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 Midwest Communication’s Ron Allen. Ron is PD for WJXA (96.3 JACK-FM)/ Nashville. The station we are highlighting today.
Jeff Lynn: So in the country music capital of the world, you are consistently one or two with a Classic Hits JACK station. How do you manage that?
Ron Allen: I think there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of great people in our building.
A great company behind us that has paid for a lot of great research. So, everything comes together in a way that gives us an opportunity to be successful and to win. I think we have a great brand.
It’s been here for 19 years. It launched on May 12, 2005, so it was one of the first JACK stations in the country. I think just having that consistency and heritage is still paying off for us.
JL: One of the first JACK stations. A lot of them have moved on to probably two or three other formats by now, and yet you’re still in there. What do you owe the longevity to on that?
RA: I think that we have a unique position here at Music City—a very broad radio station. We don’t have to be anybody’s P1.
We could be everybody’s P2 and be successful. But we have a great street presence with a great brand face in Moose, who gets out, shakes hands, and kisses babies. We do a pretty heavy outdoor marketing campaign fairly consistently every year.
The company spends money on research, allowing us to have fun and make great radio. And I think that that stands out in today’s landscape. We keep making real radio the way it was meant to be done.
JL: Have you, as the brand, switched its focus? Some of The JACKs in the beginning were 80s Rock, Classic Rock, and Classic Hits. Have you had to shift over the years to stay in that number one position?
RA: We just had our biggest book ever. We were not number one among 25-54 persons in the market until about 2017 or 2018.
We have a huge sister station, MIX 92.9, and they have pretty much owned that position for years. We’d never really been able to jump past them. But we started seeing more consistency in the ratings at about that point. Last month was our 39th number one, and we’re already seeing trends that this month will be our 40th.
Part of that is because we haven’t necessarily continued to evolve. We have found our lane and we’ve continued to stick in it.
When they first launched it in 2005, it was all over the place and not well defined. I think they knew what they wanted to do but weren’t sure how to get there.
By the time I arrived in 2012, they had figured that out. And then it was just a little refining, a little more street presence, and a little more commitment to the writing. That consistency of knowing who we are musically, staying in that lane, we haven’t changed much at all musically in the last seven or eight years.
We’re still playing Prince, Journey, and all those songs. We’re playing a little Adele and Justin Timberlake, but we don’t get much farther down the evolution than that.
People have come to expect who we are from us. We’re very consistent every year, and they enjoy the brand. And we haven’t gotten caught up in that game of, oh my gosh, somebody’s doing well over here. We need to slide in this direction. Or this is being successful. This music trend is hot. We continue to be who we are. And I think that’s led to success.
JL: When I programmed Classic Rock, Classic Hits, and Oldies, I was always tempted to tinker with it. Staying in your lane takes discipline.
RA: Well, it’s hard in PPM or any radio market. But I think it’s a little harder in PPM, where you see those dailies. You see those weeklies.
There’s a lot of pressure to knee-jerk and react. I think that the smart programmer stays the course, has a long-term plan, knows that there’s been success, and knows there will be wobble in those numbers. And you accept that. You don’t love it but accept it, move past it, and stay with the plan.
JL: When I lived in Nashville, sitting in traffic jams, I would see your billboards. Midwest gives you a lot of support. You’re not the largest cluster or company, but you are the largest two radio stations in town.
RA: It’s pretty amazing. I think those billboards have been a really important part of our success. It comes back to that creative writing on the brand.
I’ve got a great group of writers in my office every Wednesday morning, and they come up with the stuff you’ll hear on the air. But you’re also coming up with the stuff that we’re going to use in those billboards and those billboard campaigns.
The messaging is just short enough to cut through. And I think those have helped define the brand’s identity and keep us top of mind while you’re sitting in your car with your radio right in front of you.
So, hats off to billboards, which have helped us define the brand and keep us top of mind.
JL: I think it’s funny. I could not sit here right now and tell you one thing you had on there, but I could tell you I saw JACK all the time, and I laughed, and I smiled, and I remembered JACK.
RA: I think we’re strategic with those boards. We’re not cluttering them up. You’ve got them up for a few seconds.
It’s not a bunch of copy. It’s the Jack logo, and it’s very large. And then it’s a funny quip, a funny statement, something about the music.
It’s three or four words. It’s never going to be more than that. What we’re trying to do is just brand funny, creative, and musically oriented we are. And those billboards help.
JL: Talk to me a little bit about Moose.
RA: Oh, what can I say about Moose? I mean, he’s been here since the brand launched. He came in in 2005 and predates me when I came in in 2007.
When I got here, he was sort of a character, but it wasn’t really who he was. It wasn’t his personality. He and I sat down and talked about who he was as a person, who he was as a professional, and where he wanted his career to go.
And I said this character that you’re portraying, is that you? He said I’m just a big, lovable teddy bear. I’m just a fun guy.
So, then, why aren’t we doing that? That comes naturally. He said well, I wear funny shorts, and I go out and have a good time.
I told him, well, wear your funny shorts and go out and have a good time. He goes out and tries to meet every listener. We do summer campaigns that are sometimes called “Moose Meets Every Listener” or JACK’s World Tour.
We go to all the little surrounding cities. We have an ice cream truck, so we give away ice cream every summer, and Moose gets to throw on his wild golf shorts and go out to meet listeners, shake hands, and kiss babies.
We’re a market of almost a couple million people, but that’s still impactful. Sometimes, we forget that the one-on-one connection that personalities can still make with our audience is just invaluable. And he’s the perfect guy to do that.
JL: There’s just nothing to replace it. Meeting the listeners.
RA: No, it’s invaluable for what we do. I think we all got into the business because we love that connection with our audience and our communities. I think we still have a commitment and a responsibility to our communities to go out and do walks and runs and do those big things, but also just to be visible and represent radio and what we do for a living.
JL: Are you using AI, or how has it impacted your job?
RA: You know, it’s funny. I think AI is the biggest topic of conversation, probably not only in our industry but every industry. If you’re an accountant right now, that’s sort of scary.
AI is going to do my taxes. We’re in the entertainment business. Voice tracking has been going on for years.
There’s been multi-market stuff going on. I find it a little scary, but I also find it a little exciting. If done right, applications will be part of our world. It’s here, and there’s not much we can do about it.
I still don’t think it replaces the human touch we discussed. AI is not going to go out and meet our listeners. AI will not be as creative in a writing session as I hope we are when we sit down in my office and talk, chat, and bounce ideas off each other.
Can it generate algorithms, ideas, and concepts? Sure, but I think the human element will always shine through.
For years, we’ve told our audiences that human connection is the most important thing. And then for us as an industry to go, whoops, just kidding. I don’t know how we do that.
I don’t see that happening. And I hope it doesn’t happen.
JL: Anything else you want me to know about you or the brand?
RA: Any successful brand is a combination of hard work and luck. You put the best product on it and pray. And I think that’s what we all do.
We are fortunate to have some tools and research. I also have a great staff. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with or a better company to work for.
I’m fortunate. But I hope that we, as an industry, remember those things. We remember how important that community and that commitment to shaking hands and kissing babies are and how successful they can make you.
And that we never get away from it. That would be my philosophy.
Listen to JACK-FM here. Find them on Facebook, and Instagram. Connect with Ron Allen 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.
