James Howard is iHeartMedia Senior Regional Vice President and Program Director for 103.5 KISS FM WKSC, Chicago.
Howard was honored by industry executives and programmers, placing 8th in Barrett Media’s Top 20 CHR/Top 40 Program Directors and 6th in the Top 20 Rock Program Directors.
Howard told me, “That was a nice acknowledgment. Honestly, it’s a job that doesn’t necessarily come with a lot of accolades, praise, or looks. Candidly, when something like this happens, I do take a second and appreciate it and think about all the really talented people around me who make something like this happen. So, it was neat.”
Earlier this week, we featured “The Fred Show,” which placed number 5 in The Top 20 CHR/Top 40 Shows. The show is based out of 103.5 KISS FM, and Howard is the show’s coach and Program Director. Howard has tremendous enthusiasm when it comes to talking about the show.
“I’m excited. That show is awesome. And we’re really fired up for the future with it. It’s something that we’ve been building for a long time. And I remember a couple of years ago Fred and I made a pitch to the hierarchy at iHeart and said, ‘Hey, we think we’ve got something here that’s going to be a great future option.’”
And we wanted to go bigger than just Chicago. We’ve got a team of people who feel like they represent all of America. I think some parts of the country don’t feel that way when they get media from certain locations.”
Howard got bitten by the radio bug at a young age while riding out a hurricane.
“I think the thing that got me interested in wanting to be in radio is I went through Hurricane Andrew in 1992 with my family. And the house halfway blew away while we were in it. The walls were there, but everything else was gone, like three-quarters of it.”
“It was crazy. But I remember during the process, we were hiding in a bathroom, and we had a radio on—WIOD 610. And they weren’t telling us barometer readings or wind speed—they were just telling us, hey, everything’s going to be okay. And I’ll never forget it. It was something that made us feel like it was going to be OK. I thought it would be worth it if I could do something like that as a career.”
I asked Howard if the lack of evening and overnight shifts would make it more difficult to develop the next Elvis, Seacrest, or Fred.
“What I would love for people to do is try it in spots where you can begin. There are mom-and-pop gigs out there, and there are certainly opportunities in places in some markets, including in the Midwest, like Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Traverse City, Michigan.”
“There are opportunities and those cities as real deals, but there are just not enough. So, really, the short answer is to learn how to connect with people using digital technology, podcasting, etc. You know, dive into music, just get experience however you can. For us, it’s getting people in the door through promotions. It’s the only way to smuggle them in. We’re literally smuggling in new people and then seeing what they’re good at and getting them to do different things.”
Getting people in the door can pay dividends.
“The perfect example is I had a night personality that I hired for my rock station here, WCHI. Her name is Maria Palmer, and I put her at night knowing that she full well had more talent than what she was doing at night.”
“I told her if you want to grow, you’re going to have to treat this show like a morning show. You have put in the time and effort and go through the pain points and all that kind of stuff and figure this out. And she did. For four years, she put the time and effort into her show and planned everything perfectly and with limited resources.”
“Now she’s in Morning Drive on the rock station four years later. And that night slot was the chance for her to figure it out. We still have enough of those spots. That’s a perfect place to make some mistakes. Right?”
Howard’s coaching technique looks at the bigger picture while offering his advice.
“When working with complete pros like this, and I remember this even working with Elliott Segal in D.C., I wasn’t going to teach Elliott how to do radio. I wasn’t going to teach him how to have connections with an audience.”
“And the same thing with Fred and the team they’re pros. For me, it’s just giving them information and different ideas just infusing different thought processes. Asking them to listen to the product or watch what they’re doing on socials differently.”
“I see it from a little bit of a distance. What do you think? And then, of course, I bring in other folks who are even less close to it than I am. And then they can give some opinions. So I’m really just a conduit of information.”
“I think about it being not dissimilar to a baseball manager. I can’t throw a 97-mile-an-hour fastball, but I can watch them do it. And I can tell when their mechanics are right and when it’s wrong. I can see it. OK, you’re over-rotating, and that’s why that thing’s doing it. Hey, try this.”
Howard enjoys the diversity of his cluster.
“That’s the other really great about this cluster. I have such a diverse group of people and brand offerings. Where I can have something as powerful as an Inspiration 1390 Gospel station and a rock station that gives away chainsaws on Friday, and I can oversee all of that with a straight face most of the time.”
“I have an awesome group of people. That’s what I think my biggest win moving here was. I didn’t know how great I was going to have it in terms of people I work with.”
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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.
