Star Player in League Of His Own

Interview article with Mike Kinosian Personalities Inside Radio Some continue labeling it Hot AC, while others are more adventurous in their references, using handles like Pop Alternative, Modern AC and Adult CHR. Finding a consensus moniker on this female-targeted music genre has proven to be tricky, but pinpointing the architect of perhaps the most successful station in its arena is considerably easier. Industry executives poised to gather this week in Americas Finest City for the NAB Radio Show will hear for themselves why Tracy Johnson-programmed KFMB-FM Star 100.7/San Diego is the model other Hot ACs try to duplicate and why hes the programmer others desperately want to emulate. Much like John Gehron (please see InsideRadio.com, 7-12-2004), Johnson has proven his talents werent exclusively limited to programming and six years ago successfully made the PD-GM ascension. His story, however, has its own unusual twist. In addition to maintaining Star programming duties, the eternally cordial Johnson is also VP/GM of Star and sister Midwest Television Talk outlet KFMB-AM (760 KFMB). Brave Young Man One look at Johnsons athletic frame confirms the Central Nebraska natives early desires to be a big league pitcher. Americas pastime is also what got him interested in radio. From the time I was 10 years old, Id watch baseball, turn down the sound and do play-by-play into a tape recorder, the longtime Milwaukee Braves/Atlanta Braves fan remarks. The local station carried our games when I played baseball in high school. I was interviewed several times after games and asked the GM [who also did play-by-play] what it was like being on the air. He invited me to the station and showed me how everything worked. An offer at the hometown outlet soon followed and Johnsons been gainfully employed in radio ever since. The person who gave him his first programming job at KFRX/Lincoln, NE proved to be a big influence. [Dick Chapin] didnt teach me much about programming, but taught me a great deal about management and what successful radio was about, Johnson reflects. I didnt realize how much I learned from him until I left. It was experience I still draw upon today. Strategic Consultant A pivotal career path for the remarkably humble Johnson was a three-year consulting stint for Alan Burns & Associates. Alan probably made the single greatest impact on me and taught me how to think strategically, Johnson states. He [also] taught me PDs often get hung up on things that just arent very important. The consultant role proved to be invaluable on-the-job experience. Most stations I visited had problems and some were broken; thats why we were there, Johnson says. I actually came away learning more than I ever taught. I learned about research and the difference between building a station that sounds great and building a station thats successful. There were diverse levels of experiences, but Johnson could always discuss each situation with Burns. Hes very wise and has a tremendous amount of experience, Johnson remarks. I was very fortunate to work with him and Ill never forget my time there. Giving Back A great deal of content in Johnsons books - Morning Radio and Morning Radio ll - was derived from his consulting days. It also came from a morning show manual Alan put together through his PD experiences and things he compiled for clients, Johnson notes. It took about three years to finish and we put it out in 1998. International sales have been better than domestic, but Johnson emphasizes the books werent written to make a fast buck. We did it to give back to the industry. Ive been fortunate and the industry has treated me well. It was a way to pass along [knowledge] to the next generation. Getting Acquainted With Nuances When Johnson agreed to become KFMBs VP/GM, Midwest Television Broadcasting President Ed Trimble told him it didnt mean hed have to relinquish Star 100.7 programming duties. Ed said I could set it up however I wanted to, Johnson recalls. Traditionally, GMs come from sales. They hire strong programming people and turn programming over to them; he said to reverse that. Accordingly, Johnson has stayed immersed in programming and hired a strong Director of Sales (Gina Landau). Its a formula that has worked very well. [Gina] manages both local sales staffs as if she were the GM, states Johnson. We think alike, make similar decisions and see eye to eye. We stay in touch, but I let her do her thing. Having previously sold radio advertising, Johnson understood the process, but wasnt fully aware of sales management intricacies. [I had to] learn all the tricks, nuances and games of what happens in the sales department and how that affects the bottom line, he acknowledges. Ive always been a very business-oriented programmer and clearly understood the station existed to generate profit. Getting into the business side wasnt much of an adjustment, but learning and becoming interested in the whole process of sales took time. Big Picture Approach Not surprisingly, things transitioned quite smoothly since nearly all upper-tier programmers like Johnson have