Jimmy Steal, VP of Brand & Content,
101.9 THE MIX & 100.3 SHE, Chicago, Hubbard Radio
October 9, 2020
by Fred Deane
Jimmy Steal
Almost two years ago Hubbard Radio appointed veteran programmer Jimmy Steal VP of Brand & Content, WTMX/101.9 The Mix in Chicago. For Steal shifting to market #3 was no big deal. After all, he was arriving from an 18-year stint in market #2 programming one of LA’s most successful stations, KPWR/Power 106.
A highly competitive major market was no stranger to Jimmy. He got the call from Hubbard VP of Programming Greg Strassell to come and join the desirable company culture of Hubbard Radio, and there’s been no looking back since.
While in LA Jimmy spent most of his tenure with Emmis Communications as PD of Power 106/Emmis National Digital PD/Emmis VP of Programming. He was an integral force of the Emmis overall programming brain-trust, and after a year and a half under new ownership (Meruelo Media), decided to leave on a market ratings high and take his game to the Windy City.
Any programing adaptions when you first arrived in Chicago, and what were your initial core objectives?
Not really, regardless of format you must always create an open culture of collaborative creativity focused on prioritizing great multi-platform content.
MIX is an amazing legendary Chicago brand, though as with all stations, it does not mean it was without a need to be evolved and enhanced. My first job at MIX was breaking down the silos, and giving everyone permission to add value to the enterprise with whatever skills they have, wherever they can have an impact, regardless of whether or not it’s in their job description or in their department.
What success paradigm did you utilize coming from 18 years of successful programming in Los Angeles?
The success basics are all pan-formatic: know your audience, know your brand, assemble a bunch of crazy passionate people who clearly understand our strategic underpinning, and allow them to spend the majority of their time focused on creating content that brings our brand to life across all platforms each day.
We’re in the entertainment business, we’re in the multi-platform content creation business, and we’re in the star-making business, not just the radio business. This seems lost to many. While all of our products may have originated with a transmitter and a stick, today we have no boundaries in serving all of our audiences across multiple platforms/devices, wherever our audiences are consuming our branded content…at MIX, and now Mainstream AC 100.3 SHE (the second Chicago Hubbard brand oversight I’ve recently acquired). We strive every day to live up to JWT COO Craig Davis’ prescient quote, “Stop interrupting what people are interested in and become what people are interested in.”
Is format terminology (T40, Hot AC, Alternative, etc.) a thing of the past, isn’t it more about defining your core (and broader) target demos, and avoiding format rules of the past to a degree?
Yes, I agree, you decide who your target is, program accordingly, and program your platforms like a fan! The songs are available everywhere, so as a programmer…What are you doing with the music? Are you giving your personalities enough freedom to break thru and make a difference? How are you making your audience feel? Does the imaging make listening to your product a uniquely entertaining experience? All of these are crucial success factors. To the creative imaging point, kudos to our new MIX/SHE Imaging Director, Kevin “Koz” Koske, who recently received a well-deserved Mercury Award nomination for one of his great MIX COVID first responder promos.
MIX/Chicago sounds different than many others in the format. It’s an important part of what keeps us #1 in all our adult target demos in our most recently completed 2020 Q3 (JUL-AUG-SEP: #1 25-54A, #1 18-49W, #1 25-54W, #1 18-34W).
What makes the balance of your music mix at MIX different than other like-minded stations?
Our MIX APD/MD Nikki has strong ears and she’s a great asset in balancing our music recipe. While we’re thankful of having smashes by Lady Gaga, Lewis Capaldi and Dua Lipa at the moment, it’s exposing new music by upcoming artists that truly differentiates us such as Robert Grace, Pink Skies, and The Aces, in addition to established stars’ album cuts like The Weeknd’s “Scared To Live,” Post Malone’s “Myself,” and “Falling” by Harry Styles.
Beyond what we’re doing in Chicago, as an industry, we should all support all innovative programming. NPR does some cool things across their platforms, KGSR/Austin’s New Music Now, and WSTR/Atlanta’s The Rhythm of Atlanta. They are all examples of innovative solutions. We should applaud them as an industry and open the doors to fresher formatic thinking.
