A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a former colleague of mine who felt he was at a crossroads in his career. He’s currently a host and wanted to ascend to management to become a Program Director/Content Manager. Since I took a similar path in my radio career, he reached out to me for advice.
“Don’t become a PD,” I said. “Become a General Manager.”
This elicited confusion on the other end of the phone until I laid out to him what I’ll now lay out to you.
There is a stark reality in radio right now; Program Directors are being phased out. Many radio companies clearly see PDs as nothing more than middle management that can be eliminated by a combination of technology and regionalization. The PD jobs that DO exist pay only a fraction of what they used to. As a result, many talented individuals have left to seek out other career avenues.
This fact is one of the true tragedies in our industry. Of all the positions at a radio station, the position of Program Director is BY FAR the one that requires the most versatility. There is not one corner of the building that they can avoid. From sales, to HR, to legal, to engineering, the hands of a PD touch everything.
That being the case, why do we not see more of them in executive positions of leadership?
Most of the General Managers and Regional Presidents in radio started out in one area: sales. It’s easy to understand why. Showing that you can drive revenue is the easiest way to earn yourself a gold star. However, the approach has handicapped the industry to a great extent. When the major decision makers are only versed in ONE aspect of the business, the other aspects can suffer as a result.
Two people I know very well, Mike Thomas and Chris Oliviero, were recently made exceptions to this age-old rule. Thomas, a longtime PD was hired as Manager of Good Karma Brands’ largest market (Chicago). Olivero, the former CBS Radio Programming Exec was tabbed to lead Entercom’s massive cluster of stations in New York. When I saw these “against the grain” moves, I applauded them. As we move into 2021, I’d like to see it become a trend.
Allow me to use some of my personal experiences to expand on why this would be a good thing for radio.
YES, THEY CAN SELL
I can honestly say that in my 20+ years as a PD, I’ve spent almost as much time working with sales as I have with talent. I attended meetings, went out on calls, and helped put together presentations. I kept track of the Miller-Kaplan just as much as I kept track of my ratings and digital metrics. I worked hand in glove with every GM, DOS, GSM, and AE that was on staff. This is no different than what most PDs have done throughout their career. We understand that this is a for-profit enterprise and getting results for our partners and clients is important. PDs are also the very best brand ambassadors. No can explain the content to a client better than they can.
THEY KNOW HOW TO LEAD
On-air talent are artists…and artists are hard as hell to work with. The best PDs know how to get the best out of air talent, no matter how difficult they can be. They are skilled leaders who know how to teach, motivate, and relate to people that some may find weird or off-putting. Often, they must be the calmest person in the room when things are very tense. They are also easy to talk to and confide in because they are good listeners. If a PD can coach the high-strung morning news anchor, why can’t they coach the high-strung salesperson?
THEY SPEAK MULTIPLE LANGUAGES
One of the great things about starting out my career in small market radio is that I got to do a little bit of everything. I was on air, worked in sales, planned promotions, engineered broadcasts, and negotiated contracts. That mentality stayed with me. I’m glad that it did. Because (as I mentioned before) successful PDs are involved in every facet of the business. As a result, you need to speak the different languages found in every department. It was common for me to talk to a host about their show, then pivot to the engineers’ office to talk about tech issues, then take a trip to the HR office to go over compliance, then jump on a sales call with a client. Everyone uses different lingo, and a good PD must be able to communicate effectively with everyone.
THEY’RE NUMBERS CRUNCHERS
I often tell people that I was never very good at math. Yet, I would spend so much time working with numbers. Every month, I’d get trapped in the vortex of going through ratings. I’d spend days punching in numbers to PPM Analysis Tool, analyzing every daypart, hour, and quarter hour. A similar rabbit hole would be jumped into every year when budgets were being designed. How much can I work with? How can we do more with less? If we move money to THIS line item, will it help us more? Like every GM, PDs must live in an Excel Spreadsheet world.
THEY CAN NEGOTIATE
I’ve had countless conversations with agents, vendors, and partners. Some have been entertaining, others have been contentious. I was heavily involved in working out agreements with many different parties. In most instances, I was the point person. PDs understand the art of negotiation. They know what they can and can’t afford, and the value of any asset. They’re never afraid to walk away if that’s what’s in the station’s best interests.
THEY UNDERSTAND CONTENT
At the end of the day, radio is a content business. We are defined by what comes out of the speaker. At their core, good PDs are content curators. This is the one skill that far too many GMs and executives lack. There are some exceptions to this rule, but not many. This is not something that I blame GMs for. Most of them just don’t have the experience to understand what works and what doesn’t. They’ve never had to. Most of them came up in sales where they only thing that mattered was hitting their budgets. The bottom line is more than just the bottom line. Hopefully, more industry leaders will realize that.
Ryan Maguire is a columnist for BSM, and a longtime sports and news radio program director. He has managed KIRO-FM in Seattle, WQAM in Miami, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, 610 Sports in Kansas City, and 105.7/1250 The Fan in Milwaukee. Presently, Ryan serves as the Executive Producer of Chicago White Sox baseball on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. Originally from Michigan, Ryan still holds out hope that the Detroit Lions will one day deliver a Super Bowl title. He can be reached on Twitter @RMaguire1701.
