by Fred Deane
Joey Brooks
Joey Brooks has crafted quite a career path and set of experiences along his professional journey. After interning at Rocker WAAF/Worcester in 1999, he leapt to Boston Classic Rocker The EAGLE for board op-ing duties which found him at the right place at the right time. EAGLE had soon flipped to a Rhythmic/AC format crossing Brooks over to the contemporary music side.
In 2000, he joined (HAC) WXLO/Worcester, then went for a KSS in Hartford a year later to do weekends under Tracy Austin. When Rick Vaughn assumed the programming reins at KSS, Brooks transitioned to fulltime as the MD/afternoon drive guy. In 2006, when Vaughn became PD at Q102/Philly, Brooks joined him as APD/MD/afternoons, where their natural working chemistry grew even stronger.
At the end of 2009, Joey crossed the northern border to Toronto and enlisted with (HAC) CHUM-FM afternoons, and is also where he created the nationally syndicated show, The Weekend Blowout. After a three-year stint in Canada, in 2012 Joey headed south to Miami to thaw out and rejoin iHeart to program (HAC) WMIA. He added APD/MD duties at sister station Y100 under Alex Tear in 2016.
In October of 2019, Brooks was promoted to SVP of Programming to oversee the station clusters in both Hartford and New Haven, encompassing nine stations with a variety of formats.
HARTFORD: WKSS, WWYZ, WHCN, WUCS, WTOP (T40, Country, Classic Hits, Sports, News/Talk.)
HEW HAVEN: KC101 (T40), KCI-HD2 (The Beat), WAVZ (Sports), WELI (News/Talk).
How’s the transition been to multiple station oversight in two markets, and what have been the biggest challenges?
It’s been a great transition so far and we’ve had a lot of positive momentum on all stations. We closed out 2019 with an up quarter, and January was a great month for all of our brands in Hartford.
Initially the biggest challenge was managing my time to make sure that everyone is getting the attention and guidance they deserve. We have four live and local mornings shows and a lot of in-house talent on all stations so I’m managing more people than I have in the past. There are several more meetings in this seat on the sales side to maintain and build revenue generating events for all brands, so I have to manage my time efficiently. I’ve been able to improve in that area and have good procedures in place to make sure we’re moving forward in all areas.
How did the multi-station exposure you had in Miami help inform your confidence level of dealing with the mix of different formats you’re currently dealing with?
Miami was a great experience and I believe it’s the most challenging and competitive market in the country. We were able to win on multiple stations over the years, which I am proud of, and every day was a battle. I was the PD/MD of HOT AC WMIA and did morning for almost four of the seven years I was there. In addition, I was the APD/MD of Y100 for almost three years.
That multi-station exposure helped improve my time management and I had to learn to prioritize duties. I also assisted with Classic Rock WBGG a couple of times while they were in transition, which was fun for me as I started out in Rock back in the day at WAAF. Working with all of the stations in Miami on various levels gave me a good preview of managing a variety of talent and programming multiple formats simultaneously.
The formats you’re engaged with range from CHR to Classic Hits to Country to Sports to News/Talk. Which formats have you found the most challenging?
In the past I’ve worked at many Pop, HOT AC and Classic Rock/Rock stations so there wasn’t much of a transition for the music stations. The biggest learning curve has been with the Sports and News/Talk stations. We have great brands with WUCS (Sports) and WPOP (News Talk) in Hartford, plus WAVZ (Sports) and WELI (News Talk) in New Haven. Our team creates more original content with play-by-play for UNCONN and high school sports than most markets so there are a lot of moving pieces. Luckily, we have a great team in place and I’m learning more every week about these formats and what it takes to keep them operating smoothly.
Which of these formats follow similar patterns in terms of audience design and listener brand preference?
WKSS and WKCI are both heritage CHR stations that overlap and share audience. We spend a lot of time on music rotations, promotions and presentation to make sure that we co-exist and don’t hurt each other. We have strong programmers with Jagger at WKSS and Adam Rivers at WKCI, and they do a great job of keeping the music and strategy focused for both stations.
Which new format have you derived the most pleasure in being involved with?
I’ve loved transitioning to the Country format and feel it’s the perfect fit for where I am in my career as a programmer and talent. The artists LOVE radio and are incredibly easy to work with. The listeners of WWYZ are very passionate and it’s been great to interact with them on the afternoon show.
You’re working with very astute programmers in your clusters. How have your working relationships been developing with them and what attributes do they bring to the table?
