This week we take a look at the reigning champs of Philadelphia Radio, the Preston & Steve Show. The show has grown organically in Philadelphia over the last 10 years, cultivating audiences in the teens to young adults, and with the move to WMMR, listeners in the much desired upper demos as well… and has kept them all.
Philadelphia is a very communal town. People enjoy and respect things that are achieved through hard work and dedication. Substance over style, loyalty over bandwagoneering. Passion above all else. You want proof? Go to any sporting event in the city. You’ll see it. If you’re looking for a quick and lazy sound bite, you might see or say something else, but at the heart of this city is a sense of camaraderie and connectivity rooted in genuine, blue collar fortitude.
As for morning radio in the City Of Brotherly Love, one look at it’s history reflects that exact mentality – The Morning Zoo with John DeBella and the Howard Stern Show both reached listeners by being either extremely relatable and funny or unflinchingly local. Both dominated the market in recent decades.
Fast forward to 2009, and the reigning champions of Philly radio (although you’d be hard pressed to get any of them crow about it) is WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show. Multiple winners of various industry awards, and sitting atop Persons and Men 18-34 and 25-54, P&S are a huge Philly success, one that, after nearly ten years together, is still striding along in its prime.
The show has grown organically in Philadelphia over the last 10 years, cultivating audiences in the teens to young adults, and with the move to WMMR, listeners in the much desired upper demos as well… and has kept them all. Common sense would dictate that morning shows in the area would benefit from the vacuum left by Howard Stern’s departure to satellite radio. The answer to that would be yes and no, due largely to the fact that P&S had already been making huge in roads before Stern’s exit and actually vanquished the reigning King in his last book, bypassing him Adults 18-34. Those left without a morning show made the move down the dial to P&S and have remained there to this day.
The immediate surge of marketing and corporate support also paid dividends. “We wanted to take a traditional approach and promote the hell out of the morning show,” says Program Director Bill Weston. “All of our marketing, imaging and promotion were all changed to make sure they were a part of that.”
Two years after the pair renewed the deal with Greater Media in 2006, the company once again displayed its level of commitment to the show by investing in a million-dollar 1,800-square-foot studio just for them. “It wasn’t anything we suggested. It was a great gesture,” says co-host Steve Morrison.
In stark contrast to the old studio, which would see people come in and out in shifts, the state-of-the-art facility leaves tons of room for guests and plenty of elbow room for each member of the show. Host Preston Elliot is surrounded by all the players, web cams and banks of flat screens displaying video and stills of whatever topic the crew is discussing. It’s a long way from the days of WDRE in Jenkintown and the little shack at Y100 on Baltimore Pike out in the Philly ‘burbs.
A steady stream of local and national celebrities flow in and out each week, with plenty of room left over for an audience of listeners and friends, not to mention a healthy round of “Crack Shot” – a trivia game that results in some unlucky guest or member of the show getting shot in the ass with a BB gun. Not to be outdone is the Hottie Cam and the Preston & Steve Girls, but more on that later.
The show has evolved in different increments over the years and is now mainly comprised of Executive Producer Casey Foster, producer and webmaster Nick McIlwain, Traffic, News and personality Kathy Romano, and Associate Producer Marisa Magnatta. Each plays a critical role in the success of the show.
“Casey has really blossomed into one of the best producers in the country,” Elliot relays like a proud father. “He knows what to do and won’t take no for an answer. He is my right hand guy and has been with the show from day one.”
“[Nick] also allows me the opportunity to jump in there and give him shit,” Morrison laughs. “He’s great at setting something up and letting me poke holes in some of the things he says.”
“Kathy is rock solid on the air. She’s very opinionated and often disgusted by some of the things we talk about on the air,” says Elliot. “Kathy is also very astute as to what is going on charity-wise in the city and has great relationships with the TV people in the area.”
The show has become very interactive due in large part to Nick “Captain Awesome” McIllwain’s efforts. “The web is a crucial part of what we do,” Elliot confirms. McIllwain is a talented producer and is constantly updating the site throughout the show, immediately posting items related to topics discussed on the air. He also provides another outlet for good natured ribbing, as Morrison will point out.
The show does transcend outside of Philadelphia via streaming and podcasting. Initially many of the online listeners were people who had moved away from the area and wanted to still follow the show, but over the years, listenership spread to all 50 states and overseas. The podcast’s growing popularity prompted Apple to feature the show on the main comedy page in the Apple iTunes store. “It’s a Philly show that has universal appeal,” McIlwain clarifies.
