I’ve always enjoyed consulting assignments very much. You go the station, discuss their problem, and suggest different ways to correct it. While that is a gross over-simplification, it is basically what happens. The problems can vary substantially, from the re-invention of a news department to re-inventing an entire station. But, whatever the problem, searching for a solution, be it polishing what is already in place, or suggesting completely new or seldom considered approaches, it’s always a stimulating challenge. Not only for me, but for the people I’m doing it for. And, proud to say, it damn near always works.

For more than ten years after leaving KFWB, my focus was primarily creating advertising. My only link to broadcasting was as part of the audience. That ended the day that John Wolfe, KIIS AM sales manager and one time KFWB account exec, came to my office and suggested I become a consultant to KIIS.

“And do what?” I asked.

“Do whatever you think is necessary to make KIIS visible in the ratings.” What John could not have known was that I had been harboring a whole new format in my secret heart for several years. All it needed was a place to be.

“What kind of ratings does it have now?” I asked.

“An asterisk.” John replied, “No measurable audience.”

“Well, I have an idea.” I said. “It’s a different approach to radio. But, it’s gonna cost money and there’s no guarantee that it’ll work. The only thing I can tell you for sure is ... I believe in it.”

John said, “That’s good enough for me.” And I said, “Yeah, but you’re not paying the bills.”

It was a little scary asking someone to bet a lot of money on what was an unproven, untested idea, even though I believed in it completely. “Tell the station owners it’s gonna cost a quarter of a million dollars for the first six months.” John was turning pale, so I added, “And that’s over and above normal station operating costs.”

“I’ll set up a meeting,” John said, “and you can tell them yourself.” I could see John was ready to go for it. No matter what.

“Also,” I added, “I need to talk to Don.”

So, I spoke with my partner, Don Richman, about my going to KIIS to play radio for maybe three hours a day, then spending the rest of the day with our commercials company. “Don,” I said, “I’ve been dreaming about this concept for a couple of years ... my ultimate radio station. Unlike anything ever. And, I’d really like to try it.” Don thought it could probably work out okay.

The meeting with the owner of KIIS AM was set up. I explained the format as completely as I could to a guy who had no idea what I was talking about. He was excellent with numbers, but when I began to talk about a radio station having a three or four man Creative Department, plus doubling the size of the production department and hiring a group of four or five actors each week, he said, “Well, I’m going to trust John Wolfe on this one, and if he says it can be done, I say, let’s do it.”

“I’ll need a budget of three hundred thousand dollars for the first six months.” I wanted to be sure that he understood that one little point.

“You say we’ll be in the top twenty by that time?” That was actually the only question he had asked me.

“We can do that.” I said. And I really believed we could ... didn’t doubt it for a second.

The station owner wanted to believe it as much as I did. He said, “And if the sales department does it’s job right ...” That was in the form of a question, almost a challenge, directed to John.

John was very quick to answer, “I’d say, we’ll bill at least two million dollars.” I hoped my very loud ‘gulp’ went undetected.

We looked at each other for a few seconds, then as one, we all said, “Let’s do it!”

Now, the scary part began ... bringing this dream to reality.

The first thing I did was to write a memo which was addressed to the entire staff at KIIS: Actually it was a memo from me, to me. For the first time, solidifying, what had been, till then, a formless fantasy.

Here’s the actual memo:

To: All Concerned With KIIS Programming. What follows here, in addition to being confidential, is an explanation of what this station is about to become. KIIS is about to burst wide open with an unfamiliar, seldom used approach to radio ... it's called entertainment. Radio as an entertainment medium ... pretty wild idea, huh? Entertaining, not casually, specifically. Not some of the time, all of the time. Every radio station I have programmed, all of which have dominated the markets they served, were not driven by music. The audience was flawless in choosing the music they wanted to hear ... and that was the music we gave them. What made these stations so successful, was what happened between the records. The name of that was ... entertainment. The question is, if it’s not specifically music, what constitutes entertainment as it pertains to this radio station? It’s what makes the listener smile. It’s what makes them think, or at least, think they’re thinking. It’s what’s fascinating, what’s compelling, what’s relevant to them, what’s interesting ... other words for entertaining. This radio station will have a creative department whose job will be to create non-stop entertainment pieces. Much of these entertainments will be pre-produced ‘smile or thought provokers,’ which will be programmed three or four times each hour. There will be pre-produced, topical, multi-part dramatizations of topical and/or sensational events. These will be in five parts presented weekly, Part one; Monday, Part two, Tuesday ... etc. We will also produce, a series of Mini-Drama each week. These ‘audio dramas, ’will actually be, dramatized introductions to records featured on the station. Although much of what goes on the air will be produced in advance, most of the ‘entertainment,’ stuff will be done daily by the live on air presenters. The presenters, the on air personalities, are likable, intelligent, charismatic people who are obviously in love with what they are a part of. What they must do, is ask themselves, with everything they prepare: Does what I am about to do, or say, matter to the audience? Remember that everything we do is done from the audiences’ point of view. Everything is a constant, non-stop answer to the audiences’ non-spoken question, “Why should I listen to this station? What’s in it for me?” And this is not something that can be done part of the time. When a person tunes to the station they should hear the difference at once. When they come back the next time, it should be there again, immediately, positively. While it's not difficult to get people to try your station the first time ... once they try it, tire of it and leave, it's almost impossible to re-attract them. The beauty of what we're talking about is, this interesting stuff, this stuff that’s relevant to our audience, is everywhere ... all we gotta do is funnel it through to them continuously, relentlessly, unremittingly around-the-clock in an entertaining manner. Now, I guess we're gonna have to put something on to fill up the holes between the ‘entertainment’ stuff. I suppose the obvious answer is music, but maybe, not so obvious is ... We must not be trapped into a "format," or even a demographic. One of my pet peeves about what has happened to radio today becomes painfully clear when you ask a PD about his radio station. He will probably not describe his station at all, but rather, he'll tell you the kind of music they play, “We're a CHR” or, an oldies, or Top 40, or Hard Rock or whatever. I think that's the worst kind of trap you can fall into. A much better idea is to play the stuff that enhances the radio station in the minds of people listening, regardless of what kind of music it is. It's far better done by 'feel' than by somebody else's list.

The above is part of that first KIIS memo, exactly as it was written.

More to come ...