Grover Collins is Program Director for B-105.1 Cincinnati and New Country 103.1 West Palm Beach. Collins arrived in Cincinnati in 1997 and has been the B-105 Program Director since 2009.
The B-105.1 morning show, “Jesse & Anna,” was peer-voted as one of the best Country Radio Morning Shows in the 2024 Barrett Media Top 20.
So that seemed a natural starting point for our discussion.
“Anna is a very free spirit. She was born with the ability to be an open book and was very vulnerable on the radio. That is a gift I am convinced you have to be born with. I don’t believe you can be taught that, or everybody could do what we do. Everybody could be a stand-up comedian, actor or actress. She is wonderful.”
“Jesse is also very, very good, but he is much more the yang to her ying. He is very specific. He is very detail-oriented, and he has a very specific vision. Think about him like a director of a movie. He sees it in his mind, or this case, hears it in his mind. How he wants something to sound, or how to have a bit go.”
“He loves technology, he loves the advancements of toys. Things that he can use for production value. Everything about the advancement of technology, he is all about. He teaches himself. Quite honestly, he could be an engineer. He could also be a production director. He loves imaging, and he loves producing imaging for his show.”
Vulnerability seems to be something that every successful on-air talent discusses and considers an essential element for success.
“Because of the changes of the landscape over the years, with the ability to listen to Morgan Wallen on more ways than I can count on your phone. You have to offer something more than this is, that was that, and this is this, and blah, blah, blah.”
“What is the connection? What is something that is going to endear you to the listener that is going to make them consciously think, I have to listen to ‘Jesse & Anna’ again tomorrow to see what happened?”
Outside, morning drive, how do you carry that through the rest of the day?
“We have conversations about how you are going to relate to the listener today? What are you going to talk about that we can all relate to? It’s the same thing as stand-up comedy. Nate Bargatze is a master at it.
“He talks about his wife. I’m laughing because I see my wife in his stories. So it is relatability, authenticity, and the ability to be vulnerable about that story. That is telling stories that will put you in a poor light on many occasions because that’s going to be real. It is going to endear you to the listener more. Even though they might not be able to verbalize it themselves, they are going to have a deeper connection with our on-air talent because they talked about something that they didn’t know. And it’s not necessarily a pretty story. But it’s also a relatable story.”
I asked if Collins had seen any early trends developing around Nielsen’s 3-minute qualifier.
“Some formats are seeing more of a lift. We have seen a modest lift. It hasn’t changed the landscape completely, but if you’re a Classic Rocker, more than not, those listeners are there for the day anyway because that’s their jam. That’s what they want to hear. They want to hear Barracuda for the millionth time.”
“I guess the only thing we have tried to do is get back into music a few minutes before the top or bottom of the hour. I don’t have any evidence to prove that that is going to make a difference or not. I think it’s a theory at this point. I don’t think we have enough data to put a flag on it.”
A lot of new music is constantly coming out of Nashville. How does Collins handle all of it?
“I am definitely on the slower side at UBE. I am fortunate to be in a position where I can be. I also have the research that backs up that. My listeners are a little older on average. They’re not aggressive new music consumers overall.”
”I can’t say this verbatim, but my gut tells me they’re happy with it. When B-105 plays it, that’s when I need to pay more attention to it. I can never compete with the streamers. They immediately have everything instantly.”
“And they are younger. 20% of all streamers drive all the trends. So, it’s the classic 80-20 rule. I might even back that down to 15%. I know it’s not a word, but I use the word newish. I’m going to play newer stuff, but I can’t oversaturate my playlist with new music where it becomes so unfamiliar that it becomes a turnoff to the people that still want to hear Luke Bryan from 15 years ago.”
With that thought in mind, how important is ‘90s Country?
“I play a smattering of ‘90s, the real big bangers. I have an era category that is ‘90s, and it goes up to probably ’04. Anything that’s over 20 years old is in that category. I don’t even think a listener could tell me, is Kenny Chesney, ‘I Go Back’ from the ’90s or the 2000s. Because it is from the 2000s, but it feels like it could almost be a ’90s song.”
“Remember back in the day when ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie was technically a ’70s song, but everybody thinks it’s an ’80s song? Everything gets a little foggy, and they just know they like it. So, it’s not a lot. Now, I do a jukebox lunch where it’s not a full hour of ’90s, but I play more ’90s just as a little flavor for the hour.”
“It can be really polarizing. I’ve got to be careful. There are some younger listeners who don’t really have a connection with the ‘90s. Some do. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter loves ’80s pop music, and she’s 26. But they still want to hear Morgan Wallen.”
So, when Morgan Wallen drops a new album with 30 or more songs, how does B-105.1 handle it?
“We played some of the new music from the new album that aren’t the singles every hour on the morning show. We’re playing the song’s verse or hook and not every song in its entirety. There are just too many. But we went through and highlighted ones we liked or thought would be unique.”
“We did the whole Post Malone album back to back. We looked at Post through a different filter. This is a guy who is extremely well-known and extremely popular in a completely different genre who has come into the Country world authentically. There’s that word again, and kicked it through the goalposts.”
Collins recently added New Country 103.1 West Palm Beach to his programming duties. How does he approach two markets that are not remotely geographically close?
“I’m about a month, maybe five weeks in on West Palm. When I was first given the reins to program IRK, I had to immerse myself in everything West Palm. I’ve never programmed a station that was on a coast before. I’ve always been inland.”
“I’m learning about the differences. This is why you have to do research. You can’t just have a rubber stamp for research in any market. It is very different in West Palm. A lot of transplants from New England, New York, Newark, New Jersey. They have different flavors of what they like, and that’s probably 40% of IRK’s audience.”
Collins credits his West Palm APD with helping him get up to speed.
“I have Nick Rivers, my APD/MD there. I believe he is in his fourth year. He is invaluable to me. He is helping me learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, about the market. So I can speak with a level of not expertise by any stretch, but a level of awareness of the market.”
“I’ve been in Cincinnati since 97. I know the market like the back of my hand. But it’s fun. It’s a challenge. It’s making me use parts of my brain I haven’t used in a long time in radio, quite honestly.”
In closing…
“Keep your head down. Bust your ass. Work hard. Hold yourself accountable. Always learn. Always try to improve. Be positive.”
“I’m at the age now where I’m teaching. I’m mentoring. I’m the old guy in radio now. I remember people taking me under their wing and making me feel good about my talent, pumping me up, and getting me excited about radio.”
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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.
