If you’re a programmer for a Clear Channel property chances are you’re pretty fortunate. After all, CC has some of the brightest programming minds in the business up and down its chain of command to network and interact with. Randi West is among this group of standout PDs and has developed quite the rep for being an industry leader in her own right. She established G105/Raleigh as a model CHR and became a prime candidate for the Mix/Tampa gig when it became available.
Randi West
Randi West knows how to prioritize her goals inside a radio station. Make the halls fun and family-like, treat your staff with respect and cultivate a spirit of team unity and purpose. So was the case at G105/Raleigh and so is the case at Mix 100.7 in Tampa.
West arrived at Clear Channel Tampa in June of this year after a seven year run at CC Raleigh where she led G105 to the top of the heap of industry recognition and respect. Prior to G105, West held several on-air positions on a variety of formats in a variety of cities. “I started my career in Rock and in promotions and now I’m a programmer in Hot AC…can you imagine?” In between those bookends were prominent stints at WVKS Toledo, WKFS/Cincinnati and of course G105. Now Randi is ready to weave her programming magic in Tampa in the Hot AC world which she has adapted to quite readily and quite naturally.
You arrived at G105 about seven years ago as APD/air talent and left as PD. How quickly did you ascend to PD at G?
It was pretty quick as (then PD) Rick Schmitt hired me and left shortly thereafter and they offered me the job. I fought it for awhile but finally caved in. I was pretty happy with what I was doing as a talent and just doing the things I wanted to do.
What convinced you to take the PD job?
I knew that G105 was special and the staff was special, and I felt like we didn’t need somebody from outside the building to come in and tell us what needed to change. Sometimes change can be a very good thing, when you have a fresh perspective from someone outside the building. But in this case we were in a place where I knew something special was happening and I didn’t want someone else to come in and put their spin on it. I wanted to preserve the integrity, the culture and the vibe of the station. I knew we could do it on our own and build on that foundation and if they gave me the opportunity, we would be great. Fortunately that prediction paid off.
You has a very successful programming stretch at G105, a station that is highly respected in the world of CHR. What qualities of that station did you take away and instill at Mix?
I believe that radio stations take on the personalities of the Program Directors. So when you instill a kind of fun, family atmosphere and create a culture where all of us are better than one of us, people want to work for you and want to be successful. I realize that sometimes people need to be managed in a very different way, but the way the Raleigh situation came together was a positive one for everyone involved. It definitely was a real positive situation for me and a good learning experience. It was my first PD gig and as much as I was a teacher, I was being taught.
I believe those qualities stay with you wherever you go and it’s the message you are sending to your staff. So the qualities I brought to Mix come from me and my philosophy. I want people to be smiling in the hallways and to be happy. I want to fulfill peoples’ expectations, but I also want them to know mine.
Did you feel like G105 was in a leadership role regarding brand and music trends as many peer stations follow G105, especially within the region?
I can’t say we immediately recognized that. It was much later when we realized the impact we would have. Brody and I would call it the trickle down affect when we would do something and others would follow suit. But we did recognize it later on. We were kind of living in our little bubble doing our own thing, and didn’t realize we were being watched by so many other stations. That realization came at a much later time. Eventually we understood the impact of what getting G105 on a record truly meant.
Who are some of the programmers you like to network with?
That’s a tough one because there’s a long laundry list of people I communicate with in a given week. I talk to Greg Chance a lot, but that’s also because I’m still a talent for him via cyber-jocking. But I have known Greg for 12 years. I talk to a lot of PDs on a regular basis. I’m actually a product of about twenty PDs. Back in the day when I was a personality I was doing 19 shows a day and I think all of those 19 PDs gave me valuable information. They made me into the personality and the programmer I am today. Every station has its own distinct personality and you pick up a lot of that personality by working with different PDs.
What other PD’s do you admire?
I really respect Rich Davis in Nashville. I love Rich and think he’s an incredibly smart guy and very intuitive. Michael Bryan at XL,Tommy Chuck here in our building…I think they’re all very smart programmers. In the Hot AC world Stella Prado is a great PD.Meg Stevens is a great role model for all women in radio. I also think highly of Thea Mitchem and Sharon Dastur. These are not people I speak with weekly, but I am well aware of their accomplishments and certainly they are trendsetters for women in our industry.
Who have you learned the most from during your career and what did you mainly take away from that relationship?
