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Bill Weston
March 12, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I'd like to see rock open up a bit; Look at a Rock station's musical bull's-eye. At the center of the target is all the mainstays -- the Foos, Green Days, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica ... the mainstream acts. Maybe the next concentric circle could be cool Alternative rock bands that employ guitars and drums. Isn't Weezer a mainstream rock act? Then there's a Triple A circle, like Revivalists and Record Company. It's great music; just sell it as a slightly different flavor of rock. It doesn't have to be ear bleeding, Cookie Monster rock. Within limits, and taking into account the local competitive matrix, Rock should just expand the target area. It helps that the Black Keys' new record is out; it has a mainstream sound. It's well-crafted, hook-ridden music that's perfect for us -- and stations that think it's too soft ... just play mornings and middays
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Suffice it to say, when the two stations you program in a major market sit at #1 and #2 in the ratings, you're pretty much hitting the bull's-eye. On top of programming WMMR and WMGK/Philadelphia, Bill Weston now shares his insight with Beasley's Rock stations as National Format Captain. Yet he tempers his advice with the full knowledge that when it comes to the right music and most effective promotions, knowing your local audience is the ultimate key to success. Here, he explains how Beasley's stations stay right on target.
Before we get to your Brand Manager duties, after working in Buffalo, New York City, Providence and Richmond, how long were you into your then-new gig at WMMR/Philadelphia when you started to realize that this might be your career destination?
Surprisingly, I almost didn't take this job. My kids were in middle school; one a freshman in high school. I was content with the quality of life move to Richmond, but after repeated overtures from Buzz Knight to join his team, I took a trip to Philadelphia for an interview ... and things started looking right. Thank God my wife is an Army brat used to moving around. My tenure here is now double that of anywhere else -- and certainly has been the most successful.
So you knew this was the place to stay ... when?
Probably when we went from 13th to hit #1 25-54 adults for the first time in total week, when Preston & Steve hit their stride in mornings. It didn't take them long ... probably six to eight months. Once they started smoking, everything came together. We won the Marconi the next year for Best Rock Station. That was a high point, in 2007, but we've been honored twice more since then. The station has continued to be really successful.
Was there anything about the WMMR staff or its operations that was different or unique?
Well, midday talent Pierre Robert is certainly unique. I've never heard anyone with his style, warmth and level of success with his different approach. Another thing about WMMR was its heritage -- a big part of the brand -- that means a lot to the audience, who give us lot of grace and room to fail, thankfully.
There are those who warn that a contemporary music station being tied too closely to heritage can alienate younger listeners who want something new and different - even in rock. Did you ever have that concern?
No. We just finished our 50th anniversary celebration, and we were very conscious of our heritage. We wanted to look back and honor all that had happened and been accomplished by the station's employees - and its listeners. And we celebrated our history while playing new music and being very active in the community in a very contemporary fashion. We successfully honored the past while celebrating the present.
Please describe your national format duties.
Beasley calls it format captain. I'm there to support to local strategic and programming teams. Buzz Knight, our VP/Product Development, has higher level oversight. If I can offer an additional perspective to a station conducting a research project, facing a new competitive challenge or even moral support for a PD, then that's a positive for me. I've been in the Rock format for most of my career and fortunate to work with some really smart people. I'm hoping some of it has rubbed off on me. Besides my stations in Philadelphia, I support WRIF/Detroit; WDHA/Morristown; WRXK/Ft. Myers; WDHA/Morristown, NJ; and WRAT/Monmouth-Ocean; Classic Rockers WCSX/Detroit and WPBB (98.7 The Shark)/Tampa and our Alternative in Boston, WBOS.
How much of what you do at WMMR and WMGK/Philadelphia can translate to Beasley's other Rock stations?
One of the reasons these stations are successful is the autonomy in programming their stations -- including the music selection process. I'm not able to tell you the history of a certain band in Tampa or Ft. Myers ... though I may be able to share a winning approach to utilize with a record label, concert promoter or booking agency. WMMR's approach to rock is unique to Philadelphia. As is Mark's approach at WRIF in Detroit. We do not have a "one size fits all" programming mentality; while I may think the new Dorothy record is great, it's a great record for the here and now in Philly.
WMMR and WMGK are fortunate to have all-star vets as air personalities. How can other stations develop their own superstars these days?
The old model has been syndication; even today, the Dave & Chuck the Freak show on WRIF is also doing well for us at The Shark in Tampa, WRXK and WBOS. But syndication isn't the only choice; with the podcast model, those guys -- and even your own talent -- can be heard anywhere. By and large, we want to focus our personalities on where they made their bones. In Philadelphia, John DeBella has been in the market since 1981, so it's not so much of a "let's take over the world" or "get on 20 stations" attitude. It's more of "what can we do in Philly to generate the biggest, most loyal audience" ... maybe use audio on-demand or daily vids ... maybe sponsorship-attached product extensions. I personally like the fact that Preston & Steve is a single-market show. Being uber-local makes it better for listeners; they're feel like they're in this very Philly-centric club. I think that applies to markets and talents of all shapes and sizes.
Of course, time waits for no one and one day, you'll be faced with the challenge of finding successors to your star talent. How do you find and develop the next generation for WMMR and WMGK's on-air stars?
We're lucky in that our morning shows have good intern programs; we've had a lot of fresh talent come in through that door. The best of them have stayed -- in traffic, in engineering, in production, and on the air. They start as unpaid interns for a semester and if they show a spark, they get part-time work on the ground crew or in the van ... then they get paid to do production and after that, we get some of those people on the air. That is great to see - getting young, fresh, motivated talent who love radio on the air.
Sure, we know replacing a Pierre Robert or a John DeBella is going to be very difficult, but we're doing our part to feed and grow the young end of the pipeline.
