Jim "Buddy" Vicevich is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 talk radio

Talk radio

Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...

 host based in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. His show Sound Off Connecticut deals with local, as well as national, topics ranging from politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

, economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 and social issues, to movies and music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

. Vicevich, a self-labeled social libertarian

Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

 and political conservative

American conservatism

Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...

, often frames his commentary between bumper-music from upstart Americana

Americana (music)

Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...

 performers. He is known locally as Connecticut's Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...

Sound Off Connecticut

Vicevich's show, which aires on WTIC-AM invited phone calls from listeners from throughout Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 to discuss the topics of the day. Additionally, Sound Off Connecticut had a special episode each Friday called "Free-For-All Friday" where listeners were invited to phone in or email to discuss almost any topic, but he ended that recently. Conservative listeners participated, with almost no liberal callers or guests.

He gained a national audience in 2005 when WTIC-AM started live-streaming the program. Podcasts of Vicvich's show are still posted at www.wtic.com.

In addition to taking calls from listeners, Sound Off Connecticut featured interviews with conservative and—less frequently—Democratic political pundits, activists, lobbyists, and elected officials. Repeat interviewees over the years have included Connecticut governors John G. Rowland

John G. Rowland

John Grosvenor Rowland was the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004; he is a member of the Republican Party. He is married to Patty Rowland, his second wife, and the couple have five children between them...

 and M. Jodi Rell

M. Jodi Rell

Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...

, Power Line

Power Line

Power Line is an American political blog, providing news and commentary from a conservative point-of-view. It was originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together: John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff...

 blogger John Hinderaker, several members of the Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...

, and conservative columnists Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, and author. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She is a Fox News Channel contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs...

, Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter

Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...

, Daniel Carver

Daniel Carver

Daniel Carver was the Imperial Wizard and Grand Dragon of the "Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan," a branch of the Klan operating in Georgia...

, and Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams, is an American economist, commentator, and academic. He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author known for his libertarian views.- Early life and education :Williams family during childhood...

. Each Friday, Vicevich has a standing appointment with film critic Russ "Mr. MovieFone" Leatherman to discuss opinions on current and upcoming movies.

His views are borderline conservative, in addition to being pro-Iraq war, pro-military and anti-Democratic Party. However, in 2007 he opposed efforts by Governor Rell, a Republican, to raise the state income tax and he voiced opposition to the immigration reform

Immigration reform

Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, "reform " means to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses....

 plan advanced by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

.

Vicevich resides in an area of Connecticut known as the Farmington Valley; part of the 5th District.

Professional History

After graduating with an economics degree from Bucknell University

Bucknell University

Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...

 in 1974 and earning his master's degree from Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 in 1977, Vicevich started his broadcast career at WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 where his comprehensive coverage of the state's economy earned him the Associated Press Douglas Southall Freeman Award for outstanding journalism. In 1980, he moved to Connecticut to become the business editor for WFSB-TV, the local CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate, and later for NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate WVIT-TV. He went on to join CPTV in 1996 as a producer for an hour-long news magazine show entitled Connecticut Journal which covered state businesses and topics of personal finance, and took over as the anchor of the show in 1999. Over the years, he has earned a total of six Emmy nominations, but no Emmys.

On April 2, 2006, Vicevich opened Sound Off Connecticut.

Vicevich also founded Vicevich Interactive, a small business based in Simsbury, Connecticut which specialized in producing multimedia content on VHS, CD-ROM, and the internet via Adobe Shockwave and Flash

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

 content. His products have earned him four national Telly awards for excellence in corporate video.

Today, in addition to the responsibilities of his show Sound Off Connecticut, Vicevich in the past,worked full-time as a financial advisor for The Advest Group, a consulting firm based in Hartford, Connecticut where he helps run their "Financial Education Solutions" program.

Personal

Vicevich has a sister whom he calls the "Sound off Sister" who is a contributor to the show and is a former US district attorney. He is divorced and has a daughter and a son whom he has mentioned on the show. Vicevich has said on air that he suffers from Lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus , often abbreviated to SLE or lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage...

.