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10 Questions with ... Shay Moore
May 1, 2007
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NAME:Shay MooreTITLE:Interim PDSTATION:KRNB 105.7 FMMARKET:Dallas, TXCOMPANY:Service BroadcastingBORN:Queens, NY sometime in the recent pastRAISED:Queens & Atlanta
Please outline your radio career so far.
1997-2000 WPEG Power 98- Charlotte, NC Assistant News Director
1998-2000 V101.9 FM- Charlotte, NC, PT On-Air
2000-2003 WBLK-Buffalo Middays and then Nights
2005- KSJM Hot 107.9 Jamz- Wichita, KS Assistant Program Director & Afternoons
2005-present KRNB 105.7 FM Afternoons, now Middays and Interim PD1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?
My first gig was at Power 98 in Charlotte, I was an intern for Sheila Stewart ... she taught me to do everything with a sense of urgency and she was the first to recognize that I had something special.
I always admired men's presentation on the radio...because back then it seemed that women were just supposed to have "sexy voices" on the radio and not much else... I looked up to BJ Murphy, DC (Derrick Corbett), Nate Quick, Greg Street, Ken "Spider" Webb, Frankie Crocker, Russ Parr and Wendy Williams (but she's in a class by herself as far as women jocks go). As far as programmers go, Skip Dillard, Mitch Faulkner, Andre Carson, Reggie Rouse, Vinnie Brown, Tracey Cloherty, Elroy Smith.
2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment, which made you realize "this is it"?
I actually wanted to be a clinical psychologist and work with kids ... but my first Psychology class in college was so boring that I started looking in the catalog for a new major. People have always told me that I have a good voice...my school had a radio station and I switched majors. Thank God my Psychology teacher was so boring!
3) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now, what you didn't then, would you still do it?
Wow ... I talk about this subject with my friends in the business and at schools when I talk to kids all the time. I love this business, I can't imagine myself doing anything else. Think of it like this, with childbirth there is pain and anguish, but women still keep having kids, because though there's pain, there are also awesome rewards -- the same is true with the radio business.
4) Where do you see yourself and the industry five years from now? How do you feel about the PPM eventually replacing the diary?
I am excited about what the future holds for me, God has been truly showing out in my life this year! I plan to use the things that I have learned from Andre Carson and Sam Weaver about programming and to soak up all the knowledge I can from Ken Dowe as long as I can. Everybody is afraid of what the People Meter will mean to Black radio, I am concerned as well, and we are strategizing to make sure that we are not caught unawares.
5) What do you feel is the most important single factor Urban AC stations such as KRNB in Dallas in 2007, have to always keep in mind beyond the music? In other words, after you get the music right, what then?
I am of the school that music is the star ... that 70% of the battle is won once you are able to pinpoint what the audience wants to hear. Second to that would be being community focused, I have seen what "truly" caring about the community can produce as far as ratings, street cred, etc to a jock and to a radio station.
Black radio is different from every other genre, our listeners listen for the music and for the "why should I care" factor. I have had listeners come to us when their child is missing, their lights are going to be cut off, they are breaking up with someone and the list goes on...we have to fill that "why should I care" gap with things that are important to the listener, not things that we are guessing they care about. The only way to know this is to be a part of your listener's lifestyle. There is just too much competition for their ears these days. So, we must stay relevant.
6) What is going to happen to the training of tomorrow's talent and programmers if the current trend continues? How do you feel about syndication and voicetracking?
Until recently, Black radio has been relatively insulated from syndication, now that so many shows are available it is becoming an issue for us. The truth of the matter is that Syndication has been around for decades and it's not going to go away.
As a programmer, I understand why companies voicetrack and syndicate shows. As a jock, it concerns me because, I got my start on a live and local morning show (The Breakfast Brothers Morning Show w/ BJ Murphy), I wouldn't have been afforded the opportunity to learn what I have had it not been for that opportunity.
7) You obviously had to make some quick adjustments have you had to make in your new position, what has been the toughest of those adjustments?
This has truly been a quick adjustment for me, but I was built for this. A smart programmer told me just a few weeks before I got this opportunity that I was like Luther Vandross, at first I got offended, (because I am a woman!) but I let him finish. He said that when Luther first came out he sang backup for years and was waiting, waiting, waiting, to actually show his talents with a solo career. I have been waiting to sing solo for a while now...I'm ready!
8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?
There is always room for improvement in my life personally and professionally, I have been spent the majority of my career improving as an on-air personality. Now, my focus has switched to being a great programmer.
9) How do you feel programmers need to adjust for the current spring Arbitron sweeps? Should they be more cautious and less adventuresome? Should Urban AC urban programmers be slower in adding and playing new music?
The spring book, in my opinion is an opportunity to switch some things up, revitalize the audience that you have and attract some new listeners. I think playing new music that makes sense is the key!
10) As you look back over your career ... any regrets? Missed opportunities?
I was in between gigs in 2005 and I had an opportunity to meet with a great programmer in New York City for a part-time gig . At the same time I was offered APD and Afternoons at a station in Wichita. I moved to Wichita without meeting with the programmer. I probably still would have moved to Wichita, but I still should have tried to meet him while I had the opportunity.
Bonus Questions
How did you get your present job?
My mentor BJ Murphy was the morning man at KRNB and over the years I have made sure that I stay close to him because he is just an awesome resource of information, not just radio but in life in general. He told me years ago that I was lacking in networking and I should make it a point to form relationships with as many people as I could in the business. At BJ's behest, I sent Sam Weaver, who was the OM of the station an aircheck. I heard nothing back from Sam and about 3 years later he had a job for me and hired me. So, to jocks that feel like no one is listening to your tapes because you happens; so stay ready!
What do you do with a song you don't like?
If the audience likes it, play it anyway!
What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you?
Listen twice as much as you talk.
Describe your favorite meal?
My mother, Vivian McClain Lawrence, can fry a boot ... so anything she fries with some greens and her potato salad. I don't get it much anymore, so when I do, I cherish it!
What's your favorite fast food?
Chik-fil-A!
Do you read? Everything? Books, Magazines, etc.? Nothing? What's your favorite reading material?
I love to read, I have a book club that meets once a month and we read all kinds of stuff. I love magazines, but for some reason newspapers don't do it for me ... I prefer to go online and read newspaper articles.
How did the events of 9/11 change you personally?
I was on the air on 9/11, and it was one of the hardest shows I have ever done. I was working at a mainstream hip-hop station where our focus was on music, so I had to reach back to my days doing news to be able to get through it.
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