-
10 Questions with ... Rob Wagman
June 3, 2008
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
NAME:Rob WagmanPOSITION:PDSTATION:WIBT 96-1 The BeatMARKET:Charlotte, NCCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:Elgin, ILRAISED:Crystal Lake, IL
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I'll give you the Call Letters and the markets. It was either programming or marketing and in some cases just on air.
KYSR/Los Angeles, WFLZ/Tampa, WEZB/New Orleans, WFBC/Greenville, WNTQ/Syracuse, WWKX/Providence.
I spent five precious years at All Access, working with Pete and the gang - Joel Denver is a genuine man, great mentor and a true friend. As an employer, there's none better.
1. The last time we featured you in 10 Q's, we asked you who you thought the next up and coming programmers would be. You chose Tommy Chuck (now at WFLZ Tampa) who was in Chattanooga at the time and Michael Bryan (now at WXXL Orlando) who wasn't even a PD yet, but an MD at B97 in New Orleans. How did you know? And who would you choose now?
Good guesses, no question. Nostradamus and I were talking the other day and we have a list of folks that are impressive. Tommy "Jammer" Naylor at WZOK in Rockford would top the list. I've been a fan of his for quite some. If you listen to the stations he's programmed, they all have that multi-dimensional appeal, where music, marketing and the air talent work together beyond the level of 'just' normal.
Also, very impressed with Mike Klein at WBVD in Melbourne. Mike asks the right questions when it comes to taking an honest look at his radio station and since he's been in that chair, has improved the product quality on many levels.
Watch for Stacey Brady in New Orleans too. She was ready to program in 2002, but went back to school, got her degree and is now back at it in the Crescent City. It says a lot when someone walks away from it and upon their return, finds themselves doing it again in a similar sized or larger market.
2. Who do you turn to when you need programming advice?
In a snag and I've been in a few in Charlotte, the best advice, has no doubt come from Brian Kelly, PD at WXSS in Milwaukee and Michael Bryan, previously mentioned. BK has great instincts in most situations and when you run ideas, situations or problems by him, his answers are richly laden with strategy, experience and patience, which is necessary.
Michael Bryan is just calm, plain and simply. His suggestions are no BS, right to the point, and even though he's continuing to add titles onto his Job description, he takes the time to give insight when needed.
3. Why aren't you doing an airshift at the Beat?
Because I would be lying to myself and the audience if I was attempting to jock this format. Thanksgiving weekend, we were short talent and I attempted to do a couple of shifts. My staff still ribs me about it. One of them claims he just wanted me to say "HOLLA!!!" just one time.
4. If you aren't capable to jock an honest airshift in the format, then how are you still able to program it?
Now you're just being harsh and insensitive! Kidding, of course. This has become one of the opening lines in my comedy act. In Charlotte, especially, if I'm introduced as the PD of 96-1 The Beat, the expectation of the audience on who should be taking that stage is just about the opposite of what I look like, so it leads to good humor.
Honestly, it's simple. Toys are not made by the children who use them, but by adults who have insight into what a child may find fascinating. Programming any format is based on that same understanding: who is the audience? It certainly takes staying young in your thought process, and surrounding yourself with key people who not only understand the lifestyle of your audience, but also some who live it day in and day out. Stay aware of them, always.
5. Do you miss being a jock?
Every five weeks or so, Jack Daniel the PD of Alternative WEND (106-5 THE END) takes a day off, or goes on vacation and for the last year and a half, he's called upon me to fill in with his co-host Kristen Honeycutt. It's a compliment that he continues to ask for me, but it's also some of the most fun I've ever had on or in radio. These airshifts successfully keep me from missing it altogether.
6. Where do you see comedy taking you?
I haven't got a clue. When I see Joel McHale on THE SOUP or some of the contestants, NOT ALL, on LAST COMIC STANDING, I realize that I've got a long way to go before expecting lightning to strike in that arena. For the most part, it's therapy. I'm traveling about 1 to 2 weekends a month to do gigs on the road, and every once in a while I get to do a great venue in NYC, Chicago or L.A.
7. I hear you're famous in Detroit.
LOL, did J. Love tell you that or was it Dom Theodore? I filmed a TV commercial for Honda that was a spoof on the eHarmony.com ads. It got picked up by the Detroit Honda Dealerships and they've been playing the piss out of them. Every six weeks I get another check, but all in all the commercial is pretty cheesy.
8. So, you're still doing the acting thing, then?
My New Years' resolution was to get back into it, so I had new headshots done in January, got a good agent in Charlotte. Booked the Honda thing in February, by March I was auditioning for ONE TREE HILL and ARMY WIVES, and in fact the role on ONE TREE HILL ended up on VH1's BEST WEEK EVER. I'm impressed by the amount of opportunity in Charlotte, the Carolinas and Wilmington, NC.
9. Welcome back to a Top 25 Market!
That's funny. Yeah, never had I made such a large jump in market size by simply staying still. Charlotte was 35 when I got there, then 33, then whammo NOW Top 25. I'm staying, because this place is growing fast. Even in the midst of the housing bust, Charlotte is thriving.
10. I heard a rumor that you named Bubba The Love Sponge and also Skip Church, is that true?
No, not true at all. KERRY GRAY, named Bubba when they worked together in Terre Haute. Kerry and I worked together in 1991 at WEQX in Manchester Vermont, an alternative station. Bubba and I worked together a year later when I was the Marketing Director at WFLZ.
I did name SKIP CHURCH (now mornings at WTPT, 93-3 THE PLANET Greenville, SC) though, in 1996.
Bonus Questions
Myspace or Facebook?
Facebook has Scrabulous, so Facebook! Plus, I asked Tom to be my friend and he denied me.
Do you have a favorite quote?
Just a couple I've made up, like "Toys are made by adults" or "Radio is not only a career, but a guilty pleasure."
My father always said, "Robert, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." He's dead now, so if I appear lost, that may explain why.
-
-