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Nio Fernandez
July 16, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I think it took about six months for the team to buy into the new direction, then the results started speaking for themselves. Winning fixes everything! I also made it a priority to have some team building activities such as bowling nights or dinner celebrations when the station performed well. Becoming comfortable in the leadership role takes some time as we have to become problem-solvers and you don't always have the answers. Eventually, you see enough scenarios, then the experience factor kicks in and you are better prepared to navigate through challenges
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Tropical Storm Barry hit shore last weekend, sparing New Orleans but drenching Southern states surrounding the Mississippi River. But that was just an appetizer for what promises to be another tumultuous hurricane season. Few people personally know better how to program radio during such catastrophes than Nio Fernandez, WYUU/Tampa PD who also oversees Beasley's Spanish stations. Fernandez spent 19 hours in the studio during Hurricane Irma -- just he and his dog -- offering a lifeline of sorts to listeners holed up during the storm. Here, Fernandez offers his insight on how to persist through such trying times, as well as his views on the Spanish radio environment.
After spending so many years on-air, when did you decide to add programming duties?
I was working as an on-air talent for WYUU/Tampa when the position opened and to my surprise, Pio Ferro, who was at that time the VP/Spanish Programming for the company out of Dallas, thought I would be a good fit.
Was it at all difficult going from being "one of the guys" to essentially the boss?
Absolutely! This was perhaps the most difficult thing for me because I was very serious about competing at a high level and set an expectation.
What kind of adjustment period did it take for you to get the staff in tune to your leadership? And for that matter, what did you do to become comfortable in a leadership role?
I think it took about six months for the team to buy into the new direction, then the results started speaking for themselves. Winning fixes everything! I also made it a priority to have some team building activities such as bowling nights or dinner celebrations when the station performed well.
Becoming comfortable in the leadership role takes some time as we have to become problem-solvers and you don't always have the answers. Eventually, you see enough scenarios, then the experience factor kicks in and you are better prepared to navigate through challenges.
What are the differences in Spanish radio between L.A., Miami and Tampa?
L.A. is Mexican-based by majority and Miami more Cuban, so that simplifies many things as the tastes in those cultures are more readily identifiable. Tampa is a bit trickier because of the diversity of the Hispanic market. Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Mexicans make up the majority but other nationalities such as Colombians, Venezuelans and Peruvians also play a vital role to the composition. Finding the common ground is a balancing act. Community engagement has helped me understand what's important to Tampa's Hispanics.
You once did Tampa Bay Bucs play-by-play. Do you miss that part of your career?
It had some very special moments. After our broadcasting contract with the team concluded, they never seemed to find the same kind of success on the field -- and I recall teasing Jon Gruden about this at a press conference. I told him that I was the team's lucky charm and that if they signed me to a big contract, their success would return but, of course, they just laughed. I wonder if they should consider my offer now ... LOL!
Would you consider future opportunities in that field?
I like football and could consider returning to the broadcast booth if it made sense.
Now that you oversee Beasley's Spanish stations, how much of your efforts pertain to having a consistent sounds/presentation, and how much is it tailored to each individual market?
Every station is different and requires its own identity. I get asked this question frequently because Spanish is considered a foreign language, but it's really no different than English. Look at it as if you had one person that programmed a Rock station and a Country station at the same time ... they are both English language but targeting very different audiences with different music, imaging, texture, etc.
How do you divide your time when overseeing the Spanish stations? Do you find yourself spending more time on the weaker stations, or more time optimizing the most successful ones?
I don't believe any of our stations are "weak." Upon launching a new station, I had to spend extra hours in the office to ensure that the execution would be flawless. I spend time listening to each station every day and I think it's like a guitar ... when something gets a bit out of tune, you adjust it to keep it sounding lovely.
Do you invest equal time and energy to the HD2 stations as you do to WYUU?
The HD2 station doesn't require as much maintenance as WYUU as it's more of a gold playlist station, yet we like to kick the tires very purposefully and very often on both.
What do you do when you "kick the tires" of those stations?
Analyze research and data, review clocks and music categories, brainstorm promotions and calendars, conduct focus groups, etc.
Who do you compete against - other Spanish stations or any station that appeals to the same P1s?
