Jessica Chenoweth produces the highly successful “John & Tammy: San Diego’s Morning Show” at Country 103.7 KSON San Diego.
Chenoweth was recently named the second Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Country Radio Mentee.
The latter is where we began our conversation.
“It means a lot. The last couple of years, I’ve wanted to further my career and expand what I do. I’ve been producing now for a very long time, about 10 to 15 years, said Chenoweth.
“I wanted to see what was next, especially in Country radio. I love Country radio so much. It’s so different from any format that I’ve worked in previously. And so, I saw this opportunity to meet more people, get better at networking and learn from some of the best in the business.”
Switching back to the producer job, I asked what advice Chenoweth has for someone producing a high-profile show or looking to land in that role.
“If you’re not passionate about it, if you can’t find a way to turn it, make an angle out of a story that you’re going to be excited to talk about, then your audience isn’t going to be excited to hear about it. That’s something we always try to keep in mind. That’s good for any producer: is your talent excited about a topic?”
“Don’t force something down their throat that they won’t be excited to talk about. Find a way to make them excited about it. I think that’s something you have to learn, and every talent is different. You have to figure out what works with your talent, and I think that’s important for any producer.”
With a show as active as “John & Tammy,” Chenoweth has to stay out ahead of things, and planning is essential.
“I’m a pre-planner. I like to make sure that we have everything buttoned up before we go into an event, or we get into a certain week. This week, we have our Service Pet for a Vet. I like to make sure we have as much done ahead of time, so that when we go into the week, it’s less stressful.”
“For example, with this Service Pet for a Vet that we’re doing this week, we had all the interviews done last week. Those are already done and in the can. We aren’t trying to schedule them at the last minute. Actually, last week was a little late for me. Usually, I have had them done weeks ahead of time.”
How does a good producer get everyone on board when someone on the show may be less than enthusiastic about a show idea?
“With any show, you’re going to come in, and, because everybody’s different, you’re going to think something might be more interesting, and other people might be going, no, that’s not interesting. I think the challenge is to find a way to get people on board.”
“If they’re adamant against it, you know what? I’m not going to force anything down somebody’s throat that they don’t want to do or don’t want to be a part of, because I get it. It goes back to being passionate.”
“If you’re not passionate about it, how are you going to make your audience passionate about it? So we pivot. We’re good at compromising, and I’m also really good at saying, ‘Hey, let’s try it this way once.’”
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll move on. But give me this one time with this thing, and depending on, and I’ve had it happen both ways, where they’re like, oh yeah, that worked, and then I was, I know you were right. It won’t happen again. Won’t do it again. It’s all about finding that common ground and compromise.
With a show as active and forward-thinking as “John and Tammy,” I wondered if there was ever a time when Program Director Scott Roddy had to pull on the reins.
“We couldn’t have a bigger cheerleader than Scott. And I couldn’t have a bigger cheerleader than Scott. Most of the time, he’s okay with it. Sometimes, he might say, ‘Hey, I love that, but hear me out. Let’s see if we can do something this way, or maybe we do it that way.’”
“Or he finds a way to get on board, and when he’s not, he finds a way that he thinks might be a better way, and it ends up being perfect. He’s not somebody you go to, and he’s going to say no, which is awesome. He’s usually like, okay, I see where you’re going. What if we did it this way? Or what if we did this instead? And it always ends up being such an amazing approach.”
Like many successful morning shows, “John & Tammy” steer clear of the political third rail.
“We’re not in the business of politics. We don’t want to divide, because we have listeners on all sides. We never want to bring that to our listeners and potentially alienate somebody. They can get it anywhere else. They don’t need us to be railing about politics. We usually make jokes out of stuff.”
“If it’s something that we feel that we have a unique take on, that we want to make it kind of fun and funny, then we’ll bring it to the air. But for the most part, if it’s not fun and funny, we won’t bring it to the air.”
“For example, during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, we found a local pastor, a local black pastor, to come on the show and talk to our listeners. And that way, the conversation was being had with him. And we’re like, what can we learn?”
“What do you want us to talk about? What do you want people to hear from your perspective? And it turned into an amazing conversation that to this day is, I think, one of the best conversations we’ve had on air.”
“We all were crying by the end. You have to find ways to bring those conversations on in a way that’s respectful of the conversation but also makes sense. And sometimes, like I said, it just doesn’t make sense.”
In closing:
“I’m so excited, and I’m just so thankful for the people who have shown me the ropes throughout the years. I started in Top 40 and at KISS (Los Angeles). I was able to learn a lot from Dennis Clark, I call him my first mentor.”
“Throughout the years, I’ve had many great people who have helped lift me up. And right now, I have Scotty, and I couldn’t be happier with that. I’m really happy where I am right now. And I’m excited to keep moving forward, especially in Country radio, which is truly unique. It’s hard to explain it to people outside of Country radio.”
“I’m so thankful for everything I’ve been able to see and do in these last few years. I can’t wait to see what else I can see and do.”
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.
