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Danny Parkins: ‘Hard Knocks’ Should be About Current Bears Team, Not the Nostalgia of the Franchise

BSM Staff
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Danny Parkins: ‘Hard Knocks’ Should be About Current Bears Team, Not the Nostalgia of the Franchise

An official trailer has dropped for the training camp edition of ‘Hard Knocks’ from HBO which will focus on the Chicago Bears. The first episode is set for release next Tuesday and 670 The Score hosts Danny Parkins and Matt Spiegel are looking forward to it, although the trailer gave Parkins some hesitation.

After playing the trailer on their Parkins & Spiegel afternoon show, they ran through some of what they saw and heard. “The first person you see is Dan Hampton, number 99,” Spiegel said. “You see Hampton lining up, because they hit the history right away. You see Hampton, you see Walter Payton, you see [Brian] Urlacher, you see the 46 defense. Those are the first visuals.”

Parkins said he liked head coach Matt Eberflus’ speech at the beginning where he says, “This is your team, we’re giving you guys everything you need. We’ll give you the keys, but you’ve got to drive the car.”

Spiegel pointed out they show some more current players, “but then they go history, again, in the middle. There’s George Halas’ voice. We saw Ditka, Singletary. Ditka kicking the air. Richard Dent, there’s a shot of Red Grange for a second. Devin Hester returning a kick. ‘The Winds of Change’ is the message. They’re acknowledging the past a lot, but Caleb is the future. They show Caleb being drafted. The last shot of the thing is Caleb reaching up and high fiving the fans. But yeah, there’s a lot of acknowledgement of the history and the past.”

Parkins thinks the past should stay right there, in the past. “I get it,” he said. “I’m really pumped for the show. I just don’t care. I don’t want that. To me, this is such an exciting time for the Bears. And I get why they’re doing it. Charter franchise, selling it to the masses, bringing back, hopefully, some degree of history and care and legacy. But I don’t want to see anything about Brian Urlacher. I don’t want to see Mike Singletary. I don’t want to see it.

“…It was 50% of the trailer. So, if it ends up being, like if episode one, 50% of it is about the names on the wall at Hallas Hall and the Bears history at quarterback and their history at linebacker…”

“What if it’s modern players talking about that?” Spiegel asked.

“I want to know about Tory Taylor, I want to know about Caleb Williams, I want to know about Rome Odunze,” Parkins said. “I want to know about Eberflus. I want to know about Eric Washington. I want to know about this current [team]. And I know that that’s what it is, it’s the training camp story. But the nostalgia and the history and the syrup…”

“You hate Bears history,” Spiegel said.

“I kind of do,” Parkins quipped.

“You don’t want to hear about Bears quarterback history?” Spiegel said. “Like you’re going to get a heavy dose of that probably early as they lay the foundation for everything about Caleb Williams that you’re going to see. Guess what? It’s part of the story. It’s a massive part of the story…They’re the starter franchise of the NFL. What do you expect?”

“I want to see stuff about this team,” Parkins said. “I don’t know if a national audience cares about that. I don’t want Devin Hester. I don’t want Hampton. I think they’re just pandering to the Bears. Like, okay, here’s your first trailer. Look at all your great history here.”

CBS News President Wendy McMahon: Norah O’Donnell Exit Brings ‘Opportunity to Connect With Viewers in Entirely New Ways’

BNM Staff
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CBS News President Wendy McMahon: Norah O’Donnell Exit Brings ‘Opportunity to Connect With Viewers in Entirely New Ways’

Norah O’Donnell announced she was leaving the CBS Evening News anchor desk Tuesday. CBS News President Wendy McMahon shared the network is prepared to embrace the challenge of replacing her.

In a message to employees, McMahon shared that the decision for O’Donnell to focus on securing and conducting large interviews for the news organization is a natural one for the anchor.

“From her global exclusive with Pope Francis to her interviews with every living president, Norah’s newsmaking interviews always deliver for the audience,” wrote McMahon. “How many people can effortlessly shift from field-anchoring on an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea to sitting down with Bono and Dolly Parton? Norah’s work here is legendary, and she has several major interviews in the works that will be equally memorable and momentous.”

She then added that with the decision to move on from the nightly news program, Norah O’Donnell was correct in her assertion that times are changing in that realm.

“This is a transformative time in our industry, where we have the challenge and the opportunity to connect with viewers in entirely new ways, and she is uniquely positioned to do so for CBS.”

