OM Dene Hallam Gives Atlanta Two Distinct Choices In WKHX And WYAY
By ANGELA KING
Friday, July 26 2002
Friday, July 26 2002
Published on AllBusiness.com
WKHX/WYAY Atlanta OM Dene Hallam is a man of such strong opinions when it comes to music, concert promotion, and how people in the radio business are perceived that he makes it clear that his opinions and observations are his alone and not necessarily shared by his parent company, ABC/Disney. Hallam is also fiercely protective of his stations, likening his relationship with them to his relationship with his daughters.
"Being the father of twins, you don't love one more than the other. But they are individuals. They look alike, but they are different," he says. "That's the same philosophy I have taken in looking at these two radio stations. It's never 50-50 with human beings [or the stations], but there are opportunities that come along all the time for country in this market. A lot of times, it's easy to say, 'We'll do this for WYAY and this for WKHX.' "
While he serves as OM/PD for WKHX, Hallam says he is "more of the conscience" for WYAY. "I certainly still give strong suggestions [to PD Steve Mitchell] when appropriate." But Hallam feels that taking less of a driving role for one station helps to keep the two stations diverse.
"A lot of the nuts and bolts I stay out of so the two stations aren't as closely related," Hallam says. "One of my biggest marching orders from [GM] Victor Sansone when I got here was to separate the stations, give people two distinct choices in the market."
Before Hallam joined the group, he says the two stations were viewed as "country and sort of the same. Clearly to us in the business, we say, 'Gee, they are not the same,' but it wasn't punching through perceptually in the marketplace. We needed a dramatic shift one way or the other."
With consultant Joel Raab, he says, "we made [WYAY] more of a heritage station and [WKHX] ?for lack of a better term?a new country station. When I got here, [WKHX] was playing songs from the '70s and '80s along with everything else, and so was WYAY. We put everything pre-Randy Travis on WYAY and de-emphasized currents. We still feature them, put them in the mix, because we feel classic country per se won't get a large audience." WYAY plays gold as far back as the '60s under the positioner "real country, less talk."
With the currents "de-emphasized," Hallam says, "we've been tweaking and changing our philosophies on what to add on WYAY. It started out [as], 'We'll just lean more on the traditional-leaning stuff.' Now, a hit is a hit is a hit."
WKHX, positioned as "Atlanta's best country mix," usually plays new music first, the biggest exception being the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, where Hallam says WYAY played "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" and did "a big promotion" before WKHX played it.
But Hallam claims
"Being the father of twins, you don't love one more than the other. But they are individuals. They look alike, but they are different," he says. "That's the same philosophy I have taken in looking at these two radio stations. It's never 50-50 with human beings [or the stations], but there are opportunities that come along all the time for country in this market. A lot of times, it's easy to say, 'We'll do this for WYAY and this for WKHX.' "
While he serves as OM/PD for WKHX, Hallam says he is "more of the conscience" for WYAY. "I certainly still give strong suggestions [to PD Steve Mitchell] when appropriate." But Hallam feels that taking less of a driving role for one station helps to keep the two stations diverse.
"A lot of the nuts and bolts I stay out of so the two stations aren't as closely related," Hallam says. "One of my biggest marching orders from [GM] Victor Sansone when I got here was to separate the stations, give people two distinct choices in the market."
Before Hallam joined the group, he says the two stations were viewed as "country and sort of the same. Clearly to us in the business, we say, 'Gee, they are not the same,' but it wasn't punching through perceptually in the marketplace. We needed a dramatic shift one way or the other."
With consultant Joel Raab, he says, "we made [WYAY] more of a heritage station and [WKHX] ?for lack of a better term?a new country station. When I got here, [WKHX] was playing songs from the '70s and '80s along with everything else, and so was WYAY. We put everything pre-Randy Travis on WYAY and de-emphasized currents. We still feature them, put them in the mix, because we feel classic country per se won't get a large audience." WYAY plays gold as far back as the '60s under the positioner "real country, less talk."
With the currents "de-emphasized," Hallam says, "we've been tweaking and changing our philosophies on what to add on WYAY. It started out [as], 'We'll just lean more on the traditional-leaning stuff.' Now, a hit is a hit is a hit."
WKHX, positioned as "Atlanta's best country mix," usually plays new music first, the biggest exception being the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, where Hallam says WYAY played "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" and did "a big promotion" before WKHX played it.
But Hallam claims
