10 Questions with ... Mike Allen

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Mike Allen is APD/MD/Afternoon host on Entravision Country KNTY (101.9 The Wolf)/Sacramento; producer of United Stations Radio Networks (USRN)'s "25 Years Of Hits," a Country count-up show; and is also on Air1 Networks, a Contemporary Christian national network. Mike got his start in radio working in the promotions department at KNTY while he was in college. He fell in love with being on air and connecting with listeners, and now, nine years later, he's still getting to do that at KNTY as APD/MD/Afternoon host as well as on his syndicated shows. Mike took the time to sit down with All Access recently to talk about how he fell into radio; how he balances his programming duties, local on-air shift, and syndicated shows; and which artists he would willingly travel distances to see (if he hasn't already).

1. Hi, Mike! Thank you for taking the time to talk with All Access. You've got a lot going on. You've got a main air shift as well as APD/MD duties at KNTY. How do you juggle both of those responsibilities in addition to handling "25 Years Of Hits?"

It's kind of a cool challenge, because I get to bring a little bit together. Some of the stuff I do on-air at The Wolf I get to take and use on "25 Years of Hits," like the calls - which is really kind of cool. Then, the "25 Years of Hits" is bringing all the songs that I used to listen to growing up - like all the '90s songs - I'm getting to see them in a new light. I'm getting to re-live songs that I forgot about or hear them again, and I get to put that together with tidbits of stuff I forgot about growing up. It's cool to put two and two together. Tosh [Jackson], my Program Director, has been really good about allowing me the opportunity to do "25 Years Of Hits." He was the one that pushed me. He said, "You need to do this. This is a great opportunity. If I have to help cover some stuff here so you can do it, then I will." Thankfully after the adjustment time of getting everything figured out, I've been able to still do everything I'm doing and get everything done. It's been a really cool experience. It's been fun to see how the two shows work together, because "25 Years of Hits" runs on KNTY on Sunday mornings. So it's also weird to hear the show.

2. You're balancing current music and also the past 25 years of hits. Does it ever get confusing or overwhelming, like you're dealing with ALL of the music?

I think the "25 Years of Hits" helps actually, because Country as a whole is a very current format, but there's still something to be said for those classics, those songs from the '90s that we all love: Garth Brooks and Shania Twain and that kind of thing. Doing the "25 Years of Hits," I'm getting to do in-depth research on these gold records that maybe I wouldn't have thought about. That allows me a better understanding of taking out some of our gold records or what we're doing and freshening up our gold library. The Wolf is helping me stay current with everything going on, but "25 Years" is helping me find the best gold records to play on the station. Obviously, Tosh goes through and listens to all of that stuff to make sure we're on the same point. But it's kind of cool, because not a lot of people will spend the time to do research on gold records that they're going to play once or twice a week, but I do it because it's a built in part of my job.

3. What is it like working on both the local level as well as the syndicated level?

They're two very different animals. I'm on air for Air1, and I've been on air for them for five years, too. That's a national network. It's based in Sacramento and it's on like 350 signals across the country. The difficult part about the national situation is that you have to talk about stuff that relates to everybody. You have to find a way to talk about something that everybody's already talking about, because that's the only reason why it's relevant to them. Finding a new angle on that can be difficult sometimes, and trying to find a way that's relatable to the audience. Versus a local level, there are so many more opportunities to really connect with your audience. Like this week, we're going out to a Brothers Osborne concert, and I'm going to stand at the tent, where I get to shake hands, kiss babies, meet listeners, talk to them, and share stories about whatever. They are two really different animals, and I think one of the harder parts about the national is that you just have to really strive to not just be straight vanilla. You have to find ways to bring extra flavor in, which is almost built in with local radio, because there are so many opportunities and things going on that you can talk about that are relevant to your listeners.