How prominent is audience lifestyle strategy in the ongoing process of defining your brand?
While we target demographics we’re just as concerned with psychographics. We ask ourselves every day…What is our audience thinking? Wanting? Needing? Doing? How are they feeling?
At Hubbard we’re blessed to have research budgets helping us ascertain these insights. Our VP of Programming Greg Strassell gets it. He makes sure we have what we need to make the right decisions at the right time, and for the right reasons. I’m thankful to him and Hubbard Chairman/CEO Ginny Morris for these foundational investments in our brands. I never take these resources for granted.
How have you integrated digital platforms with lifestyle branding?
One of the most exciting things about digital is that we now have all of these new content containers to push out MIX lifestyle content across platforms. Our earned and owned video, social and streaming channels give us unlimited inventory to address things we know are of interest to our adult female audience, yet we simply can’t fit into our terrestrial PPM music intensive format.
Just last week a MIX cooking video created by one of our promotion assistants, and social media contributors, (everyone here wears several hats), racked up 6+ million views…shoutout to MIX/SHE Promotions/Social Media Director, Michelle Mortimer!
How difficult was it to make the career shift to Chicago after spending over 18 years programming LA?
When my last Emmis deal expired (while working for Meruelo Media), Power 106 was not only beating KKRL we were also soundly beating KIIS. My son had just graduated high school, and Greg Strassell called to tell me about an opening at their #1 billing station in Hubbard’s biggest market of Chicago. So, I met with MIX GM Jeff England, and he was just great. It was actually pretty seamless, and clearly meant to be. Recently Hubbard added the new SHE 100.3 to my MIX duties when Cat Thomas was promoted to Hubbard/Seattle. Shoutout to my new 100.3 SHE crew: Jimmy Foster, Lisa Kosty, Jay Styles, and Ginger!
What on-air adjustments did you make at MIX, and can you quickly contrast your experience with morning shows at both Power/LA and MIX?
In LA I had built a morning show from scratch, which had become #1 in its target demo (and yes iHeart also hired them away after I left).
In Chicago, MIX already had in place the legendary Eric Ferguson, #1 in mornings for over two decades. The very first time I heard Eric live on the MIX app I WAS IN AWE. I love being around iconic talent! Eric is in the radio Hall of Fame. One listen to his show and it’s easy to hear why! Melissa, Whip, Violeta, Swany and Biz all do a great job contributing to our MIX morning adventures.
Post 10am I changed the hosts of every show. We now have Nikki in middays, Chris & Lisa in afternoons, and Dash at night. I’m very pleased with the way MIX sounds today. It’s now more vibrant and more fun, with significantly increased digital presence on all platforms.
How about any differences in the digital area?
In LA I had an amazing veteran digital crew smashing all kinds of records: 1 million YouTube subs, the most followed radio station on social in the country, million-dollar plus experiential buys, 20+ million video views for one video. Several members of our LA digital team were hired away by Apple Music and other DSP’s.
Upon my arrival in Chicago, MIX’s digital content creation was in a much more nascent state. We basically bootstrapped a startup inside of MIX! Our marketing guru Dave Karwowski, our new director of digital hire Chris Petlak, and Videographer Michael Collier have all been huge assets in leading our digital workflow.
What did you find to be the most discerning cultural contrasts between the cites themselves?
In LA I lived in Calabasas (the suburbs), and in Chicago I live downtown, so that’s a big change. I walk to work now instead of driving an hour each way in LA. The vibe in LA is showbiz/glitz, whereas the city of Chicago has quite a rich history with amazing concert venues, great restaurants, historic architecture, and the very warm Midwest people. This was an experience that was on my bucket list! If radio teaches you one thing, it’s you can live anywhere if the work is rewarding. I did Pop radio before Power 106 at Mix in Dallas so this was a return to my HAC/Pop/CHR roots before that brief Hip-Hop programming interruption (LOL)!
What are some of the more distinguishing qualities of the Hubbard company culture?
Hubbard is a responsible owner who wants to create value for our communities, our clients, and their employees. They are a pleasure to work for. I wish there were more operators like Hubbard, it’s a huge reason why I’m here today and not somewhere else.
