WJFK programmer Chris Kinard is celebrating his 20th year in radio. He calls himself an oddity in the business. “I’ve spent my entire career at the same cluster (Infinity/CBS/Entercom) in DC, and about 18 of those years at WJFK.” Kinard has been the PD at WJFK for the last 11 years and he says all he’s ever wanted to do since the 7th grade is work at WJFK. “I can’t believe it actually happened. I started here when I was an 18-year-old college freshman, and never really thought much past just getting through the door. Chris Kinard will appear in the May 7 issue of Radio Ink Magazine. He’s been voted one of radio’s best programmers.
I consider myself lucky every day, and am as excited now as ever to turn on the radio — or my phone, or my Echo, or my TV, since we’re on all three these days — in the morning and then drive into the station. — Chris Kinard
NOTE: Our Best Programmers list will not be available online. It is only available to paid subscribers. To subscribe to Radio Ink in time to receive this issue, GO HERE NOW.
Here’s our extended interview with one of radio’s best programmers, Chris Kinard.
Radio Ink: Tell us exactly what you are responsible for.
Chris Kinard: I’m responsible for the overall brand of 106.7 The Fan. It’s my job to develop the sound and tone of the radio station, and to hire hosts who are smart, funny, opinionated, and entertaining. I try to help our hosts and production teams work together, and I provide tools and data that can help them make better-informed strategic and content decisions that can help drive ratings. An important part of our brand is our credibility and ability to break news, so I hire our update anchors and reporters and direct our news coverage. I help negotiate and maintain our play-by-play relationships, and work with our broadcast partners on the production of our play-by-play. I also write our imaging and work with our voice talent and creative services director on each piece of production.
It is essential that our brand hits every touch-point, so I work with our digital team to make sure our stream and podcasts sound as good as our FM product; our website is full of great content, and our social media is active, compelling, and consistent with the tone of the radio station. It’s a team effort between programming and digital. There just isn’t the manpower for either department to do it all, so we have to maximize our resources. I also work with our talent and our marketing team to create live events that make our brand come alive, give listeners exclusive experiences, and help drive non-traditional revenue.
An important part of my job is also helping to communicate our brand strategy to our sales team, and working with our sellers and sales management to find creative solutions to help our advertisers market their message. I’m very fortunate to have incredible counterparts in sales management (Danny Bortnick, Laura Gonzalez, and Geoff Lindsay) who completely understand and respect our brand and are passionate about our personalities. This teamwork between Programming and Sales is absolutely the reason for our growth the last few years, and why we work so well for our clients. We’ve seen direct clients literally build their businesses by aligning with our brand and personalities. I am very proud of what our team has accomplished together.
Radio Ink: What is your biggest station accomplishment (outside of ratings) over the past year?
Chris Kinard: I think we took a big step forward with our events over the last year. We held our biggest and most successful “Fanfest,” with a couple thousand listeners joining us to celebrate DC sports, meet our hosts and current and former local athletes, and get their kids involved in clinics and games. We sold out two live theater events, bringing our entire lineup to the stage for intimate, exclusive listener experiences. And our Sports Junkies poker tournament set records in the state of Maryland for the largest, live, seated poker tournament in the state’s history. Events are a great way to connect with listeners and cultivate passionate fans of the radio station, and the ticket and sponsor revenue helps the bottom line as well.
Radio Ink: Who do you consider your mentors in the radio business, and why?
Chris Kinard: I’m so lucky to have been surrounded by supportive people throughout my career. Without any one of them taking the time to help me, I would not be where I am today. Steve Swenson and Steve Davis are passionate, creative, supportive leaders who have helped me navigate the station through some tricky situations the last six years. Michael Hughes, Chris Oliviero, and Dan Mason took a major chance on me in 2007, elevating a 27-year-old morning show producer to the role of Program Director of a station facing some serious challenges. They were patient and had my back through it all as I tried to find my way, and stuck with me through a format change from guy talk to sports talk. They are brilliant programmers, and savvy, strategic managers. But most importantly, they care about their people immensely, and their guidance has helped me to grow as a manager and as a person. Jim McClure, Jeremy Coleman, and the Sports Junkies gave me my first opportunities, first as a part-time call screener at 18 years old, then as a full-time producer as a college sophomore. I have worked with the Junkies for 20 years, and they have been supportive of my career every step of the way. I’m also very thankful to have had the opportunity to work for Sam Rogers, twice! The first time was at WHFS, where he and Robert Benjamin gave me the opportunity to jump over to music radio for a few years in the early 2000s. That experience really opened my eyes up to the power of events and promotions, and how each individual personality contributes to a strong and consistent overall station brand.
Radio Ink: What do PDs have to do this year and over the next five years to have a successful career in programming that leads to their advancement?
Chris Kinard: Program Directors need to understand that their job is to drive ratings AND help monetize those ratings. We cannot keep our brands relevant in this competitive landscape with declining revenue. PDs need to have an open mind for finding creative solutions for their sales staffs and advertisers, without sacrificing the sanctity of their brands. Program Directors need to have one ear on the radio, and the other on how their content sounds on mobile and smart speakers. And they need to have their eyes on how their brand is presented online and on social media. They need to aspire to learn about new technology and keep up with changing trends, and to learn to be able to translate data and research to help their talent and sales departments win.
Radio Ink: What is radio’s biggest programming challenge moving forward?
Chris Kinard: How do we get people in the door and keep them coming back? Which formats and personalities are going to capture the ears and thumbs of young people scrolling through all the choices they have on their phones, tablets, smart speakers, and in their wi-fi connected cars? Finding the time and money to find the next wave of compelling entertainers, selling them on the power of radio, and growing our business around them is our biggest challenge and opportunity.
Radio Ink: Why are consumers listening to Pandora and Spotify and not radio?
Chris Kinard: There are so many entertainment choices now, and we have to work hard as an industry to find ways to cut through, and to be accessible everywhere. Pandora and Spotify can’t do what great radio can do. They can’t connect with a listener on a personal, local level. But we can’t do what Pandora and Spotify can do, either, in terms of giving individual users control over the music, with zero or limited advertising. They’re two completely different products, and I think we need to stop focusing on what they’re doing, and start focusing on what we’re doing to make each local radio station a compelling listen on air and on mobile, and a utility for the community of listeners and advertisers. We need to invest in people. Entertainers, taste-makers, and informers are what make it worth turning on your radio, or firing up the Radio.com app. Every one of us fell in love with radio because of the people we heard on the air, not just because we like music, or sports, or news. It was the on-air hosts and the exciting presentation that captured our ears, minds, and hearts. That was the case 30 to 40 years ago, and it’s still the case today. And it can’t just be in morning drive, it has to be all the time. Our brands have to live 24/7 on air, online, on social media, and everywhere our listener lives, or they’re going to use radio less and less. And we have to find and invest in the people who can make that happen.
Reach out to Chris Kinard and congratulate him on a job well done over the past 20 years, with more to come, no doubt. [email protected]
NOTE: Our Best Programmers list will not be available online. It is only available to paid subscribers. To subscribe to Radio Ink in time to receive this issue, GO HERE NOW.