4. How would you describe the different personalities of your shows?

I try to be the same. I think on my on-air for The Wolf it's a little bit more fun and outgoing, because the station is geared towards a younger audience, so I get to have a little bit more fun that way. "25 Years" it's geared more towards a slightly older audience, because you're playing songs of the last 25 years. A lot of new young millennials and newer people in the format have never heard of Garth Brooks. The other thing is, the way the show is set up, it's more of a countdown show, so it's more informational and less fun, keep-the-music-going kind of stuff. You find a way to make the stories or tidbits or whatever you're talking about fun and exciting. My personality can come out in how I bring it up and how I'm going to talk about it. There is always some joke or something that I can stick in there with the tidbit. I just did one about the cost of living in 1996 and how you could get an average new car for $16,500, and I said, "Oh, that's just about how much college textbooks cost." Little things like that make the information more exciting.

5. You touched upon how you're choosing gold records at KNTY, but in terms of current and recurrent songs, how do you make a call on what to play? With two additional Country stations in the market, is there a strategy?

I have to say, Sacramento is probably one of the most competitive radio markets in general, especially with Country. There is so much that goes into picking the songs that we play. Not only that, but when to get them more spins or the right amount of airplay. We do a lot of local research, like music surveys and online stuff like that. We have callout research that we get and we look at Mscores. When Tosh and I hear a record, we ask ourselves: Is this going to be a big record? Is this not going to be a big record? We have a bunch of young promo kids that also are hard core music fans, and we'll play them the records, like "Do you like this song or do you not like this song?" There have been more than a few times when I say, "Oh this song is so good!" And they're all like, "I hate that song." And I think, "Oh since you all hate it, maybe I missed this one." And vice versa. There are songs that we're playing right now that I honestly do not like at all, but everyone and their mom really loves it. And I'm like, "Okay I guess I'm wrong on that one too." But sales and streams are also a big part of it. If someone is paying for a song, then they obviously like it. If it's getting streamed a couple million times, that's obviously something someone wants to hear. So that all gets factored into how we look at music. It's not just a one-time, one-piece-of-research per song. Nothing is complete. There is no one piece of research that can cover all the angles. Our spreadsheet is very long and full of lots of information. It's hard, because you can look at numbers. I can look at sales numbers, and I can look at call out and all of that and that's all science. But radio is blending art and science together to create a product that your listeners are going to want to hear. If I'm going to look at all of the science part, sometimes I also have to sit back and listen to a song and know my market and know my listeners. For example, if Luke Bryan puts out a song, I know that there are a ton of Luke Bryan fans that want to hear that song just because it's him. So, I have to remember that when making a decision. It all kind of plays together.

6. You briefly mentioned Tosh Jackson, but who are additional people who have been some of your mentors in your career?

Tosh is definitely the biggest. He is someone that has really done a lot for me in my career. Sometimes I call him my radio dad. He sort of showed me the ropes and taught me everything. He made me sit in his little production room before he was the PD, and he made me learn how to put in commercials and how to produce an air check, so I could try to give it to my PD at the time. He is someone that has really inspired me a lot. Nikki Thomas, who programs WIVK/Knoxville, is someone that I look up to in how she programs. She was at KAT Country [KATM/Stockton] here and we used to get together, like anytime we were at a concert together I would try to spend time with her. I'd say, "So what do you think of this?" and "So how are you doing this?" She would say, "Mike, let me tell you! This is what you do..." and she'd go off, and I'd be taking notes mentally, like listen, listen, listen. She did such great things with KAT Country. There have been some people outside the format, too, that have taken the time to air check me and pour into me and give me some great advice. One of the first people to really give me the time of day for on-air stuff was a gentleman named Paul Goldsmith, who is working at a Talk station in Chicago last I checked with him. And a man named Rahny Taylor is now doing a bunch of stuff at iHeart. Those guys have been really good about helping me pursue radio and encourage me to not give up just because stuff doesn't go my way or seems difficult. Like Rahny would always say, "Your work ethic will stand out among the crowd. How you are going to succeed in a business that is continuing to shrink is that you want to learn, you want to grow, you want to work, you want to do all of this stuff, and you come at it with the right attitude. You're not like, 'I know better.' You want to grow more and you truly enjoy and love this business, so don't lose that." Those are some cool things, but Tosh is definitely the biggest mentor.

