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10 Questions with ... Mark Gunn
February 10, 2009
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NAME:Mark GunnTITLE:Air personality/Production DirectorSTATION:WGZBMARKET:LouisvilleCOMPANY:Mainline BroadcastingBORN:Salina, KS ... June 30, 1961RAISED:A little of everywhere, but I call Columbus, GA "home."
Please outline your career path.
Wow! I'm in my 9th year here in Louisville doing afternoons, after having done mornings in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Before that, I did stints in Milwaukee, Biloxi and a few others, primarily in Rock or Top 40 formats. I also worked in Country radio for a couple of years. My first Urban format came at what was WJYL, here in Louisville back in the late '80s.
I served as the PD for B-96.5 and what was WBLO (Hot 104). I stepped down a couple of years ago to concentrate more on the personality aspect of my career and more community outreach. That paid dividends with the opportunity to do a little more television and to cultivate relationships with the city's political power base.
I've recently stepped back into the world of production, something that's proved to be one of the reasons for my longevity in the business. I've also embraced my musical roots by becoming the producer and consultant for the Louisville-based rock band, Lotus Blake.We've got a new project that's in post-production.
1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?
June 5, 1978. WVOC.Columbus, GA. It was a 100,000-watt AC station. Influences -- "Trapper John" Harlan was a personality on the local AOR station, WWRH. He had that very cool, laid-back delivery and was had so much knowledge about the music. Brute Bailey taught me one of my earliest lessons in programming: Just because someone doesn't have a textbook "radio sound," it doesn't mean they aren't good at what they do. I ended up throwing away everything I learned about being an "announcer" at that point.
Russ Brown was my General Manager at WXLK/Roanoke and WNKS/ Columbus, both Rock formats. Russ taught me the art of guerilla warfare and that it was okay to be the bad guy sometimes. That ruthless aggression has served me well over the years.
"The Real" Rick James was my last Top 40 at what was WZKF, Power 108 in Biloxi, MS. Rick taught me the psychology of radio and I became a student of human nature because of it.
Tony Fields taught me the importance of relating to your audience on a local level. He must've seen the national and regional voicetracking beast coming because he drilled into me the importance of knowing your neighborhood and being that hometown boy even if you weren't from here.
2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it"?
It was a single commercial I'd cut for vocational education. I was the only one out of six high school students whose spot was chosen to air. The GM, Rick Taylor (R.I.P.) heard it and offered me a part-time job on the spot. We had an agreement that if I kept my GPA up, the job would become full-time once I graduated.
If there was one defining moment for me out of several, it would've been my time in Pittsburgh on WAMO. We were doing a "Salute To Pittsburgh Media" week on my morning show and we'd invited several TV anchors to be guest deejays. David Johnson, who appears to as serious a journalist as anyone I'd ever met, was on the air talking about "The Lion King" and this little boy who had to be all of four or five called in. They ended up singing a duet of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". It was a moment of radio magic that doesn't happen very often anymore.
3) If you were to look back 30 years knowing now what you didn't then, would you still do it?
Definitely! I probably would've gotten into management a lot sooner, but the last 30 years have been a learning experience. I still learn something almost everyday.
4) Where do you see yourself and the industry five years from now?
I would love to be in Talk radio doing something syndicated. Now that there's a Black President in the White House, more of us are being asked for our point of view. It would good for America to see that we're not a monolithic people. Besides, I really don't see myself being very credible doing Hip-Hop radio in my 50s. Besides that, I'm still in the building process of my consultancy. I want to be able to coach young radio talent.
As far as the industry goes, I'm cautiously optimistic. We're all seeing what the economy has done to the business. Revenues are down in record numbers and so many jobs are being lost. We have to come up with innovative ways to generate revenue in ways that I'd thought I'd never see. If the economy does get turned around or at the very least, turned in the right direction, I just hope that operating in a lean and mean fashion doesn't become the norm. You can only make so many cuts before the overall quality of what you do suffers -- and if you're willing to sacrifice quality for revenue, you need to get out of the business altogether.
5) How you feel about stations in both formats being asked to wait on a record you hear until the research validates it?
