INK TANK

The Untold Story Of Kidd Kraddick's Start In Mornings

Sometimes you have to follow your gut and put everyone else's opinions aside because of what you believe. This was one of those times. I owned my first radio station, in Salt Lake City, and we were in a heated ratings battle. There was an amazing night jock on against us at K96 out of Provo, and he owned the time slot. Kidd Kraddick sounded like a teen and was the most relatable jock I'd ever heard on the air. Kids loved him, and my gut said moms would love him, too. What if I could get him to come work at my station, "Color95," which was targeting soccer moms?

When I approached Kraddick with the idea of putting him on the morning show, he was eager to start right away. He was probably about 23 at the time. I started the wheels in motion, but got resistance at every turn. My team members didn't like the idea, my consultant was against it, and everybody told me I couldn't put a night jock on mornings because we'd sound like a teen station.

I went back to Kraddick and told him we were going to do it anyway, but he needed to step up to the plate and win women. We talked strategy, which included immersing himself in the culture of soccer moms. No more could he do teen relatables -- he needed to understand the life and hard work of a mom. He agreed, and we went on the air. The market went nuts. Our competitors slammed us at every opportunity, our advertisers canceled, the local newspaper told us we were crazy. When we got that much resistance, we knew we were on to something.

Dave and I met for lunch every day to debrief his show and develop ideas. We developed ideas, promotions, and anything that would draw attention to the show. Dave burned the candle at both ends. Unlike so many air personalities of the time who were mostly interested in women, drugs, and booze, Dave was always focused. He was driven to win. He did hours of show prep and worked 12- to 15-hour days, seven days a week. In spite of resistance from the market, Dave and I were determined to prevail. We both had something to prove. I had put the station on the line over this decision. He needed to show he could win as a morning guy.

The ratings came in, and the results were disappointing. We saw some growth, but not much. Dave was devastated and I was disappointed. The team, who had grown fond of Kraddick, were disappointed too, but some were still convinced it had been a bad decision. I was faced with another big decision: Did I believe this kid on the morning show could work? I knew the station and our credibility were at stake, and I was encountering even more resistance. Dave was ready to quit; he had a standing offer to go back to nights at K96. Some on my team suggested we move him to nights and find a new morning show. But I wasn't ready to give up, and gave Kraddick my commitment to stick with it another year. It worked.

Our station was disadvantaged with a weak signal that missed the northern parts of the market, about 30 percent of the ratings area. In spite of that, we soon came back with a very strong book, and our morning show was in the top three, right behind KSL and local morning legend Tom Barberi. We had leaped over everyone else. It was the encouragement we needed, and we continued, with our next goal to beat these two powerhouses. Someone had calculated that had we covered the whole market, we would have probably been number two. But we knew the signal would require us to win by a huge margin to be number one. Though we gave it our best shot and we continued to grow, we never got there.

Dave Kraddick entered my office one day with his head hanging down. It was time to move on. He knew our signal problem meant he'd never get a win, and he needed a win for his career. He had accepted a job in Dallas with KEGL and programmer Joel Folger. It was the career move he needed. He went to Dallas doing the night show, knowing he would have to build audience and prove himself again and convince them he could do mornings.

I remember Dave telling me that he would one day beat the legendary Ron Chapman as the top morning show in Dallas. He studied Chapman, ran tape on him, and tried to figure out his formula. He was like a good football player who studies the game tapes. Based on the work habits and drive I saw from Kraddick, I knew he would win Dallas, and, of course, he did.

Like me, Dave was raised by an entrepreneur father, and his work ethic was unlike any air personality I had ever seen. He was strategic, a promotional genius, and the hardest-working guy I knew. He taught me lessons about how to win.

One never stops to think about someone like Dave, who was young, healthy, and active, dying so suddenly. It's a sad day personally, a sad day for those of us who became a family in Salt Lake, and of course a sad time for his family, the city of Dallas, and the 75 radio markets running his show, and a huge loss for the radio industry. Passing so young is so sad, yet Dave lived large, touched more lives than most of us ever will, and raised money with his charity, Kidd's Kids. Kidd Kraddick never threw away an hour. He was driven with purpose, and he made a difference.