7. What do you see as your end goal? Is it in radio?

Yeah, my end goal has always been to help people. That's been what it's been from the beginning even before I was in radio. I see radio as one of the last mediums where you can actually connect with a person on a grander scale. Television - not only are people less in tune of watching television. It's a group activity. Nobody's watching like, "Oh my gosh, this news person is like my friend! I feel like I know them." They're just a head reading news. I think radio is the last format where you can actually connect with people and feel like their friend. I think in that sense radio has a big strength, and I think it's a place where I can fit in really well. I can be one of those personalities where I can make friends with listeners. One of the biggest compliments I've ever had is a listener coming up to me that I've never met, and they feel like they know me because of my show. They feel like I'm their friend even though I have no idea who they are. I'm like, "Oh, that's awesome." They'll say, "Remember that time?" and it's the coolest thing! Being in radio, whether it's on-air or behind the scenes as a Program Director, which would be awesome to do one day, you can have an impact and those kind of influences on people. At the end of the day, that's what matters. Ratings, revenue, and all of that is very important for the business that we're in, but it's not what matters at the end of the day. What matters is making an impact on listeners' lives or helping them out, and that's what I want to do. If I want to do that on-air, if I can do that as a Program Director or as a Music Director or an APD, then it all makes a difference. The PD is just as vital to having an impact in a community as the on-air talents are. For example, setting up community service events - we just did a thing for Children's Miracle Network where we broadcast from our local children's hospital and raised corporate-wide over $2 million for CMN in four days. That's the kind of stuff that radio can do that TV just doesn't have the ability to do, and what Pandora and Spotify can't do. That's the cool part about radio.

8. Let's go back to the beginning. Where did your interest in radio begin?

My interest in radio started on a whim. I was in college and needed a new job, because I hated my old job. I knew the Promotions Director at KNTY, and she hired me to do promotions. After being here for a couple months doing promotion, I started to really enjoy what I was doing. I was enjoying doing call-ins on the radio and hearing my voice - and all the stuff that goes into it like the music and everything else. Since then, it's been a nine-year ride with KNTY, still learning everything more and becoming an afternoon personality, becoming APD/MD, and all that stuff. It has been a really cool experience.

So were you initially into Country music, or did that kind of just come with the job?

I've always loved Country music. Growing up, one of my mom's boyfriends - we could only listen to Country music, so I was forced to learn to love it, and it worked. Country music has been a big part of everything that I have loved for a long time. I've always liked it a lot more than most other formats, just because I feel like Country as a whole, it's one of the last formats where there is still a story being told in the songs - or at least in most of the songs. It's a real life format - you have people who are artists that are telling stories and songs about going to church on Sunday and trying to spend time with family, but they're all so real life and they're not fake, and I feel like that's something that's unique with Country.

9. So what about radio - especially being on the air - drew you in?

Thinking back to when I was a kid, my grandpa used to have these little karaoke machines. Now that I've been in the business, I remember instances when I'd be in my room playing a cassette and something would happen, and I'd be talking like, "Oh, I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen. We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties." And I'd try to flip the tape or whatever was going on. After being in radio and looking back, I can see how stuff like that was happening and just being in front of people sort of was a thing. I always wanted to help people. That was a lot of what I went to school for geared towards that and trying to find a way to help people. I found that being in radio I can help people through the various charities that we get involved with - and the various things we get involved in that way - but also, after a really crappy day at work, your boss is yelling at you, you're falling apart, if I can make someone smile or make them laugh on their drive home or at any point, then that was worthwhile. I know how after a really crappy day just hearing a stupid story or something funny can really turn your day around. That's always kind of what I wanted to be. Now it's kind of grown, I've been on air for five years. I've had the opportunity - it's been cool - I've developed relationships with listeners now, and even now, sometimes when they're going through difficult times, they'll send me messages on Facebook and ask me to pray for them and stuff, which is cool.

What did you go to school for?

Originally, I have a double major - a Bachelor's in Pastoral Ministry and a Bachelor's in Bible & Theology. I originally wanted to be a pastor, but then I got into radio. I found that I could help people and encourage people, but I can do it with a bigger stage and sort of in a way that not a lot of people are.

That's awesome and kind of connected!

