10 Questions with ... Matt Knight

NAME:Matt Knight POSITION:APD/MD/afternoon drive STATION:WHTG/WBBO HIT 106 - Jersey's Hit Music Connection MARKET:Monmouth-Ocean, NJ OWNER:Press Communications, LLC

Please outline your radio career so far:

*1999 - Began as an intern at Jammin' 105 in NYC.
*2000 - Began full time at night on B98.5 (WBBO/Monmouth-Ocean)
*2002 - Promoted to APD/MD/nights @ B98.5.
*2005 - Moved to nights at WHTG (G Rock) after B98.5 became a simulcast of WHTG.
*2007 - Promoted to Programming Coordinator/afternoons at G Rock.
*2009 - After format flip from G Rock to Hit 106, promoted to APD/MD, and I still do afternoons.

1) Welcome back to the Top 40 world. What was your foray into Alternative like?

It all comes full circle, huh? After B98.5 (WBBO) was acquired by Press Communications, LLC back in 2004, I got really lucky to become a part of a family-run business and immediately involved with a great heritage station like WHTG (G Rock). I am such a huge fan of Alternative music and having the opportunity to work at one of the first (and BEST) Alternative stations in the country was just a great experience. It allowed me to stay close to home and work at a format that I always wanted to spend time in. Getting back to programming a Top 40 format on HIT 106 from design and creation is even more rewarding since I get to now take something from nothing and build a new brand station in New Jersey.

2) There were some unhappy campers when heritage Alternative WHTG flipped to Pop. What type of damage control did you do? Has the hubbub died down?

As with anything that ends after such a long run, it's expected that "change" caused many people to express frustration about losing something that was part of their daily lives. I wouldn't say it was so much "damage control" as it was trying to explain to listeners WHY the format was flipped. The core audience of WHTG was an audience that had increasingly become difficult to measure with Arbitron and hence, Press needed to plot a course of action that would allow us to attain a provable tract of "ratings" through a more mass-appeal product as opposed to the niche that G Rock was. In fact, we have been pleased to see that a good portion of our female listeners from G Rock are still with us now at HIT106 and we hope to gain even more new listeners as we move HIT106 forward. After an early slew of e-mails, calls and Internet blogs ... we're a few months removed from the flip now so it's died down considerably. We occasionally will still get a "Bring Back G Rock" call or text, but for the most part it's pretty much known that it's Hit 106 now and not going to change.

3) Hit 106 initially launched with a satellite-delivered Top 40 format, but now you're doin' it locally. How is the new station coming together?

I know I'm stating the obvious, but it makes such a huge difference when you are programming from in-house. New Jersey is a unique place. You really have to know the market to program to it. Being from New York City originally and now living and working here in New Jersey the past nine years, I've been in the Northeast my entire life. I have learned so much about the market and I believe that I cater the music to the listener who lives right here in Jersey. B98.5 was a very special Top 40 station. It wasn't the "run of the mill" Top 40. It was unique and it was directed to New Jersey. I hope to continue to bring the locality that has been lacking industry-wide to Hit 106. It's a work in progress, but the brand is being built nicely in the marketplace and from every aspect that we can see, is becoming widely appreciated as a local station with great music and talent.

4) In addition to sharing audience with nearby Z100/New York, you now have 92.3 Now-FM to contend with. Good times, huh? How do you differentiate Hit 106 from the competition?

It's not just the north end of the market that we contend with. On our HIT106 simulcast at 106.5FM in South Jersey, we are also getting Q102 out of Philadelphia bleeding into that part of the market as well. The most important differentiation that we make is pushing the LOCALITY of our radio station. We are a New Jersey-based station SERVING New Jersey. We are run by a private partnership that is all local New Jersey residents and does not answer to Wall Street or any bank about what or how to run its business. We are fortunate to have the core of our business be on the Jersey Shore with such great clubs, boardwalks and beaches. That really gives us an advantage to being there on a regular basis during the summer months, when they're most populated. With the way the industry has become so automated, having live and local personalities who live the lifestyle and live in the area is key to the success within the market. Musically, I believe we dig a little deeper into the Top 40 library, while not straying far from all of the big hits. We like to throw in an older song that was so monstrous, I can't help but wonder why other Top 40 stations wouldn't at least have it as a gold. The songs we play between the charted hits are what will differentiate us from the rest.

5) How would you describe your first radio gig?

