Whitney Allen hosts “The Big Time With Whitney Allen,” a syndicated Country radio show that airs six nights a week. She was bitten by the radio bug at a young age when her parents bought her a transistor radio.
The defining moment was when Allen heard another radio personality who, according to her, sounded like she wanted to steal your boyfriend.
“I had taken the KISS broadcast workshop in Los Angeles, and I was 16, and there was, of course, no one who was going to hire a 16-year-old in LA radio. I was too young to move out to another city.”
“My friend was going to school in Humboldt, and I said, you know what, I’ll go up there with you, and maybe I can get something in radio there. Humboldt County is way up, really close to the Oregon border. So, I remember we were driving in; it was late at night. I want to say it was around 10:30 – 11.
“It was raining because it was Humboldt, and this woman came on the radio, and it was all a sultry voice and all talking like this. Don’t get me wrong, she had a beautiful voice, but I remember turning to my friend, and I said, I would be so uncomfortable if I was sitting here with a dude because she sounds like she wants to steal my boyfriend. And if I can get a job up here, I promise I will never sound like that. And lo and behold, I got a job up there. And the first job was running tapes.”
On the way to syndication, Allen had Los Angeles radio stops, including Pirate Radio 100.3 KQLZ. Of course, I had to ask what working for Scott Shannon was like.
“Unbelievable. I mean, I worked in San Diego and worked in a larger market by then. But Scott, on the air, pronounced every word perfectly. If you ever listen to Scott Shannon off the air, it’s totally different. He would run around, and it was like a hit-and-run.”
“Scott would be talking to you and keep walking. And you were like, wait, what’d you say? No, we really didn’t hear what you said, Scott. He was very fair. He was very fun. But for me, it was very nerve-wracking because when I got into radio and picked up my very first Radio and Records, Scott Shannon and Mason Dixon were the first names I ever read.”
“We ended up getting into a couple of fights to the point where I followed him into the bathroom one day. And the thing about it, though, is that he would totally admit it. I’m not going to say when he was wrong, but he would admit when you were right.”
“He’s not someone to hold a grudge. He’s someone who’d hotline you, which would kill me. I hated that.”
Allen’s entry into syndication started in 2005 with a one-hour daily program called “America’s Hot List.”
“Lists at that point were really hot. David Letterman had the top 10 list, and USA Today always had their top 5 or top 10 of something. So I was like, why can’t we take the top 10 biggest songs of the day and run it along with some of the biggest stories of the day? I could be America’s favorite fast food or the top 10 movies, you name it.”
“We didn’t have a lot of success with the show, but it got our foot in the syndication door. We were not about to give up that deal. So, when the three years were up, about six months beforehand, we decided to offer a Saturday program.”
Allen initially offered the Saturday show for free.
“We will do a Saturday night show for free for six months. And if you like it, then you can re-sign us. So we started doing the Saturday show with, I think, 12 stations. A year later, we were up to over 50.”
Allen was working at KZLA then, and with the station suddenly changing formats, she had more time on her hands.
“All of a sudden, we had all this time. That was August, and by January, we had the five-hour program ready to go. We were able to offer a six-night-a-week program. Saturday night was strictly up-tempo. It definitely sounded like a party sort of thing. The Monday through Friday was just more of a standard, but still, a fun program.”
“I found out that a lot of people who didn’t know Country music thought that the Country audience only listened to Country music and went to Country shows. And that was all they did. In reality, it is a well-educated audience who spent more money at the movies than any other demographic, which I always thought was kind of interesting.”
“So we wanted to be very topical and on top of the news and even Hollywood. Since I started the show, I’ve been to middle America, and I can see why they think Hollywood is insane because name a place as far away from Hollywood as somewhere like Arkansas, a whole different world.”
“They have the same TV shows and the same movies. There were similarities across the country, and if we tap into that and what people were hot on and build a show around that and the music, I think we were really successful at it.”
Along the way, Allen has landed numerous awards, including National Personality of the Year. She has also been nominated for both ACM and CMA National Personality of the Year, is in the Country Radio Hall of Fame, and won a Gracie for her “crisis coverage” of the Route 91 tragedy in Las Vegas.
“What was interesting is that we were set to do the show from Route 91, and it was not that far in advance. I want to say three weeks beforehand, they’d sold out. And so they said we sold out, we don’t really need you.”
“And we were like, well, damn, we really wanted to go do the show. And then, a week beforehand, we were at the Thomas Rhett show, and we got word that Route 91 had changed their mind. But it was at that point it was too late.”
“But my producer, Jackie, still went. I was getting ready to go to bed. And I saw that there were shots in Las Vegas. This was before the news had anything. I started to worry about her and began calling her cell phone.”
“Ended up, she had just left. Jason (Aldean) was on stage. She just left and had gone across the street. Thousands of people had done the same thing. She had been ushered into the Carrot Top Theater as a refuge. There was no cell signal in there. She was safe the whole time but was still way too close.”
“It was weird. Even here in Los Angeles, anyone who I talked to knew someone who was hit or killed at that festival. People come from all over the country. That was on a Sunday night. And then we went back on the air on Monday night, and people started calling with their stories from around the country. What a horrible thing.”
The news that Allen was to be inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame was somewhat deceptive.
“R.J. Curtis called me via Zoom under the guise of my favorite moments ever at Country Radio Seminar. We did this 20 30-minute conversation on CRS, and the whole thing never crossed my mind. And right at the end, he said I have one more question for you. What’s it like to be the newest member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame?”
“I couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth. Because I don’t win ACM or CMAs, I’m not that person. So, there’s no way I ever thought I was going into the Hall of Fame.”
I asked Allen if there was anything that kept her up at night.
“Sometimes, it’s how I keep the show relevant. Sometimes, it’s what the hell’s going on in politics. Sometimes it’s, what the hell? There are so many animals on the streets that are not being taken care of. If it’s raining, where are they? What is going on?
Any final thoughts?
“I’m up for an ACM, which is crazy, right? I’ve been nominated a couple of times for ACM and CMA, and I’ve never won one. And I’ve always been kind of like it doesn’t matter. I really didn’t get into the business because of awards because when I got into the business, I didn’t even know there were awards.”
“I wouldn’t mind having one. I have my Gracie. I have my Hall of Fame plaque. I have the perfect place for one. Along with my grandfather’s bowling trophy from, I think it’s 1926.”
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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.