Wendy McMahon concluded by noting that the news program — which has aired on the network since 1941 — remains a priority for CBS.

“I know many of you will have questions about what this means for the CBS Evening News moving forward,” she stated. “Please know we remain committed to its mission, we will share more about our plans soon, and we want to thank all our colleagues who contribute to its coverage every night.”

KGB-FM, San Diego Debuts New Morning Show

BMM Staff
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KGB-FM, San Diego Debuts New Morning Show

iHeartMedia is shuffling hall passes in San Diego with “Big Rich” Ohrnberger, Travis “TD” Dave, and Ben “Fletch” Fletcher moving to mornings on Classic Rock KGB-FM. They were previously heard mornings on cluster-mate San Diego Sports 760 KGB-AM.

The moves send Clint August from mornings back to afternoons, with morning show co-host Sarah Beebe exiting.

iHeartMedia San Diego Senior Vice President of Programming Taylor Jukes said, “The energy, humor and positivity that Big Rich, TD & Fletch bring to their shows in San Diego is infectious. These three have lively and engaging perspectives across three generations and their love of sports, technology and pop culture will engage San Diegans on the morning commute.”

CNN Promotes Jessica Dean to Anchor/Correspondent Role

BNM Staff
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CNN Promotes Jessica Dean to Anchor/Correspondent Role

CNN has announced the elevation of Jessica Dean to a new anchor/correspondent role for the network, where she’ll be based in New York City.

As part of her new duties, she’ll host the primetime weekend edition of CNN Newsroom while also continuing to serve as a political reporter for the cable news giant.

Since joining CNN in 2018 after working at KYW-TV in Philadelphia, she has been based in Washington D.C. as a Congressional correspondent for the network. She has also served as a fill-in anchor for daytime programs like CNN News Central, CNN Newsroom, CNN This Morning, and Inside Politics, among others. She led coverage of the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump earlier this month and was also at the anchor desk as Iran launched attacks on Israel earlier this year.

In a post to X, Dean said “Thrilled to share this news! See you on Saturdays from 4-8 (PM) and Sundays from 5-8 (PM).”

During her time as a congressional correspondent, she spent nearly two years covering the presidential campaign of President Joe Biden and also reported exclusively on his transition to the White House from his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

In addition to her local TV stop in Philadelphia, she also worked as an anchor/reporter in the Arkansas markets of Little Rock and Fort Smith.

Jessica Dean is a Little Rock native and a 2006 graduate of the University of Southern California.

NBC Olympics Broadcasts Are No Longer Driven by Competitions

Mark Kreidler
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NBC Olympics Broadcasts Are No Longer Driven by Competitions

There was a time when NBC could just roll out the Olympics and start counting the loot. The athletes were the stars. The locations felt worlds away. If somebody set a record for their event, it was cataclysmic and life-altering.

If you didn’t want to watch anymore, you got up, crossed the room and turned off your set.

So, yeah — it’s been a minute. And as you can tell, Comcast-NBCUniversal understands completely the era of the Games being the game is gone.

We’ve never seen a broadcaster trust the Olympics less – that is, the events themselves. What you’re watching is an NBC-produced show about the Olympics, featuring Olympic events but not necessarily driven by them. Comcast is hoping you’ll get caught up in the Olympic buzz. It’s also telling you that you don’t have to really watch the competition in order to achieve that.

We are given the events, yes. But what we also get is a massive dose of Snoop, Colin Jost surfing, and Leslie Jones and Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson. Interviews with some of the key athletes are being conducted by entertainers like Jones and Manning and Call Her Daddy podcaster Alex Cooper, rather than NBC’s usual stable of hosts or analysts.

And social media needs to be dominant in Paris. One reason NBC enlisted 27 creators on TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Meta, and Overtime to work the Games.

Why do this? Why not just trust that viewers have always loved and will always watch intense nationalistic competitions like the Olympics?

Well, history. NBC is on a ratings losing streak with the Olympics, and even though there are perfectly good reasons for that, nobody trusts those reasons, either. (Hey, it’s TV. Nobody trusts anything.)

The last two Olympics were pandemic-era nightmares, with mostly empty venues and lots of medical protocols in place. Tokyo also got pushed back a year, which didn’t help. Both locales set records for the lowest broadcast ratings of the Summer and Winter games.

