-
10 Questions with ... Nick Bruns
July 26, 2022
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Crazy to think that it was 21 years ago that I started on KCFV-FM, which is the campus radio station at the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley. Through the Mass Comm classes, I needed to get an internship and took one in the Promotions Department of Z107-7 (KSLZ-FM). Rising through the ranks, I had an amazing time at the then-Clear Channel cluster, doing everything I could from Promotions to Production to On-Air. I left CC to go across the street to then CBS Radio, where I had two great years in Promotions with Y98 (KYKY-FM) and 102.5 KEZK (KEZK-FM). An unbelievable opportunity presented itself, and I left the only town I ever knew to go 6 hours to the north and be the Promotions & Marketing Director for iHeartMedia/Des Moines. Five years later, I just couldn’t handle the Midwest winters anymore, and I was presented with another amazing opportunity to helm the Promotions & Marketing Department for iHeartMedia/Tucson. In 2020, I was given the tremendous chance to also take on overseeing the Programming Department for iHeart/Tucson, which is where I currently am!
1. How would you describe your first radio gig?
The best time of my life! First and foremost, looking back at the amazing talent that I got to work with at KSLZ. I absorbed as much as I could from them, but I also kind of took it for granted back then. We were more than co-workers, it was not a job…it was the best time of my life! I also think about how I wouldn’t be where I am, if not for being an intern with Z107-7. I would not be typing these words right now, because everything that has happened over the past 21 years, happened because Boomer and “Lipps” saw something in me to hire me as an intern. I was an intern for a semester and a half before being hired on as a part-time Promotions Coordinator and that was the first step to the rest of my life!
2. What led you to a career in radio?
Quite bluntly…I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life! My dad was part of a group of students that really helped get KCFV-FM off the ground at the St. Louis Community College, so knowing I didn’t have the grades to go to a big university when I got out of high school, I decided to start at the community college, and play around on the radio station that my dad was on, until I got my gen-ed classes out of the way, and I figured out what I wanted to do. As I mentioned before, an internship later, my career is off and running!
3. You arrived in Tucson from the company’s Des Moines cluster do helm the Promotions team. 4 years later you’re the SVP/Programming for iHeart’s Multiplatform Group. What does it means to you that you came up through the ranks?
It means the world to me for a couple different reasons! First, it shows the dedication of my company to trust a guy whose primary focus has been Marketing & Promotions, to steer the ship of 7 important radio stations. Outside of two years across the street, I’ve spent my entire career with Clear Channel/iHeart and have had the privilege to go from a Promotions Intern to a Senior Vice President of Programming. It’s been the greatest joy in the world! Secondly, it means the world to me because of the one guy who really helped champion my move into this position. Steve Earnhart was the Director of Sales here in Tucson and got the nod to become Market President. If not for him seeing my abilities, and my talents, and my passions, it could have been a very different conversation!
4. Johnjay & Rich are famously based in Arizona at sister KZZP. Do the ever make it to town? How does their morning show jump start the station’s broadcast day?
While it’s true that Johnjay & Rich are famously based at KISS FM in Phoenix, I like to say more that Johnjay & Rich famously started their show on 93.7 KRQ in Tucson. They are in town quite a bit, for example, we are excitingly bringing back the #LovePup Family Fest in Tucson, which due to COVID has been missing the past couple years, but the entire show comes down for that event, The Rich Berra Band plays in Tucson quite a bit, and other cast members of the show are down periodically for events and appearance. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fantastic Top 40 morning shows in my career, specifically The MJ Morning Show and Elvis Duran, but I’ve never seen a city embrace a morning show more than Tucson does for Johnjay and Rich! Not to mention the fact that they are #1 in demos that they have NO business being #1 in (I’m not complaining at all)! Young and old…loves Johnjay and Rich! If you’ve spent time in Tucson, you’ve woken up with Johnjay & Rich. For a show to be on a single station for 21 years, like they have, that means they have something special! It’s an honor to work with Johnjay Van Es and Rich Berra!
