Motor City Radio Flashbacks

Programming Newsletter

By BILL GAVIN
Billboard Contributing Editor

PROGRAM DIRECTORS handle a multitude of problems. They deal with promos, jingle packages, formats, news, music and everything else that goes on the air. At many smaller stations their jobs also include supervision of commercial production for local advertisers. The manifold responsibilities of a program director test his skills and try his patience. Of all his jobs, none is so important and none so difficult-as obtaining optimum effectiveness from his staff of disk jockeys.

It has been said that the most successful PD is the one who does the least directing. It could be said more accurately that the most fortunate PD’s are those who need to do the least directing. In an ideal situation, the PD can say “Here’s our policy–here’s our music–you’re all pros–you know how to do good shows–so go!”

There are hardly more than a dozen stations in the U. S. where the staff quality permits the PD to get away with such a do-it-yourself policy. The great majority of disk jockeys, with all their many skills and talents, do better jobs with some coaching, directing, urging, scolding, prodding and whatever other devices the PD may devise. The initials “PD.” which are synonymous with “Program Director,” could just as well stand for “People Director.”

Consider some of the combinations of talent and temperament which the PD must weld into an effective air force:

1. The witty DJ, who is clever and amusing, but who knows little and cares less about his music.

2. The DJ who depends on a set bag of tricks, but who seldom comes up with a fresh, original idea.

3. The record “expert,” whose poor voice and bumbling reading of copy are somewhat compensated for by his contagious enthusiasm about his
music.

4. The erratic genius, who poses a constant threat of embroiling the station in libel suits and license difficulties.

5. The conformist who plays it safe by running his shows according to the book, never doing anything wrong but never rising much above the minimum requirements.

6. The restless wanderer, always with an eye on the bigger job, whose long-distance approaches to other stations eventually reach the ears of his own boss.

7. The young prospect who shows signs of talent, and whose apparent potential persuades the PD to spend endless hours trying to develop him into a pro.

Then, of course, there are the rebels and gripers who would be fired tomorrow if they weren’t such very good DJ’s, and the loyal stalwarts who probably would be fired if they weren’t so terribly cheerful, co-operative and devoted to the station.

OUT OF THESE varying degrees of skills and problems, the PD must determine when and where to apply his authority, how and whom to help, and which are hopeless and must be dropped. The way in which he makes these decisions usually determines his own job tenure, for they vitally affect his station’s ratings. He doesn’t dare let his personal friendships for certain DJ’s blind him to their faults, nor can he afford to permit personal dislikes to obscure good performance. He must be detached and objective enough to judge by results, yet warmly human enough to inspire loyalty and enthusiasm from his staff.

Hiring the new man is always a tough decision. There have been countless occasions where the PD has hired on the basis of past ratings and a good aircheck and found later, to his dismay, that his new man simply would not fit the staff or help the station. One of the most successful PD’s I know follows a strict rule: he never hires anyone without a personal interview, and if he has to travel a thousand miles to meet the applicant, he does so.

A program director’s success is usually judged by his station’s ratings, and rightly so. That’s what he is paid for. It is a mistake to credit his success to an inspired music policy or brilliant promotions. His genius, if he has any, lies in his skill and understanding as a people director. END

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Information, credit, and news source (as published): Billboard; September 19, 1964