We have a great programming team in Hartford and New Haven and I’m excited to be working with Jagger, Adam Rivers, Cory Myers and Ben Darnell. I knew most of them from working in the market from 2000 to 2006 at WKSS and have kept in touch throughout the years. Our past history made it easy to jump in and get right to work.
Jagger is a very passionate music fan and an incredible on-air talent. He has a knack for finding songs that work well in the market and is always looking for songs that will be hits for us. He continually comes up with creative contests that bring the station to life and cut through in a competitive market.
Adam Rivers lives and breathes radio. He used to call the request line when I was doing afternoons at WKSS and recommended that we hire him for weekends when he first started his career. It was great to be able to promote him to be the PD of WKCI, WKCI-HD2, WELI and WAVZ. He has great strategy ideas, is an expert with every system we use, and hosts an incredibly interactive show on KC 101.
Cory Myers is our MD on Country 92-5 and she lives and breathes the format. She does an incredible job with our music decisions and continually puts together incredible shows for the station that are staples with our listeners. Concert For Kids is on 3/31 featuring Jordan Davis, Jimmie Allen, Runaway June and Filmore!
Ben Darnell is our programming lead for Sports and News/Talk and also on-air in the afternoon with Rob Dibble on 97.9 ESPN. We produce a ton of live broadcasts for UNCONN and High School sports throughout Connecticut. Ben does an amazing job to ensure that all of the moving parts work together for a great final product.
If you were to play word association for each of the markets you’ve worked in, how would you respond?
Boston – Family, Philly – Real, Toronto – Legendary, Miami -Competitive, Hartford – Home.
You’ve worked with some very accomplished programmers, what have you learned from each of them, and what impressed you the most about them?
I was lucky to start in Boston while I was still in high school so I was fortunate to work with a lot of incredible programmers from the beginning of my career.
I’m sure there are more, but here are the ones that are top of mind.
Ron Valeri was my PD at Star 93.7 in Boston early in my career and he was incredibly supportive. He did a great job of making you feel good during an aircheck session and coached in a way that encouraged growth.
Jerry McKenna was the PD at Hot 106 in Providence and then Star 93.7 in Boston, and he was a great music programmer. I learned how important music strategy is to the overall success of a station and learned the basics of music scheduling which I still use to this day.
Chase Murphy gave me my first big break by hiring me to do nights on WXLO. Chase once told me, “You’re a funny guy. You’d never know it by listening to your show. Loosen up and have some fun.” That changed my on-air approach and it worked.
Rick Vaughn was my PD at WKSS and later WIOQ. He is one of the best overall programmers in the business and is an incredible leader. I learned a lot about strategy, music programming, crafting creative contesting and events to make noise, and talent coaching. We also were at the forefront of PPM at WIOQ and his expertise with this methodology set me up for my future stops. Most importantly, I learned how important it is to create a culture and vibe within the hallways that translates to the airwaves. Rick loved this Henry Ford quote and it perfectly sums up how we operated, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
Tracy Austin came to WIOQ and she also hired me for weekends at WKSS before Rick came in as the PD. I learned about the great radio outside of the U.S. as Tracy was just coming back from Australia. She turned me on to Hamish and Andy (listen if you haven’t) and I learned that there was a lot of great radio around the world. This came into play when I got the chance to go to CHUM FM in Toronto.
David Cory was my PD at CHUM FM and previously brought me in to do weekends at Kiss 108 in Boston earlier in my career. David did an amazing job of always having a bigger than life promotion on the air and we did some incredible radio on a legendary station. He was also dialed into every component of the station and his attention to detail was something that I was able to use as a reference as I kicked off my PD career.
Alex Tear gave me my first PD gig at WMIA in Miami and I was also a part of the team on Y100. Alex did a great job of coaching talent and managing multiple brands at the same time. He showed me how to be a leader and how to make everyone feel important. He’s also the most creative programmer I’ve ever worked with and his vision on the music industry is incredible.
Rob Miller was my brand manager for WMIA and later the SVPP for Miami for my last year. We also still work together on the national HOT AC platform. Rob does an incredible job with execution and I learned that everything is important and attention to detail is essential to win.
Any advice for the up and comers in the industry aspiring to grow their careers?
Never stop learning. Our industry continues to evolve as technology grows and listener preferences change. We have to be students of how people use media and constantly be thinking of how we can be present on all platforms they are engaged with to stay relevant.
