Peruse the Top 40 charts and search for Rock leaning success stories and chances are John Stewart and WDJQ led the way in the very early stages of the crossover process. Stewart prides himself in giving his audience what they want when they want it regardless of industry timetables and impact dates…and he takes quite a few chances on tracks that may never see the light of day at the Top 40 format. It’s just the way he rolls.
John Stewart
After spending sixteen years in Tampa Bay radio working in various programming and talent capacities for four different radio complexes, in 2003 John Stewart returned to his native geographic region of the Midwest to assume control of WDJQ Canton. In the past six years, he’s carved quite a niche for himself as both a leader in local radio and nationally in the Rock/Pop music scene where he constantly minds the artist and song landscape to find the next series of hits for his audience. After all, first and foremost Stewart has mastered the art of programming to his audience in a way that may seem foreign to other local radio stations, a Top 40 station playing songs that aren’t necessarily singles targeted to the Top 40 format.
eQB presents excerpts from the September FMQB magazine
CHR Up Close with John Stewart, Director of Programming, WDJQ/Canton
“In my opinion it’s equally critical to emphasize locality as it is to point out that your competition is broadcasting from 3,000 miles away. At WDJQ we’ve done an incredible job over the last six years of relaying to our audience that we’re here in Canton and you can call us anytime to request a song, debate topics or just say hey.”
“These days the 12-24 cell is technologically savvy enough that they can build an entire radio station of personalized music and play it back on a variety of devices like an Ipod, cell phone or PC, so they can get the music anywhere. That said, it’s crucial to obtain compelling personalities. At Q92 I’m fortunate enough to have an air-staff that is re-defining how Top 40 should be done everyday.”
“I believe it’s imperative for us as an industry to be proactive with good music wherever you are programming, not just Q92 and not just in Canton. People aren’t generally looking for bland everyday music that simply fits a format. They’re looking for something they can latch onto and that means something to them.”
“I look for music that connects with my audience in a very direct and significant way. It means playing the hits but it also means playing tracks that are tailored more to the audience and the market.”
“The main thing to remember is your audience isn’t at home looking up on Mediabase or BDS and how many spins up or down the latest Kelly Clarkson song is, and we shouldn’t either. Don’t be a lemming and follow the charts. You’ve decided to play certain songs based on gut instinct or good ears, now run with it until the audience says to stop.”
“When we asked our P1’s, ‘What would you like to win?’ The overwhelming response was, meet my favorite artist. So we’ll do many, many events throughout the year where an artist will be doing a radio promo tour and we’ll have winners come to the station or a private venue for a few acoustic songs and an autograph and picture session.”
“I’d like to see radio guys pick songs. Lately, there have been some real stiffs by core artists that should never have gotten that far. Too often it seems like, regardless of what you tell the label, they have a plan to execute and they are working that plan no matter what the feedback on a single is.”
“Our audience is willing to surf for hours on end to find one decent song and listen to it over and over again. We as an industry need to be that passionate about what we are delivering or we will become disposable too.”
** QB Content by Fred Deane **
Q&A: Joe Mack, MD, WHBQ/Memphis
”It is a must to connect one-on-one with the audience and build a relationship. Once you lose them, it’s very hard to win them back.”
Hot Shots
Rob Thomas, Cobra Starship, Jessie James, Justin Bieber, Kings Of Leon
