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10 Questions with ... Woody Fife
April 2, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. The thing that will make the biggest difference is how the local station embraces the show. Imagine a local show signing on to a station, and the station did NOTHING the rest of the day to promote and integrate it with the existing cume. That would suck. And unfortunately, that's how it is a lot of times with syndication. It's looked at like "set it and forget it." However, the best stations we have are the total opposite. They promote the show throughout the day. They tie their promotions/giveaways into the show and ask us to cut liners and solicit to run in their local breaks
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
WNRQ/Pittsburgh, WPST/Trenton, KNRK/Portland, KPNT/St. Louis, K-Rock/NYC, WKQX/Chicago, and Live 105/San Francisco, and ALT 98.7/Los Angeles.
Alternative Editor Shawn Alexander begins this week's 10 Questions interview from the Worldwide Radio Summit 2019 on March 28th.
We pick up 10 Questions following A Moment In Time with Woody last week at WWRS 2019.
#7 - You mentioned that "It's REALLY important to us that the station be engaged with the show, as much as we are with them. That's the only way it works." How do you like your affiliates to stay engaged and what is most important for developing The Woody Show in new markets?
You never want to be an island. It takes a village or some bullshit like that. Assuming you are constantly doing character development/reinforcement, launching the show in syndication isn't much different than launching locally. The thing that will make the biggest difference is how the local station embraces the show. Imagine a local show signing on to a station, and the station did NOTHING the rest of the day to promote and integrate it with the existing cume. That would suck. And unfortunately, that's how it is a lot of times with syndication. It's looked at like "set it and forget it." However, the best stations we have are the total opposite. They promote the show throughout the day. They tie their promotions/giveaways into the show and ask us to cut liners and solicit to run in their local breaks. I think that our station in Kansas City does the best job of running the show. Listen to the show and it sounds like we're right down the hall. And that's the way it should be. We are always willing to cut whatever the local stations need to make us sound like THEIR morning show, not just another syndicated option. But we can't do that on our own, it takes an engaged PD and someone there locally to see to it that it's executed.
#8 - Tell us about the attention grabbing benchmarks on The Woody Show which include The DUI-Q, Animated Podcasts, Redneck News, Too Many Fish, and Freak Of The Week and how they became staples of your show.
All the good shows are known for that ONE thing. That one bit. Just like any show, we have thrown a ton of ideas at the wall and waited to see what stuck. We're in a fortunate position to have A LOT of different things that all work (and test) really well. So we're known for a bunch of different things. There are only a few things that we do EVERY WEEK, most of the features rotate to keep things fresh, and we are constantly developing new ideas and working them out to come up with "the next big" fan favorite segment.
#9 - Take us behind the scenes of your show prep routine and how you put together the morning show with Ravey, Greg, Menace and Sebas.
We have 11 people (including myself) who work on the show. Different people are responsible for different things. Sebas is handling a lot of original/unique programming. It's labor intensive, out on the street, long play stuff. He and I come up with concepts, flush em out, and he goes out, executes them, and prepares them for air. Ravey will curate the pop culture news, my exec producer will be pairing down and rewriting news that myself and others have found (from a number of sources), my production guys are pulling/editing audio and taking care of all the affiliate needs. Menace handles all the social media needs. He knows what we're doing that day, and will set up drafts of what we'll be posting throughout the morning so that all we need to do is publish them when we get to it on the air. I'm the last line of checks and balances. I schedule out the show hour by hour, segment by segment....which gets tricky when you're syndicating west to east. I also decide what makes it onto the show, and what doesn't. Call me the editor in chief. We spend a solid hour prepping for every hour that the show is on.
#10 - Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me. You're not a big fan of artist interviews. Why?
We only have people on who we are personal fans of. Either as an artist or as a fan of the project they are promoting. Otherwise, it's not worth it. I feel that doing interviews for the sake of interviews is lazy. Spend your time developing original content, building a relationship with your audience. In PPM, (for the most part) interviews don't equal ratings. Best/most well-known example is when Z100 in NYC had Britney Spears on right after she went nuts and shaved her head. She hadn't spoken to the media yet, and Z100 was going to be the FIRST to hear from her in PM Drive. Z100 was #1 in demo the quarter hour BEFORE the interview started. Interview starts, in demo ratings drop into the teens. The first quarter hour AFTER the interview, Z100 is back to #1. That's all I needed to hear. As a radio junkie, I also know that VERY FEW people held my attention during interviews. I wanted to hear the show doing what they did best. And most of the time, unless you're in NY or L.A., the big guests aren't doing local radio because they want to....it's usually because they have some garbage project that they HAVE TO promote. And.....lucky for your listeners, they are ON THE PHONE on a crappy sounding line for 6 minutes.....not to mention the laundry list of things you want to ask about that are "off limits." No thank you. Again....if you have developed a PERSONAL relationship as a show with the person, that's different, because they have become part of the fabric of what you do.
Bonus Questions
Before we go... I have some special BONUS QUESTIONS: Getting to know Woody ...10 Rapid Fire Fun Facts.
Hobbies?
Currently none. I am a very boring person. Although, I'm trying to convince my family to let me take flying lessons. I think they're worried that I'll fly away and never come back. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe. I do watch any and all Steelers and Penguins games. Season tickets to both are how I plan to spend my eventual retirement.
Typical weekend with the family?
Sleeping in, kids' stuff....and if we can pull it off, get a babysitter to watch the kids while I take my wife out for a nice quiet dinner somewhere.
Top 3 amusement parks?
Disneyland, Magic Mountain for coasters, and Kennywood in Pittsburgh (for nostalgia).
Favorite places to go in L.A.?
Anywhere that isn't Hollywood. I'm not an LA guy, I just live here. But I try to stay out of all the douchiest places like: West Hollywood, Brentwood, Malibu, Manhattan Beach.....nice, but YUCK. Too much phoniness. Santa Monica is as far as I'll go. If the TMZ tour goes there, I don't is my general rule of thumb. That said, there are a lot of great restaurants.
Favorite Restaurant?
Kiwami in Studio City. Best sushi I've ever had, hands down with items on the menu that I had never heard of, yet discovered and realized needed to be in my life.
Favorite Food?
In L.A.? Sushi or Mexican. In life...Italian. But the for the most part, the Italian food in L.A. sucks the root. But if you are gonna get Italian food, RAOS is actually legit. ONE place in a city of 13 million people. Argh!
Favorite Beverage?
Any diet soda. It'll kill me, I know... but let's be honest, it's a race to see if it'll be that or heart disease or any other number of weight related health complications.
Favorite Sports Team?
Pittsburgh Steelers and the Penguins. I know that's two, but too bad.
Favorite New Band?
Still would have to be Rage Against The Machine.
Biggest Mentors?
As far as the people who I've learned the most from, or who have helped me to grow? Phil Manning, Sean Demery, Michelle Stevens, and Tommy Mattern. I'll mention Mike Kaplan too....but only because he'll be butt-hurt that he wasn't mentioned... but it's only a mention, don't give him any credit.
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