10 Questions with ... George 'Geo' Cook

NAME:George 'Geo' Cook TITLE:CDMC (RAB Certified Digital Marketing Consultant), Pres./Chief Strategist, Geometric Media Consulting; Programming & Interactive Consultant, PSP Consulting; PD & Content Development Coach, UrbanRadioCoach.com COMPANIES:Geometric Media Consulting, PSP Consulting, UrbanRadioCoach WEBSITES:www.themsi.net, www.musicschedulinguniversity.com MARKET:Washington, DC; Pittsburgh, PA; Memphis, TN; Charleston, SC; Savannah; GA with oversight of Atlanta, GA; Buffalo, NY; and Birmingham, AL BORN:Charleston, SC RAISED:Charleston, SC and Berkeley, CA

Please outline your career path.

Afternoon Drive/APD/Creative Director -- WEAS/Savannah
OM/PD/afternoon drive -- WWWZ/Charleston (twice)
PD/afternoon drive -- KJMS/Memphis
VP/ Programming/afternoon drive -- Hot 98.9/Charleston,
PD/Brand Manager -- WKYS
Dir./Programming -- Sheridan Radio Group and OM/PDWAMO/Pittsburgh

1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?

I first interned as a call screener and producer for a talk show on the legendary Amazing AM WPAL. That internship led to paid on-air and production positions at the station. As a listener and announcer I was influenced early by local Top 40 personalities Steve Cochran and Andrea & Brian "Miami" Philips on WSSX (95SX)/Charleston (SC). When I lived on the West Coast growing up, I heard KSOL and KMEL for the first time. My summers in Dallas gave me the chance to listen to Tom Joyner. Dduring my summers and holidays on Long Island, I loved listening to Scott & Ross and the Z Morning Zoo on Z100, Mike Love, Carol Ford & the KISS MasterMixers on WRKS, and Frankie Crocker, Kenny Webb, and Mr. Magic & Bugsy on WBLS. My earliest programming influences, many who have become great friends and mentors, include Tony Gray, BET's Stephen Hill, Reach Media's Hector Hannibal, Don Kelly, Steve Crumbley, Dean Land sman, Lee Michaels, Alvin Stowe, Floyd Blackwell and James T, among others.

2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it"?

My father, who is now deceased, was a lawyer and my mother is an educator and community activist. So there was always great debate and oratory in our home. That background, along with my early exposure to great radio stations and personalities, gave me a quiet confidence and vision to believe that I could do the same as the programmers and personalities that I admired.

3) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now what you didn't then, would you still do it?

From the viewpoint that radio is now a part of the "audio entertainment" space, I would certainly involve myself in the industry and other related industries. Technology inflection points have always been game-changers in any industry. In times of change, the key to survival in this business, or any business, is ability to "sense and response" quickly to current market space environment, while looking for future opportunities maximize your brand. In today's digital world, my peers and I can no longer consider ourselves to be consultants and programmers; we are content developers, brand managers and experience designers. The brands we work with are no longer just radio stations; they are multi-dimensional, multi-sensory, multi-media brands that create and distribute content on-air, online, on the streets and on-device.

4) Where do you see yourself and the industry five years from now?

I have a very entrepreneurial spirit and my most ardent desire is continuing to expand my media consultancy, brand business development business and alliances, of course. But I also want to find more ways to give back to our industry and help those who are just starting out in the media business. I'd like to see the efforts that I'm involved in like the Media Sales Institute (MSI), developed by PSP and sponsored by NAB and NABOB, UrbanRadioCoach.com with Dave "Tazz" Anderson, and Keith Hill's Music Scheduling University reach all areas of the country and the globe. Every day, I relish the chance to move the needle of business and media history forward just a bit -- and in a positive direction. That's my passion. And that's what I'll be doing five years from now in and beyond this business.

5) How you feel about programmers being asked to wait on a record they hear until the research validates it?

That's exactly it -- research validates your gut instinct. I urge programmers and music directors to hone their musical instincts and learn how to better interpret their callout and auditorium tests to come up with a winning musical formula. As a part of that, it's important for programmers to establish their own unique music/lifestyle trends tracking systems to gain a competitive edge. If you can own the artists and songs in your format in your market, before your competitor wakes up and wonders what happened, you can win those music positions.

One key is the Internet. That's where listeners/users/viewers are ... and that's where we need to be. Programmers are now evolving into digital ethnographers and searching MySpace, Facebook and YouTube profiles/pages for clues to lifestyle and music trends of their audiences. Why? Because in the digital space listeners are expressing their interests and intent openly ... for FREE. That information coupled with your station database and other research will help you find ways to deepen your connection with listeners because in the end, Relationships = Ratings + Revenue.

6) How do you feel about syndication? Does it affect significantly on the number of hours that you have control over the music that is available to be played?

