In a business that’s often full of chart watchers and non-risk takers, KHTT & KBEZ/Tulsa Director Of Operations Jet Black is breath of fresh air! His passion and work ethic are exemplary. No one has better read on their market. Jet puts the time and effort into understanding the wants and needs of the audience and that makes for some pretty great radio in Oklahoma!
Jet Black
By Bob Burke
Jet Black’s radio career started with Renda Broadcasting in Oklahoma City as a 15 year old intern. Since then he’s spent time in Atlanta, Nashville, St. Louis, Cleveland, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Greenville/Spartanburg, SC handling everything from the night shift to Imaging to being both a Music Director and a Program Director. In the process he’s been involved with Clear Channel’s FormatLab, the predecessor to IheartRadio, working on interactive and HD radio projects, running his own commercial production house and was at one point voice-tracking eight stations for Clear Channel.
Needless to say, it’s been quite a journey but all roads have led Black back home and back to Renda Broadcasting, where he now serves as Director Of Operations for both CHR KHTT and Adult Hits KBEZ in Tulsa. He is one of the next generation of brilliant programming minds who not only understands the art and science of radio today, but more importantly what it takes to win and have a lot fun while doing it!
You’re in place where you grew up listening to a station you’re now programming, not to mention putting in two plus years across the street at your main competitor. How much of a benefit was the advance market knowledge?
Knowing what I know has kept me focused on the ebb and flow of this city. I’m one of only two programmers in town who grew up here and I’d like to think that gives me an advantage. But my most valuable tool is the amount of knowledge I gained about my own station and staff trying to counter-program against them when I was with KTBT. I felt like I already knew the strengths and weaknesses of every moving part in the building before I even had stepped foot into my office. Armed with all of that, I hit the ground running on day one.
Since arriving at the station you have really re-branded KHTT. What challenges did you face and is the station now meeting your expectations?
It was a definite culture change for the staff with the plans I had. Outside of my morning show, no one knew what PPM philosophy was and how they should apply it to their technique. Appointment setting was a TOTALLY new concept. I realized quickly that I was fighting against the “radio-isms” and the “radio person” way of thinking and trying to move away from the “We’re #1 for this or that” and having 15 second sweepers with a bunch of noise in-between every song. It became a big hurdle. But, in that process I leaned from a few of my close programming buddies like Rich Davis, [Tim] Rayne [Rainey] and Stick. Through the dream team I was able to get some great advice on how to change the thinking and creation process, especially since they all have an enormous amount of PPM experience. It paid off like gangbusters! Once my staff picked up on the changes and began to apply them, they began to see results instantly. Since that time we’ve set in motion a cultural evolution that started in programming but has now infected our interactive, promotions and sales teams, and we’re firing on all cylinders.
Pop radio has enjoyed a pretty significant music cycle that has produced some big hits from big stars. What’s your read on the format going forward?
It will be interesting. For now, I’m glad that we’ve found our way back to 1990-1991 with the Dance sound. I’m a pretty big Dance head and I’m LOVING the cycle we’re in. Beyond that, I think pre-teen oriented records will have a hard time finding a place at the format. As much as we enjoyed the climb up the [Justin] Bieber mountain, I’m beginning to see that it’s falling almost as fast. I’m excited to hear new stuff from Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Usher and Katy Perry, the staple artists of the format. But also being a part of the growth of stars with people like Far East Movement, Mike Posner, New Boyz and Bruno Mars has been a blessing in the last 18 months. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
How important is research vs. gut when making music decisions for KHTT?
VITAL! I’m human, I make mistakes, I miss the mark and occasionally I hear something that is not hit-worthy. Research is my counter-balance to the humanity. But in reality they both are two tools in a chest full of things I use to consider the records we play. If you aren’t trying to look at the full blown picture with custom panels, requests, and sales then you’re not focused. You should see the piles of paper my music director and I go through every week when we do music, Al Gore would cry. At the end of it all, I do my best to look at every song we are playing or considering from every single angle I can. So far, our aim has been pretty much on target.
You’re a passionate guy when it comes to the whole “theater of mind” presentation and the big production elements from back in the day. How are you utilizing some of those elements and techniques nowadays?
I’m a firm believer in most of the magic coming from the message. If you create a solid and memorable message, you’ll always find a way to punch through. Right now we’re giving away iPads that we “stole” from Pop stars and I recorded the audio for the promo from my weekend in jail. You would think that we were giving away gold to the audience. It also helps to have your message delivered by someone who sounds relevant and I totally have that with Scott Matthews and Melody Sharp voicing what our minds come up with. All of those things combined create some larger than life sounding positions and promotions. Now we’re just waiting on everyone else in town to try and catch up.
How critical is it to mentor and critique the staff on a daily basis?
Very, but I do my best to not make them feel like its criticism. My entire team works quite well together and I like to cultivate that relationship with them by turning aircheck sessions or morning show meetings into brainstorming and idea sessions. Everyone is their own worst critic, that’s a title I don’t want to take over for them. Yes, I push them hard. Yes, I hold everyone accountable. And yes, I make sure they focus on outdoing what they did last time, but I avoid making them feel like I’m “coming down” on them. Now, more than ever, the entire staff is having to do more with less and with those responsibilities comes a monumental amount of stress. I don’t want to add to that and get them out of focus. My GM Jon Phillips is a great example to learn from and he has really helped me develop my mentoring skills. I’ve still got a lot of growth ahead of me, but so far the synergy with the environment we try to create has been good.
