Ben Downs has learned the hard way what it means to lose great local on-air talent. The Bryan Broadcasting General Manager had to fill two important dayparts after losing hosts, who, after many years super-serving the College Station, Texas community, took jobs in larger markets. We reached out to Downs for his perspective on how managers deal with the challenge of filling those important positions.
Radio Ink: You recently lost two successful shows to larger markets. What REALLY goes through your mind when that happens to you?
Ben Downs: Truth: I was very happy for their success but then I shifted into manager mode and started moving pieces around the chessboard. I knew I couldn’t fill the positions in the time I had allotted to me – even though Frito and Katy gave me over a month. Then Audrey Rose got an even bigger market move and there I was.
KNDE, Frito and Katy had just won a Marconi award for being great, and that sent major market PDs to their maps to find out where the heck College Station was. When the headhunters were through with us, the average tenure on-air went from 8 years to 4 months. The third thought I had was how to keep Ted, the new afternoon guy, from panicking and running back to Pennsylvania.
Radio Ink: When you hire, then train people to become great at their craft, is your expectation that they will eventually leave?
Ben Downs: It’s happened enough times that it’s not a surprise. As big a market jump as these were (190 to 25 & 190 to 6) the record was Karina’s move from market #190 to KOIT in San Francisco (#4).
Personally, the surprising part was because Frito and Katy were so established in the market. Their spouses are both scientists, they owned homes, served on local boards, and were actively involved in more than just station promotions. Audrey was a wrestling ring announcer and fundraiser with a serious commitment to the market.
But we have former employees scattered all over America from New York to Seattle. If you have the expectation that progress occurs, then their talent, time, and growth sometimes takes them out the door.
Radio Ink: How do you prepare your station to deal and recover from something like that?
Ben Downs: Nobody burned bridges and the departing staff knows we will ‘Will Smith’ anybody talking bad about them being gone. Frito and Katy had every single thing tied down rock-solid when they left. Frito hired a voice tracker (who ironically used to work here) and Katy moved Ted from afternoons to mornings. So the patient was stabilized.
Frito was Operations Director and put all the contracts and passwords together in one spot. He knew these positions would take some time to fill, so he worked with our other stations to handle a radiothon and other promotions that were scheduled. Katy prepared a book, literally, of all the contacts she worked with and when they needed calling; for a year in advance. Every detail documented.
Audrey knew that when she left for Houston, we were finally reaching the tipping point for workload. So she offered to continue doing the music and music log remotely. Character is what you do when nobody’s looking and these people took care of us, even though they were turning in their keycards.
Radio Ink: As a manager is it best to try to offer talent more money to keep them or encourage them to try to succeed in larger markets?
Ben Downs: There’s no way I could match the money, opportunity, or growth of a major market. I generally ask people leaving if there’s something I could do to change their mind, but these are award winning broadcasters taking a major step up in their chosen career. Instead of changing their mind, I wanted to make the transition easy and guilt free. After all, I took a short sidestep into Houston before I got all this white hair.
Internal promotions are hard to get in our industry. So, if a person has given you years of excellent work, then let them have their reward. They’ve earned it.
Radio Ink: How do you not take it personal when you become close friends with successful talent you helped succeed and they wind up leaving?
Ben Downs: We are close personally. Audrey gave me advice on how to woo new talent. Frito and Katy still take my calls when we’ve gotten lost. We’re up for a Crystal award and nobody will be happier than they will be if we win. If you take this as a personal rejection of yourself or the station, you don’t have their best interest at heart. And they know if things go sideways, we have their back.
You’re a friend or you aren’t, and friends want good things for each other. But, to be honest, I did set aside some time for a little sulking.
Radio Ink: How hard is it to find people these days to fill the shoes of the great talent you had?
Ben Downs: It was hard, and all the shifts aren’t filled yet (send T&R to [email protected]). When you’ve worked with people who have been with you about 10 years, you don’t find many replacements that you’re comfortable with. Like dating, you find you have a ‘type.’ I work best with strategic thinkers who don’t come in the door with their hair on fire. And, I’ve found that in the new PD/Ops guy Robbie Mac.
But here’s the trick: I had many applicants who work in major markets who want to be in a non-corporate environment where the staff sleeps in the same town where they work. We certainly are all of that. But as I said before, compensation is a big wall to clear. We find ourselves needing more experienced applications than will apply locally and the majors offer a much better 401(k) than Bryan Broadcasting can. It’s probably asking a little too much for people to take a pay cut just for the love of the game.
Ben Downs can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
