-
10 Questions with ... Ken Charles
September 29, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Started as a board op at WPLP in the Tampa Bay area in 1983. Got my first PD gig in 1988 at WINZ in Orlando and stayed until 1992. Moved to Houston and did a talk show on an FM talker until they flipped formats to music right after Hurricane Andrew. The flip was not my fault, I swear!! Found a job working in the newsroom at KTRH Houston in 1993 as a reporter/editor that set me on the path to where I am today. In 1995 became Program and News Director of WSYR in Syracuse, also running the SU sports network, adding WHEN to my duties when Cox bought it. Moved to WGST AM/FM in Atlanta in a similar role in 1998, also programming the Georgia News Network and Atlanta Falcons Radio Network. Clear Channel bought Jacor and they moved me to Houston in 2001 to program KTRH, KPRC and KBME. I rose to a Regional VP of Programming in 2002, working with nine markets throughout Texas and Louisiana across all formats. In 2007, for family reasons, I moved back to Florida where I am today at WIOD and WINZ.
1. You started as a board op and worked your way up the ladder -- what made you want to be in radio anyway? And how did you get that first job?
I always wanted to be in radio but I just didn't know it. I was one of those kids who listened to my transistor radio under the covers at night. I loved listening to music on WABC and to Marv Albert call Ranger and Knick games on WNBC. Then I found Jean Shepherd and fell in love with spoken word radio. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, though, so I went to college as a Poli. Sci. major intending to go to law school.
I got my first radio gig by accident. My across-the-hall dorm mate at FSU was from the same home town and he wanted a career in broadcasting. He got a PT board op gig at WPLP in Pinellas Park. I came home and needed a summer job but they wouldn't hire me because I didn't want to be a FT radio person (little did they know!). The station downsized a news person and all the full time board ops went to the PD, Drew Hayes, and told him if they did not hire her back they were going on strike. In my first management lesson, he fired all the FT board ops, made the PT board ops full time and were in need of PT ops. I got my foot in the door and here I am, 26 years later.
2. About what are you most passionate these days?
Talent. Finding it, growing it, nurturing it. The difference between spoken word radio and music radio is great local talent. You can get the same Lady Gaga songs anywhere on any device. But great local talents like Jimmy Cefalo, Chris Baker, Michael Castner or John Osterlind are ours. They are unique and why we are unique.
3. You've taken over several heritage talk stations over the last couple of decades, including WIOD at present; what are the challenges of taking over stations that have established brands and images in their markets like WIOD or KTRH? How do you determine how much you can change the programming, imaging, and marketing right out of the box when a station has a heritage in the market? How aggressive can you be?
The key is respecting the heritage of the brand. I think you can move very quickly with imaging, clocks and marketing if you do it through that funnel. When I got to KTRH, the first thing I did was restore the globe logo that had been such a huge part of the brand of the station. It had been changed to a giant outline of the state of Texas just to change it because they thought it looked outdated. Well, KTRH is not Texas. It is Houston, and that logo has been part of the Houston landscape for decades. A logo symbolizes what the radio station represents visually. My goal was to remind the marketplace, internally and externally, that the KTRH they loved and relied on was returning.
At WGST, KTRH, WIOD, WSYR, we did not make wholesale personnel changes. We changed the on air sound, repositioned the product, did a better job of executing the basics and went back to paying off on listener expectations. In all those cases we went back to what made the stations famous. Local news. KPRC was a different story. That station was so damaged that we just blew it up and started over. Except for Rush Limbaugh, the other 21 hours changed. We killed the "Supertalk" name. Whatever KPRC had on it outside of Rush in 2001 was anything but "super!" The station had lost its focus and the local shows were terrible. But we turned it around and doubled the ratings and revenues in 12 months.
4. What are the things you listen for when you aircheck a talent? What are the primary elements that make a good show?
I listen for presence and relatability. Does the host cut through the speakers and engage me? Are they talking to me or at me? Great hosts are story tellers. If they are good at their craft they can tell almost any story and hook me into the show. I want the topic or topics they are hitting to be the hottest of the hot. They must be topical, relevant, compelling and entertaining. The order of the 4 may change with the news but the 4 should be there everyday.
