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10 Questions with ... Chris "Boom Boom" Cannon
January 17, 2006
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POSITION:Operations ManagerSTATION:KTTS, KSPW, KZRQ, KSGF AM/FMMARKET:Springfield, MOCOMPANY:Journal Broadcasting GroupBORN:In a cornfield in Bettendorf, IowaRAISED:Bettendorf, Iowa
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I've done some radio in THE QUAD-CITIES, IA, ROCKFORD, IL, and JOPLIN, MO. Most of career has been here in SPRINGFIELD.
1. What was your last non-Industry job?
I did maintenance at a local mall - responsible for cutting the grass, watering the plants, cleaning up vomit, changing light bulbs...gosh, I miss that job
2. What got you interested in Radio?
before caller I.D. and *69, as a small child I would call random phone numbers and prank people that they had a chance to win $100 by answering questions from a local station. After that fun, I took the "radio class" first year in college and fell in love with this crazy business.
3. What's the highlight of your career radio to date?
There are a ton. Achieving my goals one step at a time...from getting my first full-time air-shift, to music director, to program director, to finally operations director. I need to tell my general manager to look out...he's next.
4. You're now the OM for the entire JOURNAL/SPRINGFIELD, MO cluster. What has been the biggest adjustment from being the PD for KSPW and the Rock station KZRQ?
Letting go of KSPW (POWER 96.5). I had the opportunity to put that station on. I consider it my baby, so knowing that I'm not making day-to-day decisions is a little hard. Also, more meetings. Crap, I gotta wrap this up because I have one coming up in 15 minutes.
5. What was your first task as cluster OM?
Finding the best people within our organization to take over my KSPW and KZRQ responsibilities.
6. Taking a look at your career to date...has radio been everything you thought it would be?
Sure...I still find it fun and your day is never the same. Has the business changed since I started? Oh, yeah.
7. How much autonomy do each of the station PD's have?
I've got four people that are foremen (the PDs). They each have a building (station) they are working on. Each building has a set of blue-prints (our strategic plan). I let my foremen build with their ideas and vision, but I always have a copy of those blueprints and check up daily on how the progress is going.
8. If you were to leave Radio today and you could choose any other occupation, what would it be?
I'm not good enough, but I'd love to be the golf pro at a country club
9. In what area would you like to see yourself improve?
Delegating and letting my team members take a task and let them do it their way Even though I might not do it that way.
10. What's your dream market?
I love it where I'm at.
Bonus Questions
A freak gravitational shift has added three hours to everyday. What would you do with those extra three hours?
I'd play golf.
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