For that matter, an NBC executive told the Hollywood Reporter the last “normal” Olympics may have been London in 2012. Considering the politically disastrous decision to run the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the reality that the 2016 Rio Olympics were dominated by concerns over the Zika virus. (These Paris games may yet be remembered for another Covid insurgency, but we’ll see.)

That’s a long time between hits, and Comcast execs rightly wondered how to get the attention of the phone-wielding generation that came of age between 2012 and now. One answer is to use the Olympics’ massive scale of programming and diffuse it across NBC’s multiple linear and digital properties, especially its four-year old Peacock streaming service, which in 2024 is airing the entirety of the Games for the first time. But another answer is to bring outside star power to bear.

The early returns featured some big numbers. Through the first three full days of the games, NBCU averaged 34.5 million viewers across all of its linear networks and digital platforms for its primary telecasts. It averaged 28.6 million viewers for Friday’s opening ceremony. Sunday’s work, which featured the first day of competition for Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, drew 41.5 million, according to custom fast national ratings from Nielsen (for linear broadcasts) and Adobe Analytics (for streaming and digital).

I’d argue the bounce has a lot to do with the fact that people are simply ready to watch again. That stands in stark contrast to 2021 and ‘22, when the world still felt closed off and seeing masked-up Olympic athletes and officials did little to remove us from the place in which we found ourselves. There wasn’t much escapism involved.

Not so in Paris, where beach volleyball is played in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and beloved landmarks loom in almost every broadcast backdrop. The location alone harkens to days when the Olympics themselves were the dominant athletic competitions of the world. At the same time, by turning over chunks of its broadcast windows to celeb-driven interviews and interactions, NBC is telling you that these Games don’t have to be all about games in order to keep you entertained.

The company loves the Olympics. It just doesn’t trust them, or at least not them alone, to deliver the kinds of numbers it needs. Not sure that’s even a radical notion.

What Does Norah O’Donnell Leaving CBS Evening News Mean for the Future of TV News?

Garrett Searight
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What Does Norah O’Donnell Leaving CBS Evening News Mean for the Future of TV News?

Being the nightly news anchor for ABC, CBS, or NBC used to be the top of the network TV news mountain top. But, safe to say, the news involving CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell giving up the post calls into question whether that remains true in 2024.

It was announced Tuesday that O’Donnell was voluntarily leaving the post to work on other projects for the news organization, noting that “It’s time to do something different.”

Can you imagine a world where Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, or Walter Cronkite would simply say “Meh, this is boring to me. I want to get away from hosting the nightly news and do more interviews”? Because I can’t.

And that’s not a knock on O’Donnell. She has other interests she’d like to explore, and I can’t fault her for that.

But it does call into question the importance that once prominent role has in today’s news media ecosystem. With the rise of cable news outlets, streaming services, YouTube, and podcasts, news consumers have a bevy of options at their fingertips.

The news world isn’t alone in this phenomenon. SportsCenter used to be the pinnacle of sports television anchors. Now? You’d be hard-pressed to find an average sports fan who could name an anchor of the venerable ESPN program.

But comparing SportsCenter to the CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, or NBC Nightly News is almost comparing apples to oranges. In 1980, an average of 53 million viewers watched those three programs nightly. By 2000, that figure had fallen to 32 million. Today, ABC’s nightly news program is the top dog on the block…with 6.9 million viewers, on average.

So, where does the television news industry go from here? Because, I can’t help but think the message to viewers is “This program isn’t really all that important to us any longer,” if the anchor decides to try something new after five years at the desk. I just have a hard time conflating how it’s anything other than that to a regular viewer.

Compounding that is the report from Dylan Byers of Puck News that claimed CBS was likely to utilize a rotating cast of anchors to fill the shoes vacated by the exit of Norah O’Donnell. If that’s the case, you’re really driving home the lack of importance of a more than 80-year-old institution. If CBS — and they’re likely not alone if David Muir (ABC) or Lester Holt were to give up their nightly programs — can’t be bothered to install a permanent host, how can news viewers take them as seriously as the other two options?

It feels as if the network is waving the white flag on CBS Evening News, which, despite all of the changes in the television landscape, feels a bit early, in my estimation. What still drives large television audiences? News and live sports. So CBS — which has famously featured an audience on the higher end of the TV demographic — is going to essentially punt on one of those two drivers of advertising revenue and audiences?

