10 Questions with ... Hal Fish

1. What was your first job in radio and early influences?

Part time at WKHM AM Jackson, Michigan. I still remember how hard my heart was pounding the first time I cracked the mic and how pissed the guy who came on after me was. You see, we actually played records that had to be located and queued up and all of our commercials were played from "carts." It was common courtesy to pull the first hour of music and commercials for the jock that followed you, but I sucked at my job so badly that it was all I could do to find my own songs and commercials and get them on the air. The next jock arrived to find me in a cold sweat surrounded by stacks of records and carts that I couldn't seem to find the time to put away. His welcoming words were, "Who the hell trained you?" Ken Calvert is my all-time favorite jock. Ken was doing mid-days at WRIF around the time I got into radio, and I wanted to be just like "the casual one." He didn't "sound" like a disc jockey to me. One of my favorite things was listening to Ken "cross -over" with other jocks on the station like Arthur P. They just sounded like “real people” to me, a quality I’ve always looked for when hiring.

2. What made you want to do “Radio” for a living?

I wanted to be a rock star. I really wasn't particularly interested in being on the radio. In fact, I majored in Broadcast Journalism at Central Michigan University and never set foot inside the college radio station. I started playing in rock bands after college and made a serious effort at making a living from music. When the most serious of these bands broke up, I came off the road and started living in a house with two other musicians, one of whom knew the Program Director/Morning Show Host at WKHM in Jackson, Michigan. I was complaining about low wages from the "wedding band" that I'd hooked up with for the summer when he suggested I give his Program Director friend a call. He was pretty sure they'd "train me" and I could pick up a little extra cash. I wouldn't have hired me. I remember sitting in the Program Director's office during the interview telling him, "My first priority is my music so, we'll to have schedule around that." Apparently, the station was desperate for help because they hired me and since my musical career wasn't exactly taking off, I wasn't too hard to "schedule around." My "Ah hah" moment came when they offered me mid-days. I'd already started to fall in love with radio, but the mid-day gig made me realize I might actually have a knack for this thing. My priorities soon shifted from "my band" to "my radio station."

3. Congrats on 33 years with the same company. You just announced you are stepping down from your role as VP/Programming & Operations and will stay on in a consultant role after helping to find your successor. Why are you choosing to step away now?

It’s part of a long-term plan that my wife and I established some years ago. To be perfectly honest, when Covid hit, we wondered if we’d waited too long! Like many folks I was working from home during the worst of 2020, but my wife spent her career working in Radiation Therapy and, since you can’t treat cancer patients from home, she was covered in PPE risking her health to do her job, as so many essential workers do. I was continually concerned for her health, but things worked out just fine. My wife recently retired (completely unrelated to Covid) and now it’s my turn to move on to the next phase of my life!

4. You’ve had an incredible run in Columbus programming WRKZ (99.7 The Blitz) since 1992. The station is still considered one of the original Active Rock stations. What make The Blitz so unique and special to you and the city of Columbus?

Legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes said, “You win with people.” And that’s the “secret.” They come for the music, but they stay for our people. When I coach young announcers I tell them, “I’m just trying to get you to sound like yourself.” I’m sure there are successful announcers who have an “act”, but I think ultimately, listeners want to walk away from an encounter with an announcer telling others, “She sounded just like she does on the radio!” We have people like that at The Blitz and they tend to stick around for a while, which also helps maintain relationships with both listeners and clients.

5. Columbus is also the home of Rock On The Range (now Sonic Temple) which has become arguably the biggest Rock festival in the country. I know that The Blitz has a huge presence there but how beneficial has it been for your station to have this huge Rock Festival in your own backyard each year?

Well, Covid flatlined Sonic Temple two years in a row but when it was here (and should it return) It's our biggest event of the year. We think of it as our show and plan for it as such. We take an "all hands-on deck" approach with our staff that weekend and broadcast live from the venue. It helps that Danny Wimmer Presents basically books our entire playlist for the event!

