Monday, May 17, 1999
Chemistry experiments on air
Area radio stations shake up morning teams in search of that magical mix
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
They make it sound so easy, those morning radio teams that get us up and moving every weekday with their fun and games. But finding a successful morning team is no laughing matter to their bosses. They know a station's ratings often are determined by the audience in the morning, radio's prime-time.
They know how hard it can be for us to make new friends, which makes assembling a morning team one of the hardest jobs in radio.
“People are such creatures of habit. They want to hang out with a friend, someone they're familiar with,” said Tim Closson, Chancellor Media vice president and program director for WUBE-FM (105.1) and WYGY-FM (96.5).
TOP MORNING TEAMS
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Here is Arbitron winter quarter ranking for morning personalities and audience shares:
1. WLW-AM (700): Jim Scott (11.0)
2. WUBE-FM (105.1): Jim Fox, Eric Boulanger (9.1)
3. WEBN-FM (102.7): Eddie Fingers, Bob “The Producer” Berry, Rick Bird, Dennis “Wildman” Walker, Mojo Nixon, Michael Walter (8.4)
4. WOFX-FM (92.5): Bob & Tom Show from Indianapolis (7.9)
5. WRRM-FM (98.5): Jim Smith, Randi Douglas (6.3)
6. WGRR-FM (103.5): Chris O'Brien, Janeen Coyle (5.6)
7. WIZF-FM (100.9): Mark Gunn, Kym Zahn, Jonathan Love (5.4)
8. WKRC-AM (550): Jerry Thomas, Craig Kopp (5.1)
9. WVAE-FM (94.9): “Smooth Jazz” (4.4) replaced by “Jammin' Oldies” WMJO-FM April 29. No morning team.
10. WKRQ-FM (101.9): Brian Douglas, Shelli, Psycho Benny, Lee Cooley (3.7).
11. WVMX-FM (94.1): Kimberly Ray, Rob Carson. (Melissa Forman had a 3.3 winter share).
12. WKFS-FM (107.1): “Valentine.” (Music-only format had a 2.9 winter share).
13. WSAI-FM (1530): Bob and Bucks Braun, Don Herman (2.4).
14. WAKW-FM (93.3): Gary Jaycox and Elizabeth (1.9).
15. WYGY-FM (96.5): Big Dave and Amanda Orlando (1.7)
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Flip around the dial and you'll find all kind of new people anxious to be your best friend. In the past year, 11 of the Tristate's top 15 stations have added new morning personalities.
• WVMX-FM (94.1) debuted the new Kimberly Ray-Rob Carson team two weeks ago, replacing Melissa Forman and Charlie Wilde.
• WKRQ-FM (101.9) and WYGY-FM (96.5), the revolving doors for morning DJs in recent years, have settled on new teams. WIZF-FM (100.9), WRRM-FM (98.5) and WAKW-FM (93.3) have added new female sidekicks since December.
• WKFS-FM (107.1), the “KISS107” launched in August, added a morning show last Monday hosted by “Valentine,” a “KISS-FM” DJ in Los Angeles who records the show on the West Coast.
• WLW-AM paired longtime morning man Jim Scott with veteran news director Kathy Lehr in August — then dropped her in April.
“There has been lots of turnover this year,” says Brad Ellis, “MIX94.1” program director. “A lot of stations are rolling the dice and experimenting.”
“MIX94.1” is going with Ms. Ray and Mr. Carson, who hadn't worked together since graduating from Northwest Missouri State in 1988.
“Word got around that I wasn't working, and Rob called and said, "Let's work together,' ” said Ms. Ray, who had been a Kansas City radio news anchor with former WKRQ-FM personality Randy Miller.
She made an audition tape with Mr. Carson, a Minneapolis DJ and comedian who has written parodies for Rush Limbaugh. They clicked, having known each other for 15 years.
Ms. Lehr and Mr. Scott had known each other for nearly as long at WLW-AM. They didn't click, Bill Cunningham, WLW-AM operations director, said.
“This was a grand experiment with a 19-year employee (Ms. Lehr) that didn't work. They stepped on each other's lines and often had the same thing to say,” Mr. Cunningham said the day after he removed Ms. Lehr from the show. “Neither of them did anything wrong. It was a matter of chemistry.”
“Ah, that elusive word "chemistry,'” said Craig Kopp, who did mornings on WEBN-FM and WOFX-FM before being paired with Jerry Thomas, the 37-year veteran on WKRC-AM (550).
