EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW:
THE “KyXy MORNING SHOW”
WITH SONNY AND SUSAN, JOHN AND
KEVIN!
KyXy 96.5, SAN
DIEGO, CA!
You may have noticed the ratings
success of KYXY in San Diego, and particularly their morning
show, in a very competitive radio market. Many people are aware of Jeff and
Jer, and Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw, which are two morning talk shows
with big numbers. Close behind them, though, is a music show on KYXY
featuring Sonny West, Susan DeVincent, Kevin Dean, and John
Q. Lawrence. These days, it takes considerable skill to attract an
adult audience by delivering impactful content while still playing enough music
to drive a "music-radio" image. We reached out to producer Kevin
Dean, and we got answers.. from all the guys on the KYXY morning
show! They all answered the questions separately.. so let's see whether their
answers match! GB
GARY BRYAN: Give us the players and their
roles on the KYXY morning show.
(SONNY)
Sonny West Co-host
Susan DeVincent Co-Host
Kevin Dean
Co-Host/Producer/Traffic Reporter
John Q. Lawrence News
(KEVIN)
Kevin Dean and Friends
(JOHN Q)
Kevin Dean, John Q. Lawrence and
those other guys
GARY BRYAN: What is
your personal background? We know that San Diego is a great place
to live.. are you a homeboy?
(SONNY)
I grew up in the San Gabriel
Valley--Monterey Park...graduated Cal State Los Angeles; grad school at San
Diego State; worked for a music syndicator (Peter's Productions); KPBS (Public
Radio in San Diego); PD at WBYG, Kankakee, IL (now WRZA); PD KVON and KVYN,
Napa, CA; KLOK, San Jose; KWIZ, Santa Ana; KITT, San Diego (now KIOZ 105.3);
KCBQ AM-FM for 12 years with a stint as PD from 1988 to 1991; Mighty 6-90,
Baja; B-100, San Diego; KyXy
96.5 (15 years and counting.)
(JOHN Q)
John Q grew up in the San
Francisco Bay Area and moved to San Diego for the first time (you know how
radio can be) in 1970. He was Program
Director of KBKB (now KGB FM) from '70-'72 when the format changed and John
moved back to San Francisco to work at K-101 FM. After a year he was back as Program Director of KDEO Radio (then
oldies). JQ has also worked at KPSA
(yes, owned by the now defunct airline) in San Diego, K-Best (oldies), KCBQ
through roughly five ownership and a couple of format changes (but who's
counting). As Operations Director John
helped start Shadow Broadcast Services providing news and traffic services to
several San Diego radio and TV stations and for the past 13 years has been
News/Public Affairs Director at KyXy.
(KEVIN)
I am a San Diego native. Worked
here all my life. My college job delivering keg beer for a local liquor store lead
me to a career in the industry where I delivered most of the beer.. Radio
Stations! Since then I have avoided any heavy lifting with stints at KCBQ, KSON
and for the last 13 years here at KyXy. If the boss ever gets a close look at
the roster I may be back to delivering beer again.
GARY BRYAN: Do you
have certain set benchmarks or features?
(SONNY)
I guess the smarmy answer would be
our benchmark of ranking in the top 5 consistently over the past 15
years....but in actuality, we float our features so they are exposed to a
broader audience. But we do a
"Know the Show" contest where we ask a question about something that
we talked about in the day's show. It
always runs at 8:40...so I guess this is our only benchmark. Then every Thursday we do a radio/tv
simulcast with the NBC affiliate. We've
been doing that for five years and it's paid heavy dividends. We cover topics from Father's Day to
Baseball Opening Day to Turkey Tips at Thanksgiving...and we always try to have
a prop that makes fun of at least one of the anchors. They are great sports and love the interaction. And we are constantly challenged to find
just the right prop that translates to our radio audience. Porn stars work really well...very
audio and visual. Ah, not quite!
(JOHN Q)
Oh heck yeh but if we told you
we'd have to kill you
(KEVIN)
We do a lot of Traffic Reports.
People love them. In between traffic reports we fill with stuff like celebrity
interviews, topical bits, news, and big giveaways. But mostly it's the Traffic
that keeps listeners coming back.
GARY BRYAN: KYXY is
a station that seems to have evolved from a "soft rock" position to a
pretty contemporary mix. It's music intensive, which makes it challenging to
make impact in morning drive. How do you deliver content and still drive the
music image?
(SONNY)
It's never been a stumbling block
for us ... when you listen to a lot of the talk morning shows, there's a lot of
filler that in our minds we'd rather play a song. Hell, we're not THAT interesting of people. Matter of fact, we're only interesting about
20 minutes an hour. We get between 5
and 6
songs in an hour but we have the
latitude of dropping them all if we are on a hot topic. Our PD Charlie Quinn makes us pay him 50
bucks for every song we drop in the morning...and we make him pay us 50 bucks
every time the sales department adds "just one more unit because we are
sold out...really it won't happen again."
So far we are astronomically ahead.
(JOHN)
We're just very very good at what
we do. That or the content just goes in
one ear and out the other so listeners think all we're doing is playing great
music.
(KEVIN)
I know the music drives the show
and the station, we all know it. As for the content, comedy without dick jokes
is hard to do. But we do it and we do it well. Our listeners appreciate the
fact that they can listen to our show and be entertained without worrying that
the kids in the car with them will hear something they shouldn't or be bored.
Bottom line is our show is safe, entertaining, funny AND plays great music.
GARY BRYAN: Are
there any bits or stunts that have worked for you.. and do your
"stunts" tend to be more community service-type events?
(SONNY)
We don't stunt. It just doesn't work for us. We're not that kind of station. But we are very active in the community.
(JOHN Q)
We put Kevin in a clothes dryer
once.
(KEVIN)
One time they put me in a dryer.
But I'm OK now... What was the question again????
GARY BRYAN: What is
your prep routine?
(SONNY)
Living life...keeping the antennae
up and always trying to have relations with 40 year old women (our target
demo)....I mean trying to relate to 40 year old women. Scouring the local newspaper and Radio
Genius. I could actually live in a cave
and never come outside as long as I have my
Genius...hell, one day you may get
word that authorities will have to remove me from my home with a 100 ton crane
because all I did was eat Ho-Hos, use Radio Genius and dream about Ryan
Seacrest. Ok you caught me, drop the Ho
Hos and you're right on target.
(JOHN Q)
Whatever Sonny says - we do.
(KEVIN)
I have three daughters a wife and
a female cat. They keep me in touch with my feminine side. Living here at the
estrogen ranch is prep 24/7. Of course I spend a lot of time on the PC too. The
usual sites AND Radio Genius. No BS Genius is a great service created by an
actual radio guy. imagine that.
GARY BRYAN: Last
question: It's very difficult for music shows to compete with talk shows.. but
what will it take to bring you up one more notch and actually put you OVER Jeff
and Jer? You're very close!
(SONNY)
A faulty brake line on their cars
may help. It's difficult to overtake a
franchise like Jeff n' Jer who have either been #1 or #2 for the last 15+
years. But truly, who wants the kind of
financial headache they experience on the 1st and 15th of every month...I mean,
come on...sooner or later your back is gonna' go out wheelin' that barrow full
o' money to the bank. San Diego is
awfully competitive with JnJ, Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw on KGB, the Mikey Show
on KIOZ, two solid Country morning shows, a top performing light jazzer, plus
the usual compliment of Top 40's, Hip Hop and alternatives. The morning
landscape is amazing here...but then so are 75 degree days 350 days a
year. The other 14 hit the 80's.
(JOHN Q)
We're thinking a new state of the
art control room would help or perhaps Jeff & Jer style salaries. Failing that we'd settle for some
promotional bucks.
(KEVIN)
I have a plan. When Jeff goes out on the ice before his show to warm up I am going to run out and hit him in the knee with a piece of pipe. wait that didn't work so well did it. Actually I have listened to Jeff and Jer just about my whole life here in SD. You gotta give them props for developing a great show that has always been in the top 3. I really don't sit and plan on how to beat them, or any of the other shows here in town, Dave Shelly Chainsaw, Mikee, Cliff & Co. they are all great shows that could stand their own in any market. Sure that makes it tough for us but great for the listeners here in town. I think everyone should have a show like J&J in the market to set the pay bar HIGH! For me it's all about doing your best every day and if you're good the success will follow. But I am having an elevator put in my house like Jerry has, weird because I have a one story house.
