Voted 2007’s Most Influential Modern Rock PD in our Year End Leaders Poll, John O’Connell knows a thing or two about leading the way. Throughout his eleven years programming the Buzz, O’Connell has effectively navigated the ebb and flow of musical trends within the format, while identifying and embracing artists with serious staying power.
He also knows his market, and knows it well. With intuitive programming and marketing execution and one of the most successful brands in the radio station festival game in the Buzz’s Bake Sale, O’Connell and the Buzz are widely considered one of the key benchmark stations in the format.
We recently caught up with John and quizzed him on his storied career, the WPB market, his programming philosophy and his airstaff.
e-QB presents excerpts from the FMQB February Magazine Modern Rock Up Close featuring WPBZ/West Palm Beach PD John O’Connell
On his mentors… First and foremost I would have to say the late, great Sunny Joe White. He was a wonderful man who knew how to identify and cultivate talent. He was responsible for the amazing careers of so many programmers and jocks that are still active today… A very close second is CBS Radio’s Sr. V.P. of Programming Greg Strassell. Greg is much the same in that he is able to identify young talent and help guide them. He is a very smart guy and he is partially responsible for me being here in West Palm Beach. I consider Greg to be one of the best programmers in the business today.
On lessons learning in radio over the years… The most important lesson that I’ve learned doesn’t just pertain to radio, it pertains to life in general and it is this, “Trust your gut.” Many of us rely too much on research, consultants, friends, relatives and other outside influences before we make important decisions both in life and in business. When I first started out as a programmer I was very timid about making decisions on my own. I wanted to ask a dozen people before I did anything. I soon learned that the choices I would have made would have been different in many instances and I regret not trusting my gut. If you’re in a position where you’ve been empowered to make decisions, make them. Don’t let others tell you what song sounds best on your radio station or what talent you should or shouldn’t bring on board. You’re here for a reason, most likely because you’ve shown the ability to lead. Now do it. Use your brain.
On the West Palm Beach radio listener… It amazes me how far ahead of the curve this market can be with regards to new music and new music trends. When we first arrived here in 1995 I thought that I was coming to work in the boondocks. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The rock appetite was alive and well then and continues to be today. Our audience is very accepting of new music.
On Modern Rock’s trials and tribulations with ratings over the years… I blame that on the target listener as much as I blame it on sampling sizes collected by Arbitron. Lets face it, young adults aged 18 to 34, especially males, are the least reliable group out there and now with cell use as strong as it is they are the toughest to contact. I remember being 18 years old and I could have cared less about the responsibility of doing anything on a daily or weekly basis that I wasn’t getting paid to do. Do you honestly believe that any kid has sat down over the past few decades and accurately written down his listening habits? The methodology has always been flawed and we’ve been on the losing end. I’m trying to be as objective with regards to the other formats as possible but I have to say that Rock is very much underrated not only by Arbitron but by advertisers in particular. Isn’t it funny though how many of these advertisers including Cadillac, AT&T, Acura, American Express, The NFL, NHL, WWE and MLB, Volkswagen, Zune, Apple, Amazon, and others have suddenly picked up on Alternative Music to showcase their new product lines when they chose not to target our listeners in the past with advertising dollars. It’s funny how things change.
On PPM… The Personal People Meter looks to be a more accurate substitute. We are very excited about the possibilities and results of this new methodology. Although Arbitron is still well over a year away from implementing the P.P.M. in West Palm Beach area, we are watching other markets and seeing some great results. It is our hope that the results that those markets are experiencing with our target demo of 18-34 will occur here. I’ve heard that rock stations have faired extremely well and this is great news all the way around.
On the importance of the station’s wildly successful Buzz Bake Sale… It is extremely important from both an image and revenue standpoint. Does it improve our ratings? Not overwhelmingly, but it does to a point because it creates a buzz in the market for eight weeks and that buzz drives our website numbers off the charts. It also in my opinion generates more tune-ins to the radio station from core listeners who are expecting to either win tickets or hear us add another band to the line-up. I remember years ago being thrilled when we sold twelve thousand tickets. This year marked our fifth consecutive sellout of twenty thousand. We’ve conditioned the market to expect the Bake Sale on the first Saturday of December and by August emails and phone calls from listeners are already coming asking us about bands, tickets prices and more. My favorite thing to do is read the hundreds of my space comments from listeners who are either attempting to guess the lineup or make suggestions about the bands that we should have perform. On the revenue side, Buzz GSM Fran Marcone and her sales staff had a banner year with sponsorships for the event. The only way to keep this event going is to consistently generate sponsorship dollars and once again they came through big.
**QB Content by Mike Bacon**
Also in the February Issue:
Up Close with Hollywood VP Rock/Alternative Joey Scoleri
The winner of the FMQB 2007 Modern Rock Leaders Poll for Modern Rock Promotion Executive of the Year, Hollywood’s Joey Scoleri, took time out from slapshots, rockin’ the mic and driving songs up the charts to reflect back on last year’s accomplishments and peek into ’08. On tap are hit acts like 2007 Best New Artist Plain White T’s and new singles from Atreyu, Breaking Benjamin and Evans Blue…
Q&A with ILG/EastWest/Asylum Sr. Director Promotion, Tyson Haller
We recently reached out to ILG/EastWest/Asylum Sr. Director of Promotion, Tyson Haller, a young gun voted by FMQB readers as 2007’s Most Promising Modern Rock Record Executive. His work at the forward-thinking, forward-moving label group has helped spawn hits from bands such as Silverchair, Pepper and Sevendust and set the table nicely for an even bigger year in 2008. Read further for his thoughts on ILG, his team, and what to expect in the next twelve months.