Radio is a lot like lot like politics in that it's local. But I love working with "innovative entertainers" who have the ability to consistently connect with audiences through compelling content and experiences, whether local produced or via syndication. When considering a live or syndicated show, it comes down to this: Given your market's competitive landscape and dynamics with consideration to your current and future station/cluster strategies, can this show/personality (local or syndicated) help me improve my station/cluster's ratings and revenues shares? If the answer is yes, don't belabor the point. My only word of caution is: If you choose to air a syndicated show, please don't put it on Survivor Island by itself and wonder if it's going to make it. Invest resources to ensure that the show and its personalities sound like a part of your station and your market.

As far as the music is concerned, I recommend sharing as much input and research as feasible with the syndicators as possible to make sure they're not missing hit music in your marketplace. Additionally, I advise stations to fill as many optional breaks as they can with the music played on their station to make the show a better fit with the station and its other dayparts.

7) Because of callout research, are today's Urban and Urban AC programmers going to be slower in adding and playing new music? What is the maximum number of spins a record in power rotation could be expected to receive in a given week on a well-run station? How important is proper music scheduling and what are some of the most common mistakes programmers make?

Urban and Urban AC programmer are slower in adding and playing new music due to callout and fluctuations in product quality. For songs that test well, it's the programmers goal to exact as much value as they can out of each song for tactical purposes and not leave ratings on the table. That will happen even more so with PPM, which will produce even tighter, hit-driven playlists. As with anything, you must adapt or die. Urban programmers must continue to develop creative ways to expose new music on their stations to keep them fresh, relevant and alive. Otherwise, a shrinking universe of playable records will eventually lead to shrinking ratings.

Music rotations very from format-to-format, market-to-market given the station's competitive position and environment. I've seen mainstream Urban/Hip-Hop stations do well with powers playing as little at 50+ spins per week, while other stations spin their powers at 85+ per week. Well-run stations look at the loyalty factor, their audience turnover, and use OES (Optimum Effective Scheduling) techniques to determine the frequency of music rotations and marketing messages on their stations.

The most common mistake programmers make is in their mindset about scheduling music. Many think they are just producing a log instead creating an entertainment experience and environment through effective content/music management. So much of what comes out of the speakers does not always reflect the sound and strategy the programmer is working to achieve.

You have to remember that every software has its biases. You have to spend more time on the analysis pages instead of just the manual scheduler to determine how the system is working and if the library is supporting your music strategy. Otherwise, it's the little things that trip most programmers up like artist and title misspellings.

The system will assign numbers to each artist and title, but will view them at different artists and titles when scheduling if not correct. With the artist separation issues that already exist when you're trying to schedule highly exposed artists like T-Pain, Lil' Wayne, T.I. and Alicia Keys, why create more work for yourself?. Let the system do the work.

8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?

Every year, I look to improve in an area of strength that will help move me forward personally and professionally. This year, I've been working to take my presentation skills to the next level. People are inundated with bad PowerPoint presentations all that time. I want to do my part to change that.

9) How do you account for -- and what effect do you feel -- the continuing ratings success certain stations like KMJQ in Houston have with the PPM, while other stations appear to be suffering? Is it because of their superior signal or programming? Do you feel companies will begin to move away from Urban formats because of the PPM ratings problems in the future?

When you look at KMJQ and other stations in the Houston market, one must first consider that the PPM methodology in Houston is somewhat different than the methodology being applied in the other PPM markets. The Houston panel was built on an address-based sample frame where Arbitron went door -to-door to verify who was in the home and encourage participation and compliance. In all of the other PPM markets (Philly, NY, etc.), the panel was, or is being, built from a phone-based sample frame. I personally think the addressed-based sample frame is the way Arbitron should go, but I'm sure that it's also cost-prohibitive from their vantage point.

When the Houston panel started up, panel proportionality and compliance issues arose, which adversely impacted ethic-targeted stations as well as stations targeting the elusive 18-34 demographic. Over time, Arbitron has improved the DDIs (Designated Deliver Indexes) in many demographic cells. This was helpful along with the programmatic changes made to the station in response to PPM data. The station is more focused, more hit-driven and its presentation is more seamless and compelling than before when they were under diary. Now their ratings are almost back to pre-PPM diary levels.

As far as the future of the Urban format under PPM, well, there is uncertainty. If the trend continues where Urban and other ethic formats' ratings are decimated by the PPM methodology, large companies will look to opt into other cume-based formats that perform well under PPM. The key for Urban stations is to find unique and creative ways to be as inclusive of audience as possible without corrupting the core of the radio station. However, let me say that I am encouraged by WBLS/New York, which just went live with the PPM data as currency and in the latest report WBLS is # 3 25-54. WBLS GM Deon Livingston, PD Skip Dillard, consultant Tony Gray and the entire Inner City team heard the message loud and clear last year -- and they were brave enough to unlearn diary and make any necessary changes to compete under the PPM. Every Urban station must examine its minute-by-minute execution to succeed in the same manner as KMJQ or WBLS.

10) As you look back over your career ... any regrets? Missed opportunities?

No regrets. I believe in the Law of Attraction, which says: What YOU want WANTS YOU. I believe that what and who we need eventually finds us as long as we are authentic and true to ourselves and just get ready. That's not just in radio; that's in LIFE. All we need to do is get ourselves in position to receive and take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way. Live your dreams.