RADIO
GENIUS INTERVIEW:
SHANE SMYTH
"Q BREAKFAST WITH MARTY AND SUE"
Q102, DUBLIN, IRELAND!
One of the cool things about doing an Internet prep site is the
opportunity to get to know broadcasters from around the world. Shane Smyth,
from Q102 in Dublin, dropped by the CBS Radio building in Los Angeles
recently.. and when he was safely back in Ireland, he answered a few questions
for us.
GARY BRYAN-Give us
the lowdown on "Q Breakfast with Marty and Sue". Who are the players?
What roles do they play on the who?
SHANE SMYTH-He's the Dub, she's from
Downunder! He's the man who once wore a dress and has never lived it down...
She's the girl who would probably never wear a dress.. The show is just
"wrong".... It shouldn't
work... They fight, they argue, they disagree... Yet somehow it manages to be
Dublin's Feel Good Breakfast show with Dublin's best traffic provided by your
calls and texts..
Electric Eddie's mad dares out on the street, Dublin's best
dating game Flirty at 8:30, and at 10 to 9, the most entertaining and
inaccurate news feature ever News Daddy !.
GARY BRYAN-What is the music format of Q102?
SHANE SMYTH-Q102 is Rhythmic AC!
GARY BRYAN-How would you characterize your
audience? Are you heard throughout the country? Is Dublin a young market?
SHANE SMYTH-Our audience is female based over
35s - we have a target listener whose name
is Orla and every time we link or do a promotion we are
encouraged to think about whether Orla would be interested in what we're
saying... Dublin is quite a varied market and is in fact the 3rd biggest radio
market in Europe superceded only by London in position 1 and Berlin in position
2. We have one radio station aimed at a
youth audience called Spin 1038, Newstalk 106 for talk, FM104 is "Dublin's
Hit Music Station" and 98FM target 25+
We also have some "Community Of Interest" stations and a
number of national stations who are all based here in Dublin. Dublin's Q102 broadcasts to Dublin City
& County (tho you can hear it most of the way across the country!) and also
on the internet on www.q102.ie
GARY BRYAN-Which benchmarks work for you?
SHANE SMYTH-We have a number of benchmarks particularly
in Q Breakfast - the two biggest
ones are "Flirty @ 8.30" and
"Newsdaddy". Flirty @ 8.30
brings the shy people of Dublin together who don't want to make the first move
when it comes to dating so Marty & Sue do the work for them but then offer
the "askee" €102 to turn down their suitors with hilarious
results!! Newsdaddy
aims to crown one of the breakfast team as
"Newsdaddy" for the day, or the person who knows most about what's
going on in the world!! 5 questions are
asked to the team and it's presided over by our morning news anchor "Judge
Trudy"! Great smart and witty
answers ensure that the feature is a hit with both the audience and the
breakfast team! We do High School Hits
for an
hour everyday at 9am playing an hour of songs from a particlar
year to bring back memories from the best days of your life and then Dublin's
only Midday Disco Workout from, well...midday!!
GARY BRYAN-Have you pulled any stunts that
have made big impact?
SHANE SMYTH-When the station was first
launched on March 4th 2004 we flipped from Lite
FM to Dublin's Q102... All day long Big Brother contestant
Ray Shah barricaded himself into the on air studio voicing his disgust at the
lack of music choice in Dublin - he proceeded to play HIS favorite tune of all
time "Mnah Mnah" by the Muppets, over and over for eight hours
straight until he finally came to his senses and launched Dublin's Q102 at
4.15pm on Thursday March 4th 2004. We
clocked over 200 plays for it that day and were very tempted to log it with the
Irish Airplay charts for that week!!
GARY BRYAN-Last question: Who is the biggest
Irish rock star in history.. Van
Morrison or Bono?
SHANE SMYTH-For my money, it's Bono!!
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW: ARIK KORMAN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
BOB RIVERS IN THE MORNING
KZOK, SEATTLE
A few years ago, while hanging out
with B.J. Shea in Seattle, I had a chance to go to dinner with B.J. and his producer,
Arik Korman. Over some Indian food, I had a chance to get to know Arik a
little, and I was impressed with his intelligence and passion for the business.
When I heard that he had made the
jump to Exec Producer of the Bob Rivers show on KZOK, I was impressed again. Bob is obviously one of the
most successful guys in the biz, with his world-class parody albums and his
long-running Seattle show, now expanded into Portland on KVMX. What I didn't
know is that Arik's connection with Bob goes back further than I realized.
Read on...
GARY BRYAN - When we
met, you were B.J. Shea's producer at the Buzz in Seattle. How did you hook up with Bob Rivers?
ARIK KORMAN - In
addition to acting as BJ Shea's producer, I was Executive Producer of KIRO and
KQBZ. That position led to APD of
KQBZ. While EP of KIRO/KQBZ, I was
charged with looking for possible weekend hosts for KIRO that would bring
younger demos. Bob Rivers did mornings
on sister station KISW and seemed like a natural fit. I called him out of the blue to see whether he'd be interested in
a weekend/fill-in gig at KIRO and he took the bait. I then taught him everything I knew about how to do talk
radio. Bob soon dropped the remaining
music on his KISW show and became #1 Persons 25-54 in morning drive.
GARY BRYAN - How did
you integrate yourself into a long-running show with such a tight-knit team?
ARIK KORMAN - It's
like learning a dance. You look for the
holes and fill them. We needed
additional strength in show direction (i.e. a PD for the show) as well as audio
production, and the show didn't have a character who filled the role of walking
encyclopedia/world traveler. The
transition took about a year but has worked out beautifully.
GARY BRYAN - What do
Bob, Spike, Joe and the crew do differently from other shows you've worked on?
ARIK
KORMAN - Their relationship is the healthiest I've ever seen among
ensemble shows. They genuinely like
each other and everyone puts success of the show above any personal
agenda. Each show member could be a
star in his or her own right - they're amazingly funny and intelligent. When you look at the entire cast, it's like
working with the New York Yankees of morning radio.
GARY BRYAN - What is
your prep routine?
ARIK KORMAN - Most of
my work is done the day (or weeks) before.
I edit and produce all audio highlight clips used on the program, serve
as editor-in-chief of bobrivers.com, oversee all technical issues and
sales/promotional opportunities and stay up on news analysis/scientific
breakthroughs for my on-air persona (I listen to NPR almost exclusively and
read The Economist). I could work 24
hours a day, 7 days a week and still not get everything done - very much like a
PD gig, actually.
GARY BRYAN - Give us
a topic or bit that has really worked for you.
ARIK KORMAN - My wife
and I are beginning the process of adopting a child. This experience has been an ongoing plotline in the Show and has
received plenty of feedback from listeners.
Discussing our personal lives has been a key component of The Bob Rivers
Show.
GARY BRYAN - Now
that the show has started to reach into different markets, are you doing
anything differently? For example, are you feeling the need to re-set the
characters and chemistry for the new listeners?
ARIK KORMAN - We're calling
each-other by name more often and show clips use cast member names as part of
our production package. Other than
that, our show is exactly the same.
GARY BRYAN - Last
question: will we see you guys in L.A. again?
ARIK KORMAN - We're
focused on winning in Portland. Right
now, that's our top
priority.
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Barry Williams |
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW: MAGIC MATT ALAN!
Matt and I go back a
long way.. in fact, he was seventeen when I hired him at KNBQ in Tacoma,
a little flame-throwin' Top 40 that regularly rattled the big boys in Seattle.
He left KNBQ to become the Production/Imaging Director at KFI in Los
Angeles for then-PD Jhani Kaye. I respected his willingness to accept
this challenge, even though he had never worked a multi-track
machine! After KFI, he wound up at
KRBE in Houston, where Scott Shannon discovered him. Scott heard
the same thing that I had heard when Matt was 17.. he's a great natural talent,
and sounded very seasoned at a very young age.
