10 Questions with ... Jon Daniels

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Pres./GM/Afternoons, WVBR/Ithaca, NY, 1996-1999. Various positions, culminating in PD/Middays, WLIR/Long Island, 1997-2003. PD/Afternoons, WDRE/ Long Island, 2001-2003. PD, WMJC-WIGX/Long Island, 2003-2012. Digital PD, WALK, WBZO, WHLI-A, WKJY, WWSK/Long Island, 2010 to present. Acting PD, WWSK/Long Island, twice, 2012-2013 and 2014. PD/Middays, WKJY/Long Island, 2014 to present.

1. What led you to a career in radio?

Couldn't find a class during my first week as a freshman in college ... literally couldn't find the room they were in. While walking around, trying to find it, I found a posted bulletin board-style ad for a local radio station, and got hooked ... quickly! Never found the classroom, but found a rewarding and challenging career.

2. Your market (Nassau-Suffolk) includes the New York City signals and obviously lots of people commute into the city from Long Island. You duke it out with the biggest of the big boys and girls from every side, including the major players in your own market. How do you make sure that you're being "local enough?"

We're certainly in a tough competitive situation with WKJY, so what sets us apart is being hyper-local in ways that the city stations won't, in terms of our home county, Nassau County. That, and an animal-like, strong attention to detail to make sure that our execution of our product is always on-point.

3. Connoisseur has a great group of stations on Long Island. Is there any kind of shared synergy in the hallways?

Absolutely! Our five brands are set up to complement each other in terms of audience target and geographical target. That means that there's no internal competition, which allows us to work together to reach our common goals. It's not uncommon for someone from our Active Rock station to come up with an idea that works for our AM Oldies station, or for an air personality from our Hot AC station to cover a fill-in shift on our Classic Hits station. We also learn from each others' successes, both on-air and with digital.

4. In addition to programming WKJY, you do middays and are also are involved with the station's web content. Any other hats that you're wearing these days and how do you allocate your time accordingly?

Just one other hat in addition to those - I also assist the PD of our Active Rock station, 94.3 The Shark. Time management is key! We have a veteran management team, and are constantly collaborating -- myself, our OM, GM, DOS, Marketing Dir. and other PDs, to take full advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, or to address any issues that may arise.

5. How important is social media to your station's success?

It's very important; it allows us to answer the question of "How can we still reach our listeners, with our branding, when they're not listening?" People can't spend all of their time with our brand, but social media allows us to serve up reminders, with their permission granted, that we're here and ready to entertain and inform when they need/want us.

6. What is your favorite part of the job?

That's it's always different ... no two weeks look exactly the same. There's always new music, new technology, new guests, new listeners, new ideas ... keeps everything fresh and exciting.

7. What is the most challenging part of the job?

I enjoy the challenge - prioritizing tasks and expectations so that the many things that need to be done in a finite period of time can be done productively and accurately.

8. If you could add one full-time position to your budget right now, what would it be?

As a PD, I spend a good amount of time and effort working with others to help them get to where they want to be. What if there was a full-time person whose sole job was to do just that -- for everyone? A 'talent manager,' if you will ... and not just for the on-air staff: for sales, promotions, engineering ... everyone. Working with everyone to help them reach their personal and professional goals, so that the company as a whole can grow.

9. You're as big a fan of the New York Islanders as there is. What's it been like to be involved in their radio broadcasts?

I spent two years as Exec. Producer of the New York Islanders Radio Network, and worked really hard with their team, including longtime play-by-play host Chris King, to create professional and must-listen broadcasts for the seasons we carried the games on then-WMJC. Unfortunately, for those seasons, the team finished dead-last and third-to-last in the entire NHL, so listener interest was sometimes hard to generate for those game broadcasts ... but, they were high quality!

10. Who were your mentors? Who would you say has influenced your career the most?

I've been lucky to have many: Jeff Levine was the PD of WLIR when I started there, and he taught me so much about marketing and branding. Along the way, I've been fortunate enough to work with and learn from some of the brightest radio programmers, including Michelle Stevens, Mike McVay, Joel Salkowitz, Harv Blain, Steve Davis, Keith Hastings, Patrick Shea, and Bill Edwards.

Who is your all time favorite hockey player?

My son, Jacob -- a sniper forward, who not only has a 'nose for the net,' but plays a very responsible game -- he's on an 18 consecutive game streak in his league with a positive or even plus/minus rating (hockey fans know how good that is)!