Worldwide Radio Summit: Backstage Interviews Podcast
All Access and A&R Worldwide host the annual Worldwide Radio Summit, a conference where radio broadcasters gather to exchange ideas. Jacobs Media's Digital Dot Connector, Seth Resler, goes backstage each year to interview leaders in the radio broadcasting industry, including air talent, executives, record label representatives, and more.
2016 Episode 10: JV
JV, Host of The JV Show on Wild 94.9 in San Francisco, talks about his personal journey as host. He discusses the highs and lows of being a popular radio morning show host, from drug use and firings to saving the lives of sick children.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- JV and Elvis teamed up to the The Dog House morning show.
- Prior to JV and Elvis taking over the Wild 107.7 morning show, Mancow hosted a controversial haircut stunt.
- JV swam to Alcatraz to raise money for a young girl who needed to see a doctor.
- JV broke Armand’s Van Helden’s “The Funk Phenomena.”
- DJ Jose Melendez comes with the Wild 94.9 building.
- When Howard Stern left terrestrial radio for Sirius, JV and Elvis took The Dog House to Free FM in New York City.
- David Lee Roth hosted a morning show on Free FM.
- JV and Elvis feuded with Opie & Anthony when both shows were on Free FM.
- Don Imus was embroiled in controversy over a remark he made about the Rutgers basketball team.
- JV and Elvis ran into trouble with a prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant.
- JV, Elvis, and Natashi Yi host The Dog House as a talk show now.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
NOTE: This episode contains explicit language.
2016 Episode 9: Tim Clarke
Tim Clarke, Senior Director of Digital Audience for Cox Media Group, talks about how radio stations can engage audiences online. He discusses the importance of creating online content beyond audio, social media strategies, and techniques for teaching digital skills to on-air talent.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Cox Media Group has radio stations in eleven markets.
- 97X in Tampa hosts the biggest alternative rock radio festival in the southeast, The Next Big Thing.
- Facebook believes that by 2021, 70% of online traffic will be video content.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 8: Andy Bowers
Andy Bowers, the Chief Content Officer of Panoply, talks about how he crossed over from public radio to launching a podcast network.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Andy set out to be the NPR Foreign Correspondent in London.
- Andy joined slate.com, where he helped launch the Slate Political Gabfest.
- Slate’s podcast begat the Panoply podcast network.
- Seth interviewed David Plotz for All Access.
- Gretchen Rubin has a podcast called Happier.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 7: Pat Paxton
Pat Paxton, the President of Programming for Entercom, talks about his radio programming philosophy. He discusses the impact of the PPM ratings system on radio programming, the importance of identifying the right audience, and his advice for aspiring program directors.
Here’s what we discussed in this interview:
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 6: Rob Walch
Rob Walch, VP of Podcaster Relations at Libsyn, talks about the world of podcasting and how commercial radio stations can dive into the medium. We talk about the difference between Google and Apple in the podcasting space, the state of podcast advertising, and how metrics work.
Here’s what we discussed in this interview:
- Rob wrote Tricks of the Podcasting Masters.
- The IAB has issued podcast metrics guidelines.
- Google has now entered the podcasting space.
- The top podcast categories are comedy and education.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 5: Peter Szabo
Peter Szabo, former SVP of Global Music at Shazam, talks about how the music recognition mobile app can be used by radio stations. He discusses the introduction of audio ads at Pandora, how Shazam showed the power of television when breaking bands, and how Old Navy demonstrated the power of audio recognition in driving sales.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Peter worked for Kiss 108 and Jam'n 94.5 in Boston.
- Peter helped launch audio ads at Pandora.
- Old Navy was an early pioneer in Shazamable ads.
- Shazam’s Explore feature allows people to see the top songs in a market.
- The Postal Service credits KROQ for their big break.
- Shazam helped propel Hozier's "Arsonist Lullaby."
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 4: Dean Cappello
Dean Cappello, the Executive Vice President & Chief Content Officer at WNYC, the legendary public radio station in New York City, talks about the state of the radio broadcasting industry. He discusses the range of topics audiences are interested in, what a "Chief Content Officer" at a radio station does, and putting on-demand audio behind a paywall.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Dean considers himself a Howard Stern P1.
- WNYC Studios launched the 2 Dope Queens podcast featuring comedians Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams.
- Jad Abumrad of RadioLab helped promote 2 Dope Queens on terrestrial radio stations.
- WNYC's There Goes the Neighborhood podcast explores the gentrification of Brooklyn.
- Audible, Amazon's audio book company, has a subscription service business model.
- Dean had just returned from the Radio Days Europe conference.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 3: Steve Reynolds
Steve Reynolds has coached some of the biggest morning shows in radio broadcasting, including eight shows in the top ten markets. We talked about how morning shows figure out their plots, how to resolve tension within a morning team, and how to hire good talent.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Jon Coleman of Coleman Insights helped Steve launch his consulting company.
- How to resolve tension in a morning show team
- What he looks for when hiring a morning show
- Whether radio stations should give traffic and weather reports in the morning
- How to develop strong benchmark features
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 2: Pierre Bouvard
Pierre Bouvard, now the Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media and Westwood One, has a long history of gleaning insights from data in the broadcasting industry. He discusses the adoption of Nielsen's PPM ratings system, the importance of data to radio advertisers, and the arrival of Cumulus Media's new CEO, Mary Berner.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Pierre worked for Coleman Insights.
- Pierre helped flip Hot 106 in Los Angeles to the hip-hop format (Hear the interviews with Jeff Smulyan and Rick Cummings)
- Kathy Crawford at Mindshare, Janice Finkel-Green at Initiative, and Joel Hollander at CBS were instrumental to getting Arbitron's PPM system off the ground.
- Pierre worked for Tivo Research and Analytics.
- Nielsen purchased Exelate to append data to its ratings information.
- Pierre believes that Next Radio is going to provide radio with data similar to what the television industry collects.
- Westwood One conducted a recent study on podcasting.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.
2016 Episode 1: Ginny Morris
Ginny Morris, the CEO and Chairperson of Hubbard Broadcasting, is widely respected among her peers for running an innovative broadcasting company. We sat down to talk about the right way to fail in broadcasting, what she looks for when purchasing radio stations, and what the she sees when she looks at the state of the industry.
Here's what we discussed in this interview:
- Hubbard runs MyTalk 107.1, a female-oriented talk radio station in Minneapolis.
- Hubbard is a minority partner in PodcastOne (hear my interview with PodcastOne's CEO Norm Pattiz).
- Morris' biggest concern about radio's future is the connected car. Here's an introduction to the connected car for radio broadcasters.
- Learn more about the Worldwide Radio Summit.
Produced by James Clausen. Special thanks to Joel Denver and Matt Shapo of All Access.