In news, trust matters. It’s why anchors like Dan Rather and Brian Williams didn’t get to step away from the nightly news anchor desk the way they would have liked to. If viewers feel like they trust Holt, Muir, or O’Donnell, they’ll tune in. It’s why NBC Nightly News has hammered home Holt’s finish as “the most trusted name in news” after a recent survey from Morning Consult and The Hollywood Reporter. Above almost all else, trust matters. And if the decision by CBS News to not name a permanent replacement for O’Donnell is true, they’re giving up that trust.

Now, to be clear, Norah O’Donnell isn’t leaving CBS News. She’ll still contribute to 60 Minutes and the evening news program, but will focus more on “storytelling and big interviews” in the future. And maybe that will provide more personal and professional fulfillment to her. But, as a 50-year-old woman who has spent decades climbing the network news ladder, I have a hard time believing that Norah O’Donnell aspired to be someone who devoted her career to “storytelling and big interviews” away from the anchor desk at one of the three largest positions in the landscape.

But maybe that’s what it says about the state of the network newscast and the prominence of the role. It just ain’t the same as it used to be. And Norah O’Donnell proved that on Tuesday.

Research: The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly!

Bob Lawrence
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Research: The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly!

I spent more than half my career in research, eventually launching and serving as President/CEO of Pinnacle Media Worldwide for fifteen years. Prior to that I was with Broadcast Architecture for ten years, founded by the late and incredibly talented Frank Cody.  It was Frank who taught me that research is not just a data dump of numbers but rather a combination of art and science.

Back in the day, our offices were across the court from the Gallup Organization in Princeton, NJ, and we had an opportunity to meet with one of the grandfathers of research, George Gallup, Jr. His dad mastered modern-day polls. We explained how, at that time, most broadcast research companies used scantron sheets to score 8 or 9-second hooks of songs. He seemed intrigued and extremely engaged as we explained the process of playing the slated hooks (i.e. “song #43”) with the respondents filling in each corresponding bubble to score the song from 1-5, indicating with another bubble whether they were familiar with the song and if they were tired of the song (in some cases to what degree.) Some would ask on which station they would expect to hear that song? Today, the responses are usually gathered online via computer, phone, or tablet, but the basic scoring method is the same. 

It was at this point in our conversation with Gallup when he stopped us and inquired, “Wait – so you play the segment of the song again before each of these desired responses, right?”  We answered, “No, they have to answer them all before the next song starts.” He began to chuckle and tell us how ridiculous he thought that was. “You expect them to think about all of this in 8 seconds? How in the world do they even keep up?”  Frankly, we already knew from watching enough auditorium testing that the respondents actually could not keep up and often fell behind by several songs.

He went on to explain the best research asks only one question at a time. If you want answers to each of those questions, you need to play the hook again, but his real question was, “Why not just ask how much they want to hear the song today? Isn’t that all you really need to determine?” That’s when it hit us and it’s where we took a methodological U-turn and began using dial testing to measure how someone “feels” about the music or product we were testing.  We simply asked how much or how little they wanted to hear it if they heard it on the radio today.

Gallup also told us that he could predict the country with forty carefully well-selected respondents. His record was pretty darn good at the time. The conversation was eye-opening back in the early 90s. It’s when I began to realize how each aspect of an important research project could make or break the results. Every variable matters, and the more variables you have, the more impact each could have on the result. This includes the respondent sample and origin of the database, the location of the project, the structure and verbiage of the questions asked, the length of time it takes to go through a screener, and much more.

I always suggest caution when creating questionnaires, avoiding unintended bias and emotionally charged verbiage. Most importantly, always give respondents an out so you don’t end up forcing them into a box in which they don’t wish to be. For example, the following simple question fails to offer a response for everyone. “How often do you listen to WXXX?  Often, sometimes, or rarely?  Obviously, “never” is missing. I suggest choices that are less nebulous, such as “more than 3 hours a day, 2-3 hours a day, 1-2 Hours a day, less than an hour a day”. These responses are more quantifiable.

A common section in strategic research is to delve into various styles which are played for the respondents. The question asked is often, “If a radio station played that kind of music, would you listen often, sometimes, rarely, or never?”  The wording of this question is extremely important. Does the question above suggest a steady, 100% diet of this music style, a couple of songs an hour, or perhaps even less? It matters since I may like rhythmic music, but maybe I don’t want a station that plays only rhythmic songs. Perhaps an efficient way to ask the question would be, “If a radio station played a mix that included some of that style of music, would you listen often, sometimes, rarely, or never?” They can be very small differences, but it is always best to be as accurate in your questions as possible.

