebrity guests, and wacky slices of South Florida living, from fine dining to the Miami Dolphins. His contract was recently extended to 2026.

How do you account for your longevity?

Being a South Floridian doesn’t hurt. There have been a lot of people trying to unseat me over the years, but whether they were syndicated or from a different market trying to be a South Floridian, I just happened to know what we’re made of down here. I went to school in Palm Beach County, and I went to college down here at Palm Beach Junior College and University of Florida. I’ve lived here 89 percent of my adult life. I think that has a lot to do with it—and my willingness to adapt and learn.

I grew up with a bunch of Cuban guys as friends, I loved the culture of South Florida, I grew up surfing, I grew up fishing and, like many of us down here, I came from New York. And I just relate to so many different people from Florida.

Who is your audience?

We do have two different listeners. We have the listener who gets in his car and listens every day stuck in traffic. And thankfully, I work for iHeart Radio, and they created this app, [so] I have listeners who listen to my show in the afternoons when they’re on the treadmill. They listen at their own convenience or when they’re at work with their earbuds. Thankfully, some of the younger audience has discovered me and interestingly enough, we have a lot of kids whose parents turned them on to me. … That’s what happens when you’re around a long time.

The target demographic—which I think is funny—is the 25-to-54-year-old adult, and we both know there is nothing a 25-year-old has in common with a 54-year-old. You shoot for the middle, and I’ve always done that. I’m older than 54, and my kid is 22. So I like to think about things both of us might be interested in.

And I have evolved over the years. There was a time when I was a lot younger and single and the show was edgier and more sexualized and I’ve matured. Heck, on Tuesday we talk about food with a chef! Let’s face it—we all eat. I love restaurants, and South Florida is a great town for going out and eating and drinking and having fun, so [we do more] lifestyle stuff. Let’s face it: Many of us have a lot in common down here, even though we could be coming from different socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds.

We all like to go out to eat.

How have you seen the industry change?

People would say to me like 10 years ago, ‘Oh man, satellite radio—that’s gotta be killing you.’ I laugh, because we still outdo satellite radio. You know what hurts us the most? It’s the cell phone and the fact that 30, 40 years ago when you got in the car, the only other person in the car with you was the guy in the radio. Now you get in the car and you pick up the phone and call 15 different people. That’s the challenge. I don’t know what the answer is. The most challenging thing is to get people to pay attention to what you are doing and get off the phone for a few minutes. If I can keep you around for 15 minutes, then I win.

How have you changed with the industry over the years?

I’ve learned over the years that if I’m not on Instagram and TikTok then I’m missing the boat. It would have been easy for me to be stubborn and just say no—but I do some pretty interesting and funny Instagram reels and TikTok videos that have gotten hundreds of thousands of views. It’s amazing. It’s a way to meet a younger audience that may be discovering you for the first time.

I’m having fun with it now. And really, I go back to a lot of my studies at the University of Florida where I learned how to do production years ago. Even though it’s on my phone now, I’m still doing editing and interesting production. It’s an outlet for my creativity and, in turn, if it brings people back to my radio show, then I win.

Do you have a ‘magic formula’ when it comes to content?

I don’t think so. It’s a battle. Demographically, Florida is a challenge. We’re over 70 percent Hispanic, we are 20 percent urban and there’s a small bastion of a Caucasian audience that’s still left in the Miami-Dade area. A classic rock audience traditionally was old white guys. That’s changed a lot. You have to be willing to adapt.

What keeps you talking? How do you not run out of content?

[We don’t talk about politics], because it’s polarizing and makes people miserable. I’ve found that it’s really easy down here. Granted, I’ve been doing this a long time and I know how to do it. Phil Rosenthal, the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” wrote a great book (You’re Lucky You’re Funny) and really opened my eyes. All the episodes of that show came from his life: his mom and his sister, his wife, his kids. I say to the people on my show all the time, Heather and Mike: ‘You think you didn’t do anything today, but if you went to Publix and had an altercation with someone in a parking lot or the bag boy puts something wrong in your bag, all those little things that happen make for real life.’

We don’t have to talk about the Kardashians; we can talk about some lady at Whole Foods. The other day I brought back some rotten lettuce, and she was totally cool and then she says to me, ‘Can you do me a favor and check my teeth? I just ate some cottage cheese.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not checking your teeth.’ As soon as I got in my car I put a note in my phone, and the next morning I brought that up on the radio.

I’m such a “Seinfeld” fan; when they said it’s ‘a show about nothing’ I looked at my partner Ron, at the time, and said, ‘That’s us.’

I went to his house one day and he answered the door in a housecoat, and I must have done two hours on that.

Where did you get this gift of gab?

Grow up in an Italian-American household and try to get a word in edgewise. I remember being a 5- or 6-year-old kid and sitting around and listening to my father and all the cousins and the uncles. This was in the ‘60s—the women would be in the kitchen making pasta, and the guys would be sitting around, and they would be telling stories and just howling laughing. I remember saying ‘I want to do that.’ It evolved into that I wanted to be the guy who makes those people laugh. I also studied broadcasting at Florida. Even in high school I was making the announcements. I got in trouble in kindergarten, too, for talking in line. So maybe talking was my thing.