That would probably be Rod Phillips. What I learned most from Rod is that everyone needs to be managed differently. He recognized that right away with everyone who worked with us in Cincinnati at Kiss 107. Everyone is not the same person. People have different hot buttons that make them tick and get them motivated, and if you try the same tactic for every single employee it just won’t work.
I saw Rod’s leadership skills right away and that’s what I respected. I knew he respected all of us and let us do our jobs, but he was also very hands on. He taught us about the art of our craft. It’s hard to quantify in words. It’s more of a feeling and the way you feel around your boss. Rod definitely taught, led and managed well, and sometimes it’s tough to do all those things well. There’s a difference between a being a good manager and a good leader.
What are the major differences you’ve detected in programming in Top 40 and Hot AC?
I don’t think there’s a big difference; it’s just that the pacing is different. For me it’s just about the same. I haven’t noticed a big change in what I did previously as to what I do now. A lot of that is due to the fact that G105 is an Adult leaning Top 40 with the competitive nature of a Hot AC, which made the transition go smoothly.
The music of Hot AC and CHR is very compatible. I believe Hot AC has gotten to the point where its music cycle has shifted more toward a Pop world. Hot AC today is in the Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, LMFAO and Pitbull lane, and that’s really exciting for the format.
Given the various faces of Hot AC over the past ten years or so, how would you best define the format today?
Fun and revitalized! The music has certainly revitalized the format and that has much to do with the excitement of the format today. There’s a very fine line between Hot AC and CHR these days and it cuts both ways. You have a lot of sharing of music. Hot AC’s are playing Pop and Rhythm artists like the aforementioned artists, and CHR is playing Country crossovers like The Band Perryand Lady A, which have traditionally been a part of the Hot AC music mix.
I don’t think you really should try to define a format. It seems like it just happens naturally. Trying to define what something means to someone is trying to tell them what they should think. The reality is we have to allow our audience to define what their favorite songs are instead of the other way around.
What mainly drives the music at Hot AC and how pliable is the format relative to new music?
It’s the way it makes you feel. I’m a gut girl and if a song makes me feel a certain way, especially when you have a Hot AC station that’s programmed toward women, I think that’s your first indicator for them to consume the product. Flexibility is measured by each individual station. Some programmers have a high tolerance based on the competitive situation, and some Hot AC’s are in very compressed markets and need to be very competitive which leads to a tighter approach to new titles. I do believe the format can sustain a lot of new music. My rule of thumb has always been right songs, right categories, right time.
Can the Hot AC format break records these days, or is it more of a follower format?
The notion of it being a follower format has somewhat changed. It reverts back to the cycle of music. Hot AC is currently breaking the Colbie Caillat record. I think Hot AC contributed more than any format in breaking Adele. That’s where these records begin and then they become mass cross format hits and the Hot AC format should get credit for that. I don’t know if that was the case four or five years ago. When I was a CHR PD I don’t know that I looked to Hot AC stations for records all that much. I didn’t program in that kind of way. But I didn’t come from the Hot AC world prior to CHR so maybe it would’ve been a little different if I had because I hadn’t seen all the lifecycles of music for Hot AC. Today though, Hot AC stations are definitely breaking records.
In Raleigh you were in a cluster of four stations, in Tampa you have double that amount. What are some of the advantages of having multiple stations in one house?
There are a lot of advantages, primarily having the kind of resources to know and learn about the other formats and being exposed to other formats on a daily basis and having those PDs to bounce ideas off of. That’s very valuable on an ongoing basis. We had a scaled down situation in Raleigh, but here you have more stations and more diverse formats, and some formats that I’m not that familiar with, which is a good learning experience. I have the opportunity to hear and see the things that the other PDs are doing, and just asking questions about why they do things certain ways is a learning experience. I feel like if I ever get into one of those formats someday I’ll at least have a little bit of knowledge about that side of the fence which I’ve never been on before.
Having the resources of eight stations working synergistically also affords you the opportunity to gain a lot of information and news from a variety of areas and we have the ability to use what we need to facilitate our needs and share what we have with the others. The mere fact that we have a fully staffed News station is awesome, so when there’s breaking news we have a sister station that can instantly feed us the information.
Does the cluster experience somewhat replace the live networking that broad range industry and company conferences would afford in years past along the lines of idea stimulation?
It does accomplish that, but I also think you have to surround yourself with creative people. You can have two people who are very creative, but it doesn’t mean they are necessarily going to foster more ideas. They may not be good ideas, so we find ourselves talking more and not really producing more. That being said, I think having other people around to share ideas is really important. It’s the beauty of having other people say, hey what do you think about this? I’ve always called it a game of ping pong. I hit the ball across the table and I wait for them to bounce the idea back to me, or vice versa.
