Johnny Stone “The Last Program Director”
In the hierarchy of most radio station programming departments, it starts with the Program Director. (Sometimes known as the Chief Content Officer or Content Director.) Program Directors oversee the conception and selection of all the station’s content, and in the process shape the station’s demographic, identity, and core values. The PD is responsible for all the content going out on the air, from music selection to promos, imaging, contests, and on-air personality content. At listener-funded stations, duties also include content related to raising operating funds. In addition to this, the PD has responsibilities regarding compliance with FCC regulations as well as setting ratings goals and monitoring the progress of the station in the ratings. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know about Program Directors. So, exactly, who is The Last Program Director?
While upper management is primarily concerned with the station as a business or a ministry, Program Directors work to create the radio station as it is perceived by the audience. The content, tone, and unifying direction that give the station a unique identity is up to the PD. You could say that the Program Director’s personality is reflected in the sound of the radio station. However, what makes the Program Director’s job so challenging is being responsible to so many different parties: upper management, who want a profitable business or ministry, the Music Director, the Production Director, and the on-air talent who want to fulfill their own creative and professional objectives. Plus, the listeners who have their own relationships with, and expectations, of the radio station.
The Program Director sometimes has a relationship with a consultant who helps guide the PD’s decisions with the direction of the radio station. In addition, the General Manager provides input as does the Sales Department and/or the Development Department managers. All this input, along with the experience the Program Director has, guides the direction and the sound of the radio station.
So, as you can see, there are many inputs into how the Program Director designs the sound of the radio station coming from many different perspectives.
The argument could be made that all the input from all the different sources, are, to some extent, a chain of Program Directors, funneled into the person with the title “Program Director”. Then the Program Director guides and informs the direction of the radio station to the on-air talent through conversations, jock meetings and air check sessions.
That on air talent is tasked with following the direction of the Program Director to the best of their ability. However, while on the air, that talent must make the final decision as to how the message is delivered on the broadcast. What you do on the air, especially when performing live and not voice-tracked, is the decision that makes the difference. Your responsibility is to absorb the direction, feel and personality of the radio station and then let it emanate out from you. This way, when something happens, like a shooting or a disruption in the community, you know how to respond from the stations point of view, or personality. Conversely, if something wonderful happens like a listener calling in on the way to the hospital asking for prayer because his wife is about to give birth, you know how to respond. In these cases, as in many others, if you are that live on air talent, you are The Last Program Director in the chain. You make the final decision if it goes on the air or not, and in what verbiage.
Kudos to the Program Director at your station, but if you’re live on the air, you must know the rules so you know when and how to break them. After all, you are The Last Program Director in the chain of Program Directors.
Johnny Stone can be heard on 883 The Journey in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Johnny is also owner of StoneStudiosLLC which produces production for radio and television stations. Contact Johnny at johnny@stonestudiosllc.com
