To support the launch of the new Barrett Media, we’ve created a special series titled “20 Brands In 20 Days.” Highlighting successful stations across the country in various formats by conducting conversations with their brand leaders. Up next is Audacy’s Scott Roddy. Scott is Regional VP of West Coast Programming and PD of KSON San Diego, the station we are highlighting today.
Jeff Lynn: I want to start by acknowledging the dedication of your morning team, John and Tammy. In my previous role, I had the misfortune to compete against them, and their unwavering commitment to their audience was truly admirable.
Scott Roddy: Ha. KSON is a legendary station, and I’m so humbled by the opportunity to be here. You talked about great brands, and it’s the people that make this brand, starting with John and Tammy. Of course, it’s fabulous that they actually like each other because how many morning shows have we worked with where they can’t stand each other, but they care about each other off the air and on the air.
JL: They are great at activating your audience
SR: I always say this, and I know it’s become a cliche, but the Country audience activates better than any other format.
The way that we turn out our listeners for events, charities, and anything Country. It’s almost like Oldies was back in the 80s and 90s; it really could turn out the audience, and John and Tammy exemplify that, and they’re also so willing to work. You and I have both worked with so many big shows that think they can go in, fake it, and don’t have to prep. This show is the exact opposite.
Country wins on the street, and I got here and said, when’s the last time you guys did a street campaign? It’s been years. Would you be willing to do one again? They’re like, oh my gosh, absolutely.
It’s always summer here, right? So, we’re doing a six-month “100,000 High Five” tour, and it’s just their mission to meet 100,000 Country fans over six months. They bribe listeners to meet them, and we’re doing the Breakfast Burrito Bonanza this month. We’ll do Taco Tuesdays next month, Noodles For Nurses, Falafel For Firefighters, and we’ll end up with free parking lot pop-up concerts that are just free for a high five. They go every week to our follower’s workplace; we’re at construction sites.
We’ve been to a couple of rehabilitation homes and hospitals, and they do high fives and deliver lunch.
They care so much about their listeners and followers, and that’s why they’re so successful—and I’m not kidding. We had Matt Stell in a parking lot pop-up concert last year in a very small town.
We ended up having to close off half a block of the street. At a minimum, 600 people showed up to see Matt Stell play on top of a double-decker bus. The line to meet John and Tammy was longer than the line to meet Matt.
It’s really their magic. They’re the best at having conversations with artists rather than doing interviews, and they can lead a master class on that.
JL: It’s not just the big things like opening days at the Padres. I see them out everywhere. I think that’s amazing, and there are a lot of stations, especially in markets your size and up and a little bit down, that say, yeah, we’re PPM. We don’t need to do that.
SR: It does work, and people are missing out if they’re not doing it. Here’s my philosophy, and I believe that a hundred percent.
Even when you live in a really big market, you still feel like you’re in a small town because that’s how we live. That’s our lifestyle.
I never program for meters; we do tactical things, but I hear that frequently from major market programmers. Oh, I’ve got to do this for the meter. I’ve got to do that.
If you have a strategically sound brand, you’ll activate your audience, and that’s what your advertisers are buying. The transactional business is out of my control. Nielsen is completely out of any of our control, right? So, if we can activate our audience for our advertisers and show them 600 people in a parking lot, we can sell out an 1800-person show in a couple of days where we do a concert on the beach for our Leading Ladies show.
I hear this frequently. Well, it sounds like a small market, but our listeners aren’t going. I live in San Diego, so radio shouldn’t be doing this. Yeah, right.
Think about New York City. You’ve got these major shows that are syndicated. They’re on TV. They’ve got a great social media presence. Can you fathom what it would do to their fans if they showed up at their office with a plate of 30 tacos? Hey, y’all just want to give a quick high five.
That’s how you make connections—you really, truly make connections. And I don’t mind being labeled small market thinking or small market-minded at all for that. I think that all of us are simple, very simple people. We all want the same thing: to be loved.
JL: Speaking of activating brands, Country artists are great when it comes to partnering with radio.
SR: So many want to activate with you, help you with the listeners, and help themselves. They can make musical hits. We make artists, and we tell an artist’s story. And when you have an A-level artist who acts like Jelly Roll, who will credit terrestrial radio for his beginning, he is one of the most willing artists to meet with listeners.
I can’t tell you what I’m working on right now, but a very special nationwide event is coming up for Audacy with an A-level act that you wouldn’t find in any other format. In no other format would this happen at all. And it’s all about building the artist’s brand because they’re willing to be active and help. They will help radio tell their story.
JL: Then you get to the guys who don’t have to do it anymore but still do. Garth Brooks is still willing to do all that stuff, too. Maybe not as much as his first Fanfare, but he’s still out there with his sleeves rolled up doing the stuff.
SR: Luke Bryan is the other one. Luke is still so very good to radio. During the pandemic, we had no shows, but we still wanted to make sure that our audiences could connect with the biggest stars. And I remember Luke doing a 12-person meet and greet on Zoom. He was in his pickup truck. No kidding. I believe he was at Home Depot or Walmart with his family.
And it was so great because then it was like, Hey KJ, y’all, head on in. I’m just going to do this really quick. He got on there and met with these 12 listeners. They’ll never forget it. It was so magical.
JL: How important is new music and new music discovery to you?
SR: We can’t out new new. I just can’t do it because of the pure plays. It’s almost impossible to out new what’s happening right now. But we can’t ignore it. And we should always be in the moment.
When there are these great event records, we absolutely should be on them. What we’re really good at, and I’ll go to my grave saying this, is creating the artist’s brand and sharing the artist’s story.
I think you can and should be new. You should take reasonable chances, right? But you also have to remember that you’re the coalition of your format and the filter you put new music through. I think that’s critical.
JL: San Diego is a melting pot. How do you stand out? Where do you find Country fans?
I think this is true for a Country programmer in any market. Our listeners are outside of the circle. They’re outside of that ring, right? We are the suburban station. We’re not the inner-city station. And so that’s where we focus. And that’s where our listeners are.
Our listeners are going to chain restaurants. Our listeners are putting family first. That’s always been the same and always will be in the Country..
It’ll take you an hour to reach the northernmost part of the County of San Diego, and we’ll go there. We’ll absolutely drive up there. In exchange for a high five, we’ll do Taco Tuesdays.
We’ll go down to Chula Vista, which is South. That’s a suburb on the border. We love to go where our listeners are, and I think that’s what’s exciting about having what people would call a small-market programmers’ mentality.
I want our listeners to be involved and engaged with us and activate that audience for our advertisers, wherever they may be. They’re just going to go, hey, cool. We love, we love John and Tammy.
One of the places that we stopped was a very small-town fire station. George Birge came with us on that trip and surprised the firefighters. They asked if we’d come out and bring them some tacos.
We said, sure, we’ll be there. How many tacos do we need to bring? We walked in. George Birge is with us, and he sits down on a fire truck and starts playing a couple of songs. Something they will talk about for a long time.”
JL: How do you manage your teams? Keeping them motivated, happy, and performing at a high level?
SR: It’s about having each other’s backs, especially for leaders. If your people know that you’re invested in them, it’s age-old. And it’s so true, but now more than ever.
We have to show how valued our employees and the people in this industry are today because we’re all doing so many different things. When I started, I went into the studio, pulled the 45s for an hour, and pulled the carts I had to play in my first hour. That was the most prep work I did.
It’s so important that we acknowledge the good work our teams are doing because everybody cares.
And they really do.
JL: Thanks, Scott. Appreciate your time.
SR: I’m happy you thought of KSON.
Listen to KSON here. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Connect with Scott Roddy by email here.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
