This April the team at Hubbard Radio’s WTMX in Chicago will be rewarded for all the hard work it does for the community of Chicago. The station will be honored with the NAB Crystal Heritage Award for winning five Crystals. The award is given for exceptional year-round community service, which is exactly what WTMX excels at.
Only five other radio stations have won five Crystal awards. They are WLEN-FM, Adrian, Mich. (2014, 2010, 2005, 2001, 1998), KNOM – AM/FM Nome, Alaska (2012, 2005, 2003, 2000, 1987), KUZZ – AM/FM, Bakersfield, Calif. (2011, 2008, 2006, 2001, 1998), KBHP-FM, Bemidji, Minn. (2010, 2007, 1999, 1997, 1994) and WUSL-FM, Philadelphia (2007, 2001, 1998, 1996, 1993)
WTMX has not only won five Crystal awards, it has been a finalist a dozen time. We spoke with Hubbard Chicago Market Manager John Gallagher about the efforts of his team, what it takes to put your radio station in the position to be a strong resource for the local community and the power of radio.
RI: Most radio stations will go through their entire life without winning a single crystal. WTMX has won five. That’s incredible.
Gallagher: It’s something that not only WTMX has been focused on for its entire existence, but when Hubbard took over the company, they continued that focus on community service and those are the things they want to keep front and center. You have to understand that we have three radio stations here in the cluster and on a weekly basis, we talk to each other about the events and the charities and the non-profit organizations that we support, then we ask our employees to give us an update on where they’re volunteering. Just to see the amount of volunteer hours every month that our employees put in, it’s pretty substantial and quite a variety of organizations.
RI: What do you believe WTMX means to the Chicago community?
Gallagher: Well, as the number one radio station in the market, it’s a go-to point for not only local information and local entertainment from a music perspective, but it also is a resource. It has been razing money since its existence. Because of that, people know that the charities and the organizations that we support, we vet our and they’re good causes, but also that it is going to help the community and lift the community to make it a better place to live. Those are the things that we look for in the organizations that we deal with.
RI: Do you have certain set events that you do every year? Are you always trying to look for new events?
Gallagher: Well, yes and yes. We take a look at everything that we do. We sit down at the end of the year and decide if we can make things better, or if it’s something that has extended its shelf life. I mean, whether or not it is something that we want to eliminate. The radiothon which raised $1.3 to $1.5 million a year for the Children’s Hospital, that’s something that because it is such a large dollar amount, and we haven’t seen a decline, we’re going to continue to do. We have golf outings and we have concerts and we have other events that raise money. We take a hard look at all of those and see if we can continue to raise at the levels we have in the past or if we can replace it with something that can do better.
RI: What advice can you give to other stations around the country about not only getting involved in The Crystals but putting their station into a position where they could possible win one?
Gallagher: First and foremost, it says a lot about your radio station, but it says a lot about how your radio station reflects the community. I would say the most important factor is the feeling that the employees get wining these awards and how it feels like a team effort when those awards are achieved. If you really want to build camaraderie, if you really want to build a team environment, you should enter these Crystal award contests. When you sit down and you start writing out all the things your stations do in the community, it makes you feel good. It makes you realize, ‘Yeah, we are doing a lot.” Sometimes you forget about the things you are doing on a daily basis to make the community better.
RI: What do you think this says for the power of radio, your radio stations and radio in general, when you’re able to raise as much money as you do in all the different events?
Gallagher: Well, there’s no doubt that radio is the best way to reach people. We’ve been talking about that for many, many years and now the agencies and the trades and everybody is picking up on radio as being a reach medium, but there is no doubt that when a charity wants to raise money, they come to radio stations. I don’t care what markets you’re in. They understand that those are the most powerful voices in the community. Those are the places where you can get the most cash and donations from the listeners and radio also has the trust of its listeners. That’s something that you can’t get on a lot of other medium. Our audience is more apt to donate to charities and organizations that we promote that ones that haven’t been spoken about or heard from on our airwaves.
The Heritage award will be presented to WTMX during the NAB Show Radio Luncheon, held Tuesday, April 19 in Las Vegas