6. Since WRKZ is one of the original Active Rock stations, what are the main differences you see in the format today from when The Blitz first went on the air in 1992?

In 1992 we combined hard rock from the 70’s and 80’s, Hair and Grunge into a format that didn’t have a name. I remember running into the GM from our cross-town rival shortly after we launched, as he sat having lunch with some of his sales staff. He smirked and said, “Nice Metallica!” As we walked by his entire table burst into laughter. A year later we were “eating their lunch” in the ratings! In many ways the formula is not that different today. We’re still a hard-edged guitar driven format. Most of the Hair and 70’s has gone to the Classic Rock stations, though we still honor the “founding fathers” like Hendrix and Zeppelin with airplay and Motley Crue elevated above the “hair” moniker. And of course, Metallica is still seminal to the format. But our mixture of current/recurrent to library is very similar to the old days. Our audience is much broader due to our heritage. In 1992 we were primarily serving young men, at about a 70/30 gender ratio. Those young men and women now comprise a very robust 25-54 audience which makes us a very different competitor in the market from a sales perspective in 2021.

7. You are also a strong proponent of research especially since you founded RadioTraks back in 2000. Who are some of the Active Rock bands or songs that have been researching positively this year and why?

AC/DC “Shot In The Dark” tested well at the beginning of the year. Kind of felt like “comfort food” for the Covid era. Mainstays like Five Finger Death Punch and Godsmack are still dependable. More mainstream artists like Seether, Pop Evil and Papa Roach continue to test very well. I’m very interested in the emergence of Metal Core into the main. Bring Me The Horizon “Teardrops” and Architects “Animals” tested extremely well and while this trend in not brand new, I wonder if it gives us an indication as to the future of the format the way that say, Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin did when they emerged. The biggest surprise of the year for me was Daughtry. I always thought he was just too “pop” sounding for the format but “Heavy Is The Crown” debuted strong and stuck around for a while. It will be interesting to see if the Active audience lets him “back in the club” when he follows up.

8. You are going to assist in the transition to a new programmer for WRKZ before you step away. What are you and the company looking for in the next person to program The Blitz?

I think it’s important that they understand our culture and our history. That’s why our company believes it’s important for me to be involved in the transition. You’re not going to be able to come in here like you’re programming Sirius “Octane.” That’s not a knock on Sirius by the way, it’s just that what we do is much more nuanced from both a music and personality standpoint, in addition to being fine tuned to Central Ohio. I realize it might be tough to follow the Program Director of a station who has been at the job since 1992 but I’m totally vested in the next person’s success. And I know where all the “bones are buried” and can provide a map! The next Blitz PD will likely be well-experienced with a successful track record and thick skin. You need to have thick skin to be a successful Program Director anyway so…

9. I know you’ve worked with lots of talented on-air personalities at The Blitz over the years, but if you were to salute a handful that have really helped you over the years, who would be on that list?

Ronni Hunter would be first on the list. Ronni Hunter does afternoon drive on The Blitz, is the Assistant PD and has also been here since day one. She’s one of the best-known radio personalities in Central Ohio and is much beloved by listeners, staff and clients. She’s the absolute heart and soul of The Blitz. I don’t know what we’d do without her (hope we don’t ever have to find out). Our current on-air lineup is our most successful ever. As I mentioned previously our people tend to stick around. I think our evening person, Tess has the shortest tenure at 3 years but she’s a “repeat offender” having worked for us previously. I can’t get away without mentioning our morning show, Loper and Randi in The Morning and Nuber in middays, both shows experiencing extended successful runs.

10. Finally, while you are still going to have a consulting role within the company, what are some of your plans outside of radio in the future?

I’m still majority owner of the web-based music research company RadioTraks. In 2022 we’ll celebrate 20 years since our first client came on board and I intend to continue being heavily involved. It’s actually perfect for my lifestyle moving forward, as the folks at RadioTraks have always worked “remotely” and my wife and I intend to do a bit more traveling!