Believe it or not, there are actually 11 FM signals broadcasting Spanish language media in our market, though the majority are translators attached to AM signals. I believe that our P1s don't stray very far as we continue to give them a reason to keep coming back.
How has the presence of streaming impacted your stations in terms of music programming ... and how important are digital platforms to your stations' success?
I believe people want to stream your broadcast because they love what you do on the terrestrial signal. Digital represents a world of opportunity for everyone. It gives us a new ability and advantage to stay connected with our fans even when they are not listening! It is vital for the success of media today.
What are the challenges a Spanish radio station faces in optimizing sales?
We've done a tremendous job of educating many advertisers as to who Hispanics are and how they consume products, services and above all media. I believe (and some stats prove) that Latinos' passion for great radio gives us an advantage over other formats.
Do you have to overcome stereotypes about your audience to your advertisers?
All the time! Most often we've found that for many folks, Hispanic means Mexican and Mariachi music. Again this goes back to educating and moreover, inspiring. We use highly recognizable names such as Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira and many others to snap a picture of our brand and this is always received very positively.
You spent 19 hours at the station on-air during Hurricane Irma. Now that you lived through that, what are the biggest lessons you learned from the experience?
What a daunting day/night that was. I remember getting home the morning after the storm and literally breaking down in tears because we were spared from what could've been much worse. It was very emotional for me, processing all of the voices that called that night to report what they were experiencing or seeking comfort because they had lost power and were in the dark with the wind howling outside. I'll never forget the crying, desperate mom who called from inside her car, in the garage, with her kids crying in the back seat because she felt they weren't going to make it. I get choked up when I think of that. I still felt the headphones on my head from wearing them for so long; my family would talk with me but I just didn't feel like talking.
How many times during that ordeal did you say to yourself, "Gee, I wish we had this or done that beforehand?" Any specifics?
I would do it all exactly the same way with the snap of my fingers if it needed to be done again, yet I never thought of doing video for social media or taking pictures ... I was just entrenched in the moment -- and the "likes" or those statistics that we chase everyday were just non-existent. Nothing else mattered ... it was just survival that took hold.
Your dog was with you during that whole ordeal. Where did you walk the dog?
My pal "Kobalt" is the easiest-going fellow. I believe I just walked him once in a grass patch by our parking lot before the storm reached our area. He is going on 11 years now and has been a wonderful companion!
After Irma, have you implemented any changes at the station in advance of this year's hurricane season - and if so, what are they?
We continuously talk about this and are always thinking of what more we can do. A very easy thing that we are implementing is Facebook live for our broadcast. It's easy and can also provide visual reference of the radar maps we are using in studio to track weather systems.
During hurricane season, storms are spotted out in the ocean when they're small and are tracked as they head to shore, gaining strength. Some peter out or move away from your area. In that light, when do you start to alert your listeners big-time - and are you concerned that listeners may give short shrift to your warnings should too many of those storms never hit shore?
Hurricanes are of high interest to Floridians and they want to know about them even if they're not a threat. We begin mentioning possibilities as soon as one exists so that there are no surprises later.
Forecasters do a great job of providing us with the "cone" of possibility and whenever the possibility exists, everyone takes it seriously. I would hate to be the station that took something like a hurricane lightly and got it wrong; too many lives involved to gamble with something this.
Whether it's hurricanes in Florida, earthquakes in L.A., tornadoes in the Great Plains or floods in low-lying areas, there always seems to be a need for radio to be prepared for these types of catastrophes. Is it important to transfer that sense of urgency to your listeners so they're not unprepared? And how do you do that when they're listening to you for entertainment and not for disaster preparedness?
Listeners are smart and understand that when the music stops and an important message is being transmitted, things are serious. Once we set that in motion, the engagement of the audience is amplified tremendously! We learned with Hurricane Irma that the fans of the station unite to become the best neighbors and were possibly better public servants to the community than the broadcasters themselves. They just needed a mega-phone to be heard and we gave that to them. When the shortages of gas, water and other necessities began to be reported, good neighbors would call the station to announce where you could find what you needed. There were cases where someone needed a tree cut down and our great audience members offered to help one another. We gave the keys of WYUU to the audience and they did the rest.
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