This full text was a Q&A style essay I wrote for Temple as a final exam for the internship with WMMR.
At the time, Chuck Damico was the Program director for 95.7 Ben FM and the Assistant Program Director for 93.3 WMMR. Damico has since left his position with BEN and has moved to program director for sports station 97.5 The Fanatic. All stations based in Philadelphia.
Wendy Rollins, who was unemployed in radio is now working as a part-time weekend and weekday fill in station for WXPN, a non-profit public adult alternative station in Philadelphia.
Edward Betts: A Radio Programming Snapshot 27. April. 2020
Since September, I’ve gained a lot of production experience interning for The Preston & Steve Show, the morning radio show on 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia. I’ve been doing everything from editing audio clips and images for their on-air segments, archiving audio clips, editing the show’s daily podcast and answering phones for contests and on-air segments. However, I wanted to learn about radio programming including what is involved on a daily basis and what they see as the future of radio programming.
I reached out to Program Director Bill Weston and Assistant Program director Chuck Damico. Damico also serves as the Program Director for WMMR’s sister station, 95.7 BEN FM. Weston was unavailable for an interview so I spoke with Wendy Rollins, who served as the Assistant Program Director for Radio 104.5 (WRFF) in Philadelphia from it’s launch in July 2007 till she left in July 2016 to serve as the Assistant Program Director for ALT 105.7 (WRDA) in Atlanta. Rollins served as the Assistant Programming Director at WRDA till her position was eliminated as part of a nationwide series of layoffs from the station’s parent company, iHeartRadio in January 2020. Last week, ALT 105.7 rebranded as Z105.7 and adopted a Latin music format.
1st Interview: Chuck Damico
EB: First, could you introduce yourself and your official title?
CD: Hello, I’m Chuck Damico. I am the Assistant Program Director for 93.3 WMMR and the Program Director for our sister station, 95.7 BEN FM.
EB: What was your inspiration for pursuing a career in radio?
CD: In the early 1990s, I was working for a data processing company. After that company was sold, I had to decide what I wanted to do next in my career. While I was working for that company, listening to the radio was something that always made my workday better and so I decided I wanted to be a part of doing that for other people too.
EB: What are some other positions in radio that you’ve worked?
CD: Over the years, I’ve held many positions in radio. Some of these positions include promotions director, music director, music researcher, studio board operator, commercial production director and part-time disc jockey.
EB: What are some tasks that make up your daily routine?
CD:I am a part of the management team for both WMMR and BEN FM. Most of what we do is plan and execute our daily programming, promotions/contests and events. We also work very closely with our sales departments to involve sponsors and advertisers in our events and promotions.
EB: Which employees/departments report to you? What type of relationship do you have with them?
CD: I have several departments that report to the programming directors. These include the disc jockeys themselves. I also work directly with, the promotion departments, the commercial production and imaging departments all are managed by the program director. We are very collaborative in everything we do.
EB: What factors go into selecting artists/songs for a station’s rotation?
CD: There are a lot of factors, but what matters the most is A“what is best for the radio station.” We want to be true to our brand and what listeners expect from us musically. We do extensive and regular listener research to measure their tastes and opinions and work to find the best music to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.
EB: What factors go into selecting artists to perform at events?
CD: In most cases, it comes down to who is available and consistent with the vision or goal of our event. We can’t just call up the perfect artist and get them to do anything we want as nice as that would be.
EB: What strategies do program directors take to remain fresh with listeners?
CD: We communicate with listeners all the time. Our strategies range from methods like research, surveys, events, contesting and social media feedback. We use the information we gather to keep informed on what’s happening in our listener’s lives and interests. We adjust or package our programming in ways that hopefully fits in and enhances their lives. A very simple example would be if we know the weather is getting nicer and people will be spending more time outside, we try to come up with on-air music ideas or on-site events to enhance their plans or engage people in those ways.
EB: How important is radio during times of crisis like the current pandemic?
CD: Radio is extremely important. Radio has always been a “go-to” medium in times of news, both good and bad. Radio has the ability to not only 100% live but also address and inform people in local areas, both large and small. When done well, local radio with local radio hosts can provide comfort and companionship in ways many other media can’t.
EB: With radio constantly evolving to adapt to technological advances of listening to music, what do you feel the future holds for radio programming?
CD: Radio simply as a medium is an extremely powerful method of delivery. The competition is and really always has been one of content. I believe people are really smart and they will find the best content regardless of the medium. If your favorite content is on YouTube, a podcast, video streaming service or on the radio you will find it. The competition is making the best content you can. So for now and in the future, radio stations and their competing technologies with great content will be fine, ones without it will struggle.
Interview #2: Wendy Rollins
EB: First, could you introduce yourself and your official title?
WR: I am Wendy Rollins and I am currently a pandemic survivor. I am the former Assistant Program Director and on-air personality on ALT 105.7 in Atlanta. I also previously served in the same positions in Philadelphia for Radio 104.5. Lastly, I was an on-air personality for The Alternative Project, a nationwide live stream station on the iHeartRadio mobile app.
EB: What was your inspiration for pursuing a career in radio?
