Chuck Stevens
Like so many, Chuck Stevens got an early taste for radio in high school. After college he worked in Country radio at WNYR/Rochester before moving to Buffalo-Niagara Falls for thirteen years, first at the legendary WYSL, then at WBUF, which at the time was a great AC radio station. From there it was on to Youngstown-Warren, Ohio to program Country WQXK and eventually becoming OM for the Cumulus cluster of nine stations. It was there that he also began to consult Country radio stations for McVay Media. In 2001 the opportunity came to program in Pittsburgh with Steel City Media and he was thrilled to accept it.
The station has recently gone through some changes. Take us through that process and describe what you have done.
The station had a good run for twenty-two years using the “Lite” AC brand, but over the past year had suffered in the ratings. In January we went out into the market and researched the problem. We discovered that AC listeners couldn’t tell the difference between us and our main format competitor. So we decided to retire the Lite brand and set out to create a new and notably different brand of Adult Contemporary radio.
The station has well known personalities in the morning with John Cline and Kerri Griffith, but still plays a lot of music in the morning. Overall the station has a very contemporary feel. It’s music intensive and utilizes a custom jingle package from Jam productions. The benefits are sold heavily on air. Very little DJ talk, and the best music mix. One of the most well received benefits by the listeners has been the use of our “Song Tags”, with every song identified at the end by title and artist. It takes it out of the jock’s hands and doesn’t slow down the radio station with tedious “back announces”.
What are some of the challenges you face today as a programmer?
The biggest is finding good air talent. I’ve been running into this for several years and it’s getting worse.
Where do you look to find air talent?
Because we have a new radio station I have been looking for air talent. I use the traditional methods of putting ads in trade publications. But I look everywhere. I’m not afraid to bring in some one who has no radio experience and audition them in the production room, or via mp3 files on email. It takes time, but you never know when it will pay off. I’ve auditioned TV people and housewives. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to take someone who has no pre conceived notions about radio and teach them. They don’t have the bad habits that jocks who have been in the industry have built up over the years. Do you really want to hear some one say ‘it’s Wednesday, hump day!’ Believe me, I still hear it.
How has the station evolved on the new technolgy front?
Nothing I would consider “cutting edge” I’m afraid. We are strong believers in the use of listener database’s, and web site content. I find myself putting more and more audio content up on the web site. It could be segments from the morning show, or an artist interview. Sometimes we’ll do something that never airs on the radio station and is web site exclusive. It has to be interesting and compelling. The last thing your web site should be is an added value dumping ground.
What concerns you most about the format?
I’m concerned about new artist development. There seems to be a mind set that new AC music has to be soft, slow and sleepy, because that’s what it used to be. We talk to our P1 women all the time. A forty-five year old woman wants to be hip and relevant. She likes upbeat music and wants to be energized.
What makes a good promotion and what are some of the recent promotions you’ve done?
So much of radio promotion is client driven now. I think that’s fine as long as it fits these criteria: First it has to be good for the listener, good for the station, and good for the client. If it doesn’t contain those three elements it shouldn’t be done. We’ve had some fun lately with free gasoline and coffee club cards. The free gasoline utilized our Q-Club database via a song of the day contest that was exclusive to club members. We air promos encouraging listeners to sign up prior to the promotion so they can take advantage, it also builds the database. The coffee club cards are Starbucks coffee and exclusive to the morning show. People enter via a morning show email address on why they need free coffee. It gives the morning show a way to interact with offices and trash bad office coffee!
What is the formula for a successful radio/record relationship?
Keep it friendly and polite. There is tremendous pressure on both sides. Radio has already consolidated, now record labels are going through it. The last thing anybody needs is “in your face” tactics.
What are you doing to maximize at-work listening?
We have made a commitment that everything we do goes to driving at-work listening. It’s that important to the format. Because the market is so competitive in that arena I don’t feel comfortable divulging details.
Who would you consider to be your mentors?
I have been extremely fortunate in my career to have several mentors. I apologize if I leave anyone out! Great people like Bud Wertheimer, Larry White and Art Wander from my days with theLincoln Group, then Charlie Cook and Mike McVay. I don’t know how to thank these people enough.
How active are you in the community? Have you seen the benefits of community involvement?
We are very active. Each Christmas we do a week long series of live broadcasts for Toys For Totsin conjunction with the U.S. Marines. Every year it has grown, setting new records for the amount of toys and cash collected. Sponsors are tied in and great relationships are formed with the listeners and sponsors. At the end of 2007 we did our very first Variety Club Radio-thon and raised a record amount of money for that charity. We are just beginning to see where that will lead.
What must AC radio do to stay vital?
I believe it must accept the fact that it’s evolving into what I like to call “Top 40 “radio for adults. The timeline is always moving forward. People who may have grown up with CHR or other formats move into the demo. They’re getting married and starting families. All of a sudden their lives have changed and they find they’re comfortable with AC radio. But we have to give them what they want. Familiar Gold music from the right decades, today’s contemporary artists, which is why I think you see more Hot AC on the mainstream charts, plus, relevant entertainment from jocks and promotions.
** QB Content by Mark LaSpina **
