The end of 2024 marks the final chapter of a remarkable 49-year radio career for Tom Oakes, SummitMedia Springfield, MO, OM. Oakes also serves as PD for KTTS Springfield and Interim OM/PD for KFDI, Wichita.
He plans to retire near his family in Minnesota, but even he wonders if that retirement will last. More on that later.
I caught up with Oakes to reflect on 49 years of radio and consider the future of the business that he is passionate about.
Oakes began his career at the University of Wisconsin Superior. Other stops along the way included Duluth, MN; Stevens Point, WI; Madison, WI; Des Moines; and Anchorage, AK.
“I started when I was 17, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I feel fortunate to have spent my entire career in something I love, as deeply as I love radio. I’ve never worked in another industry.”
With the changes the radio industry has gone through and continues to go through, to what does Oakes attribute his longevity?
“Willingness to change. There have been a couple of different waves of technical advancement. A lot of people, great people in radio just said, you know what, I’m checking out. They didn’t want to change or just felt they couldn’t handle the kind of changes we’ve gone through.”
“To be doing this job as long as I have, I have learned that if I want to stay relevant for my employer, relevant to keeping the radio station in touch, you have to change. You have to be willing to adapt and change because it’s the only constant we have going on.”
Will we see radio people put together nearly 50-year careers in the future?
“Not in the future. Because you have so many people who are plugged into podcasting or this or that or something else that’s been brought to us over the last 20 years and more so in the last 10 years.”
“They just move on to other things they’re more comfortable with. And that’s not a slam against anybody at all. I mean, some people adapt and change, and they thrive on it more than others. They only go find new things of interest to them.” Oakes said.
So, how do we find the next Howard Stern or Ryan Seacrest?
“Well, I think you have to look for it. In our cluster here in Springfield, in the last several years, my fellow workers and my fellow program directors in the building have kept an eye out for people. And we’ve had a couple of people just pound the door saying, I want to be a part of this.”
“We have a young woman who grew up in Russia, immigrated to the U.S. with her family, and learned the English language. She has completed her college education and is a full-fledged American citizen, having passed the citizenship test, which we supported her through the process. But she loves being on the radio. But she is also smack dab in the middle of the technology age.”
Oakes has pioneered a concept that he calls “rent an OM.”
“Beverly Brannigan approached me after Mark Granton passed away. And she approached me with the idea. She knew I wanted to be in Wisconsin or Minnesota, where the family was. Missouri, well, it’s an M state. It’s not that far away. She had an idea that she and Steve Wexler had come up with.”
“It was basically rent a cop. Or, in this case, rent an OM. And I agreed to come in for six and a half months to help with the transition after Mark’s passing to program KTTS and help refine the operations.”
“I wound up staying seven and a half months. They hired a new OM. Before I left, they asked me, ‘Hey, would you be interested in sitting in the PD chair at WCYQ in Knoxville for a couple of months while we look for a new PD?’ Sure. I’d never been to Knoxville or lived in Tennessee.”
“Before I was all done doing that job. They asked me to go to Omaha. To be the OM and oversee KQCH. Which is our Top 40 while helping them through a transition to a new OM. So, I got to see the country.”
“So, it was a fun concept. I went home thinking, Well, I’ll go find a permanent job. They wound up calling me two months later, asking me to go back to Knoxville and then eventually Springfield when they offered me the job full-time.”
And therein lies the potential for part-time retirement.
“My sister-in-law is betting I’ll be bored in six and a half months. And I’ll go looking for something. The concept of rent an OM or rent a PD. If somebody needs some short-term help to get through some changes. Or while they’re looking for somebody new. Or they’re launching a new format. I’ll entertain any ideas.”
Having myself left day-to-day programming and finding it difficult to listen to the radio as a consumer and not criticize every break I hear, will Oakes be able to step aside and turn off the programmer’s head?
“No. I don’t think I can turn it off. But I certainly can take a break. And you know it’s kind of funny. It’s about a ten-and-a-half eleven-hour drive from Springfield to the Twin Cities. In all the years I have spent driving back and forth going up and seeing the family. And spending time up there. The one constant in my life. Has been my radio in the truck.”
“I listen to radio. I love radio. I like hearing what people are doing. I want to hear a different music mix. I want to see what other stations are doing. In the format I love. Country. Or experience news talk.”
For Oakes, it’s always been about doing what he loves.
“Passion is what it’s really about, passion about what you do, passion about how you do it, passion for who you’re serving, who you’re working with, and just trying to lift everybody up. I wish I was this smart back in 1976.”
Now, spending time near family will move to the front burner.
“I’m happy to be getting close to my family and spending time with them. Because I’ve been far apart, and boy, you can’t get much further apart than living in Alaska.”
“Over the years. I got to see one of the most tremendous places in the world to live. I love what I do. I have loved Country music. It’s really been the format that I’ve keyed in on. I’ve done a lot of other formats, including beautiful music. But I learned from that. I’ve learned from everything I’ve done.”
“I think the future is very bright for Country music. I think what radio becomes we have yet to know.”
Connect with Oakes 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.