How much has new media helped in expanding the brand?
We were a little late getting into the game with Facebook and mobile marketing but it became part of our interactive culture change. Early on the jocks were utilizing it individually but we weren’t really focused on it as a brand. NOW, we’re pushing 6,000 Facebook fans and EVERYTHING we do on the air ends up on Facebook. Our morning show has utilized YouTube and UStream since day one (PS – if you have streaming audio, you might as well beam video of your studio onto their computers too) and they both have become cogs in the wheel of brand extension for us.
We now have a social media coordinator (one of my part-timers) who makes sure we’re staying on top of our game with Facebook, MySpace, UStream, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and BeBo. We dashboard them all with HootSuite so it makes the updating and the status process seamless, consistent and easy. Mobile marketing is still a developing technology around town. It’s not part of the mainstream with the audience, but it IS picking up steam. At the end of it all though, finding ways to vertically integrate our brands with others around town has been a great resource for us. We’re on the Fox affiliate here five nights a week, our morning show co-host is the “in the stands” MC for our NBA D-League team here, we have a running feature in the weekly alternative newspaper in town every week. We are involved with every possible charity event we can be and we have great partnerships with the concert promoters in town. Yeah, the online social networks mean a lot these days, but the old school social networks still create results. Swim in your blue ocean.
How important is synergy between the programming and sales departments in terms of helping them with revenue opportunities without cluttering up the airwaves?
It’s all about educating them to what we do in the programming department. In many markets, the sales department is practically clueless as to what programming’s goals are, what our processes are and why we do what we do. It is totally opposite here. My GM Jon Phillips has cultivated his sales team to know they can’t exist without us and the programming team to know that we can’t exist without them. Through that, there is an atmosphere of teamwork and creativity.
Our sales staff for each radio station is small but focused. We clearly communicate our goals on the programming end and the sales staff understands them and works with programming and promotions to create new opportunities and improve on the things that already exist. I’m fortunate to have a group of people selling concepts and solutions, NOT just Ads. The cluster promotions director Carly Rush has been in our building since 1988 and knows practically everyone in town from her many years on the air. That experience helps her be the catalyst in the creative process and some of the things we’ve come up with have been nothing short of phenomenal.
Is the radio/record label relationship in a good place where both have a better understanding of each other’s goals?
Consolidation on the record side has really helped them see that the radio guys are doing so much more with so much less. Everyone’s time is now limited and through that I’m seeing that labels are focusing more on fewer projects and practicing what radio has practiced for so many years: Narrow Focus = Broad Results. As long as that formula continues to be utilized and as long as the promotion departments set realistic goals for their projects, it will be a win/win for all. There’s still work to be done, but we’re in a much better place than we were a few years ago.
Any advice for up and comers who want to excel on the programming/management side of radio?
Learn how to manage people before you take the leap. Any PD can tell you that the art and science of what comes out of the speakers, we can do in our sleep. The hardest part is coaching the football team. Everyone has different personalities, different egos, different issues and you have to coach each person individually. Strive to work smarter not necessarily harder. On the other side of the coin, make sure you educate yourself about the sales process. Love it or hate it – we have to live with it. The more educated you are the better you will be able to work with sales. They are doing more with less, just like all of us are, and in many cases with more pressure to perform. We always complain that “sales just doesn’t get it,” but I believe that it’s a two way street.
As a side note, don’t get lost in the minutia of what everyone else is doing. Swim in your own blue ocean. It’s easy to get lost in your competition’s world and if you’re constantly looking back you won’t see what’s ahead. Do yourself a favor and read the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” and you’ll better understand why your brand should be its own competition.
What’s the main difference having worked for both major and independently owned broadcast companies?
There is something to be said for an owner who’s willing to get down and dirty right alongside you in order to win. I have that in our owner Tony Renda. There has never been a time where I thought we couldn’t get something done because of this or that or politics. He values the tools we use and makes sure those resources are in place for us to dominate. Also, Tony LOVES great radio, and when we create it he gets just as excited as we do. It’s not often that the corner office is that connected and I for one absolutely love working for this company. I’m proud to say that my career started with Renda Broadcasting and I’ve come full circle.
What excites you most about the future of radio?
The possibilities. For many, the unknown is a scary thing, but for me it’s a motivator. I’m anxious to see how far our brand extensions can go and how the revenue possibilities will grow in the process. The talent pool is pretty shallow these days, but with the advent of UStream and flip cams, anyone can be a star. It will be interesting to see where some of the next Elvis Durans come from. But really, I’m just excited to be a part of radio’s future. I have loved this business since I was a kid and no matter how tough it has gotten either personally or industry wide, I’ve always had this love affair with the magic that can happen on a radio station. As we continue to grow, I’m humbled that I’ve been blessed with the talent to just be in the mix. I still want ‘it’ as bad as I did when I fell for ‘it.’
Jet Black with Far East Movement
