-
10 Questions with ... Dave Michaels
July 13, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
NAME:Dave MichaelsTITLE:Asst. OM/MDMARKET:Fort Wayne, INCOMPANY:Federated MediaBORN:Cortland, NY, wayyyy back in 1958RAISED:Cortland, NY
Please outline your radio career so far:
WOKW/Ithaca, NY - Aug. 1984 to Feb. 1988 - (APD/MD and morning Drive)
WPXY/Rochester, NY - Feb. 1988 to Dec. 1988 (Late Nights)
KEWB/Redding, CA - Dec. 1988 to May 1989 (PD)
KWOD/Sacramento, CA - May 1989 to May 1990 (PM Drive)
WBXX/Battle Creek, MI - May 1990 to Aug. 1992 (APD/PM Drive)
WKFR/Kalamazoo, MI - Aug. 1992 to Mar. 2000 (PD)
WSTO/Evansville, IN - Apr. 2000 to Mar. 2003 (PD)
WJLT/Evansville, IN - Mar. 2003 to Aug. 2003 (PM Drive)
WBTU/Ft. Wayne, IN - Aug. 2003 to Aug. 2005 (PD)
WMEE & WQHK/Ft. Wayne, IN - Aug. 2005 to present (Asst. OM/MD/PM Drive)1) How would you describe your first radio gig?
My first radio job was board-op for the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 on Sunday morning. I would do my club gig until 3am, grab a couple hours of sleep (or pass out as the case may be) and go in to do the "God Squad" shift.
2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment, which made you realize "this is it"?
I was club jocking five nights a week in addition to having a real job. I knew then that I really liked being around the music. One night, the local PD of my hometown radio station was in the club and liked what I was doing with the crowd in the club and offered me a part-time job. I had done some radio with the local college station (WSUC...yes, 'We Suck Radio'), so I already had been bitten by the bug. Once I got started on a commercial station, I realized just how much I liked it and tried to learn all I could. After four years there, I worked my way up from part-time God Squad to APD/MD and morning drive. There was no "real" moment...just an overall feeling over that first couple of years. But when I got the offer to quit my real job and work full time, I was hooked.
3) How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?
Fort Wayne is a weird market. We have more signals here than most markets much larger that us. I think there are 26 signals (AM & FM) in the metro. There are also multiple format duplications. Two Country stations, two Hot AC stations, two Rhythmic Top 40's and two Classic Rock stations all play here. It makes for an extremely competitive market. Federated Media currently has five of the top seven stations, including #1 and #2.
4) We're glad to see you're recovering after being seriously injured in an auto accident earlier this year. How is your recovery coming along and how are you adjusting to getting back on the air and back into the programming chair?
It's been a long process and I'm glad the management here has been 100% behind me.
My boss, Rob Kelley was incredible and extremely helpful to both my wife and I. In fact, he knew about the hit & run even before my wife did, and helped the hospital get in touch with my wife. I was in the hospital for eight days that I don't remember. I also had a hospital bed in my living room for another six weeks, and I was in a wheelchair for three weeks after that. Just this past week, I was able to give up the cane that I had slowly worked my way into and I am able to walk without any assistance.
Getting back on the air and back into the day-to-day operations of the stations have been a bit of a struggle because the doctors wouldn't let me be at work for more than four hours a day. I did have Internet connections, so I did a lot of work at home before I went in to the station. Now that I'm back full time, and it's starting to feel like I never had to take a nearly two month break.
There are many people I have to thank for giving me the time to heal, including our GM Mark DePrez and our OM Rob Kelley, along with the staffs of both stations who basically picked up my work and covered for me.
5) Besides your own, what format would you like to program and why?
As most of my background has been in Top 40, I have a love for Pop music. However, the format has passed ME by. What I would really like to do is what I am doing now...working with a current based Country station and a Pop leaning Hot AC. This gives me the best of BOTH worlds.
6) What's the best hire you've ever made?
I had a lot of success (and was really, really lucky) with the people I had at WKFR in Kalamazoo, MI. Some of the part-timers I've picked over the years have gone on to be very successful in this industry. It's hard to pick just one person, as several (and they know who they are) are doing very well, even in this climate.
7) What other market or area appeals to you?
I've always loved the Southwest, and after the kids are grown, I want to work there. I don't want to move the kids unless I have to, but when they're grown and out of the house...it's fair game!
8) What techniques do you use to get a celebrity to open up in an interview?
Listen to them. Ask your questions based on what they say and not what you want to know. They will be more open to you if they think you are really listening to them, rather than just asking them questions. People ask them questions all the time. Not many people really listen to what they say.
9) How often does your airstaff front and back-sell songs?
On our Country station, we always either front sell or back sell every song we play. In fact, that's one of the positioners that we use on air, "The station that always tells you song title and artist of every song we play." But on our Hot AC we're a little more liberal...always on the new songs, but not as much on the established music.
10) What advice would you give people new to the business?
Make sure that you know what you're getting into. This is not an industry for the faint hearted anymore. You need to be multi-talented and you need to be a multi-tasker. The more you know and the more skills you have, the more valuable you'll be to an employer trying to do more things with less people.
Bonus Questions
1) How did you get your on-air name?
Back when I took the job at KWOD in Sacramento, I was told I couldn't use my own name on the air...after much thought and discussion (my wife WOULDN'T let me use Richard Cranium), I settled on Dave Michaels, that being the first and middle name of my oldest boy. I inherited the "Dr." part of "Dr. Dave Michaels" soon after.
2) Do you have any music scheduling tricks you've learned that you wish to share?
Nope. :)
3) You just won the Lotto and you have your boss on the line. What's the first thing that you would say?
Hey Boss...wanna work for ME????
-
-