The Real McKay

It shouldn't come as a shock to anybody in our business that the late Lisa McKay is being enshrined in the Country Radio Hall Of Fame (CRHoF) tonight (6/20). McKay's body of work, compiled between her 2002 arrival at Curtis Media Country WQDR/Raleigh until her untimely passing in January of this year, is as close to a no-brainer as it gets.

Under her leadership as PD, and through her eventual rise to Curtis Media VP/Programming in 2014, 'QDR was named CMA Large Market Station Of The Year in 2011, 2014, and 2017. Similarly, the ACM honored WQDR with Large Market Station Of The Year accolades in 2009 and 2011. On a local level, the North Carolina Association Of Broadcasters recognized 'QDR as Station Of The Year in 2014.

Those results are self-evident, so Hall Of Fame credentials? Check. Easily understood. What's painfully hard to comprehend is knowing McKay won't be there to accept the honor. If you're like me, even now six months after her sudden passing following a very short illness, it's just hard to wrap your head around that.

At the risk of dredging up a tragically sad turn of events – but for the purposes of anyone not familiar – McKay passed away on Sunday, January 14th, just two days after announcing an indefinite leave of absence from her VP/Programming and PD duties. Just 48 hours prior to that hard-to-swallow, "WTF" revelation, McKay learned she had terminal liver cancer – a totally unfathomable piece of news, considering she was always otherwise healthy, and purposefully so.

This week, I talked with Bill Campbell, McKay's long-term partner of 16 years, who told me, “Two months beforehand, she was the healthiest she’d been in years. She was a vegetarian and lived a sound lifestyle; never smoked or anything – and got liver cancer.” Campbell will be in Nashville tonight accepting the Hall Of Fame honor on McKay's behalf. Curtis Media COO Trip Savery will officially induct McKay.

Here's a rare and telling accomplishment, not to mention a fun fact: McKay is one of the few nominees to be selected in their first year on the ballot. In an ironic and fateful twist, news of McKay's illness and subsequent passing two days later occurred just as the final ballots were completed. Selection committee members didn't know she was sick; McKay never knew she was a finalist.

McKay punched her Hall Of Fame ticket the old-fashioned way: head down, never seeking the spotlight, while pouring her heart into masterminding a tight, strategically programmed, well-executed, market-leading, ass-kicking Country radio station. “She was nose-to-the-grindstone,” remembers Campbell. “Lisa’s philosophy was that an add wasn’t easy. Curtis spends a lot of money on research, and until we find a better way to find out what people like, then it’s pretty reliable.”

At a time when tracking dayparts is commonplace, McKay believed in live and local radio, says Campbell. “When Lisa first got there, the staff from [clustermate] 96 Rock [WBBB] was tracking ‘QDR, and it was a four-share radio station with imaging that hadn’t been changed in 18 months. It was easy for her to come in and make a difference. Fighting the owner and the various managers that were there over the course of 15 years, I’m sure they wanted to track middays, but she would fight the good fight.”

Another important component planting 'QDR's deep roots in the community, believes Campbell, was the station's commitment to public service. “She would do stuff that really hit home for the listeners – not just words, but action. I think that’s one of the strengths of ‘QDR. Listeners of Country music know genuine, and they know fake; 'QDR was about as genuine as it can get in its public service to the community.”

When we see high-profile people like McKay at industry events such as Country Radio Seminar (CRS), we're mostly familiar with their role as a PD. But, McKay handled afternoons at 'QDR, too, approaching that job with just as much pride and precision as her PD role. In addition to the above-mentioned station honors, McKay was recognized on an individual level, too, winning the 2014 ACM Large Market Personality Of The Year Award and “Best Afternoon Show” from Cary Magazine's “Maggy Awards” in 2012. Notoriously modest, McKay said of the latter honor, “I didn't even know I was nominated.”

Campbell – who spent years in radio in on-air and programming roles – described McKay's style on the air. “Lisa was maybe the most natural air personality I’ve ever met. Nothing changed about her when she was on the air versus when she was off the air. She didn’t try to make her voice any different, and she used the same kind of expressions. That’s a real gift, and she was technically very good, too. She loved to air phone calls and host complicated contests where you had to juggle four to five different elements.”

I asked Campbell to share a few more details about McKay's life away from work. In addition to holding programming details close to the vest, McKay liked her private life to be – well – private. Many of her industry friends knew that outside of radio, McKay was famously devoted to animals, particularly dogs. “At one time, she and I had six rescue dogs living with us,” Campbell remembered. “When she was in Richmond at the Pop station, she started a pre-spayed and neutered clinic with her own money that still exists today. I remember Kenny Chesney called her once when they had all those dogs in the Caribbean from the hurricane, and I think she helped him adopt 30 animals in a couple of days.”

Obviously, Chesney didn't forget that. In a poignant moment during his Raleigh concert stop last month, he paused mid-show to acknowledge McKay, asking the audience to all say, “Thank you, Lisa” during the show in recognition of McKay's support of his career and Country music.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, McKay loved the beach, said Campbell, who told me McKay eventually owned three properties. She “funded those with appearance money over the years. She was smart ... she was busy all the time. She delegated some work, too, but she was definitely a Type A person with her job, but very laid back off the job.” McKay was a strong disciple of legendary consultant Rusty Walker, also a Country Radio Hall Of Famer, and who also died far too young in May of 2012. She always cited Walker as a mentor and as part of the CRS agenda committee was inspired to organize the mentors breakfast, which encourages networking, sharing, and learning. It's been one of the best-attended and highest-rated sessions at CRS since becoming a regular part of the agenda.

Though Campbell will step up to the podium and accept the CRHOF honor for McKay, he – and everyone else in the room – will be wishing she was there to appreciate the moment. I asked what he thought her reaction would be with all her peers in the room. “She’d probably do a little bit of lecture on how to really connect with your listener and serve your community,” said Campbell. “Let’s face it, iHeart and others have thrown Country stations at ‘QDR, and they never really make any inroads. It’s always, 'Make the listeners care about the content of the station.' That’s what wins it for you. She would probably talk about that a little bit.”

The Country Radio Hall Of Fame Dinner is set for tonight (6/20) at the Vanderbilt Marriott. Also being inducted: Albright & O'Malley & Brenner Consulting Founder and Partner, Mike O'Malley; former WIVK/Knoxville morning teamers Andy And Alison; former KPLX/Dallas and WXTU/Philadelphia morning team Harmon And Evans; and KKNU/Eugene, OR morning show members Barrett, Fox, and Berry.