How do you plan for a show?

There are three of us on the show, and I have one rule: We have to send a one-sheet to each of us by the end of that day on things that you find in the news or things that you want to talk about that you find interesting. We all lead different lives. Heather Nelson likes to stay home and play video games and watch copious amounts of television, and she has a bunch of cats. Mike Anderson is a single guy and he’s out running around and he likes to cook and work out and chase girls. And I’m the married guy at home with kids and a dog and I’m a fisherman. So we all have different ideas, so we compile those notes and from that we build a portion of the show. We also talk to comedians in town, and we have people who pitch us guest ideas.

Pretty soon a show is built, and by the way, you have to be willing to throw it all out if something happens overnight.

The show is four hours long. I once heard Howard Stern say whoever thought it was a good idea to do a four-hour stinking radio show is an idiot. Only someone who does it can agree with him. If you think about it, Jimmy Kimmel does an hour, a sitcom is 22 minutes with commercials but for some reason they thought a radio show should be four hours.

Who are your favorite radio/TV hosts?

I’ve been on the radio as long as my favorite radio hosts. I would like to meet Howard Stern sometime. Howard’s a genius. If you had to ask, it goes Johnny Carson into David Letterman. And then there’s Kimmel and Colbert. If I had [to choose], David Letterman would be my biggest influence.

In the past couple of years, you lost 120 pounds. Like a whole other person. What made you do that?

I’d been heavy way too long, and in my mind I was thin. I put on way too much weight. In 2019, my wife and son and I were in New York City, and they were walking all over town and I was hating life and I was Uber-ing all over town. And I remember we got back and I was embarrassed by it. And then the pandemic and everyone was sitting at home. And what were we doing? Eating. And drinking. I remember my wife and my son both sat me down and it was kind of like an intervention that you don’t want to hear, and they were, like, ‘Something’s gotta give here. And we love you.’ Even my son said, ‘You know, there are a lot of things I still want to do with you, but even in the boat you don’t move around like you used to.’ That’s a big reality check when you hear that from your family. And it comes from a place of love. So I buckled down, and from nutrition to personal training to bike riding to eating literally less than half of what I used to eat, very quickly it started coming off.

And the pandemic was actually perfect for it, ‘cause everyone was standing around and I was accountable. Once I dropped 30 pounds, it started to come off quicker and I started to get motivated. Now I’m annoyingly at the gym [all the time].

In the beginning, I also cut out the booze for a year. That was a grave error, and I’ll never do that again. I missed it so much. I did take a shot of tequila at one point to take the edge off. I stopped all carbs (but I’m back on carbs—I don’t want to be a “carb Nazi”).

I also started exercising like a madman (and my trainer was Brian at Lighthouse Gym), cut the protein down to 4 ounces and a little bit of vegetables… you’d be surprised how little you need to eat and how much I was overeating.

Any starstruck moments with celebrity radio guests?

Countless. When you’re on the phone it’s a little easier just to hav a conversation, but when you’re sitting in front of Johnny Depp, it’s a little nerve-wracking. Going back before that, being a fan of University of Florida, Steve Spurrier. And Don Shula. Those two guys, just because of who they were. Another one that really got me was Robert Duvall. [When we knew he was coming to the show] I expected guys with briefcases and machine guns. But my producer says, ‘Robert Duvall is out in the hallway,’ and I run out there and there’s this little old man sitting in a chair all by himself. He drove himself to the radio station. No entourage. Nobody else.

I printed a script of “The Godfather,” and he agrees to let me read lines from the film with him. And he doesn’t remember the lines, and I was shocked by that. And he said, ‘Well, I understand “The Godfather” is your whole life, but to me it’s one of 72 different characters I’ve played. And it was 50 years ago.’

How have you changed overall in the past 30 years?

I think I’ve softened over the years. I don’t think I’m as much of an abrasive jerk as I was in my 30s. I haven’t done therapy for any of those things, but watching kids grow up and go through things like I went through with my wife Gina and her car accident and her breast cancer and losing my dad during the pandemic makes you appreciate life a little more. I hope to think that I’m a more sensitive guy now as opposed to when I was younger.

How long are you going to do this?

I’m only 62, so I’m not close to retiring yet. I still love what I do. I don’t swing a hammer. I’m not on a roof. I laugh every day and they pay me pretty well, so I’d be foolish to not do it as long as possible. I mean, I don’t see why I can’t work till I’m 70-something…Then again, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a month off and go to Italy. I really enjoy the work. Would I like more time off? Yes.

What’s next?

Our company looks like we are securing the rights to the Miami Dolphins. There may be something there with some opportunities to do more, which is exciting for me, because it gives me something else. And maybe since I’m thinner now they’ll put me on TV.

What keeps you going?

I keep looking for the next laugh.

This article is from the January 2023 issue of Boca magazine. For more like this, click here to subscribe to the magazine.