10 Questions with ... Darryl Johnson

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I began my radio career while attending Alabama State Univ. in Montgomery, AL where I received a Communications degree in 1985. Upon graduation, I moved to Birmingham, and began working at WJLD-AM and later WATV-A. After the sale of the station I worked at the Legendary WENN until the sale of that station. I moved over to the start-up WBHK as a part-time announcer and later was elevated to local producer of the Tom Joyner Morning Show. After a few years at that position I became MD/APD, which later transcended into the PD position.

1) Do you consider yourself a veteran of this business?

I have been programming for 15 years and am very proud of that.

2) What do you tell people who want to get into the radio business?

The first thing I suggest is have patience. Take time to learn the craft because the business is so competitive. Follow someone who is going to teach you the ins and outs of the business. The business is more than just picking up a microphone. Creativity is a must in this business. Work on ideas that can set you apart and engage the audience.

3) How do you balance work and a personal life?

The key is time management, having a daily course of action and laying out priorities. You have to plan ahead and work ahead. If you don't do these things you will fall behind and must work just as hard to catch up, which could lead to you not being able to spend that quality time with family or whatever you might want to do in your personal life.

4) Radio is no longer just about being on the air anymore, is it?

It is mandatory for my personalities to engage in social media. I encourage them to engage the audience at least twice during their shifts and most definitely while at station events. I also encourage them to engage some personal things to show the audience we are humans as well.

5) What are your thoughts on voicetracking?

Those who know me know that I'm not a big fan of voicetracking. In my opinion, it takes away from the marketability aspect. I can't have the person voicetracking from another market at the club once or twice a week to greet the audience. They certainly can't answer phones and engage the audience -- unless they are Bewitched!

6) Who have been some of your career influenhoces?

I would have to start with Steve Myers and Mel Marshall. They were both instrumental in laying the foundation for me to pursue a career in radio while attending Alabama State Univ. Next would be Shelly Stewart and Rev. Erskine Faush. These gentlemen helped mold me and provided me with the notion of what a radio personality is all about. They allowed me to find myself and develop into a personality and for that, I owe them a depth of gratitude. I also owe a lot to Dave Donnell for allowing me to expand and learn other aspects of the business such as production and promotions. Under him, I was able to learn production and become Production Dir. at WENN. Jay Dixon was instrumental in allowing me to work on programming as I served under his tutelage while he was PD and I was his MD/APD. He is the one who encouraged me and made me believe I could do this programming thing. I would be remiss if I didn't mention David Dubose and Bill Tanner and thank them for entrusting me, someone who had never programmed before to run the top station in the market.

7) What's your stations biggest annual event?

Without a doubt, it is The Magic City Classic. It is the largest HBCU Classic in the Country with Alabama State and Alabama A&M Universities. The event draws upwards of 300,000 people for a week of festivities ranging from concerts, seminars, pep rallies and nationally syndicated radio shows such as Tom Joyner. The impact is huge; we are able to expose the station and our brand in front of all those people -- not to mention, the economic impact through sponsors for various events hosted by the station.

8) Is community involvement an important part of programming?

I certainly feel community involvement is very important. It is like running for office. The more hands you can shake and babies you can kiss the more apt people are to vote for you when filling out those diaries. A good example would be when we have disasters such as the tornados that touching down in our area. We bring comfort and vital information to our listeners. That is just one of the many examples of how community involvement helps us win.

9) How important is networking?

It is of vital importance to communicate with others in the industry. I recall the days when we were owned by Cox Media Group; there was lots of useful information shared amongst the PDs. Thanks to guys like Phil Michaels-Trueba, Tony Kidd, Michael Saunders, Steve Crumbley, Jay Dixon and my girl Mary K; we had a solid network that we could share and talk about industry trends such as new music and programming concepts. To this day, I still reach out to them from time to time about music or to share ideas. I remember one PD and I talking about the new Maxwell song and how he predicted it would be a smash and I was on the fence. Needless to say, he was right. I in return have shared ideas about the theme weekends. Every weekend is a different theme ranging from Lost 45s to One Hit Wonders.

10) What's most important for on-air PDs?

Time management is key. I try to have all my programming duties such as writing and producing promos, imaging, meetings, responding to e-mails and music scheduling done prior to my on-air shift, so I can focus entirely on my air shift. Some days are harder than others because you have unscheduled impromptu meetings from worrisome people (like sales) popping into the office. Don't tell them I said that.