10 Questions with ... Jerry Petuck

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Spent 18 years in Tampa Bay sports radio between iHeartRadio’s WDAE as an executive producer of the Steve Duemig Show and studio producer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Bay Lightning Radio Networks; CBS Radio’s now defunct 98.7 The Fan as an APD; and the last five years as co-owner and CEO of the digital media company, Radio Influence.

1. How did you get your original start in radio- why radio? What appealed to you about working in the business back then?

I’ve always been a talk radio junkie. I grew up listening to the likes of Lionel, Bob Lassiter, Brian James, Mark Larsen, and others back in the late 80’s and 90’s on 970 WFLA because that’s always what my mom and grandmother had on at the house. I swear I was the only kid in middle school listening to talk radio on his own. I was also a sports junkie and was the nerdy kid that could tell you the team batting average of the 1980 Kansas City Royals, so when I discovered sports radio around the same time on the old 910 WFNS in Tampa, I was hooked at that point.

Fast forward to my freshman year of college: Gabe Hobbs and Jacor launched 1250 WDAE in 1997 and I just so happened to be looking for a job to help me get through the struggles of college. Luckily, I had a friend who worked at another station in the Tampa cluster who put in a good word for me and Jason Dixon, the first PD of WDAE, took a shot on a kid straight out of high school.

2. You made the leap to podcasting several years ago, buying Radio Influence in 2015. How did that start for you and what were your expectations when you got going with the network?

Podcasting was always in the back of my mind and I’d pitched the podcasting idea several times back around 2007-2008 to not much response. Finally, Mike Killabrew, who was the PD of WDAE at the time, relented and told me that I could do a podcast on the station site. It didn’t get much promotion and it wasn’t listened to much, but I always had the sense that as technology advanced, so would podcasting.

When 98.7 The Fan changed ownership from CBS Radio to Beasley Media, the format of The Fan switched from sports to rock, and all of us found ourselves without a job. Over the years, my business partner, Jason Floyd, and I kept throwing the idea of launching a podcast network around so when the opportunity came up to purchase the domain from the previous owner, we jumped at the opportunity, rebranded the website, and started Radio Influence, LLC.

As far as expectations, we knew it was a long-term investment. In 2015, podcasting was nowhere near the medium that it’s grown to be in 2020 so our thought process was to do the groundwork and keep grinding so when it hit more mainstream, Radio Influence would be an established name.

3. How has the pandemic affected your outlook on podcasting as a long-term business -- what have the short-term effects been so far on downloads and revenue, and what, if any, effect do you expect it to have on your business in the long run?

I think the pandemic has really hit the advertising aspect of podcasting hard. Unless you’re a PodcastOne, Westwood One, or one of the big companies, everyone has taken a hit because of the fear of the unknown. No one knows when normalcy, whatever that is, will return, so companies aren’t spending as much money as they were before March.

I always see people compare podcast advertising to terrestrial radio advertising, and, frankly, they are two totally different animals and it isn’t a fair comparison. Radio has been around well over 100 years. Realistically, podcasting has been around for 15 years or so. It’s apples and oranges, and though advertising has grown exponentially over the last five years since we’ve launched Radio Influence, it’s still a relatively new medium that’s unproven in the minds of a lot of advertisers. That said, those that have taken the leap in podcast advertising have seen great returns.

In terms of download numbers, depending on who you ask, you could see that numbers are down 10-15% across the board. We’ve been very fortunate, though, because we haven’t seen that kind of drop with any of our programming, which is a testament to the quality product that our hosts provide to their listeners.

4. What value is there for a podcaster in joining a network as opposed to going it alone? What can you offer a podcast that wouldn't be available, or would be harder, for an indie?

If someone doesn’t have production experience and doesn’t know how to get the word out about their podcast, I think a network is a great idea. In all of our programming, we always cross promote shows. If you’re listening to Chef Brian Duffy’s podcast “Duffified Live,” you’re going to hear what we call a “Quick Fix” promo, which is a one to two minute promo clip of another podcast, for the “Landry Football Podcast” at the end of the show. If you’re listening to “Dark To Light” with Frank And Tracy Beanz, you’re going to hear a promo for the MJ Morning Show. It just makes sense and it’s a great way to expose new programming to a potential listener who may not know that content is available. When you have a stable of 20 shows or so, the cross pollination is great.

Also, it’s a big advantage for the podcaster if the network has a big social media following when it comes to promoting a podcast. I’ve always likened social media to the old school radio guerilla marketing and the whole “word on the street” thing. Radio Influence is blessed to have a decent social media following and we are constantly promoting podcasts using videos of the “Quick Fix” audio. Taking advantage of social media in that aspect has been key to building the download numbers of our podcasts.

