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10 Questions with ... Brad Krantz
December 1, 2009
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
- WTVN Columbus
- KIOA Des Moines
- WMOU Berlin, NH
- WSJS Greensboro-Winston-Salem
- WJOK Gaithersburg-Washington
- WPIX New York
- WZOU Boston
- WKRR Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point
- WKEW Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point
- WBT Charlotte
- WZTK (FM Talk 101.1)/Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point/Raleigh-Durham
1. Since we last talked, you've moved from WBT to the FM dial and back to Greensboro (and Raleigh-Durham) via Curtis Media's WZTK. How did the current gig come about, and has the change in stations, and partners, and band changed your approach to talk radio?
When I heard that Curtis Media was about to flip a country station whose signal covered both markets to talk back in the spring of '04, it made perfect sense for me to do mornings, having 10 years of equity in the market as an outspoken morning guy on the classic rock station in Greensboro from '87-'96, which predated my four years at WBT. The change from AM to FM is no big deal. The change in partners IS a big deal, as the WBT success was despite constant fighting on the air with a mentally unstable partner whose personal life finally unraveled, killing the show.... and the pleasure it is everyday to come in with Britt Whitmire here at WZTK, who is in complete synch with me in all ways, except for his inability to acknowledge the sum total of Woody Hayes' career at THE Ohio State University was not one punch to the helmet of one Clemson player. I am a biased Buckeye graduate.
2. What kind of an on-air partner is Britt? What roles do you see him, and you, playing on the show? And what's the best and worst thing about partnering with him?
We never map out specific roles on the air, but with no seperate off-air producer, everything is on our shoulders and the division of labor is fairly simple. I'm responsible for the topics/subject matter of the show, and am probably thought of as the signature voice of the program.... Britt is responsible for all the production values (he runs the board), the sound and feel of the show, and is absolutely co-equal in his on air contribution. His repertoire of character voices is from the planet Bizarre, since most of his characters are dead, or their careers are: Bob Hope, Strom Thurmond, Rick Dees, Dan Rather (heard daily on our show STILL fudging the news), and his ability to do foreign accents is the best. He is funny every day and is always on his game. But he is equally capable of the hard interview and usually asks better, more concise questions than I do.
3. What drives you craziest about talk radio, as practiced by other shows and stations? And which other shows do you like these days?
It really bothers me that most of the folks who do this for a living are frauds. Not suitable to be around polite company. Many of the most prominent names in our business are failures as human beings, in their marriages, in their drug and alcohol habits, in their bad peer relationships. That these odious people have any standing to lecture others on how to behave or how the country should be run is absurd. That Glenn Beck is the flavor of the year should send shivers down all our spines; instead it will probably spawn a thousand imitators who will set up radio shop in their own little Glennbeckistans. This insidious combination of faux-populist, anti-government, anti-"elitism" (is an "elite" anyone with a better education than Sarah Palin?), White Christian Nation anti-semitism cloaked in arrogantly teaching the unwashed about the Founding Fathers' intentions via the Constitution is painful to watch or to listen to. Can't wait for the "Conventions." But I do check out Beck daily for 5-10 minutes to hear him remind me to stock up on food and water for the Apocalypse… and buy gold. We'll be back after this commercial message from Wholesale Direct Metals.
I wish Shepard Smith from FNC did talk radio... he'd be great. Neal Boortz follows us on the air, and he may still be the best pure talk show talent when he's applying himself. His advice that you have "listeners, not followers," is a warning to any of these megalomaniacal 21st Century Father Coughlins to tone it down. If something bad happens to Mr. Obama, all the denials in the world will do them no good. On the way home each day I usually switch back and forth between Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd, both whom are great interviewers.
4. With the economic crash of the last year, have you seen a change in the kind of topics that work for you? Has the audience changed? Have you?
Having been unemployed several times over the years, both Britt and I have no trouble empathizing with folks going through unemployment and tough times. In radio, of course, you haven't really been in the business unless you've been fired... multiple times; you cannot sympathize with everyone else's plight until you've gone through the indiginity of your local unemployment office. But frankly, we try to stay as positive as possible considering the economy. Yes, politicians suck, economists don't get it right, Bernanke, Greenspan and the Fed have made some egregious errors, and what's good for Wall St. hasn't been good for Main St, but I don't know how a steady diet of that between 6 and 10am is a great strategy. Here, a skeptical populism makes some sense, but you have to remember that people are starting their day and the idea shouldn't be to piss them off 100% of the time. That's what the rest of the talk radio day is for.
5. What do you think talk radio will be like in 10 years? More of the same, more like your show, more… what? And do you see terrestrial broadcast radio still the primary medium for the message at that time?
I'm afraid radio may be more like today than I hope. As the splintering and niching continues on the margins, a form of the Rightwing Hatefest Format will probably still be a prominent form. On the other hand, if the FM talk trend accelerates and there are 2, 3 or 4 commercial FMs in each market, they all can't be playing the same Conservative music. But 10 years from now that aging upper-end audience will have died off to a great extent, to be replaced by who? The iPod generation that doesn't give a crap about radio now? Suddenly when they hit 40 they'll care? I profess no real ability to prognosticate but assume the internet influence will grow exponentially at terrestrial radio's expense.
6. What would surprise people most about you?
That I truly believe I am a conservative... living my life in a very conservative manner in comparison to the jerks who believe that label only applies to what a person on the radio says about abortion, global warming, and the Second Amendment, but have lived their own lives so recklessly. I've never gone broke or been to jail, am about to celebrate my 25th anniversary to my first wife, have two kids who've done wonderfully while not attending evil government schools, have never had a drug or alcohol problem, and no mid-life religious obsession/conversion.
7. At this stage in your career and life, of what are you most proud?
That I have the respect and love of the right people.
8. What, and who, makes you laugh?
Larry David and Charles Barkley are two of the funniest people on TV. Anyone who by now hasn't seen Sarah Palin as the vacuous, headline-grabbing quitter that she is... makes me laugh.
9. What was the best, funniest, or most fun topic you've ever done? How about the best interview?
By the time you get to question 9, it's too late to think and I gotta get up for a morning show. So I'll only go back a few weeks ago when we did two hours of Whitmire and me arguing passionately over whether we needed to use a GPS to get from Greensboro to Atlanta when we drove in for the Talk Radio Boot Camp. I said no, and that people rely way too much on these things. A straight shot down I-85, 2 turns off of I-285 and you're there. I hate the barking, annoying sound of GPS units. Whitmire was adamant about taking it and using it "just in case." He accused me of being a Luddite. Non-stop hilarious calls taking sides with vicious arguments in both directions, with listeners identifying with one or the other of us. Very funny radio. Over nothing. Now THAT's a topic. I know, we missed another opportunity to disect the public option on health care. America survived.
I don't want to try to isolate one "best" interview. Ones that come to mind that were good were: Richard Belzer (much nicer then I thought he'd be), Richard Simmons (if you lay off all the tired gay jokes, here's a guy whose advice would do more to solve America's health care crisis... too many damn fat people... but he connects with an audience better than anyone), Chris Matthews (lightning fast, whip-smart mind, political hack), Newt Gingrich (dittos to Matthews).
Best Worst Interviews, where the interviewee hangs up, discontinues, or falsely accuses the interviewer of unfairness because they usually get a free pass from the talk show host: Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin.
10. What's the most valuable lesson you've learned in your radio career?
Try to live a good life beyond your radio career. I was lucky. My wife was a listener who wrote me a note back in 1983 when I did mornings on WPIX, NY. I answered the note, we met. I would have gone crazy without her. She is a doctor. A psychiatrist.
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