10 Questions with ... Erik Johnson

NAME:Erik Johnson POSITION:Program Director/Afternoons STATION:KQCH-FM OWNER:Journal Broadcast Group MARKET:Omaha

Please outline your radio career so far: (station/date, station/date, etc.)

KLNG-AM (Christian); Board Op
KRNU (Univ. of Nebraska); MD
KIBZ/Lincoln; Overnights
KKNB/Lincoln; Nights
KEZO/Omaha; Overnights
KKNB/Lincoln; PD/Afternoons
KSRZ/Omaha; MD/Middays
KQCH/Omaha; PD/Afternoons since we signed on in 1999

1) How would you describe your first radio gig?

My first radio gig was by accident. I was getting my Architecture degree at the University of Nebraska. My brother couldn't pull his weekend gig, so I offered to fill in. He was a board-op gig at a Christian station in a 4-room Quonset hut, running long-form programming. The transmitter was on the other side of the board. If you stood up too fast, you would crack your head on the sloped roof of the hut. And yet somehow I decided to make a career of it.

2) It's our 10th anniversary this year. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I got out of radio. I had just finished doing overnights at KEZO/Omaha. After six years of radio, I was still doing overnights making "overnight money" and needed a change. I took a job as an audio producer for an interactive teleservices company. I produced audio for automated phone lines for banks, psychics, pharmaceutical companies, and other industries. I did that for a year before I got the call to program KKNB in Lincoln. I was hired to get the station on track so it could be sold to Triathlon, which eventually was acquired by Clear Channel.

3) What is the radio vibe like in your market?

The Omaha market is competitive and ever changing. There are four groups running the 20 stations: Journal Broadcast Group, Clear Channel, NRG/Waitt, and Salem. It seems three or four stations are changing format every year. Luckily, we continue to stay near the top. We've been #1 or #2 P18-34 in 17 out of the last 20 books.

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

I love Big Boy at Power 106 in LA. Big Boy's show is a blast. It's so fluid and entertaining. He's always putting a great spin on everything he does. His listeners are always on the air with him. He's surrounded by a great cast. It always sounds like he's got his finger on the hot thing and is taking it over the top. I miss listening to him online..

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

I coach high school hockey. I also play the occasional pick-up game. I love hockey almost as much as I love radio. I've been playing since I was 9. (Yes, Omaha has hockey.) I also play sax. Before we had our second child, I played in a swing/jump blues band called the Prairie Cats (www.prairiecats.com).

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

I love the advice Dave Robbins provides on AllAccess.com. He has so many great nuggets. There are a few that really hold true.

The first is "Do what you love and love what you do." So many people complain about their situation, but do so little to change it. There is only one person who will care enough to alter your state, and that is you. If you don't like your situation, stop making excuses and move.

"The only person that can control your mood is you." I never really thought of it that way until I read Dave's article one week. People can't control how you feel unless you let them. If you are in a bad mood, you only have yourself to blame.

There are so many good life lessons in the book "Cigars, Whiskey and Winning" by Al Kaltman. Coincidentally, I was turned on to this book by one of Dave's articles. It's a great leadership book I would highly recommend.

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

Be nice to everybody. This includes every listener, every coworker, every jock from other stations, and every person you meet. You never know when fate will bring you together at some point in the future. Fight like hell to win. Just remember why you're doing it.

8) Please describe the best or worst promotion you've ever been part of?

MTV was airing "Fear." We wanted to spin from it with our own haunted reality show. We took 5 listeners to a house that was haunted (the Villisca Axe Murder House) and had them spend the week in the house. They competed against each other Survivor-style to win a trip to the Grammy's. We recorded the entire thing and pre-produced it to get the best audio on the air. It was great radio.

9) Podcasting. Instant downloads. Blogs. How can we use the ever-increasing digital technologies to keep people coming back to radio for their entertainment fix?

Radio needs to become a community again. If you read "The Power of Cult Branding" by Bueno & Ragas, you'll realize that great brands belong to the consumer, not the marketer. They are great brands like Apple, Harley Davidson and WWE. They are true communities. Radio must expand and use these new technologies to become closer to their listeners. Great programmers will convert their stations from jukeboxes to community meeting places. Great radio stations will be those that help their listeners connect with each other, connect with the music, and connect with their city. The really successful Top 40 station of the 60s had their finger on the pulse of the city. They were entertaining and connected. As an industry, we got away from entertainers and moved to "less talk". We need to find the great entertainers and teach them radio.

10) What effect, if any, has industry consolidation had on your current situation?

I've simply had to teach my staff to do more than just their on-air shift. I've become a leader who delegates rather than a manager who does everything himself. I have air talent that writes and creates incredible imaging. One of my guys handles most of my music. My promotions director understands the mission of the stations and carefully filters all promotion requests before I handle them. It's more efficient work with fewer record dinners.

Name the artist (living or dead) you'd love to meet and why?

Paul McCartney. I was watching "Paul McCartney: Live from Red Square" last night. I've always admired his work and career. He had a great business mind and never sank into the tabloids like other musicians. He seems like a great person with an amazing history. I've read his autobiography and a few other biographies. He has amazing stories. An hour with Paul would be incredible.