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10 Questions with ... Joel Dearing
June 26, 2006
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NAME:Joel DearingTITLE:PDSTATIONS:WYYD Lynchburg/WZBL RoanokeMARKET:Roanoke / LynchburgCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:East Chicago, INRAISED:Mostly in Tennessee. We moved around when I was a kid, which prepared me for a career in radio
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
WLAR / Athens TN
WBIR / Knoxville TN
WDZD / Shallotte, NC
WGNI / WAAV Wilmington, NC
WKLM / Wilmington, NC (for a few minutes)
WNDU / South Bend, IN
KSMG /San Antonio, TX
WLMX / Chattanooga, TN
WPKR / Appleton-Oshkosh-Green Bay, WI
WYYD - WZBL / Roanoke-Lynchburg, VAThose are the major ones anyway in my radio gypsy tour. Looks like I am becoming a hyphenated market kind of guy.
1. What was your first job in radio? Early influences?
I was exposed to radio through the local Junior Achievement company in Cleveland, TN, while in high school. I was working at the local chrome platting factory after school, we had a layoff, and I had nothing to do that Wednesday, or was it a Tuesday. Went to WCLE and got hooked.
Early influences were WLS, WLAC, WOWO while cruising the streets at night. WFLI, WGOW and WDXB from Chattanooga during the daytime.
2. If you are wearing more hats today, than say last year, what area is suffering, and what are you doing about it?
I program 2 high profile stations that are 50 miles apart. So I am at one on one day, the other the next. The creative writing time is what suffers the most. I've got some strong team members that help me with that.
3. What do you think of National Contesting? Is it effective?
When national contesting is part of your promotional mix, it can be effective. If your station needs cume, that type of contest will not be as effective, since all the national contests I have done are TSL based. But when I run a national contest, my TSL goes up.
4. Will the advent of Satellite Radio affect our biz? Explain!
I feel in some formats it already has, but it comes down to content. XM and Sirius will give the listener ANOTHER choice, and for some content that they cannot get through free radio. HD radio will help us fight back, but we are just slicing the pie thinner and thinner from a choice standpoint. If you look at what has happened to television with cable and the dish, and now HD TV, for them it is slicing it thinner and thinner. The successful television channels are successful because of content, not technology. Good programming is what will always win.
5. What can we be doing with our station's web sites to better our stations as a whole?
Web sites are all about content. If the content is fresh, and compelling, you can develop traffic for your site, and that will help build loyalty for your brand, as well as give you the opportunity to sell space. As programmers, we are in the content business. We create content every day. I know my stations are creating content every day that we could re-use to make our web pages more compelling.
6. What do you plan to do differently in the next year regarding work and family?
It really comes down to a fine balance. I know my wife would like me home a lot more than I am. Yet she is impressed with my work ethic. Since we do not have any children (the government asked us not to reproduce) if I can improve that balance and not be at the station until 7:45pm like I am tonight working on this, I think I have a good chance of not being the defendant in a divorce trial.
7. Who are your programming mentors?
Every station I have worked for the last couple of decades has had a consultant, up until now. So from Ron White, to Phil Hunt, Michael O'Malley, Mike McVay, Dave Popovich, Joe Patrick have all taught me a ton of stuff. Barb Richards in Ft. Wayne is a true friend and has taught me many things. And of course Steve Wallace from my Junior Achievement company.
8. Who's your favorite air/personality not on your air staff?
Fred Winston. I have been a Fred fan forever. I remember driving to Atlanta to take the test for my FCC- 3rd class ticket. (for those of you to YOUNG to remember, you used to need a license to be a radio operator) I was listening to WLS skip in. Fred & Lyle Dean would make you wreck your car. When I was in South Bend, had a chance to hear Fred in Chicago, now on the internet on WJMK.
9. What is your favorite radio station outside of your own market?
I listen to the WPOC Baltimore stream when I can. They are a great sounding station.
10. If you could add any one full-time position to your budget, with no questions asked, what would it be?
A person dedicated to making my web sites compelling, and getting that great content from my jocks on the site. While I have great national content from Clear Channel, I would like to be able to get more local content on my pages. Right now, my web person is divided by 6 stations. We get what we can.
Bonus Questions
1. Do you read.....everything? Books, Magazines, etc. Nothing? What's your favorite reading material?
Programming two stations does not leave much time to read. I am currently reading High Output Management by Andrew Grove, the President of Intel.
2. Do you have Musical Guilty Pleasures?
Disco. I was such a loser geek in that era, but had a chance to blossom a little when I got a weekend gig at a local bar as a DJ at the beach in NC. Brings back memories.
3. You are on a desert island...what 5 CDs are in you portable disc player?
The Bob Wills tribute CD from about 4 or 5 years ago, the name escapes me.
Doobie Brothers / What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
Steely Dan / Aja
CBS Records Greatest Country Hits from 1988
Terry Clark's Greatest Hits4. Describe your favorite meal?
Cajun. Love that style of cooking.
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