Well the cool thing about Country radio, especially because it's not Christian radio, it's the most listened to format in the country, so you're getting to reach people. Like I said, the music is authentic, and it's people talking about how they're struggling and what they're going through. Going out on Saturday night and hanging out with friends and maybe making decisions that aren't the best but then on Sunday they're going to church. Or they're going through something difficult. I feel like that's more of a real life situation than what you might hear in other formats. It's not "Jesus is awesome," and that's it.

10. How do you think Country radio can encourage millennials - and younger - to enter the field or continue in it?

I think one of radio as a whole's biggest pitfalls is that we're not raising a generation to come up behind the generation in their 50s and 60s and about to retire. We have an industry that is consolidating and trying to eliminate jobs, and in doing so has removed any opportunity for training. I got my start by coming into Promotions. I was fortunate enough to work for people that were bending the rule a little bit and letting me hang out in the studio with jocks or come in after hours when no one was here to produce air checks or to take phone calls and work on all of that. But that's something that's not happening at a lot of stations. They're just voice tracking overnights or not doing anything at all. So there's nowhere for anyone to grit their teeth, and you don't have anyone training this up-and-coming generation. That's our biggest shortcoming. If we're going to fall, it's going to be because once the people who are in the business now leave, there will be no one to fill that vacuum. For every one person like me - who's super passionate and wants to do radio and is a millennial - there is probably about 15 or 20 people in their 50s and 60s who are kind of over it and are just doing this to collect a check because radio doesn't have a great retirement, until they can finally have enough and just be done. That's the sad part. The more we try to syndicate - as a person who's syndicated, if you have to much syndication, you're doing a disservice to the industry and radio as a whole. If you have one person doing every station in the country and god forbid they not like that person, then why am I going to listen to the radio? I'll go to Spotify or Pandora or something else. If you have a bunch of local jocks who just aren't great or can't run the board properly or do breaks, that's going to hurt because people come to radio expecting something, and we have to meet that expectation. We're not raising a generation to meet that expectation, I feel like.

1. Are there any items on your radio bucket list? Any markets you'd like to work in?

Markets I would be really excited to go to are Denver. I have a lot of friends that live in Denver, and I would love the chance to explore the city. There is so much in Denver that would be a lot of fun! Seattle is a city that I think is really cool that I'd like to maybe one day get to work in and be a part of. I have a ton of family in L.A., so that would be cool to be closer to family. The other market I would be really excited about would be Nashville, to be in the heart of what country music is and what's going on. I'd love to be a part of it all - like CMA Fest, to see so many fans coming in to see their favorite artists in Nashville. There is so much cool stuff that happens in Nashville that we miss out on because we're on the West Coast. Those would be the markets I'd be excited to go to and be a part of.

2. How about any artist interviews you'd like to check off the list?

I've been lucky enough to talk to most artists, even if not in an official interview setting. It'd probably be some of the older artists - people who aren't as prevalent today as they used to be - like Tracy Lawrence, Trace Adkins would be cool to talk to! On the flipside, there are so many great new artists that are coming up that are really cool too. Michael Ray is awesome! Jackie Lee, stuff like that too! I've gotten to see them and talk to them and we've done remotes, but they're a lot of fun for interviews.

3. You love to go and see different acts at different places! You're always traveling to see your favorite artists. Who would you say are your favorite artists to see live?

Eric Church. Love Eric Church. I flew to Denver to see him at Red Rocks. That was on my bucket list. I always wanted to go to Red Rocks, and to see Eric Church there was extra awesome! I'm just obsessed with Eric Church. My celebrity man-crush is definitely Canaan Smith. I love his music, he's a nice guy, and I've seen him like eight or nine times. Even at CRS or different things, if he's performing I always try to make sure that I'm at those events. His music is real and authentic and he's a really cool guy! I like him a lot. I would travel to see Michael Ray - I have actually traveled a few hours to go see him play. He's really cool. There are a lot of artists. Being in the business, it's easy to get burnt out on concerts, but I really enjoy getting to see more of the up and coming acts, because they are always the ones that I miss at the venues because I'm out working at the tent. The ones I've gotten to know - Michael Ray, Jackie Lee, and Seth Alley. I think it's cool when you get to be a fan and get to travel and do stuff. CMA Fest can be a little overwhelming because there are SO many people.