WR: I was one of the kids acting like I was on a radio station, recording it to cassette, but I was serious about it. I recorded and mimicked the jocks all through school. Once I got into college I tried to focus on getting a “real job.” My major was because for the most part, women were not in radio. If they were, they were merely there to do the weather or laugh at someone else’s jokes. A woman hosting her own show was rarely heard. However, around that time an alternative station signed on in my hometown of Atlanta. Now, keep in mind, “alternative” was an unheard of format at that time. I started digging up any information I could, going to their shows, studying everything they did on air. I found an article that listed the program director as Leslie Fram. Leslie was a co- host on the morning show whom I adored but I didn’t know what a “program director” was. Once I figured out that title meant she was running the station…a woman…I switched schools, switched majors and went after it.
EB: What are some other positions in radio that you’ve worked?
WR: Here is the full list of every position I’ve worked in radio. In order, the positions include overnight host and programming assistant for WCHZ and WCHZ Augusta GA. I also served as morning co-host for WXNR in New Bern, NC. I later served as afternoon host and Assistant Program Director WYAV Myrtle Beach, SC. I was also Program Director and midday host for KRZQ in Reno NV. I was also weekend host for WBZY in Atlanta, GA, and Assistant Program Director and middays at WAVF in Charleston, SC
For the next several questions, Wendy discussed her time at Radio 104.5 since that is my local point of reference.
EB: What are some tasks that made up your daily routine?
WR: The tasks included preparation for my on air show. We also held weekly music meetings with promotions/sales and record label executives to discuss upcoming music/ shows. I was also responsible for drafting concert proposals, writing and updating the station website. We would also book in-studio interviews and do research for the interviews. I would also produce upcoming endorsements/ commercials.
EB: Which employees/departments reported to you?
WR: In radio there is a hierarchy but one doesn’t work without the other. While there is a difference in pay grade you become keenly aware that while someone may be “under” you; if you don’t treat them with respect, then you don’t get quality work. When you are the public face of the station, you want to make sure your digital and promotions departments run smoothly or the whole station looks bad. Philadelphia was a classic example of top notch performance from all departments.
EB: What factors go into selecting artists/songs for a station’s rotation?
WR: In Philadelphia there were several factors including concert sales, streaming numbers, research on the song’s performance in other markets and response from our listeners. The question our Program Director John Allers and I used to ask ourselves was “does it vibe?”
EB: What factors go into selecting artists to perform at events?
WR: It was more or less the same as selecting for the rotation, however we also worked very closely with Live Nation on our bigger events and that definitely put us over the top in many cases.
EB: What strategies do program directors take to remain fresh with listeners?
WR: I think you have to take calculated chances and you need to really get to know your listeners interests. You need to go to shows and see who’s there. You’ll begin to recognize your tastemakers.
EB: How important is radio during times of crisis like the current pandemic?
WR: Radio is extraordinarily important. The question is who will step up and adapt their programming for what their audience needs. Radio is poised to make immediate news updates. Television has to wait for the next news program. It’s tough to go between entertainment and news with tact but the true on air professionals can make that happen. Unfortunately with so much automation, particularly with iHeartRadio, they lose the local connection to talk about who is open like local schools and hospitals.
Note: In the last question, Wendy is referring to iHeartRadio utilizing voice tracking meaning disc jockeys can pre-record their speaking breaks and DJs can broadcast in multiple markets while not being physically in the market.
EB: With radio constantly evolving to adapt to technological advances, what do you feel the future holds for radio programming?
WR: I think radio programming will always be a thing however it is evolving into different forms of media. There are playlists on Spotify, shows on Sirius/XM satellite radio and podcasts. FM is fading. I think in the near future more jocks will be working from home studios.Stations will switch to streaming. FM Radio will be an app rather than a radio frequency. The pandemic has definitely furthered the idea that stations do not need a brick and mortar building especially when so many companies are financially struggling. I think this would be the obvious answer.
Both Damico and Rollins recognize radio as a powerful tool for releasing information. When radio has live local disc jockeys, information can be presented on the air very quickly. The disc jockeys can offer a sense of companionship during times of crisis like the current COVID-19 epidemic. When selecting artists for the rotation and to perform at events, lots of research is involved and you look at what you want to accomplish. For events, you look at what your goal is for the event like if it’s a charity acoustic show or a summer festival. Availability of the artist and the venue (you are working directly with promoters like Live Nation) also plays a factor.
As far as the future is concerned for radio programming, both Damico and Rollins have a positive outlook. Damico mentioned that having great content will keep listeners tuned in and Rollins sees radio stations exclusively streaming their content online rather than through the FM frequency. The other commonality amongst both interviews is that they mentioned that radio stations are very collaborative. It’s the hard-working individuals in each department that help the station operate effectively. Like Rollins said, “you may have people working under you but if you don’t treat them with respect, you won’t get quality work.”
Images: [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]93.3 WMMR logo and 95.7 BEN FM logo (Beasley Media Group), Chuck Damico (twitter.com/chuckdamico.)
Radio 104.5 and ALT 105.7 (iHeartRadio), Wendy Rollins (ALT1057.com)
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