10 Questions with ... Tony Banks

NAME:Tony Banks TITLE:PD STATION:WAOA MARKET:Melbourne, FL OWNER:Cumulus OTHER:President, Tony Banks, LLC/Voiceovers; Vice-President, RadioTalentHunter.com

Please outline your radio career so far:

92 PRO-FM/Providence
WPLJ/New York
WKRZ/Wilkes Barre-Scranton
Y-100/Miami
Mega 103/Miami
WERO/Greenville, NC (also consulted sister Top 40 WAZO/Wilmington, NC)
WA1A/Melbourne
Also spent 2005 and some of 2006 running a Broadcast Magnet Program and teaching with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

1 You've worked in some big markets. Ever have the urge to go back?

No. My family and I love Florida, and, at this point, quality of life and living where we want to live is most important. My home and business is minutes from the beach, and it would be a tough place to leave!

2 What has been the most difficult market for you to program in?

I would have to say Miami. It really takes a long time to "get" Miami. Life there goes way beyond South Beach or the stuff you see on "CSI: Miami." In fact, most times, it's nothing like that at all.

3 What programmers have influenced you?

Growing up in Providence and listening to 92 PRO-FM and KISS 108 in Boston, my earliest influences were then-PDs Tom Cuddy and the late Sunny Joe White, respectively. Additionally, Paul Cannon, who gave me my shot at PRO-FM and allowed me to sit in on music/programming meetings; Scott Shannon; Frank Bell; and Mike Donovan all helped form who I am as a programmer. More recently, Jan Jeffries has been a great resource for me. He is truly very cool!

4 How has the job of PD changed over the years? What new skills have you had to acquire?

Funny you should ask that. A few nights ago I stumbled across the old '70s movie "FM," and while watching it I realized the PD's job hasn't changed much at all! Our main responsibilities have always included protecting the license, generating ratings/revenue, and serving the public. In the movie, the PD also did an airshift, acted as "psychiatrist" to his airstaff, put on a station concert, rallied against bad commercials and heavy spot loads getting in the way of the art/product and more similar situations that we have all encountered in a typical workday.

In recent years, technology has been the biggest catalyst for change. In that old movie the phone lines were the primary means of interacting with the listener. Nowadays we have station websites, MySpace, text messaging, podcasting and even more ways to interact coming down the line. The PD must have the skills to manage these new areas of visibility and interactivity with the listener and carve more time out of his or her schedule to deal with them. Being extremely organized has never been more important.

5 You're involved in a voiceover business as well.

Yes. I handle radio and TV imaging for a growing roster of stations, and I have done in-store radio for Aeropostale, McDonald's and Sears. I am most proud of the TV commercials and promos I have done for Hooters (the ones with Terry Bradshaw) and Twentieth Century Fox's film "The Family Stone." You can hear demos at www.TonyBanksDemo.com.

Adam Goodman of Voicehunter.com, who is also a WPLJ alumnus, helped me to break into the VO business and later approached me to partner up on a first-of-its-kind headhunting/casting service for radio called RadioTalentHunter.com. Although we are still in pre-launch mode we are fortunate to have some very well-respected people in the industry already using us and recommending our services to their stations. We also offer radio talent several resources to help them manage the business of being an on-air talent. All that is available at www.RadioTalentHunter.com.

6 Run down your airstaff for us.

Lisa Moldovan and Timmy Vee handle mornings and have been part of the morning show in various roles for over 10 years. Lisa, who is a meteorologist, came to us from Accuweather, where she was our official morning weather person. The market loved her so much she was asked to come join as the anchor prior to my arrival. Plus, during Florida hurricane seasons it doesn't hurt having a great meteorologist on staff! Timmy is the funny, happy-go-lucky guy whom everyone loves. I cannot go anywhere on any given day and not hear Timmy Vee's name. Honestly! In just over a year the show has grown to be #1 18-49 and #1 25-54 among the metro stations.

Bill Robbins, an 11-year station vet, is in middays. He's a solid, consistent air talent and production pro who came from Orlando, and he also handles our imaging.

I am on in afternoons, and Music Director Jimmy Knight holds down the night show. I have never seen anyone exploit the benefits of MySpace to engage current listeners and attract new ones like Jimmy.

7 How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?

Being in the shadow of Orlando, we compete with those stations AND our metro stations. Having the only 100,000-watt signal in our market certainly helps, but being extremely local and visible are the keys to combating Orlando. Lisa & Timmy AND Bill do an exceptional job of that since they have been here for so long; they know the market and so many people. In addition, our big purple Hummer is always on the streets of the Space Coast. Our VP/GM, Dan Carelli, can vouch for that, because he pays for the gas!

The market is a little older but still has contemporary musical tastes, which requires us to keep one foot in Hot AC and the other in Top 40. Even with the presence of a strong AC in town, A1A owns at-work listening with Adults 25-54 (#1), and the station just finished #1 25-54 overall. Our cluster also includes the big Country station in town, WHKR, and on the Rock side the Orlando stations do extremely well. However, things will get interesting when our Rock station, Pirate 95.9, moves into our metro.

8 What artist would we be surprised to find on your iPod?

You would probably be surprised by most of them! One minute you're hearin' Ying Yang Twins and Wyclef's "Dangerous" and, the next, "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell. I love it all!

9 What is the current state of the radio "talent pool"?

It's getting much better with the arrival of RadioTalentHunter.com. While there are some very talented people on the beach by no fault of their own, most of the great talent whom potential employers are looking for are WORKING and are NOT reading the want ads. However, most are interested in moving their careers forward and are willing to talk to stations that may have something better to offer. We are working to make RadioTalentHunter.com THE destination for those talent searches because the talent is out there.

As for growing new talent, perhaps some of these new HD side channels can be a place to give up-and-comers a shot, a platform to perfect their craft.

10 What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

It's nice to be important, but it is important to be nice. This really is a small business and you never know who you will encounter again. Just treat people right.

For someone vacationing in your market, what one thing would you say they "must see"?

It's tough to pick just one. Our beaches are awesome, and there is incredible surfing in Cocoa Beach and down where I live in Sebastian (Vero Beach). Since this is the Space Coast, I would say the coolest thing to see is a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center. They are planning four to five shuttle missions this year, and, as of this writing, the first is set for March 15.