As I sit here in shock writing about a fallen brother while surrounded by my family, it's a stark reminder that we will all see that day when the trumpets sound, and we leave all too soon, no matter what age we are. The time we devote needs a purpose, and if we all gave our families and our work the energy, drive, and effort to be the absolute best, with no exception, we too will have lived well.

I'm a better man for having known Kidd Kraddick.

Are You Producing Stars?

A friend once told me, "I'm too busy to develop people. They just leave anyway -- it's much easier to just do things myself than to have to take the time to mentor people."

What about you? How much are you doing yourself because there's no time to develop others? Do you have your radar up, looking out for the next great stars for our industry?
 
It's totally understandable if you feel so overloaded that it's hard to make time to delegate -- it seems it's always easier to do it yourself. The problem, of course, is the more you do yourself, the more things pile up, and eventually you become the bottleneck. I know, I've lived it, and I'm as guilty as anyone. Training people, correcting their mistakes, and deliberately creating a learning environment is one of the hardest things we have to do. But do it we must.
 
When I was being mentored, it never crossed my mind that was what was happening. Fortunately, that baptism of fire by my mentors resulted in a thorough and expedient education. Though I'm sure my mentors would rather have just handled things themselves, I was fortunate they chose not to.
 
My great mentors did several things that made a difference. These are the things you too need to consider doing:
 
1. Lead by Example: People are always watching you, and you need to be on top of your game and doing your best in every instance. Most people have no training when it comes to knowing how to handle people. They only know how they like to be treated, and they see the responses of others to the treatment they receive. Look for specific places to demonstrate specific actions. Dwight Case once walked me through a trade show as he said, "Here's how you can touch base with everyone in about one hour. Watch and learn." He then proceeded to walk through and show me how he did it.
 
2. Be a Living Example of Ethics: People who could go either way ethically will typically follow your lead. How you handle people, clients, tough situations, and your communications with others will set the tone.
 
3. Look for Teaching Moments: Use tough situations to take your mentee aside and ask their opinion, what they would have done, and why they think you handled things the way you did. I try to take certain people aside and say, "Here is why I did what I did and what my thought process was." Real-life examples help. More importantly, when people screw up, rather than berating them, use it as a teaching moment: "Here is how you could have handled this differently."
 
4. Delegate with Expectations: Telling someone to do the job isn't enough. It's important to tell them the outcome you expect, then let them accomplish it in their own way. Rather than telling people how to do it, make it known that the end result is what matters -- unless, of course, the job entails critical steps that have to be followed a certain way. But in most cases, you can lay out the parameters, timeline, budget, and as exact an expected outcome as you can. After the fact, do a debriefing. What did they learn? What could they have done differently or more efficiently?
 
5. Allow Mistakes: Mistakes are like the punctuation marks of education. Don't forget that you make them, too. If you don't allow mistakes, you'll never help people grow.
 
6. Don't Be Selfish: You have hired well-trained employees that, in most cases, others have trained for you. Be willing to do the same. No one stays forever. People leave when they are unhappy, which is usually because they are not empowered to use their brains, or when they see no room for growth. Delegation and training are part of their growth and maturation into better places. Sometimes they'll leave because they need to know they can do it on their own in a different place.
 
Our industry has a huge need for mentors. Where will the next generation of leaders come from? Where will the next generation of programmers and talent come from? Some say there's no need to mentor because there are fewer opportunities. Yet in spite of the current trends in the industry, there will always be a need for strong people in all roles. At the least, you will have trained someone who will do well in other industries.
 
If we care deeply about the future of this wonderful industry, it's critical that we help others make the leap to success. The best reward for me is to see people I've trained do well enough to replace me.
 
The MIW Group has set very high standards and specific programs for mentoring women, and the NAB has a strong mentoring program. Dan Vallie has put together a wonderful training institute, and Neuhoff Broadcasting does an annual summer camp for mentoring. What about the rest of us? I know I can do a better job. What about you?

And as you look for new potential stars to mentor, radio's rising stars of today should be recognized: Do you have an AE, sales manager, general manager, program director, engineer, DJ, or talk show host working at your station, under 40 years of age, that you believe will be one of radio's next great leaders? Send details to [email protected].

Radio's Rising Stars will be recognized in the August 19 issue of Radio Ink magazine. The deadline for nominations is Friday, July 26.