Big Dennis Rivera
Dennis Rivera is an American radio personality. He hosts the “Mid- Day Show” live on WQHT Hot 97, weekdays from 10 am to 3pm.
| Big Dennis Rivera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Dennis Rivera February 3, 1971 Spanish Harlem, NY |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Occupation | On Air Personality on WQHT 10am - 3pm, Monday- Friday |
| Known for | Big Dennis Rivera Mid Day Show |
Early life
Dennis Rivera was born February 3 in Spanish Harlem, New York of Puerto Rican descent. At the age of 5 his family moved to the Bronx where he was raised. He maintained music activity throughout junior high school where he participated in the marching band. During high school Dennis was the drummer for the school’s jazz band, in addition to song writing and music producing. After going to a Spanish expo, he met KTU’s DJ Paco, one of his favorite childhood DJ’s. It was then he found the inspiration to get into radio. After studying communications he pursued his dreams of working in the broadcasting industry.[1]
Early career
In 1991 Dennis started working at WQHT Hot97 (http://www.hot97.com) for the promotions department. Shortly after he reunited with DJ Paco and began producing “The Classic Showcase Live Remotes”. He went on to producing more radio shows such as “The Mic Check Show” with the Furious Five, Flava Flav’s “Home Jams”, and “Future Flavors” with KRS-One amongst others.[2] Dennis teamed up with fellow Bronx Native, Funkmaster Flex as a part-time producer for his show airing Saturdays.[3] He later became a full-time producer for the show, Mondays through Saturdays where they dominated the New York market with #1 ratings. It was around that same time he was offered a part-time slot on the weekends for his own show. He started Fridays 4am-8am which he named “The After Hours Show” and later moved to Saturdays. He then began doing fill-ins for other show hosts. Shortly after that he received his most current time slot and began hosting the Mid-Day show.[4]
Present Day
Dennis being of a competitive nature took the mid-day slot to #1 ratings and has maintained top ratings in the New York market. His success has earned himself a reputation from people such as Busta Rhymes who nicknamed him “Super producer Big Dennis”, Shaquille O’Neal naming him “The point guard of Radio” and Mariah Carey titled him as “The Bus Driver”. He was officially named Mid-day host in 2007 and the 1st mid-day Jock for Hot97 to rate #1 in the New York market.