I think that Urban radio is at a very important crossroads. The days of the dumbed-down, "talking loud , ain't saying nuthin'" jock MUST come to an end especially in Hip-Hop. One of the reasons why B-96.5 has been a ratings powerhouse is because we don't talk down to our audience. During the Presidential campaign, we went beyond the typical "get out the vote" rhetoric by providing nonpartisan analysis of everything that was happening. Granted, we're not a news organization, yet we had the pulse of our listeners because this was information they needed to know.
As far as research goes, your station is only as good as the information you get. We've been blessed to have had a really good firm doing our research and the information pretty much bears out what we've been thinking about certain records. Naturally in a competitive environment where you have similar formats, you want to own certain records, so you go out a little earlier than you normally would.
If your information is good, you shouldn't be able to take your playlist and put it anywhere else in the country. If you can, then you're seriously lacking the feel of your market.
6) How do you feel about syndication? Has it significantly affected the number of hours that you have control over the music that you play?
Personally, I've never liked syndication but I do understand the need for it. In some cases, it's more cost-effective than a local show ... unless that syndicated show is pure garbage. It hasn't really affected overall control of what we do. You just schedule around it to keep things consistent.
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?
Most assuredly. Urban ACs, especially. The bottom line is that Urban radio can no longer make the mistakes it made back in the '70s and '80s. Everyone was so caught up in playing the new jams first, that it lost sight of those Top 40 competitors that were taking Urban records and having success with them. Urbans typically ran songs up and out of their lists as quickly as people changed socks. Now that that we've wised up, we're hanging on to those hit songs that our listeners are telling us to.
These days, it's not surprising to see a Power hit anywhere from 85 to 95 spins per week ... 100 in some really aggressive scenarios. It has to be noted that I was one of the few programmers spinning songs 100 times a week when Hot 104 was still here.
8) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?
I'm always trying to improve as an air talent. I always want to stay relevant no matter what format I choose to do and with my next challenge being Talk radio, that's more important than ever. I love being on the air because of the connection I have with the listeners, and that's something I'd like to improve no matter what I do.
9) How do you account for and what effect do you feel the continuing ratings dominance your stations has had in the Louisville market?
The biggest thing is that we're extremely plugged into Louisville. I love the fact that I'm instantly recognized on the street no matter where I go. Not bad for a radio guy. Our listeners have a certain ownership of our stations and we make sure they know that. We do all of the little things that slashed budgets and cutbacks have forced a lot of us to do --and we make it work.
Musically, we've been spot-on for the last five or six years ... very strong research and an objectivity to it has kept us focused. It's like I tell other personalities, "We may be playing the same songs across different stations, but what sets us apart is what we do in between them." In that regard, our competition has been lacking. To them, it's just radio. To us, this is a lifestyle.
10) As you look back over your career ... any regrets? Missed opportunities?
My spiritual belief tells me that every move, every mistake, every triumph and tragedy I've had over the last 30 years is as it should be and so I have no regrets. I think the only opportunities I've missed were the ones I wasn't supposed to have.
Bonus Questions
What would people who think they know Mark Gunn be surprised to know about you?
More than likely that in my exploration of spirituality and learning about the world's religions, that I've embraced Wicca, or rather it embraced me a few years ago. I'm a practicing Solitary Witch. It sounds crazy to the average person, but it's brought me closer to God than any other religion I've practiced.
What's been your biggest disappointment in radio today?
The severe lack of real talent and the fact that those of us who are positions to cultivate it can't or won't because of time constraints or fragile egos laced with a touch of paranoia.
Do you feel there are going to be new challengers from other formats?.
The biggest challenges will most likely come from the revenue side from any station. Formatically, as long as Top 40 struggles to find its identity and Rock continues to go through the transition it's in, we're fairly safe. That doesn't mean we should get complacent because every format is competition. If anything, we continue to step our game up.
What's your favorite broadcast experience of all time?
Interviewing James Brown, Berry Gordy and Bobby Seale, among so many others.
Having my morning show in Cincinnati featured on the local Fox affiliate. I think that's where the TV bug really bit me ...and being able to facilitate an on-air marriage proposal.
What advice would you give someone who wants to enjoy the type of career that you have had?
Stay relevant. Don't limit yourself to any one format or any one skill. Cultivate good relationships with the power brokers in your city. Make yourself as valuable as you can. The more skills you have, the more marketable you become. Keep a good reputation within the industry. It's just as important as the reputation you have with your listeners.
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