10 Questions with ... Chris Alan

NAME:Chris Alan TITLE:Dir./Programming STATION:Island 106 (WILN), 97X (WYYX), Talk Radio 101 (WYOO), Wave 100 (WVVE) & ESPN 1290 (WPCF-AM) MARKET:Panama City, FL OWNER:Magic Broadcasting

Please outline your radio career so far:

WILN, WYYX, WYOO, WVVE, WPCF-AM/Panama City
WAEV/Savannah
KCHZ/Kansas City
WIXX/Green Bay, WI
WWWX/Appleton, WI
WBGA/Brunswick, GA
KSYN/Joplin, MO
WXMK/Brunswick, GA

1) What led you to a career in radio?

How embarrassing - I won a contest on my hometown radio station (WXMK) to come in and be a "guest dj" on the night show. When I went back to the station on Monday to get a copy of the show I was met at the front desk by the PD, LJ Smith, who asked me if I wanted a job... I may never forgive LJ for that because this is all I've done ever since.

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

My dad's Bluegrass band(s), Blast of Grass & Flat, Broke and Lonesome. My dad plays a mean banjo! The running joke with Blast of Grass is that they don't know a slow song so it's a lot of funky up-tempo grass. Flat, Broke & Lonesome is a band that consists of my dad and my niece along with a married couple who are dear friends of the family. My niece sings and plays fiddle with the band and she's 10. There are some other Bluegrass tunes on there too.

3) Could you give us a little insight into your on air staff?

I got lucky on Island 106!

-- Jo Valentine is the wake up man with trivia, tid-bits and a lot of music in the morning. He also works graphics on the site and wears 2 or 3 other hats inside the building with regard to the other stations as Dir. of Ops.

-- I pull down mid-days so as you might imagine that show is a little weak.

-- Kato (a.k.a. Rikk Idol) is in afternoons and one of the best talents in the country. He and I both worked for Marc Summers at points in our career so we immediately had no respect for one another... kidding. Kato is Prod Dir. for the cluster of stations and does my imaging... which we have a language of our own that we speak.

-- Spoon is that typical night guy that all the chicks want. This is the second rodeo for Spoon and I as he started his full-time radio career with me in Savannah as my night guy before heading to Chuck-town. Now, he's pestered me so much that I've hired him again. This time I have taken on the challenge of teaching him music philosophy and Selector as he serves as the Island 106 Music Director.

4) Who is your favorite air personality not on your staff and why do you like them?

Otis Day and the All Night Par-tay from WIXX in Green Bay is one of my all-time favorites. For the brief time that Otis and I worked together I was amazed at his energy, wit, phoners and creativity. In my opinion, the best night jock in the country - hands down!

5) What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

The Big Ape - WAPE! Growing up outside of Jacksonville it was the big market station that always sounded edgy and bigger than life - a common characteristic of the stations I program.

6) Do you have any mentors in radio? Who?

The biggest influences on my choice of radio as a career would be Marc Summers and Chuck Dunaway. Marc was this new breed of PD who took chances, could hear a hit a mile away, played only the hits, treated his staff as if they were his family and had a new outlook on the old adage of "Theatre of the Mind." Chuck was a radio legend who I was fortunate to work for in Joplin. Chuck owned the stations and was the hardest air-check I have ever sat through. He truly helped me understand that radio delivered in its simplest form will win every time.

7) Do you have a favorite hobby outside of radio?

Being a great dad for my kids is the closest thing I have for a hobby. I trek 400 miles - one way - every other weekend to spend time with them and talk to them on the phone almost every day. They are my best friends and I find that they teach me as much about life as I teach them.

8) What is it about our industry that keeps you wanting to do it for a living?

I'm not qualified to do anything else except be a Custodial Engineer and they let me do that here in PC. Seriously, it has to be that no two days are the same. And, at some point in my career I evolved in to a teacher of Great Radio! There is nothing more exciting than seeing a young talent become their own worst critic in an air-check or produce a slick sounding spot / promo that brings out a smile of pride. Make no mistake, I am still a student of the industry and always will be, but there is a lot of satisfaction in hearing, seeing and being a part of the evolution of the next generation of radio.

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

Always take the high road! Whether it has to do with the inter-office politics of the station or the positioning of your station in the market you are only as good as the perspective people perceive you to be.

10) What advice you would give people new to the business?

Learn everything you can! It will pay off for you to be like that 2 year old who asks "why" all the time. A lot of so-called PD's know "how" to schedule a log or set up a promotion but when they can explain "why" they do it you know you've found someone who you can truly look up to and learn from.

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

Odds are, if you're vacationing in my market you came for "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches" and the view by air from a parasail is pretty awesome and very relaxing.