5. How did navigating the early days of the pandemic make you a better programmer?
For me, that was early on in taking over the programming for the cluster. So what I knew about programming and what I didn’t know about programming was really all out the window. Everything changed! How our talent did shows, how we did meetings, overall how we conducted business was totally different! I think having that completely different view on how we needed to run our stations, absolutely helped make me a better programmer. We could do things different and still succeed. It’s very much like myself in my role. We could have a Marketing specific guy in a Programming role and still succeed!
6. Tis the season…what is the ‘Song of Summer 2022?’
I would say Nicky Youre “Sunroof”…but you can’t also overlook the incredible explosion of Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill”.
7. It’s harder and harder to attract the attention of younger demos as listeners. Where will the next generation of broadcasters come from?
First and foremost, you’ve got to be on and available everywhere! I am a little biased, but iHeart has (and is) fully embracing that mentality. iHeartRadio is available everywhere! It’s on smart speakers, video game consoles, TVs, on airplanes, in hotel rooms, and so much more! Plus we are expanding to the metaverse and beyond! Radio has always been about the discovery of new music for younger demos, and it still is, it’s just much more important about exactly where they are for us to find them and expose them to that new music!
8. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
I’m going to cheat and say two truths…#1: Never Say No! & #2: You Work For Your Team…Not The Other Way Around!
9. What was your favorite station(s) to listen to when you were a kid? Jock(s)?
I grew up in St. Louis, so almost every summer evening I had the privilege to listen to Jack Buck call Cardinals baseball games on KMOX. But I also loved listening to Guy Phillips on Y98, Vic Porcelli when he was on 101.1 The River, and I was always a fan of Boomer on Z107-7
10. Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?
In St. Louis, I was blessed with a couple! Boomer (Christopher Layfield) was the first PD to show me the ropes of this business. I’m forever grateful to receive the education he gave me, and especially for the opportunities he gave me. I was a kid, and I didn’t want to mess up in front of him, and sometimes I did, and he would call me out for it. But it made me a hell of a lot stronger early on, and I still do some of the things today that he taught me way back then!
I also had the opportunity to work with Tommy Austin in St. Louis. Tommy had a much different style than Boomer, and I could appreciate that. I really loved taking a step back and watching how Tommy would communicate with his staff one-on-one. If you know Tommy, you know what I’m talking about! I truly feel like my management style today is a mix of Boomer and Tommy!
In Des Moines, I spent five great years working closely with Greg Chance. Like before, working with Greg was completely different than with Boomer or Tommy. Greg loved to teach, and he loved to talk things out fully. It wasn’t just a quick two minute meeting or email conversation, it was come in…sit down…let’s figure this out together! Greg also had a great promotion brain, and it was fun to come up with some creative things together!
Lastly, here in Tucson, my mentor is my current boss Steve Earnhart. When I first came down here, I told all my friends in radio that Steve was the most amazing Sales Director I’ve ever seen. And now, I tell them all that he is the most amazing Market President (and technically Southwest Area President) I’ve ever met. There are few leaders in the business that can motivate a team like Steve can. His compassion for others, his love for this business, and desire to win is honestly like no other! There is a quote that is absolutely true to form of Steve: “Leadership is Action, Not Position.”
Bonus Questions
With the venue of your choice at your disposal and an unlimited budget, which 3-5 acts would you pull together for a KRQ blowout concert event?
Since it’s Tucson, and we are surrounded by the desert…I’d want to just plop a big ole stage in the middle of nowhere, and do a massive festival setup! Harry Styles had one of the largest grossing tours of last year, so we could throw him on the bill! Lizzo is going to bring the fun, I just don’t know what she’s going to think about performing in the Arizona heat! He’s old school, but Paul McCartney has a house in Tucson…so that would be cool to invite him out to play! And just because I am so loyal to St. Louis, I’d have to put Nelly on that stage too!
-
-