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 Cox Media’s Jules Riley. Jules is PD of WJGL (96.9 The Eagle)/Jacksonville, FL The station we are highlighting today.
Jeff Lynn: Let’s jump in and talk about 96.9 The Eagle. Being as far away as I am, I think you’ve hooked me as a P1 streaming listener.
Jules Riley: That’s awesome. Thank you. That’s so good to hear. That’s our goal. No matter where you are, we want you to feel at home.
JL: Explain the brand to me in your own words.
JR: It’s an evolving Classic Hits with deep roots in Jacksonville, and I think we’re lucky in that we are in a city that was raised on amazing bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, the Allman Brothers, Limp Bizkit, and Shinedown. So, there’s a lot of musical history here, but then there’s also a ton of new people that move here, kind of like where you are in Vegas, every day. So, you want to make sure that you are taking care of the folks that made this city, but also being very welcoming to people that are coming in.
I was talking to somebody the other day, and they said, gosh, you guys get to play a lot of R.E.M., and I’m like, yeah, I can only assume it’s because they were from Athens, and they probably played this circuit when they were doing those tours when they were getting started. I think it’s a brand that reflects the city, and like with any Classic Hits, you look at how can we best move forward and take advantage of those songs that are finally coming into our era wheelhouse without really losing sight of the songs that brought you to the dance.
JL: Does that Southern Rock, Allman Brothers-type sound appear in more of your Classic Hits than it would, say, in Seattle?
JR: It’s probably not the Allman Brothers, but I would say Skynyrd and Tom Petty we would probably be the top in the country.
JL: With Classic Hits, how do we ensure that we don’t march off the demo cliff with our audience?
JR: I think we’re very fortunate with some of the bands like the Eagles and even CCR, to a certain extent, on this Eagle, that those songs are just so damn good that they continue to test in, and you think about it, not to age you and me, but if I look at the Classic Rock stations that I grew up with in Kansas City, KY102 and The Fox if they were playing a song we’re looking at a song from the 70s, that’s 50 years old right now, and a 50-year-old song when you and I were growing up would have been from the 40s, it would have been pre-Frank Sinatra. So that’s a trip to think about, but I think that with the strength of those songs by some of those iconic 70s and 80s bands, new generations of people are grabbing onto them.
And stylistically, things have gotten so fragmented in other genres that Classic Hits and Classic Rock, Classic Hits more so than Classic Rock, allow us to keep our foot in that old Top 40 lane, where we can play Madness and the Outfield right next to AC/DC and Ozzy.
JL: Did you grow up listening to Moffat and Fred Rocks on KY102?
JR: Yeah, oh definitely. Lauren Holliday was my favorite jock. I think Lauren was on the Fox. I still remember meeting Skid Roady at an event. I might have already been in St. Louis at that time, or maybe it was Wichita. Just seeing him made me honestly feel like a 14-year-old kid again. I’m like, that’s Skid Roady!
JL: It is kind of a timeless format. How important is having talent around what you do?
JR: This is very important. I was looking at something before we jumped on a call because we had just had our weekly program promotions meeting, and they were trying to get me to agree to do a karaoke video every Friday. They were like, you need to do it.
And I was like, no, I don’t. But I think just stuff like that adds the sparkle and the personality. And when you’ve got people like Aaron and Cassidy and Tank, they just add that extra level of connection.
There’s a powerful piece from Tank this week on our Facebook page about an organization called the Hubbard House, which is a domestic violence shelter. Tank has really wrapped his arms around this because he was impacted by domestic violence as a child. I was just reading his story, and he gets very personal, more personal than I probably would have opened myself up.
But just to show that connection, and if that can help one family, one person in a bad situation, make a change, and know where to go, then that’s critical. And that’s something that the sassiest sweeper and excellent segue can’t do.
JL: Let’s talk about a sassy sweeper, though. How are you imagining The Eagle?
I think we’re going back to the radio X’s and O’s that we all learned. We want to reinforce our position, but we also want to have a lot of fun. We are in a good space in that we’ve been successful in the market with big cume.
So, how can we keep them interested and relevant? Obviously, we’ve got the beach here, so we can talk to folks about making sure they’re listening to us on the water. I think there’s one in there that says whether it’s your kiddie pool or the intercoastal, keep us on. We’re you’re on the water station.
And just having fun. music is tried and true. We’re not breaking a band on this radio station.
So, we’ve got to use the ingredients that we have to keep things fresh, fun, and flavorful. Imaging is a huge part of that. We all tend to write it, and it’s just if it’s a local piece or something off of a music lyric, or Aaron had a Hawk Tuah Girl moment a couple of weeks ago that made me a little nervous.
But it did make it through. So, I think when you bring in different personalities and lifestyles, you’re going to be a closer match to the broad group of folks listening to you instead of just one person sitting quietly and only writing what they know.
JL: You talked about Tank and social media. Overall, how important is social media to what you do? Which one do you rely on the most?
JR: We’re still very engrossed in Facebook, and that’s where our audience primarily is. We do have our toes in other pools there. It’s important to reinforce our brand.
It’s important as an opportunity to bring people who are not familiar with us, maybe to come in and check out our radio station. We’re still not to the point where meters are measuring social media from a PPM perspective, but it’s advertising. It’s marketing.
It’s the next level of being out on the streets and meeting your listeners face-to-face. If people aren’t comfortable with that, they can meet you online, and hopefully, you’ll be able to bring them to the station or, if they’re already here, just maintain a better and closer relationship with them.
JL: It takes a lot of discipline not to mess with it, not to tinker with it. To go, oh, I’m so sick of Sweet Home Alabama, and I’m going to rest it for a month. How do you deal with that?
JR: I think we have our own playlists and things when we’re at home, and when we’re on the radio, we’re working to make sure that our audience is entertained. If our audience tells us that they love something, then they love it. We’ve got to take them at their word. So, it’s not our prerogative to make choices solely based on our musical tastes and preferences.
JL: I used to say, “It’s not my personal jukebox.”
JR: That’s what I say to talent sometimes.
JL: Considering all you do, you have time to be a voice talent, too. Plug the business.
JR: Jules Riley represented my Atlas talent. I fell into it out of necessity.
Joel Folger and I were dreaming up a new format concept, and I knew the sound. We knew the sound that we wanted, and obviously, on a limited budget, you say, well, how can we get this? And I said, Joel, I think I can do this. So, the first station I voiced was our demo.
And the first group that bought our idea was in Fargo-Moorhead. They said, hey, we want to use the person on the demo.
They said, “Do you want to do it?” And I said, “Yeah, I want to do it.”
It’s fun as a programmer and a voice talent in that I think when I’m writing stuff, I have a better idea of how I can best write it so the talent can get it to where we need it to be. On the flip side, I’ll always read the script my stations send me, but I’ll also throw in some alternate lines and pieces that may also work for them, giving them some extra opportunities on there. So yes, available now.
Listen to The Eagle here. Find them on Facebook. Connect with Jules here.
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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.
