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10 Questions with ... Alan Eisenson
January 3, 2006
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NAME:Alan EisensonTITLE:Operations ManagerMARKET:SacramentoCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:Miami, FLRAISED:Miami, FL
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Talk producer at WNWS/Miami, KFI/L.A. PD at WLAC/Nashville, WMC/Memphis, KXNT/Las Vegas, WEVD/NYC, KNRC/Denver
1. How did you get your start in radio - why did you choose radio?
May of 1980. Race riots break out in Miami. Schools are closed for safety concerns. I'm a fourteen year old junior high student. I grab the little transistor radio our family uses during hurricanes. I wanted to find the "all news" station in Miami, WINZ, to see if school will be closed again the following day. Instead of news, I become completely enthralled by a guy speaking passionately and emotionally about the race problems in the city. He was persuasive and inspiring. He was a radio talk show host. The Al Rantel Show on WNWS. I became completely mesmerized. I was instantly hooked.
Two years later, after stalking him for two months, Al hires me as a part-time board op and my career begins. I stayed at WNWS for six years, all through high school and college, growing from board op to producer, to operations coordinator.
2. What are you passionate about?
I'm passionate about getting ratings. But, more specifically, I'm passionate about creating an environment where talented and creative people can be their very best. I consider myself an advocate for talent. I'm about minimizing obstacles for talent and facilitating them doing the best radio they can. I'm also passionate about serving the audience; having a positive effect on people's lives through great broadcasting. There's nothing more satisfying than striking a chord with a listener, evoking an emotion, or being the catalyst for positive change in a community. And I'm passionate about serving the advertisers. Helping successfully market a local company, making them a lot of money and creating local jobs is an important function of radio. And nothing brings the power of broadcasting home like launching a huge company on the strength of radio personalities. Snapple is the best example. When I grow up, I hope to become passionate about serving stock holders, too. Then I may have a future in this business.
3. You're in charge of two large talk stations- how are you programming them to complement rather than step on each other? How do you think of each station in terms of positioning?
KFBK is a big, heritage news/talk radio station. We have a significant commitment to news, weather and traffic. And we have larger-than-life, iconic talk personalities. KFBK is traditional, dependable, conservative; the station of record for Sacramento.
KSTE is a personality talk station. It's not defined by a particular ideology. It's defined by the variety of personalities that populate the line-up. It features passion, strong opinions, humor and advice. It tends to skew younger and more female than KFBK.
KFBK is more about information. KSTE is more about entertainment. Of course, when you boil it all down, both stations are about strong personalities (both news and talk personalities) forging a strong, one-on-one connection with the audience. And both stations are fortunate to have some of radio's most talented and engaging personalities.
4. You were PD in two unusual situations, the attempts by KNRC/Denver and WEVD/New York to make a go of it against much larger, established competition. Do you think that, given more time, the stations could have worked? Why do you think things worked out the way they did- money, competition, other?
I came to WEVD to help transition the station out of foreign language and brokered programming, into mainstream, competitive talk radio. Rather than a typical format change, it was a gradual metamorphosis; we were slowly converting brokered hours into mainstream talk hours. And each of our mainstream talk shows outperformed the station by over 100 percent. We exceeded a one share in each of our regular shows whereas the overall station hovered around a 0.5. We were proud of our accomplishments at WEVD and, had the company not been tempted by a nearly $80 million offer from ABC, we would have been successful at creating a viable third talk station in New York City.
KNRC/Denver, conversely, was not on a successful track. The management was too scared of strong opinions. Despite positive audience reaction and strong research, the company did not back the product. The key managers had the notion that talk radio needs to be "fair and balanced" and rejected that notion that it's about strong personalities connecting on a personal level with the audience. It's rather telling that Clear Channel's recently launched progressive talker has higher ratings in Denver than NRC's FM flagship, KJAC.
5. If you hadn't gone into radio, what would you be doing today?
It's hard to imagine that I would have gone in any other direction. I was so singularly focused during high school and college. There really were no other options. I suppose I probably would have gravitated toward some kind of law career, or something in the teaching profession if I hadn't become so consumed by radio.
6. Who are your mentors, your inspirations, the people you've learned the most from?
In order of appearance:
Al Rantel
Neil Rogers
Jerry Williams
Tom Leykis
Valerie Geller
John Gehron
Tom Humm
Tom Bird
Julian Breen7. Of what are you most proud?
I'm proud of having programmed in New York.
I'm proud of successfully launching KXNT/Las Vegas from scratch, going from 23rd to 9th in three books.
I'm proud of being voted by staff Employee of the Year at two of the clusters I've worked at, Las Vegas and Sacramento. I'm proud of being an effective PD while maintaining a positive, productive relationship with the staff, rather than an antagonistic relationship.
8. What do you do for fun?
Stay connected with all the friends I've made in all the cities I've lived in. I've been very fortunate to meet some incredible people along the way.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _____________.
...gossiping with friends about some crazy thing that happened in the business on any given day.
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
Best: Go with your gut. Don't let outside forces persuade you to do something that doesn't feel right in any given situation. I've hired people and put together shows I knew wouldn't work because other people urged me to do so. Big mistake. I've never gone wrong sticking with my own judgment.
Worst: All other advice I've gotten. Radio is very subjective. Everybody has an opinion. But your opinion is the only one that counts.
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