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Marci Braun is Program Director for Audacy’s US99 Chicago. The Chicago native grew up listening to the station and the morning show, and “I wanted to be Trish Biondo. I didn’t know what a music director was; I just knew that Trish was it, so I had to find a way to do it.
Braun attended college at St. Norbert College near Green Bay, Wisconsin, and went to work at the college radio station, picking up an overnight shift during college. “Everybody else was out having fun. I was broadcasting to the cows.”
After graduation, Braun worked evenings, APD, and MD at WNCY, Green Bay. During that time, she heard about an opening at US99 and applied.
“Nobody goes from market 139 to 3. That’s just not possible. But Mike Peterson was the PD then, and he was looking for somebody local because he wasn’t. And I don’t know why, but bless his heart, he hired me.”
Some company restructuring during COVID-19 gave Braun an opportunity: “I had, I want to say, six program directors up until Covid. And then, in 2020, there was obviously some restructuring, and I moved into the PD role, and that’s that.”
Braun credits her staff as a main ingredient of the station’s success. “I’m incredibly lucky to have a great staff. I mean, honestly, just stellar people who know that grinding it out and working to win is what needs to be done, so I completely appreciate that.”
“I am the music director geek at heart, so that is my passion with the station, my first and foremost. But I think that we’ve been given wonderful tools and wonderful people to work with, so that’s pretty awesome.”
With all the analytics available, Braun still believes that programmer instincts and gut have a place in the equation. “I think the gut still wins, honestly. I do enjoy looking at streaming to make sure there’s something I’m not missing, but having research and checking that out to do the gut check is great.
“There’s still nothing like going to a show and seeing a crowd react where a song might not be testing so well, and then you look at the streams, and they’re insane. So, you feel that. I don’t think the feeling, gut, or heart have been taken out.
Imaging on US99 is always very much in tune with Chicago’s heartbeat. Staying on top of trends in a city with an attitude is a total team effort that is greatly assisted by having Chicagoans on the staff.
“I am incredibly lucky that I was born and raised in suburban Chicago, so I have my entire life’s knowledge of everything happening. Everyone on my staff, except for Austin, is from the Chicagoland area, born and raised, which is wonderful. I actually lean on my air staff sometimes for help writing imaging.”
An especially clever campaign was, “Tell me you’re from Chicago without telling me you’re from Chicago.”
“If there’s a campaign, like a ‘tell me you’re from Chicago without telling me you’re from Chicago,’ I say, alright guys, give me five things that you think about real quick. There is a lot of leaning on internal people with the air staff, which is incredibly helpful.
Braun sees the value of being in the community even in a market the size of Chicago.
“Right now, Scotty K has this amazing brainchild, and he came up with an apple and a gift for a teacher. He’s been going to a grocery store on Sunday night. He picks a teacher as a winner and says, ‘All right, I got 100 bucks to spend for you at the grocery store.’ What kind of stuff do you want?”
“Then, that Monday, he goes into the classroom and delivers it to the teacher in front of the students. So, it’s different ways of being out and visible, but I believe it is crucial.”
The “Melissa & Austin” morning show came to US99 separately, which meant building the show from scratch. “We had to build out a morning show together with us and try to figure out their path, voice, and all that stuff.”
Building a show and coaching talent, Braun focuses on the positive. “In terms of building that and coaching talent, I meet with them and Scotty (afternoon host) several times a week. I’m always popping in and stuff like that, but the air-check sessions are always positive and to the point. I’m very lucky to have very good talent that is very good at what they do.”
“So now it’s really the nitpicky stuff and the honing in, maybe finding a crutch here and there. But in terms of needing to help them plan out a show, they’re so damn good at their job, I don’t have to deal with that. So coaching talent for me right now is really about just going in, pulling air checks, and pointing out little things, and how we could have made this topic better and gotten to the meat quicker.”
“We’re very lucky to have Steve Reynolds and Mike Peterson be able to help with talent coaching. It’s just an extra added arm, an incredibly helpful tool that I have found very useful for US99.”
Braun sees video as an important component of Social Media strategy and as a way to break into the algorithm.
“Facebook is still incredibly important, even though everyone tends to lean towards Instagram, honestly, because I think Instagram is a little easier and more directly in the moment with stories. Between Austin and Scotty, they are social media geniuses and produce these really quick, eye-catching videos. We’ve noticed that with the algorithm, you’ve got to put up video. Still, pictures just don’t cut it anymore. That’s what is really going to get you in people’s algorithms to make sure that they see what’s going on at the station.”
Braun is the Regional Program Director for Audacy and oversees 102.9 The Wolf in Minneapolis, in addition to programming US99.
Listen to US99 here. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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.