Matt did afternoons at Z100 in
New York for several years. His contract was up at just about the time I came
in to program WPLJ, and we tried to get him across the street, but he
wound up heading west to KIIS, where he did two stints in afternoon
drive.
After leaving KIIS, Matt
did something that I thought was terrific: he took his passion for Cigars,
great drinks and red meat and created a radio show! At one point, his two-hour
Outlaw Radio was on in 14 markets, including L.A., New York, and Miami. These
days, Outlaw Radio is still going strong, heard on cable systems, the Internet,
and weekends on KLSX in Los Angeles.
Matt also hosts a daily show on
the Sirius Satellite Network 70's Channel. His contract is just shy of Howard
Stern's $100 million a year! As you'll see from the photos, Matt gets a lot
of famous people into his backyard studio. He's a guy who loves his
independence, and he's been able to survive and thrive.. with very little
compromise.
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The Great
Richard Kind |
GARY BRYAN - You had
a meteoric radio career at a very young age. Take us through your beginnings.
(And leave out the part where I took you to a bar and got you drunk when you
were seventeen!)
MATT ALAN -
Although performing as a professional ( that means I got paid) Magician since
the age of 9. I began radio at the tender age of 12 as a talk show host on
Sunday nights at KRKO Everett Wa. I sounded much older than my age. I had the tenor of a 13 year old.
GARY BRYAN - You worked
at what are arguably the two greatest CHRs of the last 20 years, Z100 and KIIS.
How did those experiences differ?
MATT ALAN - The
electricity at Z100 pulsated through the hallways. Both times at KIIS FM, I
felt that I was responsible for turning on the juice!
GARY BRYAN - What is
"Outlaw Radio"?
MATT ALAN - A
"Drunk Celebrity" driven show all about the good life. We Drink, We
Smoke, We Interrupt!
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Lou Diamond Phillips |
GARY BRYAN - And how
do you get these incredible guests in your backyard "studio and bar"?
MATT ALAN - Two
words, FREE BOOZE!
GARY BRYAN - You're
now on Sirius Satellite Radio's 70s channel. How did you hook up with them?
MATT ALAN - SIRIUS
contacted me after Howard turned them down the first time.
GARY BRYAN - Where
do you do the show?
MATT ALAN - From my
1876 Virginia City Nevada style Saloon in the backyard of my Hills of Encino
Manse.
GARY BRYAN - Have
you heard XM? How would you compare the two services?
MATT ALAN - Never
heard of 'em!
GARY BRYAN - Last
question: Who is the best PD you ever worked for? (Think carefully!)
MATT ALAN-There are
no bad PD's, Only Bad DJ's.
CATCH OUTLAW RADIO AND SEE MORE OF
MATT AT www.mrcigar.com, and hear Matt on
Sirius Satellite's 70s channel.
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Billy Gibbons – ZZ Top |
Shelley Berman |
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Barry Williams / Ryan Stiles |
Dom Deluise |
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW! SEAN LYNCH
PD/MORNINGS
AT 102.7 "DA BOMB"
HONOLULU!
Sean Lynch's career
has been very interesting.. after years of jocking and programming in Seattle,
Portland and Sacramento, he crossed over into a very successful
record career, with stints with Interscope and Jeff McClusky and Associates.
Recently, with the record biz trailing down, he crossed back into radio with a
gig in paradise: PD/Mornings at KDDB, Honolulu! How did he do it?
Read on:
GARY
BRYAN - So.. the music biz goes
sideways and you wind up back in
radio... in Hawaii! How did that
happen?
SEAN LYNCH - I had
been consulting KDDB for the past few years, and helped them launch
KQMQ back in July. When PD Leo Baldwin was wooed away to WRDW
in Philly, I was in the process of helping them find some candidates for the
position. The owners of the company
knew that I had a programming background, and had been on the radio here in
Honolulu back in the day, so they asked me if I would consider assuming the
role of PD for both stations, and help out with the morning show on KDDB. Since it was always a dream of mine to
someday be back in Hawaii, and to be back in radio, I didn't have to think long
about accepting the position. Within a
few weeks, the deal was done and I was back in Paradise!
GARY BRYAN - You've
worked in Honolulu before. What's
different this time around?
SEAN LYNCH -
Honolulu is like a big small town, and that hasn't changed since I was here
last. The population has grown
exponentially, real estate prices are the most expensive in the USA, having
just ramped up 30-40% over the past year and a half. Radio is super competitive.
There are three Rhythm/Crossovers, only one CHR, but plenty of highly
rated Hawaiian music stations, as well as a number of strong Hot AC's,
etc. The caliber of the local talent is
great...I am so impressed. There are a
few folks at the competition that I
would love to get out of town, so if you are looking for a new air
personality, give me a call!
GARY BRYAN - Give us
the stations in the cluster.. and how are they positioned to compliment each
other?
SEAN LYNCH - KDDB is
Rhythm Crossover, KQMQ is CHR, KPOI is Classic Rock, KUMU-FM is Hot AC, and
KUMU-AM is news/talk. Great news is,
they totally complement each other.
Even though KDDB and KQMQ do compete, they also have their own unique
audiences. I take the approach that
Cadillac does in Boston with WXKS and WJMN.
Both stations are winning, and while they share some music, they both have their own identities.
GARY BRYAN - You're
doing mornings, replacing Kid Leo.. who
else is with you on the show?
SEAN LYNCH -
Currently working Lisa D, who is a legend in this market, having been on the
radio for many years. When I first met
her, I asked about her early influences, and discovered that her very first job
in radio was at KORL, the station that I had worked at back in the day, for my
old PD and mentor Lan Roberts. This
really is a small business!
GARY BRYAN - Do you
have any specific bechmarks?
SEAN LYNCH - Since
the show is still very new, I don't really have specific benchmarks per
se. However, we do the obvious, such as
pop culture and celebrity oriented stuff, (thanks to radiogeniusshowprep.com
for making that so much easier!), we have the Dream Doctor in on Fridays
analyzing listeners dreams, which is a huge phone favorite. And you gotta love a station that does
regular surf reports!
GARY BRYAN -
Mornings and Pd.. very challenging! How are you coping with the workload?
SEAN LYNCH - I am so
excited to be back in radio, and to be able to do it in a place I love, that
even when I put in a 12 hour day, I am not mad! I do have a lot on my plate, but I am blessed to have a great
team of passionate, talented people that make such a difference. I have been at stations where you don't have
that with your staff, and believe me, it makes all the difference!
GARY BRYAN - One
last question.. anyone remember you from the first time around?
SEAN LYNCH - Amazingly
enough, there is a guy here on staff who worked across the street
from me when I was here last. When I heard that, I was shocked. Then, our engineering consultant comes to
the station, and I introduce myself to him, and he says, "Oh, I know who
you are. I was your engineer back
at KORL. I still have transmitter logs that you need to sign from back then!"
Once again...small business! So
far I haven't heard from any former
groupies, but that's probably for the best!
Sean Lynch
KDDB/KQMQ
765
Amana St. #206
Honolulu,
HI 96814
808-947-1500
BRIAN
THOMAS, PD OF
"JACK
FM" IN NEW YORK!
COULD
YOU BE HIS NEXT (FIRST) MORNING SHOW?
Brian Thomas has just signed
up for the biggest challenge of his career: re-starting the start-up JACK
format in New York. The audience blowback after CBS blew up the beloved WCBS
FM has been well-documented. Now the question is.. can it be turned around?
Brian is an experienced programmer, with stations in Baltimore, New
Orleans, San Francisco and Seattle under his belt. We've
known each other for over ten years, and worked together at KFRC in San
Francisco. He appreciates talent, and has given me support and
encouragement at several critical points in my career. So.. will there be a
morning show and other personalities on the New York JACK? I tried for
answers:
GARY BRYAN - JACK FM
in L.A. has a big writing and production team. Do you have a similar staff
there? Do they have on-air experience?
BRIAN THOMAS - We're
lucky to have the services of Bruce Goldberg in house who writes a lot of
Jack's material for WCBS-FM, who as you may know helped write and produce AT 40
with Casey for years. We also have the advantage of CBS owning 12 Jack's so we
can share the best ideas among these stations. The entire programming staff
comes up with liners for Jack. Team effort.
