Straight From the Mouth

How did four people who had never worked together end up doing morings in Atlanta?

BW: Actually, Jeff and Lindsay were hand-picked. I use to listen to Jeff when he was on in Tucson at KRQ with Mojo. He impressed the hell out of me. He was so quick and witty and a perfect foil for Mojo and Betsy. The show also sounded like it should be in one of the top 10 markets. I figured it was his producing that made it sound so big. I remember thinking that when I get my shot at my own show that he's gonna be the first guy I go after. Lindsay and I have the same agent, Bob Eatman. He suggested I listen to a tape of hers. I did and she's so full of personality that she really jumps out at you. Plus, her Real World experience on MTV didn't hurt either. A large segment of our demo could identify with her immediately. Melissa was filling in for Leslie Fram on our sister station, 99X. We needed someone local that knew the market and could add credibility on important issues. She was an easy pick!

JD: I knew Bert a few years before this opportunity came up. We met at a Boot Camp and just stayed in touch, doing the networking thing. When I left Philly, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the opportunites that presented themselves. I talked with a few other stations before commiting to Q100, but Atlanta just felt right.

LB: Between the hard work of Brian Phillips, Bert Weiss and Bob Eatman and a long drunken weekens together in Atlanta, the show emerged.

Tommy Stowe: I think Bert and Jeff met in re-hab.

How long have you been doing the show?

BW: Since March 1st.

Looking back, is there anything you would change in launching the show?

BW: Yeah, I would have launched without Lindsay. KIDDING. No, I wouldn't have changed a thing. We sounded small because we were small. We were all in these positions that we've never been in before. I think the fact that we

thought this was gonna be crap for a few months. We became relatiable underdogs, in a sense.

JD: Not a thing. I couldn't have been happier with the way things got started. We didn't have any idea what we were doing ... but we did it perfectly!

MC: I came on board almost a month after the other three, and would have liked to have been there from the start.

TS: I wish I could have gotten this job sooner, so I would know how to run these stupid editing programs.

Are you still in your honeymoon period?I mean, do you and the PD yell at each other?

BW: Well our PD has changed in the past few weeks. Before it was Brian Phillips and now it's Ed Lambert. Ed and I worked at KISS in Dallas together so I've always thought I could yell at Ed. So nothing's changed, really. And Ed knows that when he wants to yell at me that he can always call Jeff!

JD: Yell? Don, we're nothin' but love down here in Atlanta. Nobody's gonna do any yellin'. Does that really happen in radio? PD's and morning show's not getting along?

How is your show different than others in Atlanta?

JD: ...we're new, and that is our biggest asset in Atlanta right now. The vibe I got from this city is that the listeners are tired of other morning shows still trying to do the same radio that they were doing years ago. We're new and fresh, and not at all similar to what they are used to hearing. Plus we have a TV star (Lindsay) and a lesbian (Melissa). I'd love to see Steve and Vickki (Star94) pull that off.

Do you see any similarites between yourself and your sister station's Morning X?

BW: Yeah, we're both owned by Susquehanna. Honestly, I don't get to listen similarities in our lifestyle, I'm guessing. I think that because we're the new kid in town that it's easier for us to take chances than it is them. We're still trying to get noticed.

JD: Jimmy Baron and Bert are both short. Both producers names start with 'J'. Their ZIP code backwards is the same as ours backwards. And look at this: Our phone area code is 404. 4+0+4 = 8. There are 4 people on our show, 3 on theirs, and we share a traffic guy. 4 + 3 + 1 = 8! Nostradamous predicted this would happen.

Speaking of the Morning X, Leslie Fram who's part of that show and also program s the station, was recently appointed to oversee both stations. Just between you and me (wink, wink, nudge nudge), how weird is it to get advice from someone in the company who's also on the mornig show across the hall?

BW: It was one of the first things that I brought up with her. Honestly, it was/is a concern. I was really honest with her about that. I think we both realize that there has to be a certain amount of time working together before we get to know each other and can completely trust.

JD: It has the potential of being very weird ... but I'm not too worried. And advice: I'll take any suggestions that she offers. She's been in Atlanta a lot longer than I have, and therefore can be a great asset. I certainly don't think Leslie has done as well as she has in this business by giving out bad advice -- and I can't imagine that she is going to start with us.

LB: Would it concern you if your ratings came at the expense of a sister station?

BW: It would certainly be uncomfortable, yes. I suppose I'm hoping that we get those 18-34 year old females and they get the males. I'd be completely stoked if between the two station's we had a 100 share in the demo. We get them women and they get them men.

JD: No. I'll tell you what really frightens me, though. Jimmy Baron ( The Morning X) has this special parking spot right near the door of the building and this butler type man who helps him carry his bag and newspaper up to the studios. If we beat 99X 18-34, Mark Renier (our General Manager) said that I can have the spot and the butler. The day Mark tells Jimmy that -- that's when I'll be uncomfortable. Only for a minute, though.