I always suggested some basics when planning a research project:

  • Remain goal-focused. What are the most important issues you need to determine? A project designed to focus on tactics is very different from a strategic study.
  • Take nothing for granted. When you believe you already know how your listeners feel and what they think, you will likely be shocked and disappointed in the end.
  • Don’t be greedy in questionnaire design. The temptation is to try and ask everything you ever wanted to know. You have to trim the project screener and questionnaire down to something reasonable, or respondents will drop off before completing.
  • Take George Gallup’s advice and ask one question at a time. Don’t put too many variables within one question.
  • The best research projects are a cooperative collaboration between management, programming, marketing and your research firm. There are several great firms from which to choose.  In my office at Pinnacle Media I had a framed poster featuring various listeners that read, “In the final analysis, what we think doesn’t matter!”

Seller to Seller: Matt Mallon, Locked On Podcast Network

Dave Greene
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Seller to Seller: Matt Mallon, Locked On Podcast Network

Matt Mallon comes from a large family, and it was his oldest sister who had been a media buyer and in media sales, that threw him a copy of Ad Week Magazine to look at. Mallon, who had just finished college, found a listing in the magazine for an open sales assistant position at Katz Media. That started him out on a media sales journey through CBS and ABC in Los Angeles, followed by 11 years as Senior Director, General Sales Manager for ESPN LA, which all led him to his current role as Director of Advertising Partnerships for Locked On Podcast Network, a position he started in November 2020. In looking at his career as a whole, Mallon sees that very first job as one of the most important ones he has had.

“Katz was a really great training ground for a young seller,” Mallon said. “They just teach a discipline and the knowledge of sales. So, I had that background and we morphed into the ABC Radio Group at Katz…and then when we lost that contract…and I took a job at CBS radio here in LA selling locally.”

Eventually, Mallon was hired to be the General Sales Manager of KABC and when the station was able to win back the rights to Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play, things really took off. “It’d been like an eight- or ten-year hiatus since [the Dodgers had been on the station]. So, we won them back and I built a sales team around the Dodgers and had some great success.” After ABC Radio sold their group, Mallon ended up at ESPN LA. “I took over sales there and built up a really good sales team around the Lakers, USC, the Angels, the Rams, and LA FC for play-by-play properties,” he said. 

While Mallon loved the ability to engage clients with the team partnerships and take them to games or down on the sidelines, what he really appreciates about sports sales is that sometimes things that matter to a client or an agency in another genre, may not come in to play with a sports buy due to the passion the client has for the team and the ability to tie their business’ name in with it.

“The beautiful thing about selling sports and sports radio sponsorships is that there’s been such pressure over the years on CPM efficiencies, etc.” he said, “But, if you do it properly, you get the client and the agency involved, CPM sort of goes out the window.”

Mallon became a casualty of layoffs after nearly a dozen years with ESPN LA and almost ended up at iHeart in Los Angeles, however COVID happened and there was no longer a job offer. After starting a small ad agency, Mallon connected with Locked On executives David Locke and Carl Weinstein who were looking to add a sales executive to the team.

“It was just a perfect match,” Mallon said about his initial conversations with Locke and Weinstein. “Once I got on the phone with Carl and David, we all just were totally connected on mindsets and goals and the way we do business. And I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s just a fantastic environment.”

As far as transitioning from years of ‘traditional media’ to podcasting, it was that experience back at Katz Media that Mallon believes helped him pick things up quickly. 

“Because of the training I had at Katz Media for those five years or so, where literally one market you’re selling country and News Talk and the next market you’re selling CHR and Classic Rock,” he said. “So, you learn how to pivot pretty quickly and sell the benefits. And so, the ramp up time for me was really just getting the vernacular of podcast advertising down.”

Unlike a lot of podcasts, Locked On is not out trying to sell individual shows. They are a true network sale, although clients can pick off pieces such as all of the baseball podcasts or all of the college sports podcasts and opportunities exist to do embedded, host-read ads as well as dynamic ad insertion with targeting.

In explaining the Locked On strategy, Mallon said, “The NFL is 42 shows, NBA is 38, College is 61, etc. So, we are bundling those together, you’re buying 42 NFL shows that speak directly to that fan base.”

Those ads go into the audio RSS feed for the show as well as the Locked On Podcast Network video platforms, which include YouTube, OTT, and a new app which will launch next month, the Lockdown Smart TV app.