When I got hired at WBBO (B98.5) for nights, I really didn't know what to expect. I was 22 years old, moved out of Brooklyn for the first time and I didn't really know a lot of people in New Jersey. I knew that if I was going to advance in my career, I'd have to take this opportunity and run with it. It was a bit overwhelming at first to know that a large group of people are listening to you at any given time. But with guidance from guys like Mike Kaplan, Gregg "Race" Thomas and Andy West, I overcame that initial fear of screwing up and went on to help program a station that would eventually change my life. I guess I just can't say enough good things about the people and the station itself when it came to my prior experiences at B98.5.

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

Steve Somers at WFAN. What more can you say about him? He's a local legend. I listened to WFAN as a kid a lot and fell asleep hearing him "schmooze" about the Mets, Giants and Rangers. I called into his show a lot when I was 13 or 14 years old to talk sports and I think that was the first thought of actually getting into the field of radio. Something just fascinated me when I was younger about being on the air and hearing my call get played back was pretty thrilling. He engages his listeners, he speaks from the heart and you can tell he's just not phony. I love REAL radio and Steve Somers personifies that. So Steve, if you're reading this ... you're part of the reason I'm in this field. Thank you.

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

Being so close to Atlantic City can be dangerous sometimes. I LOVE playing poker and the short 40-minute drive occurs more often than not. I like the mind-games that come with playing poker. It also doesn't hurt that I can leave the table with some supplemental income. I don't know if it's so much a "hobby" as it is an "addiction." Bet with your head, kids, not over it.

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

"Never half-ass it." I always believed that the harder you work, the more valuable you'll become. I mean it's pretty cliché to say, but it's very true. I hate to see people just do the minimum. Hard work always pays off. Building good relationships through solid work with listeners and clients has always been important to me. Become a key player and don't settle for the position that you are in or else someone who's more hungry will fly right past you.

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

Well, the unfortunate truth is that the pool is pretty deep due to the loss of so many jobs to automation or consolidation. I wish this wasn't the case, but when we first flipped to Top 40 on HIT106, we just got a ton of demos/resumes from some pretty talented people who were just looking for PART-TIME work or, as they put it, "anything you have." It's a shame that so many good, hardworking, talented people are out of work. It's also difficult to breed new talent since very few places allow live overnight jocks anymore. That was always the starting ground to hone your skills and eventually move up, but it seems like those days are so far gone. I really hope the day will come where EVERY station can go live 24/7. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

10) What would you like to do to save radio from its "dying-industry" image?

First, I vehemently disagree that radio is a dying industry. I say this not because I work in this industry, but rather because the medium works! Unlike cable, TV, Internet, direct mail or other media, radio allows you the unique opportunity to change your advertising message every day and adjust to marketplace events as they occur. The stigma you refer to is often brought on by management/ownership that is resistant to change and being at the forefront of that change. Playing "catch-up" with technology and formats and not being new and innovative is how the industry can get viewed negatively.

Press has taken measures to differentiate ourselves from every other station in our marketplace. For example, we have two production people to help do spec ads and be creative at the onset of an ad program; a graphic designer to assist in the development/design of advertising ideas on the Web and the radio; a webmaster who helps us create the most unique Internet presence in the industry; a mobile marketing (Text) manager who allows us to help advertisers reach a niche group of listeners in a way that our competition cannot; a full-time promotions team that is unparalleled in this market; and so many other internal facets that allow us to serve our clients needs unlike any other company. The truth is that radio's landscape has changed so much since I began full-time work in 2000. It's even changed further in the last two or three years.

The bottom line is that radio is still supposed to be a fun job. The more that people continue to worry about everything being so "business-y," the less fun it will become. Yes, I know we're in tough economic times, but we're probably having more fun than most people who probably had to take work just to make ends meet and don't love what they do. It's still radio and it's still fun. We can't lose sight of that. If we portray how passionate we are about our industry on the air, it will connect more to the listeners. New thinking in programming and promotions has to be put into play. The "old school" ways are tired and passé. Listeners are smarter. You can't dumb things down to them. Be ONE of them, not above them.

What's the biggest gaffe you've made on air?

Well, having been through two format flips I guess it would be easy to say that I've said the OLD format's name on the air a few times. But, the biggest one would have to be when I was at B98.5 and my PD, Mike Kaplan, came in with the then-new Michael Jackson song "You Rock My World." He was on the air with me and told me to play it at least five to six times in a row. We recorded and aired some listener calls and in the haste of taking so many of them, I aired one that said "WILL YOU STOP PLAYING THIS F---ING SONG!" Needless to say, having your PD in the studio while this happens will drop one's heart to his stomach. I think I turned a shade of white that isn't even on the color spectrum. That's one of those never-forget-it moments. And, I haven't.