5. Of what are you most proud?
I am very proud of the work we do at WIOD everyday. I'm also very proud of what we accomplished when I was at WSYR, WGST and KTRH/KPRC/KBME. I had great teams in all of those places and am fortunate to be surrounded by great people today. Something else I am very proud of is RushRadio 99.5 in New Orleans. We relaunched the radio station in April 2008 up against a huge heritage competitor in Entercom's WWL. We gave the station a name with immediate brand impact by calling it RushRadio. It is a brand, a club, built around Rush and Beck, Hannity, Levin, Miller, Noory and some great local talent. And clearly it is a club that people want to be a part of because in the Spring 2009 book, 15 months after we launched, we beat WWL Persons 25-54. We did it in an unconventional manner, hiring unconventional local personalities, with an unconventional strategy.
6. Has the PPM changed anything about how you approach programming? What has surprised you the most (if anything at all) about the Miami PPM results so far?
We've tightened some things up, shortened some elements and are much more focused on appointment setting but at the end of the day good programming is good programming no matter what the measurement system. That said, the biggest surprise is the seasonality of the measurement. When Rush takes a week off it hurts. A week is now 25% of a book. Before, a week off was 1/13th of a book, now it is 1/4th. The other thing that's surprising about the seasonality was what happened to our TSL when school let out, especially in AMD. Commute times dropped by at least 10 minutes a day. Makes sense, less cars on the road, no school buses on the road equals shorter commutes. You can track the TSL on the radio station dipping in proportion to this change. Lastly, in some dayparts we may be talking about 50 meters a weeks. If a few meter holders to your station go on vacation at the same time you will see the same effect on cume and or TSL.
7. Who are your mentors, inspirations, and heroes in the business?
My number one hero is Jean Shepherd. I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for stumbling onto his spoken word show on WOR when I was in the 6th grade. Through him, I fell in love with AM radio and what it could be. He was the ultimate story teller and while I never met him, I read every one of his books multiple times. I have read biographies about him and seen his PBS show, Jean Shepherd's America, dozens of times. For many of the same reasons I feel the same way about Bruce Morrow. He may have played music, but no one could make you "feel" the music like Cousin Brucie could. I owe a huge debt of thanks to Joel Delmonico at WSYR. He took a chance in hiring me to be both Program and News Director for WSYR. He was told by a few people above him that one person could not do both jobs. Joel believed in me and that I was the right guy for that gig. Without him taking that chance I would not have been hired by Gabe Hobbs for the same role at WGST, which got me to Houston for all news (at the time) KTRH, (talk) KPRC and adult standards KBME. Gabe has also been a mentor and friend and a great partner in building great talk radio.
8. If you hadn't gone into radio, what do you think you'd be doing right now?
I probably would have gone to law school and been a successful defense lawyer or I could have ended up in jail for insider trading. I can see it going either way.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ______________.
...my wife. First of all, if you know me, you know that anyone who could put up with me daily is automatically nominated for sainthood. We have been together since 1986. She has been with me for every career high and low and for every move from Tampa to Orlando to Houston to Syracuse to Atlanta to Houston to Miami. Without her pushing me when I needed pushing, supporting me when I needed support, cheering me up when I was down and smiling with me during the good times I know the sweet would not have been as sweet and the low would have been much lower.
On a lighter side, it would be The Grateful Dead Channel on XM. I know, I am supporting the enemy but I am a huge Deadhead and I can't listen to regular radio like a normal person. And they always pull out a real gem from a live show that blows me away.
10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?
The best advice I've gotten was from my third grade teacher, Mrs. Studeman at Menlo Park Elementary School in Edison NJ. She said, "if all else fails, follow instructions." So simple yet so important.
The worst advice I got was from relatives in 1983. I told them I got a raise from $2.35 an hour to $2.50 as a board op at WPLP. I was so proud! They told me to give it up. Radio "wasn't a real job. You're going to college and want to go to law school, find something that makes more sense." I am so glad I didn't listen. I might have been a good attorney because I love to argue but wearing a tie everyday would suck.
-
-