When Mallon started with the company in 2020 it was doing around 80 million downloads. He said this year they will do north of 400 million listens and views. “The growth curve is tremendous,” Mallon said. Even so and with Tegna purchasing the company in 2021, it still operates as “a pretty lean machine” with Mallon and a couple of others responsible for advertising revenue.

Mallon said the Locked On Podcast Network describes itself as “hyper-local passion at national scale,” and said the moniker for the content side is “Your Team, Every Day.” He explained the daily show drops and keeping the shows around 30 minutes help fans in that they don’t have to remember what day the show comes out on, versus most networks doing weekly shows, and they don’t have to invest hours of time to keep up with their teams.

“30 minutes is a very, very digestible amount of time,” Mallon said. As for the daily rhythm and the length, he said, “We think that’s kind of our secret sauce.”

As far as the secret sauce of sales, Mallon used the term, “a pleasant persistence,” to describe what he thinks it takes to have success in the industry. “Also, integrity, I think you just have to have knowledge of your product and you have to speak with honesty and integrity and make sure that you can deliver what you say you’re delivering. And then also come to the table with creative ideas. Creative solutions for your clients are really critical. But more than anything, I think just being reliable, dependable and honest…These clients and agencies are under the gun to produce results. And if you can’t trust a partner, then why are you going to invest in that partner?”

As for the creative part of the process, Mallon pointed to a partnership Locked On has activated with LinkedIn surrounding recruitment and the transfer portal and when those subjects come up on their network of college sports shows or one of the shows visits with a recruiting specialist. Those are presented by LinkedIn and, in addition to regular reads they get from the hosts, the company is recognized as the sponsor of those particular segments.

As Mallon looks toward the future, he said, “We’re full of good, smart, hardworking people. So, I think we really attack issues that are for headwinds in a really intelligent way. And our growth curve has been tremendous.”

He mentions immediate reaction shows as something the network is looking to expand upon, where shows are live on YouTube within 15 minutes of a game ending and get posted on the audio side shortly thereafter. Mallon is excited for those to continue and also pointed to the fact that as far as users are concerned, research shows they don’t differentiate between where they consume a podcast, (audio, YouTube or other), they consider it a podcast, so the video side is simply an extension of the content and audience.

“With the integrations we can do in video product placement, it’s a whole new world,” Mallon said. “And, you know, we’re in the right place.”

20 Brands In 20 Days: Ryan McCredden, I-Rock 93.5, Quad Cities

Jeff Lynn
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20 Brands In 20 Days: Ryan McCredden, I-Rock 93.5, Quad Cities

To support the launch of the new Barrett Media, we’ve created a special series titled “20 Brands In 20 Days.” Highlighting successful stations across the country in various formats by conducting conversations with their brand leaders. Up next is Townsquare Media’s Ryan McCredden. Ryan is PD of KJOC (I-Rock 93.5) Quad Cities/IA-IL. The station we are highlighting today.

Jeff Lynn: You’ve done what many people couldn’t do, which is make a very successful brand on that frequency. Tell me about how you got started with it.

Ryan McCredden: It was kind of one of those things that the Quad Cities and the Midwest, in general, like to rock. I saw the opportunity, put the plan together, and put it out there.

And I think it was a good, well-executed plan that we were able to build together to say, hey, this isn’t just another rock station; this is how we’re going to do things. So, the launch of it was very, very successful.

JL: I was just looking back, and I can’t believe it’s been five years already. How has the brand evolved, if at all, over five years?

RM: Yeah, we’ll have our five-year anniversary party on August 31st, celebrating with a big concert like we do. From an evolution standpoint, I would say the only thing that’s kind of evolved is… well, there are two things.

One has been the music. When it started, it was a little more 90s-heavy. We were probably playing two to three 90s tracks an hour.

Over time, that has changed to the point where now I’m only playing one an hour and doing a lot more new rock. But every year, the 90s become a little more classic, and we become a little newer. So that’s kind of the big thing musically.

And then the other big thing is just the personality that has taken control of it, and that would be me. It wasn’t something that I planned on when I started the thing. It wasn’t like, I’m going to start this station, and I’m going to be the host and the face and blah, blah, blah.

I started it not with that intention. But then it was during COVID that I kind of just felt like, okay, if this thing just sits here without a personality, it’s going to kind of fade away. So, I just kind of started doing more and more with it, and now, somehow, this face and voice is what it is.

JL: Your position is “Hard Rock For The Quad Cities.” You own it.