Our industry has been rapidly trending toward a further reliance on Artificial Intelligence in the decision-making process. Your thoughts relative to what this means for the business going forward?
Fred, was it you that said some radio companies may have been using Artificial Intelligence for years already? LOL! But seriously, technology is ultimately judged by the hands it’s in and how it’s used. If the sole goal of A.I. is to cut costs, you end up with an LCD product…not liquid crystal display, lowest common denominator.
If A.I. is used to help us better predict consumer behavior or further personalize our products by facilitating quicker mobile device responsiveness I’m in. I’m a tech geek. I consult startups and have led chain-wide digital initiatives. I love technology, so no fears of A.I.
The caveat is our duty, as always with technology, is to make it work for us and our audiences, not against us or our audiences. This larger conversation is also being had right now in Washington D.C. between politicians and the Silicon Valley tech titans.
The other trend, especially this year, has been consolidating personnel and relying on less to serve more roles. Are we risking too much as an industry as the personnel ranks shrink?
Due to COVID and crushing debt, it’s no secret that radio’s current business model has less people doing more work. The challenge centers around how we can continue to improve the consumer experience, differentiate ourselves from the DSP’s, and attract meaningful listenership under the age of 30. We’re presently at a crossroads where our products, personalities and promotions, (our core value propositions), are more important than ever, and here’s where A.I, can be immensely helpful…again if we utilize it properly.
How important is it for leadership roles to emerge more collaboratively among all radio groups as radio paves its way further into this new decade?
Over 20 years ago consolidation radically changed the face of our industry. How well that turned out depends on who you ask!? Peter Drucker famously said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things,” and today leadership and vision have never been more important.
Effective and responsible leadership need to continually aim for better and better outcomes for our industry. Unfortunately, we’re incredibly challenged by what looks like a perfect storm of digital disruption, excessive operator debt, and the impact of COVID.
We must do everything within our power to make sure that those who represent our industry act in the long-term good of the entire radio industry, not in any short-term, potentially damaging, altruistic ways. Those who can really create and capture value will be most insulated from further industry downsizing.
You’ve fashioned quite a successful career in our business. What have been the most valuable lessons you’ve learned along the way that you continue to apply to your leadership role?
When futurist Brian Solis says, “You either change or become a victim of change,” I think he speaks the truth.
We’re all more accountable than ever for a variety of metrics, so it’s in our best interest to have, and offer, complete clarity in the executional aspects of what a good job looks like.
In my mind, success not only comes from offering your staff clarity in the station’s strategic goals, but also these long-term goals must be broken down into daily performance expectations serving those goals. Make sure your team knows what’s expected from them and when. Make sure they know exactly what success looks like, how best to both give and receive performance feedback, and there should always be a clear understanding of what builds or erodes trust. While checking all these boxes cannot guarantee success, it’s an effective early diagnostic.
As a team leader, I’ve always believed staying focused on creating and growing products that people want to use is at the core of your value creation.
What are (and have been) the most gratifying aspects of your career?
More so than awards and record-breaking ratings (blah x3), to me the most satisfying part of my job is the people I’ve worked with, and the cultures I’ve helped build. I strive to have as positive an influence on my teams as some of my mentors have had on me. Some of my co-workers say it much better than I can on my LinkedIn page, but overall, the goal is always helping our team optimize their skillsets in adding value to the enterprise, and just as importantly, helping everyone grow as individuals. A company only becomes the best version of itself to the extent its employees become better versions of themselves.
Our people are what separate us from playlists! Our people, with their creativity, innovation, content creation, and their relationships with our audiences, are the axis our entire business revolves around…no people-centric culture, no winning. Something for all of our industry leadership to consider. Creating positive, productive, fun cultures is also great for ROI. If there’s a keystone of my philosophy that would be it.
You have many accomplishments to your name in this business, what does the future hold for you as you gaze into your personal crystal ball?
If you would’ve told me I’d be in Chicago a couple of years ago, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you. So, you never know! While I’m having fun and very happy at Hubbard, I think at some point it would be great to build something worldwide. A product that in addition to making good business sense, also provides a significant positive cultural impact on the world. In times like these you can’t help but think along those lines.