GARY BRYAN - As a
PD, do you find it more, or less challenging to create your sound without an
airstaff?
BRIAN THOMAS - It's
very challenging. We are making Jack more local and more topical. I believe
there are a lot more ways for his voice to cut through the clutter and make him
more interactive.
GARY BRYAN - The
questions about staff and morning shows started immediately when these stations
went on the air. Obviously, there have been discussions about what kind of
shows / personalities would be appropriate. Can you give us your thoughts?
BRIAN THOMAS - All
Jack stations will need to add a second set of value attractions for the
future. You'll see some talent end up on some of the Jacks.
GARY BRYAN - Last
question: Any idea what's in those hot dogs the sell off the carts in New York?
BRIAN THOMAS - Don't
do it! I stick with Gray's Papaya or Nathans and of course if you
need a late night snack go with Ray's Pizza!
IF YOU WANT TO REACH OUT TO BRIAN
WITH A PACKAGE, SEND IT TO:
101.1 JACK FM
1515 BROADWAY
40TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10036
ATHENA GETS A NEW GIG! MORNINGS:
KHGE, BIG
COUNTRY 102.7 IN FRESNO!
GARY BRYAN - Is this your first time as the
lead host of a morning show?
ATHENA - yes and no. The Athena and Jeff show in New Orleans was more of a
partnership but MY PD John Roberts wanted me to be the lead so Jeff would get
us in and out of the breaks. He would start
out the breaks and throw it to me. The
Athena show in Santa Rosa was the first time I had a show all to myself, but I
had guests, traffic, news and all that to introduce and take off, so it was
great practice and a great way to prove to myself that I can do it!!!
GARY BRYAN - How do you think the country
audience will react to a hot blonde host?
ATHENA – Well, wait until to see my
co-host! She is hotter!!! Country music and country will never be the
same! It's 2 blondes in the morning!!!! Kris Daniels is my c-host and her father is
the infamous Larry Daniels (PD/country consultant). So I think men will go crazy and want to call in and I try to be
everyone's best friend with women, so I hope they feel that we are their
friends and embrace us-I've heard that
country listeners are like that!!!!
GARY BRYAN - Are you going to do the worm or
will you switch to the boot scootin' boogie?
ATHENA - I don’t know. I
am sure I will learn all that stuff...isn’t that the electric slide? Kind of???
In the middle of my interview, Chuck Geiger said hey! I heard that you can do
the worm and I did it for that the GM!!
It was so funny! Chuck said it
was the weirdest interview that he’s ever done! But he said I was a freak, he loves me and I got the job offer
the next day!! The worm paid off!!!!
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW: RUSTY
HUMPHRIES!
Rusty Humphries is a very funny guy! We first got
to know each other when he was the "danger boy" at Z100
in Portland, Oregon. I think his air name was "Booger"! Later,
he wound up at WPLJ in New York, followed by a stint running the TM
Century comedy service. I lost track of him for awhile, and then, a
few years ago, I noticed a story about "Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host,
Rusty Humphries"! Since then, his empire has grown to over 250 radio
stations. So what does it take to go from sidekick to one of the
most-listened-to personalities in America? Read on...
Gary Bryan -How and when did you decide to
make the transition from music to Talk radio?
Rusty Humphries -I have always loved talk. When I was a kid and everyone was listening
to Hard Rock, I was listening to talk.
I used to stay up late at night listening to Larry King, and about twice
a year I'd work up the courage to call, "Seattle, Hello!"
As for the transition to talk on air ... I had been working
with Mancow to help him start up his syndication business. One of the affiliates Frank and Connie
Kovas, owners of WGL in Ft. Wayne, Indiana approached me with the
opportunity to replace Rush on their station, I jumped at the chance.
Gary Bryan -What was the biggest challenge
in making that change?
Rusty
Humphries -It's difficult, at first, to talk without music. It's difficult, when you're having a bad
day, not to just play "10 in a row."
I hear many new talk show hosts who don't have a firm background in what
they are talking about. They think if
Rush or Sean or Rusty say it, it must be
right. What they don't
understand is they aren't very convincing because they don't have a firm
grasp of the entirety of the issues.
To me, "homework" isn't just about being on the
internet and looking for stories. It's
about reading and understanding the classics, Machiavelli, Plato, Ayn Rand,
Franklin, as well as history, economics, philosophy, military strategy, religion. It takes more than a good gift of gab to
have an excellent show these days.
Gary Bryan -A lot of people would love to be
syndicated, but very few get it done, and fewer still can get to the level
you've achieved. What's the secret?
Rusty Humphries -Syndication is much more
difficult and complex than most personalities think and when they get into it
many quickly return to the local level.
Hate having a PD breathing down your back? I have 260 PD's. Most of
them are great but you always have a few that want to change this or that. For me, a big frustration is that I get a
weekly rundown of station additions and deletions. I see 25 new stations this week and one that drops ... for me
it's hard not to focus on the one.
As for what the secret is ... patience. It takes time for stations to get to know
you. Very few are willing to take the
chance on a new show. You must have the
ratings and revenue to back your ambitions.
Try to get with a good company that won't just promise to get you into
syndication, run one or two ad's and then forget about you, (I see that far
too often.) I call my stations on a regular basis to see how I can help them.
I love doing liners, promotions, sales calls... anything I can do to help there station succeed with my
show. I want my show to be like
McDonalds and the station is a franchise.
By taking my show, and using the expertise our company gives you in
syndication, you'll always
have a successful product.
Gary Bryan -Reaching a large audience has given
you access to some very powerful people. Who were some of your more exciting
guests?
Rusty
Humphries -I just had the Colonel in charge of the prison at
Guantanamo Bay. He's a good friend of
mine and a great guest. He's the kind
of guy you hope we have running things
down there, really gave it to Jimmy Carter and the UN! Three months ago, I went to Israel and
interviewed the leaders of the
"Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade" these are the military wing of the
Fatah Party, (Yasser Arafats' personal terrorist unit) and they are the one who
strap bombs on little kids. I did the
interview in their leaders house and at one point they threatened to cut of my
head. I don't do a lot of guests but I
tend to get the "A" list when I do interviews.
Gary Bryan -You've been overseas with the
troops. How is their morale?
Rusty Humphries -They are GREAT! What concerns them most is not the enemy or
being attacked or even the horribly slanted reporting we get back here. They're concerned with what their wife is going
to do when the dishwasher goes out, they want to be around to fix things for
their wife if need be. Does it make
them want to leave, or think the President should take them out of Iraq?
Absolutely not! They see what is
happening for the people everyday. When
I was there, we were mobbed by Iraqis who wanted to thank us for giving them their freedom. Remember,
the terrorists in Iraq aren't regular
Iraqi people, it's Iraqis who did well under Saddam, and terrorists who are being paid by Iran and Syria to try to
star a civil war. Our troops see that
and it frustrates them that you don't get that story here at home.
Gary Bryan -Last question: We hear a lot
about the bright future of Talk Radio. Will there really be a lot of
opportunity in this format?
Rusty
Humphries -Yes, radio is changing right in front of out eyes. For 25 years we have been forced by poor
management to take personality out of radio.
50 in a row, liner cards, automation, voice tracking, bad jocks,
hammering home the message "We play 25 songs in a row, without all of that
DJ chatter", we have trained the audience to hate talk and commercials on
their favorite music station.
Now, that strategy is backfiring. With the advent of music streaming, ipods, video games etc...
there is no need nor much interest for music on the radio. When you can go to XM or Sirius and get
60's, 70's, 80's, 90's plus 100 other formats with no commercials, or even
better, an ipod with 1000 of your FAVORITE songs and no commercials, why would
you turn to the radio?
Ahhhhh the one thing they can't get from many of those other
sources is PERSONALITY. Today's
generation has very little patience for commercials however they will stick
around for their favorite personality and very soon we are going to see a BIG
change in the industry. AM's will move
to more religious and foreign language programming. On the FM dial, you will see a surge in talk radio ...
Conservative, liberal, relationships, money, news you can use, naughty talk,
entertainment talk, sports etc... all will be different formats on your
radio. Today's talkers have many of
these aspects on one station, and as you have seen in the past 5 years, they
have become formats unto themselves.