RM: A hundred percent, yeah. No, it is a hard, heavy station. We don’t play some of the things that a typical, even new rock station plays, and we steer clear of the older stuff and the alternative stuff.

I mean, this is the Quad Cities—Iowa, Illinois. This is the home of Slipknot and Mudvayne. We’re going to embrace that, and that’s our core.

Those kinds of bands are the core bands, and they bring it hard and heavy.

JL: Townsquare has what I would call a Rock wall. You have a very successful Classic Rock station in 97X (WXLP) with a huge morning show. How do they co-exist?

RM: We’ve done a really good job of making sure both of us know what we’re doing, but we also work very well together. There’s no denying it. There’s no hiding 97X is in the building or anything like that. We work very well together to be able to do things like the Mississippi Valley Fair.

Our tents are literally zip-tied together so they don’t blow away. We work hand-in-hand and know, okay, this is your core, this is my core. Yes, of course, there’s crossover in the world of people listening and stuff like that, but that’s fine.

If they’re flipping back and forth between the two of us, and those are the only two stations they listen to, we are okay with that.

JL: Midwest people are very embracing of their talent. How are you out there with them?

RM: We truly are a local radio station. I’d have to go back and look at my calendar, but I think over the course of the summer, there were only two weekends that I didn’t have something going on, and during the spring, I think maybe it was one. So, there’s always something.

We are the concert leader. That is what we use on the air. It’s what we say, and it’s what we believe in as well. We’re everything from the 10,000-seat Vibrant Arena to the 200 Club Rascals.

Then we have our own events, too. We’ll go to different bars in town and stuff like that. Just two weeks ago, we did a big thing at a place called Analog, and we’re going back there in a couple of weeks again.

I’m going to play Giant Connect Four against people, and I’m terrible at it, so they’ll probably win a lot of prizes, but that’s okay.

I’ll try, but I’m not good, so I pretty much already know I’m going to lose. So, yeah, we do stuff like that, and then we embrace the city’s big events as well. Obviously, the fair this week, last weekend, was the Bix Race, which you’re familiar with, the race up Brady Street, and we were out there at 7 a.m. and cheered on every runner that came by,

So, whether it’s something that we’re putting on locally or something that the community is already doing, we want to be involved. We want to be there because that’s the job of local radio: to still be a part of the community, and I think we are.

JL: You’re the face of a very vibrant brand doing all the stuff you’re doing, but you’re also OM for the cluster. How do you balance it all?

RM: Lack of sleep. You do have to do more, and that’s because people can get their entertainment in so many different places now.

They can get their entertainment from the radio, but they can also get it, obviously, on their phone, on their smart speaker, on YouTube, or whatever platform they want to pick. So, my philosophy is that we have to be in all those different places. We can’t just play a song on 93.5 and be like, well, come find us.

That’s not how it works. I use this Fair, for example, since I’m here. We’re going to talk about it, post it on Facebook, on the website, and on the app, and do all those kinds of things because people are in different places.

So how do I, do that and do all this? I’ve got a really good team here. When it comes to the other brands with 97X and B100 (KBEE) and US1049 (KIIK), I’ve got a lot of good people who are very helpful and manage them and work with them every day, but they know what they need to do to get the job done as well. So, it’s a lot, but this too, when you enjoy it, it doesn’t seem like as much.

JL: Has AI entered your world at this point? And if so, how?

RM: No, there’s nothing here.

JL: For people who may not know, your radio stations are in an old funeral home. When I worked there, I had a friendly ghost. Have you seen the woman in white yet?

RM: You’re not the first person to talk to me about the woman in white, but no, she has not haunted me yet.

JL: Don’t go to the basement. That’s my only advice to you.

RM: We did a Valentine’s Day exorcism in the basement. I had listeners send in pictures of their exes, and we took them down there and hung them up on the wall in the room that has all the numbers where they kept the bodies.

JL: Oh, I’ve been there, yeah

RM: Yep, and we did an exorcism. So, again, talk about doing things differently with listeners. There was another example, and people loved it, of course, because everybody was interested and intrigued by what was going on in that basement.

JL: Closing thought?

 RM: I am super happy with how this community has embraced us over the last five years and with what I still get to do daily. I mean, it’s Rock and Roll, and we’re living it in every way, shape, and form and having a good time doing it. We couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve done and what the city has let us do.

Listen to I-Rock 93.5 here.  Find them on Facebook. Connect with Ryan here.

