Dave Hill
In August 2002, Dave Hill landed the highly coveted PD position at Hearst-Argyle Active Rocker WIYY (98 Rock)/Baltimore. Almost five years later, Hill is still at the programming reigns as he guides WIYY through today’s rough and tumble radio landscape. With WIYY set to enter its 30th year of broadcasting later this year, FMQB caught up with Hill for a conversation on Baltimore’s leading Rock station.
eQB presents excerpts from the February FMQBmagazine Rock Up Close with WIYY Program Director Dave Hill
In August 2002, Dave Hill landed the highly coveted PD position atHearst-Argyle Active Rocker WIYY (98 Rock)/Baltimore. Almost five years later, Hill is still at the programming reigns as he guides WIYY through today’s rough and tumble radio landscape. He’s seen his fair share of change in that time, including the death of the true-WHFS and the departure of longtime dominant morning show Kirk, Mark & Lopez. But in that time, Hill has kept the ship steady and is set to take WIYY into its 30th year of broadcasting later this year. FMQBcaught up with Hill for a conversation on Baltimore’s leading Rock station.
On WIYY’s status as an independent station… One of the biggest benefits is when we need to make a decision; I don’t have to wait for a VP of Programming who lives in another state or town to e-mail me back about whether or not the idea was good. Programming decisions are made sitting in this office. My GM Ed Kiernan is down the hall and the ladder doesn’t go much further than that. If it goes up another rung, it goes to David Barrett, the CEO of Hearst Argyle and he started in radio. They both understand what I’m trying to do here and give me enough rope to get the job done.
On parent company Hearst Argyle… Hearst Argyle is a huge television company, and we have a lot of syndicated programming too. David Barrett is originally a radio guy and likes having us around and we like having him around. He really, really gives us the backing that we need to succeed.
On WIYY’s music position… We’re a little bit Active Rock and a little bit Alternative and a little bit Heritage Rock. I don’t know how else to explain it. We found a hole in the market as a contemporary Rock radio station, but we have a heritage as a Rock station that’s been in the market for 30 years. That’s outstanding. Finding a 30-year-old station that’s doing the numbers we’re doing is really tough to come by – there’s only a few of us out there.
On dealing with a high profile morning show change… Kirk & Mark came to the end of their contract and were presented with the opportunity to go across the street to WHFS and do a Talk show in the morning. They also wanted to syndicate the show and we really don’t want a syndicated show in the morning. We pride ourselves on being a Baltimore morning show and a Baltimore radio station. I had an afternoon show, Mickey and Amelia, which had come up from nights and were actually leading the radio station in cume. So when Kirk & Mark said they were going across the street and we had to make a decision, the decision was easy. We said Mickey and Amelia are next up to bat, and put them into the batter’s box. They’re doing a great job and transitioning to morning nicely.
On Mickey and Amelia’s transition to mornings… One thing that has been really important with the Mickey and Amelia show transition to morning has been producer Scott Reardon. He’s done an unbelievable job at coaching that show and keeping them going in the right direction. The difference in having a producer who’s really seasoned and someone who is new and just starting out can make a difference in the show. A lot of radio stations don’t lean a lot on their producers, but I expect mine, to do more than just show up with a couple of guests and bits. I look at them as an extension of my programming arm, and really want them to make decisions themselves.
On the how the airstaff presents to the Baltimore listeners… It’s Baltimore, Baltimore, Baltimore, baby! It’s everything we can do to be a part of it. I want my jocks to go in there every time and talk about what’s going on in Baltimore. The way that radio is going to win is by being local and by talking about everybody. Advertisers love it when you talk about them. Guys who work at gas stations love it when you talk about them. People still love hearing about them on the radio, and radio needs to capitalize on that. If we don’t, we’re just another bland medium out there, and there’s going to be someone out there that’s going to do it better and they’re going to take the advertisers. So, either localize or face death.
On Hearst-Argyle’s deal with the Baltimore Ravens… It’s a great deal that we have going with the Ravens. Rather than paying a rights fee, we have a revenue share, which has given us a lot more mix with the Ravens, because they’re invested in selling the team on the radio as much as we are. They’ve opened the doors to us and let us into their home and we’ve let them into ours. It’s been a real interesting marriage, and we’ve put out a good product.
** QB Content by Michael Parrish **
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