You can become very successful in this new generation of
radio. Focus on the product, not on the
ego. What can you do to make things
more relevant to you audience? Practice
talking without a music bed. How can
you increase ratings and revenue for your station? Maybe it's time to go to the Sales Manager, patch things up
between you two and figure out how you can make some money for your
company. It's an exciting time to be in
the business, focus on your strengths and those of radio. It's YOU they want to
hear, don't give them any reason to go somewhere else.
SEE RUSTY'S WEBSITE: www.talk2rusty.com
Radio Genius Exclusive
Interview
With
“JOHNSON AND JOHNSON”
K-Bull 93, Salt Lake
City, UT
MEET THE JOHNSON’S!
We ran into Tommy Johnson (Or was it Joe?) at Morning
Show Boot Camp in New Orleans last August. First, you should check
their website at www.kbull93.com.. It’s one of the best we’ve seen. One
thing’s for sure.. this is a big station in Salt Lake City! So they must
be doing a lot of things right.. and one of the most important things, along
with the music, is the morning show. JOHNSON AND JOHNSON.. it’s a catchy
name, but who are these guys?
MARITAL STATUS
Tommy: Has two kids and a wife at home. He calls her 2 to
3 times a week so they can fight for everyone LIVE on the radio. (Ha Ha Ha!) Editor’s note: nervous laughter is Tommy’s!
Joe: Spends his leisure time doctoring his photos to look younger on Yahoo personals and myspace.com.
ANY KIDS?
Tommy: Two girls in grade school.
PETS
Neither has any! Last week, Joe had a girl bring her cat
with her on their date.. and we’re not talking about the one in her pants!
(true)
FAVORITE MOVIES
Tommy: “Bull Durham”-the first and last good movie that
Kevin Costner ever made.
Joe: “Dumb and Dumber”-Jim Carrey
FAVORITE TV SHOW
Tommy: “The Proud Family”-The Disney Channel
Joe: “The Bachelor”-ABC
WHAT DO YOU DRIVE?
Both: Everyone crazy!
COOLEST RADIO GUEST EVER
Picabo Street, who is a listener of ours who lives here in
Utah. Since she’s in Torino, she calls us with Olympic updates. So far, she says
gas costs $7.87 a gallon! And we thought the Olympic medals look like DVD’s
with ribbons through them and look like they need to be returned to
Blockbuster! Picabo said they are actually heavy and thick!
And now.. the interview!
Gary Bryan-How long
has the Johnson and Johnson morning show been together?
Tommy Johnson-12 years. Started in Pittsburgh,
then to Charlotte, NC and have spent the last 8 years here in Salt Lake City.
Gary Bryan-Have you spent your entire career
in the Country format, or have you worked other formats as well?
Tommy Johnson-Back before we had be guts and
had our own hair, we worked in CHR.
Gary Bryan-What are the essential values of
a highly-rated Country morning show?
Tommy Johnson-Be real, be local, be topical. We
have an opinion on everything. And remember the essence of being on a
female-driven format.. we can’t offend women.. so NO DICK JOKES! (Editor-My emphasis)
Gary Bryan-Your “Shotgun Wedding” for
Valentine’s Day looked hysterical! Any reaction from the anti-gun crowd? And
could Dick Cheney have been the best man?
Tommy Johnson-LOL! No reaction. Believe it or
not, Utah is the last of the “wild, wild west”. Our state still uses the FIRING
SQUAD for capital punishment, for God’s sake! (true)
Gary Bryan-What are your everyday, benchmark
bits?
Tommy Johnson-(BLANK) Price is Right, i.e…
Olympic Opening Ceremony Price is Right. Or- “The Current Events Spelling Bee”.
Or how about: “Stump The Johnsons”?
Gary Bryan-One last question: Has Johnson
and Johnson ever sent you a C&D for copyright infringement?
Tommy Johnson-No. Not yet. After 12 years, good
luck! If they ever DO make a run for us; we’ll change it to: JohnSEN &
JohnSEN! LOL!
RADIO GENIUS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH CHIO!
WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN’ ON!!!!!!????
I first met Chio when he arrived at Z100 in
New York as our new night jock! Z100 was legendary for eating talent the
way some people eat breath mints.. but Chio had the goods! After trips
to Philly, Phoenix and San Diego, he wound up at Q102
in Philly doing afternoons. When they offered him mornings, I was one of
the people he called for advice. What did I tell him? “JUST DO IT!”
Late last year, a lot of people in the biz were scratching
their heads when Chio announced that he was going to Z90 in San
Diego, then left after a day and returned to Philly! This week, we
got the good news.. Chio will return to morning drive in Philly
on WRDW, WIRED 96.5, working with new PD Kid Leo! Besides
being concerned about a good guy and a great talent, we wondered: What the hell
happened?
Gary Bryan-What happened in San Diego?
Chio-The San Diego thang was a little crazy but here
it goes.. It was a time for a change, so I accepted the gig in San Diego..
It would have been a great situation working with FINEST CITY and XHTZ Z90.3..
I have a close relationship with PD RICK THOMAS and we were both on the
same page about what needed to be done. After 1 day on the job I had to make a
decision: my career or my marriage and family! What people did not know is that
I was having problems with my marriage, which by the way, had nothing to do
with the move. To save my marriage I came back to Philly jobless..
family comes first!! My decision has paid off… my wife and I are stronger than
ever. She’s an amazing woman.. things are going well!!
Gary Bryan-How did you hook up with Kid
Leo at WRDW?
Chio-It was through legendary programmer Bill Tanner
that I got a chance to hook up with WRDW. He is close to Rick Thomas
and he’s a consultant at WIRED 96.5. He was very familiar with my work,
and as they say.. the rest is history!
Gary Bryan-Are you bringing your peeps with
you? Or is it a whole new show?
Chio- It’s a whole new show.
Gary Bryan-Have you ever crossed the street
before? How does it feel? Is it extra motivation?
Chio-I have never crossed the street before.. it feels
amazing!! I have a lot to prove, and you better believe it gives me extra
motivation! I think it’s the ULTIMATE to go up against your old
station.. I look forward to the challenge!
THE
WEBSITE: www.thechioshow.com
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW WITH "MCFLY"
PRODUCER/SIDEKICK ON
"THE DOC SHOW"
FROGGY 101
SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA!
You constantly hear radio execs bemoaning the fact that
we've destroyed the "farm system". Usually they say something like
"Where is the young talent coming from?" Well, heads up! We've
discovered an energetic, dedicated young talent working at a legendary country
station in Pennsylvania. His air name is "McFly", since
Frog-related names are pretty common at the "Frog" stations. Watch
this guy.. you'll be hearing his name often in the coming years!
GARY BRYAN - Tell us about the "Doc
Show". Who are the players?
MCFLY - There’s
nothing in Country Radio like THE DOC SHOW.. We are Northeast PAs
Morning Show, and strive to be on the pulse of pop culture* Blah Blah
Blah* We roll like Elvis Duran (if he
only knew how much we’ve Borrowed), Good Morning America, and Ellen.
The three main partners are Doc, Selena, &
ME McFly! Doc Medek is a
market VET and all around Rock Star. Grandpa (as I affectionately
refer to old man Medek) is definitely my radio Yoda and has taught me
almost everything I know.. =o) We
captured Selena like thieves in the night from WMRV in Binghamton. She's
a great mix between Carrie from Sex and the City, Katie Couric, and Kelly
Ripa.. ME, Im the young, fun one.. McFly
is rude, naďve, opinionated, trendy, shallow, sarcastic, an incredible dresser,
flirtatious*.. Stop me ANYTIME* I’m the markets only personality who hits the
streets and constantly shakes things up.
Joe Thomas is our Voice of Reason and Omnipotent News Man. He’s
kinda like Owl from Winnie the Pooh. The Best Laugh In The Business! Rusty Fender, the Traffic Dude, aside from
being on 62 other stations in the market finds time to pop in the studio and
take the EXTREME Asshole stance that even I wont go near.
GARY BRYAN - You're 20 years old. Is this
your first radio job?