Let's talk format - what's your take on Active Rock's health?
I was just at a convention in Las Vegas, where we flew the flag for the Rock format. Right now, there's no big music movement in rock. Nu metal and grunge were decades ago. I'd like to see rock open up a bit; Look at a Rock station's musical bull's-eye. At the center of the target is all the mainstays -- the Foos, Green Days, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica ... the mainstream acts. Maybe the next concentric circle could be cool Alternative rock bands that employ guitars and drums. Isn't Weezer a mainstream rock act? Then there's a Triple A circle, like Revivalists and Record Company. It's great music; just sell it as a slightly different flavor of rock. It doesn't have to be ear bleeding, Cookie Monster rock. Within limits, and taking into account the local competitive matrix, Rock should just expand the target area. It helps that the Back Keys' new record is out; it has a mainstream sound. It's well-crafted, hook-ridden music that's perfect for us -- and stations that think it's too soft ... just play mornings and middays.
Are you happy with what you hear from new bands and their labels, or do you feel rock programmers are being too cautious in trying to break them?
I have to put the caveat in that I don't know every market - and many markets may have a very competitive nature in the way they're laid out. Maybe it makes sense to have a very tight list or a certain sound code where you should mainly play the heavy "black T-shirt guy" rock, but if the PD in that market sees something rock-based doing well in another market, that may be an opportunity to expand. There can be an advantage to using other flavors of rock ... if they're incredibly well done, hooky and memorable. And you also have to notice who's been getting lots of downloads.
What's your take on playing new tracks from Classic Rock artists?
That question has been asked of Classic Rock PDs for a long time, but the fact is if the audience doesn't clamor for it, don't force it on them. What I like to do is to spike a new track once or twice to acknowledge it is there but leave it at that. We played a couple blues tracks from the Stones album when their album came out last year. It is a contemporary event that helps put a new coat of paint on the radio station, but you still need to focus on your library. We're not playing the new Tom Petty track on WMGK right now, either. We don't pretend it's not there, but if the song doesn't make sense we'll wait until the audience expresses a hunger for it.
Is it tough to differentiate your powers on Classic Rock WMGK with the golds on Active Rock WMMR?
Obviously, in a perfect world there would be no overlap but at times there are. Ideally, we like calling it "flying wingtip to wingtip," where strategically we're going in the same direction but we're not getting caught up in each other's jet wash. WMGK added a bit of '90s grunge into its mix and WMMR will be all over the Stones when they come to town -- but we'll be very strategic about how and when we play them.
A couple weeks ago in his Power Player interview, Guy Zapoleon noted that Classic Rock's current success portends to a possible revival of guitar bands. Agree? How can Classic Rock do that when it doesn't break any new bands?
The chances for a guitar revival changed with the access to 10,000 different bands online and a thousand different bands being recommended on Spotify playlists. It's the long tail coming into play; true, it's harder for a particular entity to get focus and generate the critical mass required to be a "hit act" ...that's part of it. But you look at real bands -- even Country acts - when they play live, it's like a rock show, so the appeal is still there. A lot of time rock bands need to develop a good story. Greta's story is that they're Zeppelin 4.0 or whatever; that's fine because it got people to pay attention. They like the music - and that's good for rock. I just hope it doesn't portend to more derivative acts, but look, Greta was the first rock baby band on Saturday Night Live since forever. More of that, please.
Describe the impact of streaming on your stations and radio in general.
At that Vegas conference, a rep from BDS brought up that streaming vs. airplay can be very different. It's probably good to look at the streaming charts to help realize what people are actively searching for and listening to. Streaming has served up another tool for us on what new music to play. We also stream our stations and make on-demand streams of repurposed material. Streaming has had more of an impact on artists; that's how they'll make money outside of touring. When musicians are not selling CDs anymore, they'll have to rely on checks from Spotify, Apple and others.
Obviously, there have been a lot of change in the past five years. It's not change itself but the acceleration of change; the rate of change will only get faster and faster as memory chips get smaller and faster ... and with 5G bringing with it all sorts of new opportunities. Beasley has been smart to put a lot of focus on the company's digital space and getting its core business -- great radio programming - online, on demand and anywhere else. That's where the puck is going.
I assume the same holds true for smart speakers.
It's a loudspeaker that puts radio back in the home. Mark Ramsey said that by 2020, smart speakers will have 55% penetration; that's pretty significant. Getting a new working radio back into the American home is a really good thing. Of course, a lot of people still need to work out how to best use it. I was just talking about that yesterday, how we can get it work so our listeners could say, "Alexa, remind me when they're offering the Stones ticket giveaway," or "Give me the latest Preston & Steve podcast."
How has all that impacted your own future? Can you set three or five-year goals for you to accomplish in today's changing business climate?
I'd like to sit here and tell you I have this five-year plan, but I don't. I just want to stay ahead of the other guy. We're currently #1 and #2 in our market - and I'm worried about who's #3. Of course, things change; I read articles in the trade press about some new company buying an old company and what that'll be doing to the competition, or what's likely to happen. It takes a lot of work to stay on top of things while you also pay attention to the product that you serve up every day. You want to be that warm, enthusiastic, passionate voice for the music and the lifestyle. You want what you say and do to reflect the lifestyle of your audience and give them what they like to hear and talk about things they feel are important, so we're always a part of their day.
And even with all our digital efforts, our concerts and promotions, we never forget about our core business - which is making our stations run as smoothly as possible. It's like building a car. Sure, you want it to have the in-dash wi-fi and the 17 cupholders, but all that is meaningless if you don't have the right transmission so it runs smoothly. We spend a lot of time doing just that, and I've got lot of talented people here to help me out.
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