10 Questions with ... Andy Ludlum

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• 1975-1979 KXRX-AM, San Jose, Assistant News Director
• 1979-1984 KIRO-AM, Seattle, Managing Editor
• 1984-1987 KMBZ-AM, KMBR-FM, Kansas City, Program Director
• 1987-1992 KIRO-AM, Seattle, VP News & Programming,
• 1992-1993 KIRO TV, KIRO AM-FM, Seattle, VP News Operations
• 1993-1994 KING-AM, Seattle, Program Director
• 1995-1996 Metro Networks, Los Angeles, Regional Director of Operations Southwest
• 1996-1997 KABC-KMPC-AM, Los Angeles, Program Manager
• 1998-2008 KFWB-AM, Los Angeles, Program Director
• 2009-present KNX-AM, KFWB-AM, Los Angeles, Director of News Programming

1. Going all the way back to the beginning, what inspired you to go into radio? Why radio?

A friend of mine in high school got me interested in Journalism. By the time I got to college I knew I didn't want to do print, so I focused on radio and television. As I recall, I was going to make socially-significant anti-war documentaries but, in the meantime, an internship led to a part-time job at a local radio station. I did traffic. I sat in front of a microphone, a police scanner and a telephone in the news director's office. It was fun, all live, all ad-lib and I could be on the air 5 or 6 times an hour. I'm sure I was horrible. I remember most people telling me I sounded "earnest." And my news director liked to tell me I wasn't as good as the guy who had the job before me.

2. About what are you most passionate these days?

I feel fortunate to have been involved in the early days of PPM measurement. I find it to be a fascinating window into listener behavior. Or should I say fascinating peek through the window of listener behavior as there's certainly room for refinement. I see programmers becoming more attuned to the actual content delivered to the audience and less concerned with image and memory gimmicks. But, I do believe the formats I've dedicated my career to have never been measured more accurately. Also, nothing came crashing down in my set of beliefs about what makes good radio, such as great storytelling by engaging personalities.

3. You've been a leader in radio news for a long time, and you're presently shepherding the resurgence of KNX, the all-news station in L.A., after ten years with KFWB (which you also oversee today). What changes do you see coming in the role of radio news as it relates to other media -- will radio news have to change and adapt as new media gain traction? How?

As a responsible manager of a large news operation, I see one of my most important responsibilities as finding multiple uses and platforms for the content my team gathers. For instance, KNX provides most of the news heard on KFWB, as well as newscasts on KTWV-FM, the smooth AC station in our cluster. We also provide news resources to oldies, KRTH-FM. Of course we're aggressive with our website, knx1070.com and now also text services. As I write this, LA is experiencing a week of heavy rain, so in addition to on-air, we're sending out email updates and texting listeners with evacuation details. I love Twitter because it's so similar to radio news, short burts, hopefully with a little unique color. I'm most likely in the final decade of my career, but I tell young people just getting into the business not to think of themselves as a radio or television person, but rather as a multi-platform information professional. I easily see the Journalist of the future working on several platforms daily, which will be very creative and exciting.

4. Meanwhile, you've programmed talk stations like KFWB now and KABC, the old KING-AM, and KMBZ. We've gone through an extended period in which conservative political talk has dominated the format. Do you think that will change in the next, say, decade? Besides some talk migrating to FM, do you think the content will change -- will talk as we know it now have to adapt to attract new audiences as the present one ages out of sales demos, and how?

(I've learned that being out of the sales demo gives you a nice break on movie tickets, so it's not all bad.) I do think talk will change or evolve, but not really because of some ideological shift. Too many of the conservative and liberal talk shows sound exactly the same, a strident, unrelenting beating of the drum. I think too many hosts have forgotten that radio is supposed to be entertaining. The great ones haven't. Rush Limbaugh has created a strong, memorable persona and love him or hate him, he's always entertaining. Just the other night, I was talking with a friend about why certain talk personalities just don't make it. I said one thing to consider is how easy would it be for a comedian to mimic that host? Even if you're not Jon Stewart, it's easy to mimic the true personalities. And it's almost impossible to mimic the also-rans. Migrating talk to FM is great, you expand your potential audience and reduce your average age by a decade. But, I think we're seeing in some markets that simply moving a mediocre AM talk station to FM will have disappointing results. There's nothing inherent in FM -- or PPM -- that makes well-programmed, entertaining and engaging stations or personalities fail.

5. Newspapers are finding it difficult to finance local reporting on the level news consumers have been accustomed to reading. Radio's had to cut back on the size of reporting staff as well. Do you think that radio will find a way to adequately fund full local coverage and investigative reporting outside, say, the very largest markets? How important is original reporting to a successful news or talk station?

You open a can of worms here. What I think is most important is LOCAL coverage, more so than investigative or even award-winning original reporting. I don't think any of us can accurately forecast the technology of the future. But let's assume it's far-reaching, wireless, on-demand and can be manipulated on small hand held devices. I still need local news. I still need people to tell me if the brush fire is burning up to my back yard or the mudslide is coming down the hill. Or, less dramatic, I need to know about the local traffic or why the pothole that wrecked my $200 tire still isn't filled. Or why the power's off. It's like that old saying about politics, all radio is local. I understand the economic challenges, but somehow we have avoid repeating the horror stories I've heard about small market disasters with no radio announcers on duty to warn the local population.

6. Who have been your mentors, influences, and heroes?

The late Norm Woodruff opened my eyes and broadened my perceptions about what is news. He taught a lot of the nuances of how to effectively cover breaking news, how and when to repeat stories and most importantly, he gave me the confidence to be able to fill hours of news on the fly. There aren't too many of us still on the job who worked with Norm. He had training techniques that were more like hazing and would make an HR director today clutch his/her heart!

My good friend Vic Bremer, besides giving me my first big breaks, taught me about how to be a good manager. He was the fairest, most humane, most supportive manager I've ever know. No one worked better with mature and young talent and was a better guardian of a quality news radio station. He gave me some fantastic professional growth opportunities and introduced me to martinis!

Last but not least, my wife Rodi, who thinks I reject all her advice but, actually, she is the only one who can tell me those things I don't want to -- but need to -- hear.

7. What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

One time at KIRO in Seattle I went into the booth to do an hourly newscast just as we got word that an explosion had taken out most of a city block. I started my newscast with the few facts we knew and as I was speaking the editor ran in breathlessly and handed me a scrap of paper that said, "eyewitness, Joe, line 2." I said, "We've got an eyewitness on the line, let's go to Joe. Joe, what do you see?" Joe replied, "Andy I don't see anything, I'm blind." Almost in resignation, I asked him what he heard and he actually gave a very detailed account of the number of fire trucks going by and I ended up talking with him until our helicopter arrived.

8. Of what are you most proud?

I've had number 1 stations in half the markets I've worked in, Seattle and Kansas City. I'd like to have one in Los Angeles. I do believe I've left my stations in better shape than when I arrived. I've always tried to treat people with dignity, especially when you have to do something you know hurts, like a layoff. I've had some failures and I've tried to learn from them and certainly not repeat them over and over again.

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

10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?

Best -- To prepare financially to get through the bad times in this business. Early on, when I was more hot-headed, the fund gave me a tremendous, if immature, sense of freedom. Later, it allowed me to be out of the business for short periods of time without causing an undue hardship on my family.

Worst -- that it was better be quiet and try to implement someone's vision when I didn't really believe in it.