MCFLY - I was a radio Virgin until the Frog slipped me a
Roofie! Mike Krinik my mentor and former PD plucked me from the fast paced
world of grocery store customer service. I started running the Sunday Night
Countdown, to weekend overnights, to the All Request Saturday Nite, part-time
swing biotch, afternoons for a book, finally I landed in Mornings with Grandpa
Medek!! A whole lot of bustin’ my ass
for NO cash, missing school dances and football games, and some right place at
the right time!
GARY BRYAN - Froggy 101 is a huge
station. Was this the first "Froggy" country station in
America?
MCFLY - A HISTORY QUESTION* REALLY? I think we were the
second after K-FROG! Thank God we don’t do any of the Hoppin’ Here, Jump
There Crap! The Betty Croaker, Roger Ribbit, and Leap Erikson names are a thing
of the past. Frog-isms No More =o)
GARY BRYAN - What are the benchmarks of the
"Doc Show"?
MCFLY - We don’t really do a ton of Benchmarks, our show is
mostly topical and personality driven. We do however rip off THE BIG O with our
Favorite Things. The twist is we are all in competition to give the listeners
the BEST gifts.. It makes the bit more engaging, and we get to make fun of each
other.. -MUG SHOUTS.. This rocks my
socks. Basically we solicit for mugs from businesses who listen. We give them A
MUG SHOUT once an hour for the morning. They usually send MUCH MORE than a mug*
LIKE BREAKFAST!!!
GARY BRYAN - Tell us about a stunt that
worked for you.
MCFLY - DAY BRIGHTENERS.. I hit the streets and setup shop
at random intersections with 101 items that will Brighten someone’s day. Mc.
Donald’s Sandwiches, Starbucks Coffee, Cookie, etc. I hand them out to everyone
who stops at the light. Its amazing FREE show marketing, because I’m in the
face of people who may not be listening to our show. Food is great bribery to
get new listeners.
GARY BRYAN - Last question: What's more
important.. fame? or money?
MCFLY - Are you offering either? Id have to say fame..
There’s something almost orgasmic about being recognized in public.. =o)
Radio
Genius Exclusive Interview
With
Paul Anderson
Radio
Agent
No matter where we are in
our careers, we'd all like to make more money. Enter the radio agent. But at
what point in your career does hiring an agent become feasible? I decided to
reach out to PAUL ANDERSON, who reps some of the biggest shows in radio,
to get his point of view. I may be prejudiced, (since he's also MY agent) but I
think Paul is the best and brightest in his field. He's also a guy with a
tremendous reputation for integrity, which helps when you're in a tough
negotiation with a big company. He's moved several big shows across the street,
starting with Bob Rivers, who moved from KISW to KZOK in
Seattle with Paul's guidance.
GARY BRYAN-Bob Rivers was your first radio
client. How did you meet, and what made you interested in this business?
PAUL ANDERSON-Well actually, BJ Shea was
my first radio deal. I had been Bob Rivers entertainment lawyer for a
number of years and he recommended me to BJ.
But it's a funny story how I met Bob. I bought Bob's Range Rover and had
never heard of him, nor did I know much about the radio business. It just happened that Bob was looking for a
new entertainment lawyer and we just hit it off. The rest is history. I
initially became interested in radio because of the legal work I was doing for
Bob in television and the recording industry, but quickly became addicted to
Bob's passion for radio and developed my own passion for the business.
GARY BRYAN-In the last few years, you've
become incredibly connected in the radio business. What's your secret?
PAUL ANDERSON-Telephones and airplanes.
GARY BRYAN-When does an air personality reach the point where
they need an agent?
PAUL ANDERSON-That depends. I think the key to
career development starts with a solid personal brand strategy and when it
comes to deal making, most talent should seek some professional advice because
it's too easy to get emotional over what becomes a pure business negotiation.
So whether a talent has an agent, a lawyer or a great friend with a good
broadcast business background, it's important for the talent to seek objective
input.
GARY BRYAN-Being a radio agent, you get a
lot of phone calls from needy, nervous people (except for me!).. what is the
most common trap morning shows fall into with management?
PAUL ANDERSON-The biggest mistake any talent
can make is not taking control and responsibility for his or her own brand
strategy. Talent should not assume that
anyone in the building has a better handle or better ideas about his or her own
show. The best talent in the business
are those who understand that the radio companies provide great distribution
platforms and that the talent provide great content - and that the successful
wedding of these two worlds require agile and focused leadership by people on
both sides of the equation.
GARY BRYAN-How is our friend Danny
Bonaduce doing?
PAUL ANDERSON-Danny is doing great. Stay tuned.....!
PAUL
ANDERSON CONTACT NUMBER:
206-352-3200.
Radio Genius Exclusive
Interview
With
Athena Matsikis
Weekdays
2-7pm
Sonoma County’s MIX 104.1
KMHX
– Santa Rosa
I met Athena Matsikis a couple of years ago. We were
introduced by radio agent Paul Anderson, who asked if I would give
Athena the benefit of my wise counsel (?). After years as a PD and jock, I
enjoy talking to radio people any time, so we spent some quality time on the
phone getting to know each other. To get the full "Athena Effect",
you must meet her in person, which I did at a Morning Show Boot Camp.
She's got energy to burn, and she's worked with some of the coolest people in
the business. She's currently doing afternoons at KMHX in Santa Rosa,
where Bob and Sheri's syndicated show runs in the morning.
Gary Bryan-Take us through your career to
date.
Athena-Wow!! Ok, I always knew that i wanted to do radio-I
lived next door to morning personality and as a kid, I would follow her around
and finally she took me to the station and I fell in love! I was 10, and I knew
that I would go to college for it and be in morning radio, baby!
I went to Emerson College , learned all I could from the FM
station there and finally someone gave me a chance in Phoenix, AZ and that BJ
Shea..he gave me my first morning gig chance and I was also doing overnights,
weekends, music research.anything that I could..I wanted to live and
breathe radio.
From Phoenix, I did mornings forever from working with
Brother Wease in Rochester, NY , then Fresno, Las Vegas, New Orleans and now
here in Santa Rosa. Because of syndicated radio in the mornings, I have been
doing personality radio -in the afternoon.
Gary Bryan-How would you describe your on air
character/personality?
Athena-I am very real-maybe too real..I get myself into
trouble all the time. I am very blunt about my life..I talk about my husband
and what we are going through…. my dad used to be in prison and he would call
in collect everything that I go through is on the air.
I got into some trouble when I was in Las Vegas with my
Greek cousins around x-mas and I met a couple of guys in Vegas and gave out my
CELL to them because they made me feel good (telling me that I was pretty,
sexy, etc. things that my hubby does not tell me) and played the messages on
the air that they left me. Of course I had to call them back and tell them that
I was married and that was a mistake but that’s just an example REAL RAW...etc.
Gary Bryan-You worked in New Orleans just
before the hurricane hit. What was it like to watch from Santa Rosa as the city
went through its crisis? Did you feel as if you wanted to be there?
Athena-New Orleans-yes..I lived in New Orleans for 2 years
and the whole thing scared me to death..I made some great friends there and I
was worried and it made me realize how screwed up the gov. is over there ..and
it was just so sad.
I wanted to volunteer with the red cross..but we jumped on
bandwagon of selling beads...and donating the money to the red cross...and
helping out anyway that we could. It was frustrating because I wanted to go
down there and help so bad..my husband did.
Gary Bryan-Are you finding ways to inject
personality into afternoon drive?
Athena-Yes, I am always finding new ways to inject
personality-but I think my afternoon show is different. It's not just an
air/jock shift. I do like a morning show in the afternoons almost. I bring up
topics and put listeners on the radio constantly , interview guests..and THANK
YOU to my boot camp buddies that I use for war of roses and other phoners
because we cant afford United Stations !!!
Gary Bryan-You're competing with the San
Francisco market. How does the station deal with that issue?
Athena-Competing with the SAN FRAN market is hard because
we don’t show up in their ratings but they show up on ours. Now, ALICE is going
to be online and it makes it harder for us to compete, but you keep on doing
your best radio that you can do and I guess it looks good on your radio resume
that you competed with market#4!!!!
Gary Bryan-What are your career goals? Where
do you see yourself in five years?
