Karson and Kennedy host the morning show at Audacy’s Mix 104.1 WWBX Boston. As voted by its peers, the show was number one in the Barrett Media Top 20 AC/Hot AC Shows.
I asked the two how they felt when they saw they were number one.
“Karson explained to me what you were doing when you started this new initiative to talk about all the genres and all of the types of shows. And he had said the Hot AC is going to be on this day,” said Kennedy. “And by then I completely forgot about it. So, I will paint you this picture.”
“Karson is sitting at his desk on this side of this studio. And he’s going Kennedy, come here. I come around the corner, and he’s got it up. I look at our producer Dan and say, ‘Daniel, come here.’ And we just stood there staring at the computer for a long time. No, we were not anticipating any of that.”
Karson added, “I was like if we even cracked the top 20, that would be amazing. Sometimes I feel like we’re like the little show that could, and we just continue on and continue on.”
“It’s not really a show that you hear about much in the industry. We’re just kind of over here in our little world, doing our thing. And you hear about all these other big shows around the country and personalities. We’re just in Boston doing our thing. So, to get that acknowledgement, especially from our peers. Yeah, just wow.”
I shared with them that in a recent conversation with their Program Director, Steve Salhany, who finished third in the Top 20 Program Directors, he said, “I was really more excited about the ‘Karson & Kennedy’ win. I’ve been working with them for a long time, and they’ve come a long way. I’m really excited for them.”
The road to success has had a few bumps along the way.
Karson said, “It was a tumultuous beginning. We actually went to number one within the first year here. We went to number one 25-54, and it was a very big deal. They took us out to a fancy lunch with our names on the menu. Then, all of a sudden, they made a change in management, and it was like all these things were going on.”
Karson added that they were having problems with their relationship at the time. “We were having a tough time with our interpersonal relationship, and what was coming out on the air was not fun. And so, Sal took us out to lunch at Regina’s Pizzeria.”
“I thought oh, this is great. The new boss taking us out to lunch. And we ordered the pizza, and he’s like, I don’t know what’s going on with you two. I don’t know what’s going on with the show. I don’t know what anybody has instructed you to do with your show. But whatever’s coming out of the speakers, what I’m hearing right now is not fun.”
They were offered a 90-day contract, being told, “If you can’t figure it out in 90 days, we’re going to make a change. Wow. But I will tell you this. You need to do the show that you want to do.”
The show is known for sharing their personal lives, sometimes in great detail, which Kennedy believes is essential to authenticity.
“No one wants to have a conversation with somebody who’s just talking about themselves and the fancy things that they did or making up, or just reading off prep, right? The best conversations you have at parties, restaurants, or wherever you meet people are where you can go, oh, my God, me too.”
“Because we sit in front of a microphone and talk to however many people every 15 minutes or three minutes now and have a conversation about for me, mental health is a big thing for me. I’ve had multiple diagnoses we’ve talked about here on this show.”
Kennedy continued, “I got cancer last year, my dog died last week. We have talked about all of this stuff. But when you talk about these things, then people say, oh, so it’s okay for me to feel these things, too. You know that everybody is holding onto things so tightly. You can say it’s okay to let go, talk about it, and that you’re not alone, I’m just like you.”
Karson relates to the audience on a parenting level. “My wife and I are raising a 14-year-old boy. Having a job that’s out in the public, but then also having a child who’s trying to navigate what it’s like to be a teen and going through the things that he’s going through. The only way we know how to do it now, is to just share it.”
Adding, “I have found it, for me, cathartic, and it’s made my life a lot easier. I don’t feel like I’m leading two lives. Anybody that meets us will tell you exactly who we are talking to, that’s exactly who we are in the studio, who we are at the grocery store. And that’s kind of nice, because I have met a lot of people in this business, and what they are portraying on the air, is not who they are in real life, and that’s a lot. I don’t know. I couldn’t handle it. That would be too much on my shoulders”
Community involvement is a big part of the winning formula.
“You can make a connection with someone on the radio,” Kennedy said. “We do it all the time. You hear from people who have never met you, but when you can actually stand in front of them and speak with them and have a conversation, and maybe you’re hosting an event, and you all have had this common experience, or whatever the case might be, but to show that you’re not above anything.”
“I feel like there’s a lot of entitlement sometimes when it comes to radio, anything sort of in the public eye, really. [People saying] Well, I don’t do that anymore. I don’t get out of bed for less than this much money. Or someone charges for a charity event. What kind of monster are you?”
“We do a yearly toy drive called Karson and Kennedy 10,000 Toys for Girls and Boys, so we spend six weekends before Christmas in a mall. Two hours a day, Saturday, Sunday, every single one. Thanksgiving, it doesn’t matter, and we do that, and we’ve been doing that for a decade now, and so now you’ve got people who are coming who were dating, and now they’re married, and they have three kids, and the kids are coming to drop off their toys.
“I love that. You become part of a tradition for somebody else. What a gift. I can’t imagine anyone giving me a better gift than that.”
I asked what advice they might offer to an aspiring top ten market talent or show.
Karson said, “I would say the one thing that I learned along the way that was really hard for me was that you need people on your team. You need people on your side. I was battling against everybody. It was always us against the world. Every program director, every consultant, every record rep, every street teamer. No, you don’t understand. You don’t know You don’t know.”
“This is bringing me some PTSD,” laughed Kennedy. “I would love to speak directly to the young women out there and that’s, do it, do all of it. And you don’t have to wait for a boy to bring you along. I’m so thankful I had one. But, I think it’s so important for those voices to be heard. I think both of us are of the same mind that if you need help, we’re here.”
“Karson is the king of listening to a demo and being like, move this, change this, bang, bang, bang. And I’m happy to be helpful in any way I can as well. When it comes to planning a show or doing whatever. I think, more than anything, we want to watch the people who come after us maybe not have to jump on the hurdles that we had to jump on.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
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.
