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 Audacy’s Tim Roberts. Tim is the Country Format Captain for Audacy and PD of WYCD/Detroit, the station we are highlighting today.

Tim has been in his present role since 2005 and has an even more lengthy career as a County Programmer.

Jeff Lynn: Let’s jump right in and talk about what makes WYCD unique and creates FOMO?

Tim Roberts: It’s always been fun and a little bit of daring to go with it. We’ve done a lot of unique things that we were the first ones to do. We try to think always super creatively and a little bit insane sometimes, as some of our attorneys probably would say. but… we try to make it a fun experience. This station launched as a young country station, and we try to keep that youthful, daring mentality about it and make it a great listening experience.

JL: When I talked to you in previous incarnations of my life. You were known as a leader in new music. Is that the position you chose to be in, or was the music just good at that time?

TR: I think we’ve always been a leader in new music. It’s a position, for some reason, I’ve been tied to. I don’t know why, but it always seems that way. But I think I’ve been pretty successful. Thank the Lord for putting up the right ponies in the race, and I think that’s paid off.

The “Hoedown Festival”, which WYCD has been linked to for decades, has been instrumental in launching so many careers. It’s a laundry list of the stars of today and yesterday. And so, probably more than half of the artists could credit “Hoedown” as instrumental in their career.

And a bunch of the superstars reigning on top of the format for sure do. You can start with Garth Brooks and go down the line. And it’s just been a pleasure to have that, and now our “Faster Horses Festival,” we also have a Nashville stage, and we work with Live Nation on that.

We have our own “10-Man Jam.” So, we have a lot of opportunities to expose new music in the market, and maybe that’s why I’ve been a big part of that. But to me, that’s always been an exciting aspect of the format, and I think you combine that with, and I probably should have said earlier, part of our station DNA is really strong, talented air personalities. We have multi-Hall of Famers that have come out of these walls: Dr. Don and Linda Lee, Chuck Edwards, Rachael and Grunwald. And so, I think strong personalities combined with fun and creativity have made the magic recipe.

JL: Speaking of teams. I’m noticing a trend among stations, especially bigger market stations, to do teams outside of the morning.

TR: I’ve always been a fan of that. This goes back decades ago, but we had Edwards and Lee here. In afternoon drive, they were ACM and CMA award winners.

Linda won a Marconi and sadly passed away from cancer. It’s been about 10 years now, I think. But I’ve always been a fan of that because I believe great personalities always win the day.

And so, we’ve been fortunate here. We’ve not only had that killer afternoon combo, but we have another one now with Coop and Sarah Thomas in the afternoon. We’ve got Rob and Holly at night; another combo show that originated here in Detroit before they became a network show.

We have that killer show going, and of course, our morning show has always been a combo. We’ve just been blessed to have great air talent throughout the decades, and I think that’s been a huge, huge part of it. But I’m a huge fan of afternoon drive combo shows if you have the right people.

JL: So, Detroit‘s had a rough run. It is coming back now. But when you think about Detroit, you don’t necessarily think about country music, yet you do very well there, and I’m guessing you attribute that to all the things you’ve already talked about so far.

TR: I think that’s a part of it. In the 1930s and really going back to the 20s, a lot of people from the South moved here because of the automotive industry, which was pretty big in those eras. Alot of families grew up with country music as part of their DNA, and we’ve been the fortunate ones to benefit from that.

A large contingent of people like the format. But the other thing I’ll say is that Detroit is the ultimate melting pot of music on the planet, and I’ve been arguing this for decades with anybody who would listen to me. We have a studio downtown called Music Town, and it’s part of our belief here that this is the music melting pot of the planet.

This city gave us The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, Eminem, Kid Rock, and all these other iconic acts that broke out of here, even if they weren’t from here. I mean, Kiss. Right. They got their launch out of here. So, you have that on one side, Madonna, and all the pop side of it. People are savvy about music here and appreciate good music, and country music provides great lyrics. We’ve had a lot of strong country radio going here for decades, and that’s the gist of it.

JL: You’re out and about a lot from “Hoedown” and Pine Knob and everything. How important these days, aside from concerts, is it to be out in public?

TR: There’s nothing to replace human contact. So, doing it is always beneficial. Most stations have at least a live morning show or some part-time talent that can be with people. You also have your promotional team. So, everybody that represents the brand is an ambassador.

There are creative ways to do it. I don’t know that putting a card table at the car remote on the weekend is the way to do it anymore. I think the world has moved on from that.

But I do think being in the moment at big events and putting on big events that matter to the market are important, and I think it pays off. This is like Dale Carnegie 101, but you meet somebody one time and they have a favorable impression of you, that makes them a thousand times more likely to want to even listen to you and, have a connection with you. So that human connection can’t be underestimated.

JL: Talk a little bit about social media and its importance to you.

TR: That exactly goes with what we were talking about. Social media gives us the additional advantage of being able to touch people without physically having to shake their hands constantly. Nothing can replace that.

Social media certainly is now. I don’t know if it’s replaced it, but it’s been sort of an additive to the element of human contact, and it’s a different way of contacting people, showing them what your brand is about, having fun with them, having a good laugh together, and enjoying all the great music of the format collectively together, thanks to the social media contact, and also, obviously, doing some other fun things and tactics that you can do

JL: Is contesting still important?

TR: Absolutely. I’ve seen a lot of research that backs it up. Concerts are expensive. People want to stretch their dollars, so concert tickets are great prizes.

Cash is king, always. Give away cars or whatever your station can give away. I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t like free stuff—free T-shirts, you name it. I was just at the CMA Fest a couple of weeks back. Dr. Pepper had some free cowboy hats that were given away, and there was a massive line. I thought, yep, people like free stuff. Also, if you do the contest right, it can be fun.

JL: How is A.I. impacting your day-to-day work and your brand’s work, if at all, at this point?

TR: Well, we’re cautiously approaching A.I. I don’t want to speak for the company, but I think we’re very cautious about it. There’s the concern, by a lot of people, and I’m not speaking for the company, but there’s a concern for people pirating your voice. Obviously, it’s been rampant and dangerous on the music side, and there’s legislation now, and Tennessee was the first to pass a law against it.

So, it’s going to affect the business, and we’re in the infant stage. We’re cautiously observing it and waiting to see how it can benefit us long-term. It’s wise to know what’s going on because the guy across the street may not be as cautious. You need to know what you’re up against. You have to be aware of your surroundings, and I never want to give anybody a competitive advantage.

So, all that being said, it’s here, it’s not going away, and there will be interesting other applications besides just the spoken word. That’s just one aspect of it all

JL: Anything else I haven’t asked that you want me to know about WYCD?

TR: I am proud of the work we have done here at WYCD. We’ve won multiple CMA awards. We’ve won ACM awards. We’ve won Marconi awards here. I’m super proud of the hardworking staff that we have here.

It’s been a team effort. I like to consider myself the least important member of the team, but it’s been nice to be part of a group of people who want to win, are focused, are competitive, and like to have fun. It’s been a family experience here.

We’ve had such little turnover in decades. We have a lot of people who have been here for a long, long time. And that speaks to the culture that Debbie Kenyon, our market manager, has built, the company as a whole, and the way that we’ve worked together.

I’m super proud of the work we do here and across the country with Audacy Country because I feel like we’re a great, unified family. We’re all growing in the same direction and trying to have each other’s back. And that makes working a lot more fun.

Listen to WYCD here. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Connect with Tim Roberts by email here.