5. You'll hear people pontificate about how there may be too many podcasts, or how hard it is to break through as a smaller player or independent. What's your response to that? Is there such a thing as "too many" podcasts?

The oversaturation of podcasting is obviously a concern. It’s very easy to get lost in the shuffle. I’m a firm believer that the keys to success in the podcasting world are consistency and putting out good content. Finding success and building listenership in podcasting is very much a long-term play and you’ve got to be committed to giving the listener what they want.

I think the biggest problem when it comes to the number of podcasts that are available on all the various platforms is podfading, which is when a podcast starts and then abruptly ends for whatever reason a handful of episodes in. If the platforms really wanted to help the podcaster, they would start getting rid of inactive podcasts, which would make it much easier to find what’s active.

I’ve seen reports that there are now over a million podcasts available on Apple Podcasts. That’s awesome… but how many are currently active? Eliminating the dead podcasts would be a big help to everyone in my opinion.

6. Who have been your inspirations, influences, and/or mentors in the business?

Terrestrial radio programming wise, it’s the guys I was fortunate enough to come up under in the business. The great minds that I worked with during the heyday of WDAE. People like like Gabe Hobbs, Jason Dixon over at SiriusXM (who was my first PD), “The Big Dog” Steve Duemig, whom I produced for 11 years in afternoon drive in Tampa, former midday host Chris Thomas, and my fellow producers Darek Sharp and Matt Sammon while I was there.

Steve Duemig, though, was so instrumental in my development, not only radio-wise but for life in general. The relationship he and I had was something I’ll always carry with me. Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer around this time last year. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.

Jeff Ryan, the Director of Broadcasting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Bigby, whom I was fortunate enough to get to know during my time at CBS Radio-Tampa, and Kurt Kretzschmar at Premiere Radio have also made huge impacts on my career.

Podcasting wise, Jason and I have always tried to look at what the PodcastOnes, the Westwood Ones, NPR, and the other big boys are doing and put our own spin on it. Greg Leader, a SVP of Advertising Partnerships at Midroll, is a buddy of mine going back to my radio days. He and I have spoken a lot over the last few years.

7. Of what are you most proud?

Two things:

First, from my radio days, spending every day for 11 years in afternoon drive with “The Big Dog” Steve Duemig and finding the success we found, building the relationships that we did, and surviving in a tough sports radio world for that long is quite the accomplishment. You just don’t see many shows stay together that long and the only reason it came to an end was because I was offered the APD position at 98.7 The Fan. My goal was to always move into management, and the opportunity never presented itself during my time at WDAE.

Secondly, taking the risk and creating Radio Influence with Jason. It’s the first time I’d ever really believed in myself to make that kind of leap. We both have learned so much about the podcast industry and frankly, running a company from the ground up. It’s insane what we’ve gone through but I’m extremely blessed and fortunate to have Jason as a business partner in it.

8. You co-host a show on the network, "A Place for My Head," that's particularly timely and important right now during the pandemic and lockdowns/quarantines/isolation. What was the genesis of the show, and what are you hoping to accomplish with it?

This is a long answer but I’ll try to condense it. I’d never really discussed it publicly until A Place For My Head but I’ve always dealt with depression issues. It was magnified greatly in 2007 when I almost died from MRSA. I’d always taken for granted being on air and never really thought about the impact we had to our listeners until I wasn’t on the air during that time.

I started chronicling what was going on with me on social media and really opening up about things as much as I could and people reached out to me with their own stories. It was really a bonding thing and it was then that I understood the power that we possess from being on air and the connections we form with our listeners. If you make yourself relatable to your listeners, they will respond to you.

Brandon Thompson was someone I’d worked around during my iHeartRadio days. We knew each other but we weren’t close at all. He had started his website aplaceformyhead.com, where he was using his website for the same purpose and I started to see his story. I randomly reached out to him about starting a podcast focusing on mental health and the rest is history. We stress each episode that we aren’t mental health professionals in the slightest, but we are just two guys who have our own scars who don’t want to see people struggle the way we have.

We aren’t clinical. We just have conversations about the tough subjects of depression, anxiety, suicide, and mental health that most people are afraid to address. If the occasional swear word flies, so be it. It’s all about real people with real stories about real life.

In my mind, if opening up and sharing my own story and my own battles can help even one person, then putting myself out there and being honest about my own life is absolutely 10000% worth it. Judging by the response we’ve gotten thus far, I think we’re doing a good thing.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ____________.

…Starbucks Iced Coffee…..but now I’m sleeping on the couch because I didn’t say my family.

10. What's the most important lesson you've learned in your career so far?

Never be content. Never settle. Believe in yourself. Keep grinding.