Athena-Where do i see myself in 5 years? What are career
goals?? You know, its funny because if you asked me this same question 5 years
ago, I would have said LA, NYC, etc and that's still true, but I have been
moving up and down markets so much in the last 3-4 years, I wish I just
could make a decent salary (enough to own a home..I am sick
of these damn landlords ripping me off!) and be a top 50 market. I wish I could
be there soon and hopefully in 5 years in a top 10 market doing great radio..
being a team or with me in the lead. I always wonder about these radio stations
targeting women and there is no woman on the show, never mind leading the show!
Let me do it..give me a chance and I will KICK ASS!!!!!!!!
whew..
Gary Bryan-Last question: what's this
"worm" thing that you do at conventions?
Athena-Ok-I learned to do this worm thing back in the
breakdancing days..called the worm centipede..snake..whatever and I can still
do it after all these years .. at 35..backwards and forwards..so..some people
think its annoying..but I always end up doing it at clubs and bars in
whatever city that I am in.. (a client even put it in the
contract that I must do it on the bar on corona thurs in Fresno!!!!)..and of
couse at the conventions, like morning show boot camp..I even did it for Rick
Dees and I caught him looking at my booty..teeee heeee
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW:
ZACK JACKSON/"THE MORNIN' THANG",
K92 IN ROANOKE!
I met Zack at Morning Show Boot Camp in New
Orleans last August, and the first thing I thought was "I love the
name of that show!" K92 (WXLK), is a locally-owned station up
against the usual consolidated behemoths. I wanted to find out how they're
holding their own.
GARY BRYAN-Give us a snapshot of your career
path so far.
ZACK JACKSON-After working for an independent
promoter in Boston out of college, I quit and started working for free as a
stunt monkey at the now defunct Star 93.7 (WQSX) in Boston where Danny
Meyers, my roommate at the time and WPLJ alum, was the night
host. The two of us were asked to guest
host the morning show for a week, and out of that were offered the morning
gig at Q102 (WKRQ)
in Cincinnati by Viacom execs in Boston that heard us fill-in. Following that, Danny and I did both
mornings and afternoons at Mix 95.7 (WMWX) in Philadelphia, and then
came to K92 (WXLK) in Roanoke in the summer of 2002 and have been here
ever since.
GARY BRYAN- You work in a pretty competitive
market for a local owner. Does that give you an advantage or put you at a
disadvantage against, say a Clear Channel?
ZACK
JACKSON-Leonard Wheeler (the owner) is the reason Danny and I came
to Roanoke, so I would say it puts us at an advantage in a smaller market like
Roanoke. Working for the Wheeler family
is like the golden days of radio before large corporate ownership ... they
create a fantastic work atmosphere, are community minded, and focus on much
more than the immediate bottom line.
Here's a man that when he consolidated his properties into one building
continued to pay two receptionists because he refused to downsize anybody in
the move.
It's not often in this
business that you want your show to succeed not only for yourself, but for your
boss because of your respect and admiration for the man. Plus, you can walk into his office and ask
for $100 for some stupid stunt or piece of equipment without having to go
through any
annoying paper trail.
With a work atmosphere like that, I'd say we're definitely at an
advantage.
GARY BRYAN- How long have you worked with
your partner?
ZACK JACKSON-Danny and I met at Ithaca College
in 1995 and were roommates before we even became co-hosts. We've now worked in Boston, Cincinnati,
Philadelphia, and Roanoke together since then.
GARY BRYAN-You're recruiting for a sort of
"all or nothing" contest where you put someone's savings on one spin
of a roulette wheel! How is that going.. and are you concerned about a
potential negative?
ZACK JACKSON-It's going well ... we've found a
woman who's ready to take the plunge.
She's been saving up for various home improvements, and is ready to put
that money into the hands of fate.
Naturally, we hope she wins and we don't have to worry about the
negative at all, but I think we'll be fine either way. Even if she loses, she'll certainly have an
amazingly unique experience that she'll remember forever. Plus, we're hoping this will be some
extremely compelling radio as the roulette wheel spins, which is really what we
want to accomplish more than anything.
Hopefully it'll be one of those old school "stare at your
radio" moments that we all strive to have.
GARY BRYAN-Great morning shows focus on
building characters and telling stories. It looks as if you have a natural
talent in those areas. What are the ongoing themes of your show?
ZACK JACKSON-We like to use the motto
"Real Life, Only Messier" for the show. We like to do many of the traditional morning show elements
... celebrity gossip, phone scams, and
ridiculous stunts ... but the main themes of our show are relationships and
character flaws (both ours and the listeners).
We're exposing our lives for four hours every single day on the radio,
and the real way to make our audience care about what we do is to let them see
even the most unflattering things about our characters. They can then relay to us their shared
experiences, and together we can be one big dysfunctional family.
We've always felt that the flawed characters of
"Seinfeld," and how they interact with the world, is our show Bible
so to speak. We also have a lot of
admiration for many shows in this business as well (translation: we like to
borrow some of their ideas) ... Jeff and Jer in San Diego, Mojo in Detroit, Ace and TJ in Charlotte, Rocky and
Sue in Scranton, Kidd Kraddick in Dallas, the Bert Show in Atlanta, and some
guy named Stern who can buy and sell all of our asses.
GARY BRYAN-Final question: Who will win the
Super Bowl?
ZACK JACKSON-As a recovering Masshole and a lifelong Patriots
fan I gotta pull for the Steel Curtain on this one. I don't really like the Steelers at all, but I respect the way
their organization is run, the loyalty of their fan base, and their focus on
player character before player talent level ...
so gimme a Terrible Towel!
Radio Genius’ Exclusive Interview With Mike
Opelka!
In August
of 1990, I took over as the host of the Z100 Morning Zoo in New York
City. Scott Shannon had been gone for almost a year (to Pirate
Radio in Los Angeles), and I had been programming and doing mornings
at WPLJ. I quickly found that replacing Scott, even though I was the
second guy in, (Brian Wilson had been in the slot for about ten months),
was sort of like replacing John Lennon in the Beatles! The Zoo
was a tight-knit group of intensely talented individuals who had been there
from the start: Ross Brittain, Claire Stevens, Mr. Leonard,
Doctor Dave and Jonathan B. Bell. Even our production guys
were pretty impressive: Bruce Maiman and Tim Putre. One relative
newcomer, like myself, was “Coach” Mike Opelka, the executive producer.
I soon learned that Mike was a prolific writer and a very funny guy. Shannon
knew how to pick ‘em! Working with Mike and Ross was like getting a P.H.D. in morning
prep.
Mike is currently the executive producer for “Baltazar
and Goumba Johnny In the Morning” on WKTU in New York. I wanted to
get his perspective on the current state of BTR (Big Time Radio) in the Big
Apple.
Gary
Bryan-You produced the Z100 Morning Zoo for several years,
starting with the Shannon era. Was that your first radio gig, and how did you
land at Z100?
Mike
Opelka- My first radio gig was a college gig on KRTU 92.7 in San
Antonio.. I was hotlined within the first hour for reporting the scores of
my softball team.
While I was VP of programming for a music video network (Hit
Video U.S.A.) I was also looking for an outlet for my twisted sense of humor..
David Kolin used my voice and writing talents for several stations in the early
80s.. KKBQ, Z100, etc.. then referred me to Scott Shannon who happened
to be looking for a producer. We met and he hired me before the weekend was
over! I packed up and drove from Houston to NYC.. that was 4/15/88.
Gary
Bryan- The Zoo had a pretty large staff of writers and producers,
including yourself, Ross Brittain, Mr. Leonard and Jonathan B.
Bell. Do you still have a large staff at WKTU?
Mike
Opelka- The days of large morning show staffs seem to be over.. for
the moment. Z100 was a very special station.. it was chock-a-block with
talent.. like playing on one of those Yankee teams during championship swings.
Good times.. good times. We do utilize
some production services and some prep services, but minimal.
Gary
Bryan- Change is a constant in this business. How are morning shows
different now than in the late 80s and early 90s, and how are they the same?
Mike
Opelka- At the end of the day we’re still beholden to the numbers..
So it’s always going to be about entertaining a target demo.. no? I do think the
talent and the level of competition has increased exponentially. We’re also
working earlier as people seem to have started work earlier. Technology is making the editing and remote
part of radio easier, which puts pressure on us to be better in the content
dept.