MC: I concentrate on the fact our demographics are different. Let the ratings take care of themselves....

Bert, for a good part of your career you were a producer and Jeff is producer and co-host, what are the biggest obstacles for a producer who wants to make the jump to the big chair?

BW: People taking you seriously that you really CAN be the host. Jeff has no problem in this area. He'll host if he wants to host. But, for me, I was a producer for so long that I always felt like I was fighting for respect as a talented guy on the air, too. Sometimes you have to leave a station in order for them to realize that maybe you could do it. Producers can also make it easy for themselves by letting the talent know (right off the bat) what they're future goals are. If you're a producer that wants to be a host or co-host some day, I think a good host will always teach you how to get there. Kidd was really great at that. He knows what the members of his staff want and he'll bust his ass to get that for ya as long as you get him where he wants to be too. That's fair to me.

A few weeks ago, Mariah Carey was set to interview, but had you on hold for longer than you appreciated, eventually you hung up, which I understand threw Mariah in a tizzy. Am I to assume you're the reason she went to the "hospital?"

BW: Hey, don't blame me. She's exhausted, right? I was the only damn jock in the country concerned enough to give her a few extra minutes to collect her thoughts. Yes, she was late. But that's not nearly the whole story. Her people called us 5 minutes before her scheduled 8:10 interview and told us she'd be be ready to go in five minutes. I had the lines lit with people waiting to tell her how great she is. Fifteen minutes go by, 20, 30 minutes. Now I'm making excuses for her. Forty-five minutes. Now an hour. Finally I had to move on. And we did. I took a call from a woman that told us that she was diagnosed with Lupas and non-alchohol related Sirosis (?) of the liver. She has 6 months left to live. So she's doing this whole "Tuesday's with Morrie" type segment where she's getting really in depth on what it's like to live with death knocking on your door everyday. She's teaching us about living through her experience with dying. Right in the middle of that, the warm line rings. It's Mariah and she's over an hour late. So I had to make a call. Do I hang up with the dying woman in the middle of a really serious subject or do I go with the rock-diva that's an hour late. I put Mariah on the air and told her the dilemma and told her that we waited an hour for her and what we moved on to. I think she was really pretty surprised. You can hear the call at www.q100atlanta.com.

And what about your recent interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, was that pulled because of the "H" question?

BW: Our sister station, 99X, discussed the fact that they were gonna ask her the hermaphrodite question on the air. Jamie Lee's people got wind of it and cancelled both interviews. My take on interviews is this: They need something from you and you need something from them. They need a project promoted and you need an interesting interview. If they're just gonna answer softball questions then why have'em on? I don't think you get big points from listeners just for having a big-time celebrity on just for the sake of having a big-time celebrity on. A boring interview is a boring interview if it's Mariah Carey or the guy pluggin' his book on prostate exams. (Get it? Hermaphrodite? Balls! HA!)

At what point will you consider your show a success?

BW: When we're number one 18-34 then 12+.

JD: I never will. Even though I was with a very successful show in Arizona, there is always a 'next level'. We could have an ultimate success in Atlanta -- consistant #1 books 12+, 18-34, 25-54 ... then do we think about a bigger market? Syndication? I never want to declare 'success' -- I'll get lazy.

MC: I think it already is, the dynamic between us is strong, and I enjoy coming to work every day. The audience is bound to catch on soon enough.

What did you do on the air, when you first heard of the attacks on September 11th?

BW: We stayed on the air until 7:30 that night taking phone calls and getting updates from CNN.

JD: Man, that was a tough day. From a producer's stand-point, here's what I did: IMMEDIATELY hopped on the phones to friends in NYC to see if they could come on the air with us and talk about the devastation. Got engineering to wire the audio from CNN and Fox News through the board for a non-stop feed. Coordinated with the producer of The Morning X to make sure we were all getting the same news at the same time. Got terrorism experts on the air. Had Tommy (our associate producer) set up to edit and deliver to Bert every piece of significant audio. Brought in a second person to help screen calls. Stopped playing spots. Talked to management and promotions to get a fund-raiser on the books for Thursday, so we could start taking about it on the air Tuesday night. We were on till 7:30pm. No spots, no music. Just us and the listeners. Then I started planning Wednesday's show: more terrorism experts, a child psychologist, the Atlanta Red Cross, and more eye-witnesses on the air with us. Thursday and Friday morning, the morning shows from 99X and Q100 did a live broadcast at a local mall and raised just under half a million dollars for the Red Cross. Friday night is when I finally stopped working and absorbed the reality of it all. That's when I lost it. I am so proud of the way that everyone on this show and in our company handled that awful day.