Dave Beasing
After years of working as a consultant with Jacobs Media, Dave Beasing recently headed back to radio, taking on the PD role at Bonneville’s KSWD/Los Angeles. Prior to his 13-year stint at Jacobs, Beasing had worked in L.A. radio as PD at KYSR and the former KXEZ. But that was a much different time in radio and now Beasing takes on a PD role at a time when radio is besieged by a plethora of problems. “Bonneville has asked us to do nothing less than rethink radio as a medium, so the opportunity to help make radio history was too good to pass up,” he explains. “These are challenging times, and I want to be on the front lines.” And on the frontlines of the crowded Los Angeles radio market is where Beasing finds himself today programming the diverse 100.3 The Sound, a station rooted in the album rock ideals of the ‘70s.
What are some lessons you learned as a consultant that you feel make you a better programmer today?
I worked with some of the smartest people in our business, not only at Jacobs but at our client stations. You simply can’t walk into a different radio station every week without learning a ton. But the biggest lesson through all those years was that while winning is mandatory, it’s the people you meet along the way that matter most. I am fortunate to have friends in almost every city.
Did coming from the consultant side of the business help prep you for the realities of programming in a PPM world?
Arbitron still has sample issues, but at least we’re no longer relying on people recalling their behavior. Moderating hundreds of focus groups and the The Bedroom Project ethnography study that we at Jacobs did with Arbitron gave me invaluable insight into how people use media.
Discuss your owners Bonneville, and their commitment to your station.
VP/Programming Greg Solk and the folks at Bonneville are providing research, consultants, marketing and every tool imaginable. They helped me recruit Haley Jones, the best Music Director in AAA radio. We have a talented team of live DJ’s, 24/7. More than anything, they’re giving us time, and quality brands targeted at smart people always need that.
What’s it like to work for a radio company in harsh economic times?
This company sees an economic slowdown the way Warren Buffett does, as a good time to invest. Our marketing director, Sammy Simpson, is brilliant, and he’s going to be just as aggressive throughout 2009 as he was during our first few months.
The music position on your website reads: “On The Sound you’ll hear everything from the geniuses that gave birth to the seminal Rock of the ’60s and ’70s to the ever evolving offspring of that music, including great stuff that came out last year…or even last week.” That said, the industry has classified you as AAA, but you seem to be more of an Album Rock station. Where do you fit in the L.A. landscape?
In many ways, AAA is today’s Album Rock radio. It’s simple, really. We’re playing good music from all eras and artists. There are several good Rock stations here already but they only play a tight list of hits, and that’s a smart strategy for them. But there’s room for one station that dares to be different.
Discuss your ratings, target demos and the strength demos of the station.
Some of our early ratings growth was 18-34 women. Then in October, Arbitron reports that some 55+ males fell in love with The Sound. That illustrates that we’re not really targeting a demographic so much as a psycho-graphic, people who want more out of life, and that includes better music on the radio. Advertisers want to reach them.
The station is soon launching a new website. What are the plans for use and integration into the station’s essence?
By the time people read this, it should be up and running at www.thesoundla.com. When the song changes, the front page of the site changes too, it gets listeners involved by discovering and posting more about the artist. Check it out. It’s habit forming and very sticky. The Sound is a multi-platform brand and we’re just getting started.
With 2009 on the horizon, what are you looking forward to next year?
The adoption of my son should be final any day now. I look forward to hearing him yell, “Dada!” every night. He prefers The Wiggles to The Sound, but we’ll work on that.
*** QB Content by Michael Parrish ***