Gary Bryan- Does the departure of Howard Stern
from New York create new opportunities for your show? Have you done anything
specifically to capitalize on the new situation?
Mike
Opelka- Howard? I don’t think I know the name? The entitlement gene makes us think we’ll
get 20% of his audience.. but reality dictates a little differently to us. The
plan is to keep doing what our usual listener wants us to do. It’s about
energizing the base!
Gary
Bryan- Do you have specific benchmark bits that work for Baltazar
and Goumba Johnny?
Mike Opelka- We do a Baltbuster
(prank call) every other day… and a War of the Roses (another prank call
with a relationship component) every other day.. There is a weekly dumb crook
feature and a Dumb Celebrity Quote every Monday morning.. Wednesdays we deal
with a listener’s moral dilemma. Friday mornings we go all 80s!
Gary
Bryan- Last question: Goumba Johnny has become a fashion
critic in the tabloids.. how would you characterize his personal wardrobe?
Mike Opelka- Gary, you
know me.. we worked side by side for years.. and you saw my wardrobe. I have
absolutely no business making comments on anyone else’s fashion sense. That
said.. in 1997 Goumba was a typical Goumba.. if it wasn’t black, it was dark
black and in the daytime it was usually athletic. Some time in the early 21st Century he either
inherited a large sum of money or dated a supermodel because his look totally
morphed into this very well-heeled, man-about-town, non-Guido look.. no gold
chains, no pinky rings, just a lot of Prada, and stuff you can purchase at
Barney’s and other stores which will not permit me inside.
Radio Genius’ Exclusive Interview With B.J.
Shea!
I MET BJ SHEA
about five years ago, just after he was suspended from 100.7 the BUZZ
in Seattle for getting a little carried away. Actually, he got a lot carried
away: during an anti-religious rant, he said he'd like to bring a machine gun
into a Southern Baptist Church! I was PD at KJR FM at the time,
so I invited him to lunch.. and informed him that I was a Southern Baptist!
After a few laughs, we became friends, discovered that two
of our kids were in the same class at school, and we socialized a bit.
LONG STORY SHORT, he was re-instated by the BUZZ,
where his midday show was a stand-out. He was recently tapped to move to
mornings at KISW as the show replacing Howard Stern. Besides being
thrilled for the success of a good guy, I wanted to get his thoughts on the new
challenge.
-GB
Gary Bryan- You're part of a select group of
people who have been tapped to replace Stern. How does it feel to be following
in those footsteps?
BJ- I don't really look at it as just being a show
that's following Stern, but instead as a show that gets to do mornings on a
heritage station that has had many great talents do mornings on it's
airwaves. Howard was one of the many
great shows that have graced the morning slot in the 35 years of KISW. We're very excited and humbled to be given
the opportunity to be a part of that history.
Gary Bryan- You've developed a following in Seattle
on the Buzz.. are you bringing all of those bits to the new show, or completely
re-tooling?
BJ- The show
will be pretty much the same, but since we will be operating on a morning show
budget as opposed to a midday budget, we will be adding some more people and
get to do bigger things.
Gary Bryan- Bob Rivers on KZOK is a
friend and mentor of yours. If you completely crush him in morning drive, will
there be any regrets?
BJ- Bob has done very well in Seattle, even when Howard
was here, so I believe there is a distinct possibility that both of our shows
could be very successful at the same time.
Of course, we are the new guys, and the ones who have to prove that we
can win in the morning. If we do indeed
do better than Bob's show... we won't have any regrets, because it's not about
doing better than just one show... it's about doing better than all of
them. That's my goal, and my regrets
will come if I can't get that done.
Gary Bryan- Do you feel the FCC unduly
restricts what you're able to do?
BJ- Yes. I feel
a very small number of people are actually being heard when it comes to
community standards. You know I feel
about organized religion, and the way some of their puppet organizations
boycott and boilerplate gag mail any form of legal entertainment they don't
agree with. And for those of you who don't know I feel about... I think it
sucks.
Gary Bryan- I know you've had your ups and
downs with Entercom, but they obviously believe in you. What are the
keys to your longevity in the market with them?
BJ-
You hit the nail on the head... they believe in me. When I was brought back after my termination... the first thing
the market manager said was the he was happy to have me back so that together
could achieve the great things they believed we could achieve when they hired
me. That meant a lot at the time. I have a tremendous amount of support from
past & present management teams, and they've done it through some difficult
situations. That was one of the main reasons I chose to stay with Entercom.
Gary Bryan- Any thoughts on how Howard will do
on satellite?
BJ- I think he'll be fine, but to me the better
question is how will satellite do with Howard.
I'm not a financial expert, but I have heard many different and conflicting
scenarios about the financial ramifications of the Siruis/Howard relationship.
Gary Bryan- Do you still want to machine-gun
all the Southern Baptists?
(Think carefully!)
BJ- Being a Boston Red Sox fan, I have turned my
attention to Johnny Damon... he's dead to me!
THE RADIO GENIUS INTERVIEW WITH
JONATHAN WATKINS, PRODUCER/CO-HOST
WITH DAN TOOKER IN THE MORNING, KFDI, WICHITA!
When young people walk
through the door of a major market radio station and ask how to break in the
business, the standard answer is “Go to a small market and get good!” It’s a
little tougher to make that move when you’re already in market #2, and part of the
team on a major morning show! But that’s what happened to Jonathan Watkins. He
started in L.A., and then decided that he’d get a lot further in his career by
going down in market size to Wichita, but taking on a more important role. Even
though Wichita is a lot smaller than L.A., it’s still a sizable market, and
very competitive. I wanted to get Jon’s thoughts on making this big move.
Gary Bryan: You’ve been in BTR (Big Time Radio) at KZLA here in
Los Angeles. Was that your first job, and what did you do there?
Jonathan
Watkins: I started as an intern with Uncle Joe Benson at the Arrow.
With Uncle Joe, I screened the phones and looked for show prep. After my
internship was up, I realized I wanted to stay in radio a little bit longer,
and was able to secure an Associate Producer position with the “Peter Tilden
Morning Show with Buzz” on KZLA, Los Angeles. This is where I really learned
the ropes of radio; how to find and book guests, create bits, find potentially
interesting callers, deal with management and develop my on air character.
Gary Bryan: In order to further your career,
you’ve moved to the tropical climate of Wichita, Kansas. How was the move?
Jonathan Watkins: This was the scariest move I
could ever have done. In Los Angeles, I was an Associate Producer for a morning
show and an on air traffic reporter for Clear Channel’s Air Watch. I just
wanted to do more on a morning show. When I went to Kansas and met with Dan
Tooker, I realized that the move would benefit me in the long run.
Gary Bryan: The show is called Dan Tooker in
the Morning. Do you have an on-air role?
Jonathan Watkins: I am the Executive Producer and
Co-host of the show, so I have a very strong on-air role. This is the main
reason that I decided to move out from Los Angeles. When Dan is on vacation or
out sick, I host the show. I would never have been given this opportunity in
L.A.
Gary Bryan: How is the competition in
Wichita?
Jonathan Watkins: We are the number one rated
station and morning show in Wichita. I’d like to say that the competition’s
great and the atmosphere makes us strive to do our best, but the quality of
shows here are not that great. Most of the shows have been on for ages and are
just comfortable with what they do. I miss good radio! The biggest drive for
our show is to succeed in the ratings so we can move forward in our career
(whatever that may be).
Gary Bryan: Do you have an ultimate career
goal? Would you like to wind up back in L.A.?
Jonathan Watkins: I’d like to see my name in the
title of the show. That’s my next goal at least. I look at Wichita as a
training ground for the rest of my career. I’m able to do everything here;
host, produce, jock.. I’m learning tons. I’m not sure if my goal is to return
to L.A. My goal is to find a top twenty market, and marry it. I’m currently
twenty-two years old. If by twenty-five I can marry a market, what a great
career. The next step would be syndication.. then world domination.
Gary Bryan: Last question: why didn’t the
Trojans win the Rose Bowl?
Jonathan Watkins: Vince Young knows Voodoo. It’s
true.. look it up!
.