One Small Radio Cluster May Be Onto Something With Talent Development

We’ve heard those broadcast companies and radio stations in various markets touting “live and local.” Of course, there are many iterations of this concept, but there is one in particular that has gotten my attention and, frankly, should have yours if you care at all about our industry’s future.

Let’s take a look at what my old friend, Jason Addams, is part of at the MacDonald Broadcasting cluster in Saginaw/Bay City, MI. I was alerted by an industry colleague a few weeks back that this particular cluster has been designed to be “live and local” 24 hours a day, seven days a week! All live talent … all the time!

I had to see for myself how this group navigates through this, so I decided to reach out to Jason, the cluster’s OM and the point person for all of it. This group consists of heritage Country station WKCQ, Classic Hits WMJO and AC WSAG-FM and WSAM-AM. As Jason described to me, every station, every hour, is hosted by a live personality. Considering the fact that this is market #150, the talent pool is not very deep. The toughest part of Jason’s job is filling time slots on the stations, obviously.

“Staffing for 168 hours is always a challenge,” he said. “The best part is simply getting to do the job. But here, we get both worlds; some old school radio and a contemporary 2022 landscape.”

The biggest question for Jason, of course, is where he finds the people for all these positions. “The President of our company started at the front desk,” he explained. “One of our morning hosts started in promotions over 40 years ago. We’ve had a ‘grow locals’ philosophy for many positions. I’ve put ads out on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, e-blasts, our website and through the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Were also aggressive about using our staff to help recruit broadcasters in the area that they know. We are constantly recruiting!

“I have hired some folks that have had no experience but had great, big personalities and some vocal skill,” he continued. “Then we start radio school. With tracking, we can train them overnights, and so far we’ve had some success.”

Radio school! Interesting. Here’s a cluster that has made a strong community commitment and a commitment for new talent to enter the business.

I asked Jason if any staff has moved up in market size through the years. “Mason from Mason and Remy used to work here,” he said. “They did mornings in Chicago and St. Louis.”

Jason’s enthusiasm about this is contagious, by the way. It excites him that he is helping start some radio careers there.

This process in Saginaw got me to thinking. Why can’t the big companies do this in some way that could benefit them AND the industry? With their large footprint, could they not single out several of their smaller “spoke” markets and designate them as “live and local,” and do this 24/7 concept and start a local broadcast school, so to speak?

Could this also not help ease the entry into our business for aspiring broadcasters? They could create “farm teams,” broken up into regions, for each company to nurture and develop young talent for their bigger markets and beyond. Just like major league baseball teams subsidize their farm teams, maybe the large companies can do the same with these select clusters. It may cost these big boys some dollars, but it’s a definite investment for the future.

The bottom line is looking 10 to 15 years down the road. What are we doing to attract new, young talent? MacDonald Broadcasting of Saginaw may have found one answer. Big boys: the ball is in your court!

“Taking Your Radio Presence To The Next Level. Be it an artist, radio programmer or on-air talent. Coaching and mentoring down to your foundational level”

Contact me:
John Shomby
Owner/CEO Country’s Radio Coach
jshomby@countrysradiocoach.com
757-323-1460
https://countrysradiocoach.com