already mastered management and sales techniques. The best programmers sell to listeners every day, he opines. Theyre selling the product through on-air promos and sell their ideas internally to the GM, air personalities and sales staff. Good programmers understand the sales process better than they give themselves credit for. Once you get past that, its just management and managing people. Meyer Family-owned/Champaign, IL-based Midwest Television has no KFMB-related debt and as Johnson points out, the relatively small company has always taken a long-term business approach. We sometimes blow our budget numbers away and other times we fall a little short, but they look at how we do in the big picture. I never sit in meetings from month-month, quarter-quarter or year-year with the same kind of pressure that youd get at bigger companies. Im perfectly honest and tell my boss and owner exactly where were falling short, challenges were facing, and what were doing about them. Its a pleasure to come to work every day for this company. I cant say enough good things about the family and Ed Trimble. Theyre good broadcasters, treat people extremely well and have kept the fun in the business. Stars Come Out To Celebrate To help commemorate Stars tenth anniversary (7-30-2004), Johnson invited every past and present staff member to his house for a birthday celebration. Approximately 90% of the 110 invitees came and as Johnson notes, It was a magical time. Very few companies today would allow that to happen or take time to acknowledge it. Our staff really appreciates that. Money-Making AM For 23 years, KFMB-AM was a Full Service station, heavily imaged on Padres baseball. When the decision was made in 1998 to abandon its position as the teams flagship outlet, however, KFMB-AM was left without its primary identity. It took time to change that and also to unwind some contracts we wanted to get out of, Johnson explains. [760 KFMB-AM PD Dave Sniff] was smart enough to identify [ABC Radios] Sean Hannity [please see InsideRadio.com, 9-15-2003] as an up and coming talent three years ago. We signed him to a long-term deal and moved [afternoon drive talent] Rick Roberts to mornings and hes excelled. Daves one of the best Talk programmers in the country and has done a magnificent job of re-imaging KFMB-AM into a conservative Talk station. It was nowhere a couple of years ago [and is now] one of the markets highest-ranked stations. KFMB-AM has turned around financially the last four or five years and were finally making money. Although KFMB-AM wasnt able to generate much revenue airing Padres baseball, there was some ratings-related anxiety about what would happen without the games. Traditional thinking is that baseball brings nighttime cume that stays for the following days morning show, Johnson remarks. Im not convinced thats true. We werent able to see ratings [correlation] with that theory, whether it was winter, spring, summer or fall. Research we saw said people came to [KFMB-AM] for baseball, but it was a different decision if [they stayed for the morning show]. Biting the bullet and [dropping Padres baseball in 1998] was a big decision. Crowded Field From a personal standpoint, mega-baseball fan Johnson would be giddy if KFMB-AM were still San Diegos baseball station especially since the Padres are winning and are in their new ballpark. It was a blast when we carried the games and was one of my career highlights, he enthusiastically states. When you take some but not all emotion out of the decision-making process, you can look at the station more objectively and will be a better programmer for it. It would be ideal to have a second station and make it all-Sports. But one or both [XTRA-AM and XPRS-AM] would have to go away. Three San Diego Sports stations cant work; Im not even sure two can work here. Broadcast Company Of The Americas XPRS-AM (The Mighty 1090) is the new flagship station for the Padres, who went down to the last weekend of the season for the NL Wild Card before being eliminated Friday night (10-1-2004). Tough Spot A considerable amount of Johnsons time is spent with KFMB-AM, but the bulk of his day is allocated to administrative duties and as Stars day-to-day PD. Probably the toughest predicament as Stars GM came two years ago when husband and wife afternoon drivers Jagger & Kristi told Johnson about their cross-town morning opportunity at Clear Channel Hot AC KMYI. I was very close to them and theyre good friends, states Johnson, who was responsible for initially teaming them on Star. I was proud of what they did, but their ratings had fallen and the station became a little stale. We didnt want to put more money into the afternoon show. I probably couldve kept them, but felt we needed to re-invent Star. You constantly have to evolve and re-create. It was a big risk to let them go and put on new personalities [Greg & Jen], but Im glad we did what we did. Energized Numbers Spring Arbitron numbers reflect Stars best performance since 1998. We were No. 1 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, Johnson proudly declares of the station that boasts Jeff & Jer in