“Chemistry is when you either bring out the best attributes of the other person, or you fill the gap that the other person doesn't have in a way that doesn't threaten the other person,” Mr. Kopp explained.
No real formula
Clear Channel (formerly Jacor) programming executive Marc Chase said he “would be the richest man in the world” if he had a magic formula to make successful morning teams.
“You have to find two people who not only have chemistry on the air, but with the audience. And you can never predict that,” said Mr. Chase, who oversees WEBN-FM, WOFX-FM and WKFS-FM.
Nobody can predict how two (or more) witty, extroverted people will get along sharing one microphone, while delivering the time, temperature, traffic and tabloid headlines.
Or how they will behave stuck in a tiny room five hours a day.
“You don't sit around talking with your spouse five hours a day,” Ms. Ray said. “I talk more to Rob than my husband.”
“It really is like a marriage,” agreed Chris O'Brien and Janeen Coyle, the husband-wife team on WGRR-FM (103.5) since 1995. They married in 1985, while working separate shifts on WKRQ-FM.
“Working together has been good, because I know Chris' personality and his timing,” Ms. Coyle said. “Some days are more stressful, but no more than any other job. It's not rosy every single day in the studio.”
“But you can't tell it on the air,” Mr. O'Brien added.
If morning teams are like marriages, then WKRQ-FM's Brian Douglas has been through a half-dozen divorces.
The afternoon DJ has been drafted whenever “Q102” needed a fill-in morning person with Jim Fox, Chris O'Brien, John “JB” Brown, Linda Welby and Johnjay van Es. He was summoned last fall when “Shark & Shelli” tanked. He has been been offered the job permanently with Shelli, “Psycho Benny” and news anchor Lee Cooley.
“I keep going back to morning because I can get along with almost anyone,” said the former Q102 music director.
×hed Takes time to gel
Even when stations assemble a compatible team, it takes six months for them to gel, and another year to build an audience, programmers said.
Syndicated Bob & Tom from Indianapolis, which debuted on WOFX-FM (92.5) in March 1996, “were just as funny the first day (here), as they were 18 months later. But it takes 18 months to catch on,” Mr. Chase said.
Mr. Closson doesn't expect a ratings jump for WYGY-FM's “Big Dave” and Amanda Orlando until next year, after they've been together 18 months.
Sometimes a bad first impression by a new morning team can be impossible to overcome.
“It's like going to a restaurant. If you have bad service or bad food, you won't go back. Sometimes it takes a year before you try a place again,” Mr. Closson said.
“To the average listener, the radio is nothing more than an appliance,” Mr. Closson said. “They turn it on when they need it, and turn it off when they don't. And if they don't like what they hear, they will flip around the dial to something else.”
How Tristate stations field their teams
Radio stations have found morning hosts through various sources:
• Legends: WLW-AM (700) brought back Jim Scott in 1997, who had quit in 1995 for rival WWNK-FM (now WVMX-FM). Bob Trumpy lasted only 11 months on WBOB-AM (1160) last year.
• Promote from within: DJs Jim Smith of WRRM-FM (98.5) and Brian Douglas of WKRQ-FM (101.9) were promoted from afternoons.
• Opposites: WKRC-AM (550) paired conservative Jerry Thomas with newsman Craig Kopp, a liberal.
• College pals: Kimberly Ray and Rob Carson, pals from Northwest Missouri State, decided to team up when both were out of work.
• Buy one: WKRQ-FM paid big bucks to bring Randy Miller and his entourage from Kansas City in 1992 — and fired him in 10 months when ratings didn't increase. “What works in one city, doesn't necessarily work in another city,” says Marc Chase, Clear Channel (formerly Jacor) programming executive.
• Double duty: “Valentine,” afternoon “KISS-FM” DJ in Los Angeles, recycles his celebrity chats the next day for WKFS-FM (107.1).
• Outside the box: WKRQ-FM (101.9) has hired an attorney, John “JB” Brown (1988) and a radio salesman, Johnjay van Es (1996).
• Steal one: When WUBE-FM's Tim Closson needed a morning team for a sister station in Houston, Texas, he lured Johnjay and Phil “Bobo” Groh from rival WKRQ-FM.
• Rent one: WOFX-FM (92.5) carries Bob & Tom from Indianapolis; WUBE-AM (1230) airs Imus in the Morning from New York.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.