Where do you believe radio stands today in the consumer push/pull business?
We’ve always expected them to come to us, and now we need to go to them. I think we’ve done a better job as an industry of going to where those people are rather than waiting for them to come to us and that is indicative of the social platforms. It’s why we use our social media, to go where they are. We want them obviously to come back and engage in our product, but the truth is for the longest time we weren’t doing that and now we are. It’s really a matter of realizing we have to change and we have to go where our consumers are, and if we’re not going to do that then they’re not going to come to our store.
What are some of the most challenging aspects of social networking strategy?
Time! Today’s programmers have a lot of different things that have to be handled everyday and although social media platforms are very important and can even be done from your own phone, finding the time to do all the things that are required every single day presents a huge challenge. The balance of that is how much is too much, or too little. There is a saturation problem for some with social media. I don’t think we have that problem here, but on the same token I don’t want to inundate my listeners with things that don’t matter to them. I want to connect with listeners with things that matter, so I want to be thoughtful in the process and thought takes time.
Now that consumers are in the driver’s seat regarding entertainment and information choices, how important is it to be more lifestyle driven in radio these days?
It’s always been important. Did we give it as much attention previously, probably not considering the complexity of issues we deal with today. But now, it is more important than ever! It’s pretty much all part of the same formula. The more you know your listeners’ lifestyle habits the more engagement you can seek through the variety of channels and platforms we have at our disposal. The listener still has to relate to the radio station and in order for that to happen the station must relate to the listener.
Will radio continue to follow technology regarding consumer needs or do you perceive the day when the industry creates more proprietary digital initiatives?
I believe Clear Channel is already leading on the technology front as it applies to our industry and our products. My mind is blown every day regarding the things we’re creating, producing and developing. I’m really proud of the fact that we’re being innovative in that regard and we’re marching forward and that we’re going to continue to be the leaders in that area.
Given the importance of all things digital these days, what shouldn’t radio lose sight of in a traditional sense?
Sometimes in the digital world we get a little clinical and too mechanical, and we can’t lose sight of the fun. That’s why people come to us. They want companionship, fun, escape, and they want their favorite music. They want something else besides what they’re getting in their own life, and I think part of that is living vicariously through other people, but also with other people and that’s why social networking has been integrated into what the radio product is now.
Bottom line is it all comes back to fun. If the station is having fun, if the personalities are having fun, it translates really well to the listeners. Sometimes it’s good to be spontaneous on the radio. We need to stay loose, not be overdriven by research so we don’t become robotic, and we need to use our gut a little more. There’s no doubt that there’s an art in what we do. Science is important, but the balance needs to be there.
There have been three major label mergers inside three of the four major music groups in the past three months. How do you view this as a programmer witnessing these downsizing events in your partner industry?
It’s hard to keep track of. You’re trying to find out where your relationships are. That’s been a big adjustment, because so many folks are loosing their jobs and labels are shifting personnel, just keeping track of everybody is somewhat challenging. I hate to say it, but from an industry standpoint it’s probably necessary. The music industry, much like the radio industry of ten years ago, needed to change. We started those changes over a decade ago. Radio already had its pains with consolidation and labels never had that. They’re now experiencing what radio already went through, and is still going through to some extent with some companies. So I believe this too shall pass. It’ll be hard to remember what it was like before once the dust has settled.
Clearly their business models had to change given all the dynamics that have surrounded that industry over the past decade with illegal downloads and the reduction in consumer pricing due to digital retail outlets. The issue is the music industry didn’t change fast enough to accommodate the changes in the consumer marketplace, and then the economy struck which compounded the situation. Now clearly that day has come and they are going to have to find new revenue streams, which I believe they are doing. They’re being more innovative about it now.
How would you contrast that with radio’s adaptation process to technology?
I think we’ve done a better job by simply accommodating faster. For every action there’s a reaction and certainly radio went through its growing pains of consolidation. The industry adapted quickly and changed its model. The changes continue every day. It’s changing right now and we have to continue to adapt and change. We probably could do it faster but I think we’re now at a pace where we’re accommodating what the marketplace can sustain. We weren’t very good at this in the beginning, but I think we’ve gotten a lot better and continue to improve. I think right now radio is doing a very good job of adapting.
[eQB Content by Fred Deane]