morning drive. We have a lot of momentum and the stations energy is just terrific. Among Persons 12+ in the first phase of the summer sweep, KFMB-AM (4.5) and Star (4.1) ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Clear Channel News/Talk KOGO-AM and Jefferson-Pilot Smooth Jazz KIFM-FM each posted 5.0 shares. Clear Channel CHR/Pop KHTS-FM (5.1) emerged as summers second-half leader, with KFMB-AM tied for fourth (4.1) and Star finishing seventh (3.8). Tighter & More Contemporary Many other Hot AC programmers are searching for answers as they wrestle with what to do with the format. In the same position himself some nine months ago, Johnson decided to make San Diegos Star quite a bit hotter. Wed become a very mainstream station almost to the point of being boring, he contends. [Our original] 25-34 audience is now 35-44. We decided we either needed to keep a 25-34 focus and understand what [people within that cell] were all about, or accept what the station had become and age it. Not yet prepared to do the latter, Johnson comments that 22-29 year olds are especially influenced by rhythmic music and hip-hop culture. They grew up with it its not extreme music to them. Their tastes may change a bit, but the style of music they react to is still the same. We opened up the station to more energy and accepted [artists like] Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. Gone, however, is its once staple 1980s-based music, which Johnson believes is fried. Stars a more contemporary station with a tighter play-list, new jingle package and more energy. Its picked up the pace of the station. One rap (no pun intended) against Hot AC is the formats highly pronounced vanilla composition and content. Core artists Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Hootie & The Blowfish and Alanis Morissette represented pop music and as Johnson underscores, that worked extremely well for a time But times change. Many stations held onto that philosophy too long. Instead of reflecting what pop music was to adults, they held onto what their identity of pop music for adults represented and programmed their stations accordingly. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy because cume spiraled smaller when you stopped inviting people in from outside this narrow circle of music. I was guilty of that, too. Many of us got into that trap. Endangered Species Clear Channels recent decision to cut commercial content and promos by as much as 20% has Johnsons full endorsement. I hope it works and well be right behind them all the way. Were not a big enough company to offer much support, but I hope [other companies like] Infinity follow suit. If it works for Clear Channel, he reasons, everyone in the industry will benefit. Weve been bombarding listeners with far too many messages for far too long and are endangering our livelihood and making ourselves extinct, Johnson stresses. Advertisers will be competing against fewer on-air messages and their commercials will be able to stand out. If Clear Channel executes this properly, it will increase the rates. Among those consistently warning that one of radios most significant problems is lack of respect for its own product, Johnson contends, We can make more money by cutting inventory by as much as 25% and charging 75% of 60-second commercial rates for a 30-second spot. Advertisers can get more frequency and frequency is what sells product. Creativity at the ad agency level has gone away because they have 60 seconds to deliver their message. If theyd say it in 30 seconds, [commercials] would be better written, have more impact and would register with listeners. We can make this better for listeners, be a more effective medium for advertisers and more profitable for our companies. Greatest PD Candidate On his way to becoming Infinity Broadcastings President/Programming, Steve Rivers accomplished something that really captured Johnsons attention. In the early 1990s, Rivers jumped from his PD post at CHR/Pop WZOU/Boston (now WJMN) to program Beantown format rival Kiss (WXKS-FM). He built a great radio station and went across the street to beat himself, a very impressed Johnson states. To me, that made Steve Rivers the greatest PD in the Top 40 format. Thats where you can tell a manager, programmer or coach makes all the difference in the world. Reacting To New Opportunities A similar scenario involving Johnson played itself out in 1994. I was devastated when [CHR/Pop KKLQ/San Diego] Q 106 told me they were going in a different direction and didnt need me anymore, he recalls. A few months later [June 1994], I came over to [then B 100 now Star 100.7], which had a 0.9. Two years later, we were beating Q 106; a year later, we were No. 1. Not one to make long-term goals or long-term plans, Johnson explains, Whenever Ive done that, Ive missed opportunities. New opportunities come along when you least expect them. If this were the last job I had, it would be just fine with me. WHO: Tracy Johnson WHAT: VP/GM/PD WHERE: Midwest Television Talk 760 KFMB-AM/San Diego (VP/GM) and Midwest Television Hot AC KFMB-FM Star 100.7/San Diego (VP/GM/PD)