|
Time well spent with ...
Skip Dillard, OM, WCHB-AM (1200), WHTD-FM (Hot 102.7) and WDMK-FM (Kiss 105.9), Detroit
Skip Dillard started in radio during his high school summers at North Carolina A&T. He attended Hampton University in
Virginia and started his commercial career during his senior year at WOWI-FM (103 Jamz) in Norfolk. He has also had stints
in Greensboro, N.C., WYLD-FM (98.5) in New Orleans and WMXD-FM (Mix 92.3) in Detroit.
Dillard has worked as a personality as well as PD, sometimes handling both tasks at the same time. He's also gone outside
the box, so to speak, staying in the industry but testing the waters at top trade Billboard. Dillard was at the helm of Buffalo's
top urban station - WBLK-FM (93.7BLK) - for six years before taking a "sabbatical" from programming. For a year,
he served as Billboard Monitor's Top 40 and R&B editor before giving up his East Coast digs and heading for the beaches,
sun and fun of Californ-i-a.
Marathon Media brought him out there to start a new urban format at KBTB-FM (Power 92.7) in San Francisco, the No. 4 radio
market in the country, which already had its share of urban stations. Dillard certainly had the background to take on the
challenge, but Marathon Media didn't, so the stint was short lived and the veteran programmer headed to the Motor City to
take on OM duties at Radio One's cluster.
Star - So how do you like Detroit?
SD - I love it. I was here in the mid-'90s when I programmed WMXD. Detroit is a town that doesn't get the publicity it
deserves. As a top 10 market, it doesn't get talked about except as a tough place to live. But the people here are very educated
and very progressive. There is an attitude of culture and history. So much in African-American history happened here... Martin
Luther King did his first "I Have A Dream" speech here. It's so rich and we're not even mentioning the music history
here. We have Kem and Dwele, both doing exceptionally well. The musical legacy continues. Black Bottom Collective is a new
group here, neo soul meets hip hop. The smooth jazz thing is huge here.
Star - Let's talk for a minute about your history... it's been a roller coaster the last few years. You went from radio
to print (Billboard) to radio again, then being let go before you could even get started, and then to Detroit for Radio One.
What are some of the lessons you've learned along the way the last several years?
SD - No. 1, you have to take risks. I feel like I have done the right thing at the right time. Some people say "Oh,
he was only there a year." But I made the best of that year. I had the opportunity to join my wife. She was in Philly
and I was in WBLK in Buffalo. Sean Ross offered me Top 40 at Billboard and then I took urban. So going to New York and being
closer to my wide was great, and I love New York City. Being in New York for a year really broadened my horizons. I met Top
40 PDs and different people in the industry... the year I spent there and having the opportunity to write really broadened
my horizons. The San Francisco job was something I was told about. It was a smaller company... Marathon Media.They bought
and sold radio stations and I knew what I was dealing with. I took it thinking I could be in Cali and it could be a three-to-five-year
situation. I did get out and meet people and had the chance to get
involved in the community and kept in tune with radio. By the time it signed on after four months, we signed on with a bang.
We really opened up things for indie artists there. We were only on the air for about six months.
Star - Why did they flip?
SD - They had some financial problems closing on the deal and then another investor came in and wanted to do a different
format. I really believed the format we had would have worked. Our signal hit the best parts of Oakland and San Francisco
for hip hop. We had no signal in the South Bay. So to have the signal we had and do as well as we did was a great achievement
with a 23,000-watt signal. It gave me a chance to come back into the majors and gave my wife a chance to work the Cali market
too as a TV reporter.
Star - How did you end up in Detroit?
Skip - The Marathon folks walked in with about 20 minutes notice. I sent an e-mail to Mary Catherine Sneed at Radio One
a few weeks later and she happened to be visiting the Beat in L.A. I had known her for many years and I remembered her to
be very cordial. She would always do a research presentation at a convention and I always remember saying hello and her being
very willing to share information. She threw my resume around to the GMs in the company and I got a call from Carol Lawrence
here in Detroit and I knew it was right. It was funny how things felt right. I talked to my wife and knew it would be a great
opportunity for her, and it turned out she got her first opportunity to be an anchor.
Star - Discuss being an OM. You have a pretty darn good PD (Spudd) already at your cluster at the urban. How would you
define your job?
SD - He really is... it takes you s step above being a PD in the sense you have to be aware of more than programming.
It gives you an overall quality control position. In addition to working on branding, you are more strongly engaged in using
different people's talents. You have to learn how to find the best methods to get the little things done as well as the big
things. Every time I think I can't solve something or hit a stumbling block, I'll think back to some of the great PDs I have
worked with. Being an OM delves deeper into your management skills.
Star - Right off the top, let's talk about Steve Harvey coming into the Motor City and going up against Tom Joyner. What's
your take on all that... do you think he can compete against Joyner, who is on your WDMK-FM (Kiss 105.9)?
