Dream Jobs: Program Director / Major Radio

UC411 recently hooked up with Wayne Williams, program director at Flow93.5FM – Canada’s biggest urban radio station, to talk about his rise from a lowly intern to the big cheese at one of the country’s largest FM stations.

In a boardroom at FlOW’s cool 4th floor studios, Wayne Williams, Program Director and big-time radio personality, was asked to share his experiences as a high school student to the household name he is in Ontario today. If you ever wanted a high profile career in radio, here’s the goods on how you can get yours.

Wayne Williams grew up in the U.K., lived in New York City, and attended high school in the Niagara region. He describes himself as an “above average high school student – not straight A’s, but probably above average”. A bit of a class clown who went to class most of the time, he does admit to occasionally getting into trouble.

In Wayne’s case, the old adage ‘follow your passion’ certainly rings true. “Even in high school, I was always into music. I had all the gadgets, the Walkman, the radio. I would actually sleep with a radio under my pillow so I could fall asleep listening to music…it was just part of life”.

After high school Wayne’s parents decided to move back to the states, and he enrolled in the BA Business program at the University of Houston. “Houston was a big culture shock, and I just wasn’t happy. Actually I was miserable. My parents had been picking up the tab, but after my first year I made a conscious decision to leave and pursue bigger things”. Wayne and his brother returned to the great white north, and “did the whole OSAP thing”.

Switching to a BA in Communications is what really kick-started his career in media. “After 2 years of post-secondary education, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in radio. I got into local radio to get my feet wet and make contacts, working overnights and weekends – the grunt work that nobody else wanted. I remember leaving the building sometimes thinking ‘I’m never doing this again’. But I did”.

A rocky start led to other opportunities, and valuable insight into how radio stations work, how they make their money, how they generate a loyal audience. Wayne got his big break when he heard that a local radio station he used to work for was starting a weekend dance show. The next day he showed up at FM108 with a ready demo tape, and got the job on the spot.

The station had been experiencing poor ratings, and had decided to try a dance format. “The powers that be at the station thought it can’t get much worse, lets try it”. Nothing like it existed at the time, and the ratings eventually skyrocketed…as did Wayne’s fortunes. As luck would have it, the CRTC relaxed its rules on radio content, and the station switched to a 24/7 dance format, going through a number of names over the years: DanceFM, Energy108, NRG Radio, etc. and Wayne worked every shift imaginable, with the station’s ‘Top 8 at 8’ becoming one of the most listened to radio programs in the country.

It was actually radio that spawned an incredible nightclub market in southern Ontario – Toronto is now 3rd in North America in terms of bars/nightclubs per capita, after Miami and New York (Chicago follows). When the CRTC opened up the airwaves to some new FM stations, Milestone radio was already there, having been lobbying for an urban station in Toronto for years. With his experience all over radio, Wayne was a natural fit. Now, 3 years into his most recent gig as a Program Director at Canada’s biggest urban/top 40 station, Wayne is “still loving it”.

Before we parted company, we asked Wayne to give us the nitty gritty on making it to the top in radio. Here’s what he had to say:

Wayne: Rule #1 is DON’T stalk a Program Director, lol. That’s key. You can’t scare them into liking you or your stuff. But that doesn’t mean don’t be aggressive. Radio is a small world, jobs rarely ever get posted, so knock on doors, know people, make contacts and network them. Volunteer as an intern so you have the inside track on what’s happening at your station and others.

Know a little bit about every part of the business. This is one gig where being a jack of all trades is a good thing. When you are on air people think…and expect you to know everything about everything. You have to be a media junkie. The mic is your weapon…learn how to use it artfully.

Also, just like most other things, its important to know what you’re up against. For instance right now it’s the Internet, iPods, and maybe satellite radio. Know these things, their strengths and limitations, and use that.

UC411: Do demo tapes still work? Will they get you noticed?

Wayne: Demos still work…the idea of it anyway, just the technology has changed. As opposed to tapes, put it on CD, if it’s a video put it on DVD. Disks are better than email that can lost more easily or disregarded. Also, repetition is important, be at as many events as possible to create opportunity. 

UC411: Do you need an education to be successful in radio, or can your personality, contacts, and street smarts get you there?

Wayne: You might be able to make it without an educational background, but it definitely makes it much more difficult. A well rounded education never hurt anybody. In my department I have daily meetings that require me to be articulate, have an understanding of complex subjects and current events, and know our clients’ business and their products. Don’t just know your craft, to truly have an edge you have to be all encompassing.

UC411: Parting words?

Wayne: Educating yourself is the key to success. Knowing the game is this: Know what you know. Know what you don’t know…and find out about it.