Power 99’s Roxy Romeo Has Learned From Other Formats

BMM Staff
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Power 99’s Roxy Romeo Has Learned From Other Formats

As most of us are aware, the radio industry has changed dramatically throughout the years, especially in the past 5-10 years. The daily grind on radio isn’t for everyone and that is what makes the radio industry so unique and special. This week, I set out to learn about someone who had no idea that they’d create a career for themselves in radio. I wanted to speak with someone who had other dreams and aspirations prior to beginning in the radio industry. But the moment they stepped into a studio, their life and career were changed forever.

Roxy Romeo is one of three radio personalities on” The Rise & Grind Morning Show” on Power 99 FM Philadelphia’s Hip-Hop & R&B. She is approaching nearly 20 years on the radio and finds herself on top of the market in Philly radio. That’s impressive, considering she didn’t originally have radio on her radar when she attended college. She was planning on being a lawyer and while attending The University of Central Florida, changed her major to Communications. This stemmed from hosting an Underground Radio station as her first gig, which made her fall in love with radio.

“I moved back to Miami after I graduated from college. I applied to a job at iHeart, part-time promotions, the bottom of the barrel, and worked my way up,” says Romeo.

Throughout the early days of our journey in radio, it is key to learn from as many people as we can. Especially when it comes to working your way up, spending time with a Program Director, or a host that has been doing it for a long time, jocks always appreciate any time they’re given to perfect their on-air craft. One of the most essential ways to do so is with air checks.

“Before I got on-air for the first time, I was working part-time promotions on a Top-40 station in Miami Y100. I was trying to get on the air. And my Program Director at the time that I started was Rod Phillips. He is now the head of Country at iHeartRadio. I would cut air-check after air-check and go over with him. And I will tell you, he never put me on. But I appreciate that now, probably not back then. He gave me a lot of great advice about different things I was doing wrong, things I could do better,” says Romeo.

Not only is it important to learn from those who have more experience, but also not be afraid to seek advice or help from other formats as well. Although he never put her on-air, Phillips guided Romeo in the right direction and his advice helped her eventually land her first on-air gig.

“The next Program Director who took over was Alex Tear. He is now the Vice President of Music Programming at Sirius XM. He was the first person who gave me a shot. It was a voice-track shift on late nights. He gave me a lot of great advice as well, but I appreciate him for giving me my first show on the Top-40 station,” says Romeo.

While those two programmers helped Romeo through her early journey by helping with air checks and finding her identity on the air, Romeo credits one person for helping the most with her on-air product.

“When it came to being an on-air talent, shoutout to Doc Reno. He is in the Classic Rock format. He has been in radio for over 30 years and is a staple in Miami. Anytime I needed help, I ran to him. His door was always open. There is some advice that could be given regardless of what format it is. If they have the experience, they can help,” proclaims Romero.

Today, in addition to Power 99 (her sixth year), she also does a morning show in Raleigh, North Carolina, on 95.3 The Beat Classic hip-hop, 103.5 The Beat, 93.9 Miami, and an iHeart syndicated show. One thing she has been taught is to be her true self on the air. Be honest, speak your mind, and make it fun for yourself. Her journey in radio has led her into all kinds of endeavors, including being involved with March of Dimes and a local industry called Today is a Good Day. She has grown to love this industry and believes it is a blessing. She is nowhere near finished with her endeavors but is appreciative of everyone who has been involved with her success.

“There are three things that I believe play a factor in getting a job in radio or keeping a job in radio. 1. is who you know. So many jobs are given to individuals based on who they know. That’s why you’ve got to be willing to learn and speak with everyone. 2. what does your social media look like? I’ve been in this industry for nearly 20 years. I don’t discount anyone that comes to me for advice because you never know what you can learn,” says Romeo.

Her journey was one I could personally relate to. Although I spent my years as a Program Director for an Urban AC station, I received advice from other formats as well that helped me in radio as well. Mike Ragozino, who now works for Radio One, and Ryan Wrecker, who hosts Overnight America on 1120AM KMOX in St. Louis, were two individuals who helped me in my early days, and I credit them a lot in my journey as well. Both perspectives came from the News Talk format but still helped me find my voice on-air, as a producer, and as a programmer.

For Romeo, her journey is just beginning. She has many great things on the horizon, so be sure to follow her on social media to keep up with everything she is involved in. She’s heard in many different places, and it’s a testament to how hard she works daily on her craft.

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