SD - Here's the deal... the one thing about Joyner, I don't think there is anyone that will work harder. I have always
respected Joyner. I put him on in New Orleans. I just wonder when the guy sleeps. He works Monday through Friday, and then
does stuff on the weekends, too. He works all the time. I don't think you will find a person more committed. He has the star
power. He's had the President on. It shows his reach. Not taking anything away from Steve, but Joyner takes it to a level
that amazes me. At the end of the day, radio is a different animal and today there are so many alternatives that can take
people away from radio. You have to come prepared
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Skip Dillar with Toni Braxton |
with content everyday. You can never take for granted that because you play Black music that people are going to flock to
your station. Everything from presentation to your jocks, if your station does not sound really good, there is always the
chance that you are going to give up a listener and not get them back. At the end of the day, it's content, content, content.
You have to have information and entertainment that keeps people tuned to you. Joyner brings that every day, no question.
Star - You have to balance time between three formats. How do you do that?
SD - You have to address issues relevant to importance. You can't put it into quantitative. The biggest thing is making
sure you have enough time to get everything done.
Star - Gospel in Detroit is a whole world in itself, from J Moss to the Clark Sisters and Fred Hammond, etc... Radio One,
though, has its own way of programming Gospel. How do you balance the pressures from your parent company against the demands
of your community when it comes to Gospel?
SD - That's a misconception in itself. What it comes down to you have as much Gospel product today as you do other formats.
It used to be a Sunday morning thing. Today there are as many Gospel CDs coming in as R&B product. You have to be able
to separate the best from the rest of them. Most of the Gospel product we see is very, very good. It seems Gospel artists
and producers get it. However, you have to figure out the best music for your audience. Radio One's Jerry Smith is an excellent
programmer and that's who we work with on the Gospel tip in the Radio One family. It's what people are singing in church.
Gospel listeners are just as picky about what they listen to. You have to balance your community with what the research says.
We are constantly on the phone with other PDs as to what's working for them. The South for example, is apt to like more of
the groups, while the North is getting into the hip hop-tinged Gospel. Gospel listeners will mirror the sound of the area
they live in and you have to program to that.
Star - On the urban and even urban AC side, do you have any kind of program set up to feature or showcase independent
or local talent?
SD - Actually, we do. We have several... Hot 102.7 plays a lot of local talent. Most of the Detroit artists that break
out definitely start out here first. We definitely are responsive. Hot has some features that are very in tune to the streets.
There's not much of an opportunity on the Urban AC side yet.
Star - Detroit is so steeped in music... what kind of promotions have you implemented to complement the music that has
worked with the area's fickle listeners?
SD - One of our most successful personalities is... and I have to give props to him... Mason, who was once our morning
host and now handles afternoons on Kiss. Mason is huge here... he could run for mayor. In addition to being the voice of the
Pistons, he is out in the community. He did Motown Saturdays at the Motown Museum (Hittsville USA)... the studio is still
intact, equipment is intact. The actual machine that Stevie Wonder would buy their candy bars from is still there... it's
said Stevie used to count the handles on the machine to get what kind of candy he wanted. He knew what brand was where. Mason
has taken his Saturday morning show and done it live there.
We have had Motown kareoke. We've had dignitaries, we've fed listeners that came by. We did it every Saturday in June and
we're going to do it again in November. We are very much involved in the history of the city,
Star - What kind of management style does it take to gain the confidence and cooperation of people who are already working
in that market and, in their mindset, have been there, done that?
SD - You have to let them know that you want to win. You have to get everybody on the team. And the easiest way to do
that is to lead by example. It's not about staying here all night. I try to go on sales calls to meet clients and pop into
the clubs when I can. If you are a PD, if you are going to be succesful, you have to know the streets as well as the techniques.
If you have a Saturday morning free, get out and go to the remote. Jump by the station and talk to the weekend staff. It's
contant interaction and involvement.
Star - How has budget tightening affect community service?
SD - I would day this... you have to be smart about it. Radio One has the Life Campaign monthly with a different charity
each month. We are required to do a big thing each month. We do much more than that. We are always out trying to do something
good. We try to tie into things. You say someone needs help and Detroit will come running and that's another reason I love
it here. The opportunities are there... the most valuable thing a station has is air time and so whenever you can give someone
a PSA, it adds a lot of value. When the community sees you have an interest in the community, it really matters.
Star - What's your take on research? Are you a go out in the field kinda guy, or do you rely heavily on research?
SD - Research is definitely crucial. But, there are different forms of research. I appreciate the format research and
the focus groups. But I am very much into street research. I like to go out and talk to people and see how they react to a
song. I use the fancy stuff that comes in a binder. You also listen to what people are listening to in their car, including
their own CD.
Star - What's been key to your longevity in this crazy industry?
SD - Prayer! And a love for what I am doing. I thank the many people that gave me inspiration to go into this business.
I was more interested in being a journalist out of college, but radio kept paying the bills. One day I was grading test papers
and doing radio overnight, and I asked myself a question: What would happen if I really focused on radio and started doing
more about it? Once I started delving into it, reading books, listening to other stations, the more I learned, the more work
I got. I love radio and the science of it.
Star - So what's in your CD player right now?
SD - Kindred and the Family Soul first album, Winton Marsalis Live at the House of Tribes, Kem II, Stephen Hough and the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra - Rachmaninov Piano Concerto recorded live.
Star - Thanks Skip!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