Associate Producer Magnatta spends most of her time in the state-of the-art production facility adjacent to the on-air studio, grabbing audio and visuals instantly to help pace and augment the show both in studio and via the show’s web cam presence. “She also hangs out with a lot of athletes,” jokes Morrison, “which has come in pretty handy.”
“With five us in the room all the time and Marisa next door we also balance each other really well,” says McIllwain. “Sixty to seventy percent of what is said on the air is Preston and Steve. But without the three other people in the room, the show wouldn’t be what it is.”
Casey, Kathy and Nick also all grew up in the Philadelphia area and went to college there. This dynamic makes the Preston & Steve Show even more relatable to Philadelphians on a number of levels.
“We all have great chemistry,” Elliot notes. “We make sure that we are as prepared as we can be. We all contribute enough that we pretty much get to everything Pop culture and community-wise. We have a really great work ethic and have great support from Greater Media.”
That kind of support is reciprocated by both Morrison and Elliot. It’s not uncommon to find either of them out on sales calls, shaking hands with clients and getting a feel for what the customer is about and vice versa. “They are incredibly sales-friendly,” says Weston. “I think they took a page from the Pierre Robert book and saw how strong a Philadelphia brand Pierre is after 27 years of shaking every hand in the city.”
“We’ve be been blessed with good numbers,” adds Morrison. “I prefer to think of us as being in fourth or fifth place and always having to improve. Everyone involved with the show wants to do their best and find new ways to make the show successful. When you start buying your own bullshit and stop working hard you’re finished. We live in mortal fear of that.”
Philly listeners took to them largely because of their genuine nature. Void of any vitriolic interactions while still maintaining an edge, the Preston and Steve show comes across exactly how you would want a big market Rock morning show to sound – inclusive and exclusive. You become invested and made to feel a part of what’s going on, part of something special, hilarious and decidedly Philadelphia. More importantly, what you hear on the air is exactly who they are.
“Setting up that false dynamic where you’re something on the air and then you’re out in public and you’re a dick is a great way to help end you’re career,” Morrison agrees. “Any show that tries to perpetuate constant mean-spirited ball busting comes across as premeditated and vindictive. I wouldn’t hire a plumber that was like that let alone listen to a show like that.”
“Everything is so genuine between us,” Romano points out. “There’s no real act. We’re all friends.” After listening to them for years, knowing them personally and sitting in the studio watching them work, it’s clear the interaction between the members of the show is not at all premeditated or calculated. They hang out, go to movies, do appearances and work with each other every day. That bond is integral and it translates.
“There’s no B/S with these guys or with the show,” adds Assistant Program Director Chuck Damico. “They don’t fake bits or phony up content or play ‘roles’ on the show. They won’t even record interviews because they know the best stuff is real and live. At the root of all of that is a level of honesty and sincerity that speaks to how much they truly care about their product, each other and their customers (the listeners).”
The show itself is loaded to the gills with content, be it a guests or news, head spinning discussions on this week’s episode of Lost, or benchmark events and projects like Drunk Day, the Cardboard Classic sled race, the Totally Office Calendar and the Painfully Single Mixers. The week is not complete with a fine assortment of scantily clad women in the studio, all of which can be viewed live on the sponsored Hottie Cam. [The day I visited happened to be a banner day – two dancers from Club Risque and fifteen modeling contestants were paraded in and out. Good clean fun. Tough gig.]
P&S also frequently run “Philly’s Hottest” contests via the web where listeners vote on such categories as Philly’s Hottest Bartender, Philly’s Hottest Flyers fan, etc. [If you have a few dozen hours to kill, check out the archives on prestonandsteve.com and videos of all the aforementioned events on YouTube]
The biggest event of the year for the show hands down is the Camp Out For Hunger. Each year the entire crew spends five days in the dead of winter holed up in a parking lot broadcasting their show and collecting food for those less fortunate. It has become one of the largest single sponsored food drives in the country. Even in an economic downturn, their last drive exceeded the amount collected the year prior.
The show, much like mentor, co-worker and Philadelphia radio legend Pierre Robert, are beneficiaries of hard work, good karma and contagious laughter. They’ve earned their listeners trust and loyalty and never take it for granted. For any business, those are rare qualities that are worth holding on to.
*eQB Content by Mike Bacon**
