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10 Questions with ... Joel Sampson
June 2, 2009
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NAME:Joel SampsonTITLE:OM/PDSTATION:WTKX TK101, WYCL MY 107.3MARKET:Pensacola/MobileCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:Spencer, IARAISED:Sioux City, IA
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
1986-1988: KQRS/Canton, MO/Quincy,IL
1988-1994: Bick Broadcasting KHMO-A/KQRS/KICK, PD
1994-1996:WOWW/Pensacola
1996-present: WTKX-WYCL/Pensacola1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?
A 3kw Top 40 Station, KQRS (KQ102) Canton, MO. I did weekends and was the guy who signed the station off at 2a and often turned it back on at 6a.
2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it"?
Wanted to intern in the station news dept. for college credit. They took me on, then told me they no longer had a news dept. and put me on weekends. In 1995, I was doing middays on Country WOWW in Pensacola when we flipped it to Alternative and I was elevated to PD. We shot to #1 P18-34 our first book and I saw for the first time an audience that was as passionate for the station as the staff was.
3) What makes your station or market unique? How does this compare to other markets or stations you have worked at?
Although based in Pensacola, we're a player in Mobile, AL to our west and Ft. Walton Beach to our east. We try to give the station a coastal sound. Pensacola and the area has a huge military population -- from Pensacola NAS, home of the Blue Angels to Eglin Air Force Base, to our east, there's a huge, albeit ever changing, young male audience. Arbitron's upcoming cell phone-only survey should help, if nothing else, increase the Men 18-34 sample size to a statistically more accurate representation of the audience. The wild swings from undersampling and weighting can be maddening.
4) How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with the satellite radio and Internet these days?
Local focus remains key, now more than ever. As an industry, we need to ditch the, "Yeah, but it's free" attitude. Satellite and Internet radio can make the same emotional connection we do with music and personalities; we need to take advantage of the fact that we're an important part of a local community. Worrying about other choices available takes our eye off the ball. We can't fight them like you would a direct attack from a format competitor. Our biggest competition in the car isn't other radio; it's the cell phone. The moment we make someone hang up to crank up their favorite song or listen to their favorite Lex and Terry segment, we're doing something right.
5) Tell us what music we would find on your car or home CD player (or turntable) right now and what is it you enjoy about that particular selection?
Hamelin, local band from Mobile. I probably owe them a few grand for all the copies of their CD "Paintings on the Wall" I've burned for friends. It's a little too light for TK, but their songwriting stands up with any other CD in my collection
6) What was the biggest gaffe you've made on air?
After my first-ever on-air break in 1987, which was smooth as sandpaper, the request line rang, I answered it to hear a friend ask, 'What are you doing on the air?!" To which I responded "Shitting my pants" At which point the jock training me ran in the studio and shut the mic off.
7) How are you using new music technologies to work with the music you program on your station, in production and in your personal life?
I carry a metal Altoid case in my briefcase with seven different flash drives. I can mix promos and imaging on my deck at home and load the next day. We have one of those great jobs where when the creative bug hits you, you can knock it out on a laptop at home. Yes, it's after-hours work, but none of us signed up for 9-5 in the first place, and I enjoy the creative aspect of my position the most.
8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?
Time management and overall organization. With the latest round of cutbacks, we're all doing more than ever, but the staff as a whole has adapted nicely and adjusted to new duties. As we speak, my midday girl Candy is helping verify traffic logs from the weekend.
9) What approach do you take after a soft book?
Pensacola is a two-book market, but Mobile is year-round with trends. We never celebrate a huge book or get too down after a drop. I've gotten over the Arbiron pre-release stress. We realize that the time to stress is when the diaries are in the market, not when the numbers are about to come out.
10) As you look back over your career ... any regrets? Missed opportunities?
1) Not calling Mark the Shark back when he sent me an awesome T&R, thinking I could never afford him. I was at WOWW at the time and WTKX hired him. Within a year, we were both bought by Paxson, I was moved to PD at WTKX and Shark was the one personality we kept. He's been with me now for 12+ years ... ill never let me live it down.
2) Letting my ego decide not to take the Lex and Terry Show, when it was offered for free of charge niners ago, since I was doing mornings at the time. Our competiton took them and eventually beat us in mornings. Wad them on TKX a year later and now couldn't imagine the station without them.
Bonus Questions
What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
"If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance even less.
How often do you aircheck your own shows? Is it mandatory that you run tape everyday? Also, can you honestly critique yourself?
I recently moved to PM drive on Gold AC WYCL. I track a good portion of the show and have it on in the background in my office. Hearing the music flow with my breaks helps get a feel what the listener hears.
Besides your own, what is your favorite radio format?
Not a format, but program -- NPR's World Café. You always think a format like that belongs on a non-commercial station, but the program never fails to pleasantly surprise me,
Who is the most amazing talent you've worked with?
Did mornings with Dick Danger in the late '90s and learned more about morning show formatics than I thought possible. Tip of the hat to Tommy Kramer and Alan Mason for what they taught Dick and myself. Our "Wake up in the morning with a little Dick ... and Joel" still holds the record for the quickest billboard take-down due to complaints.
What's the best hire you've ever made?
Mark the Shark -- although I passed on him due to a bad assumption on my part. Never worked with a more passionate or adaptable personality. He's also the "Radio Rain Man" ... Give him call letters and he can nail the market.
What is the biggest misconception about your station?
That we're a 'black T-shirt' station. While they're definitely in our audience, the stations been around for 30+ years and last book was #2 P25-54 and #1 Men 18-49. People who grew up with it may not necessarily still be P1s, but they know what we do and come back to hear current music.
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