|
 Originally
published on February 29, 2008
Bobby
Rich
KMXZ/Tucson PD/morning show host scores 15 fulfilling years in one location—of his choosing
Bobby Rich
is a true radio geek. He started hanging
out at his local station in fifth grade
and has been hanging out in the business
ever since. Last month he celebrated
his 15th anniversary as PD/morning
show host for AC KMXZ/Tucson, part
of Journal Broadcast Group.
Getting into the business: I
grew up in a small town in Washington
state, where there was one AM station.
In fifth grade I told the station I was
doing an article for the school newspaper,
which didn’t exist, but my dad
owned a business that bought advertising,
so they let me come in. I started doing
anything I could for years until they
finally put me on the air when I was
14. I was on every day after school and
Saturday and Sunday. I went to college
and ended up working for four stations
in Spokane, part-time, before starting
on what I consider my “real” career
path; when I started moving all over
the country. At that time I was married,
had a child, another one on the way and
I was only 19.
Liner
Notes
Profile:
Bobby Rich
Title:
KMXZ/Tucson PD/morning show host
Favorite
radio format: “Any mass-appeal
formats that appeal to adults.”
Favorite
TV show: “Boston Legal,” “30
Rock,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Desperate
Housewives,” “Medium”
Favorite
song:
“ ‘Beginnings’ by Chicago,
because it’s always been the song
I use to start and end every radio station
I’ve ever gone to or left.”
Favorite
movie:
“Xanadu”
Favorite
book:
“I’m reading ‘Eat,
Pray, Love’ right now.”
Favorite
restaurant:
“There are about 12 Mexican restaurants
in South Tucson and all of them would
fall into that category.”
Beverage
of choice:
“Any single-barrel Kentucky straight
bourbon.”
Hobbies:
“I collect and wear red tennis
shoes and have about 30 pairs.”
E-mail
address:
bobby@
bobbyrich.com
Career
path: My hometown,
with a population of 5,000, was far
enough away from any other major-sized
city that you couldn’t pick
up another radio station. By the
time I got to Spokane that was a
really big town. I ended up in Davenport,
Iowa, which was big-time when I got
there. Then Miami, New Haven [Conn.],
Los Angeles, San Diego, New York,
Seattle, Philadelphia.
Joining
KMXZ: Sixteen years
ago I was back in San Diego for the
third time and out of work for the
fifth time. My wife, Debbie, and
I had a conversation that goes something
like, “Where will we move to
next?” . . . “I wish
we could just go back to a smaller
market where we could really own
it.” We made a list of all
the things we would want and came
up with a list of 10 cities and spent
six months—because we’re
out of work anyway—checking
and researching them until I found
Tucson. I brought all the money we
saved and invested on a move-in in
the market—which goes broke
six months later. But I love everything
about Tucson and the only offers
I have are from San Diego and Los
Angeles until a station in Tucson
says, “Hey, we need a morning
guy.” I say, “Hey, that’s
what I do. What’s your format?” They
say, “Soft AC.” I say, “No
way, I’ve always made fun of
that format.” Literally, that
is the way it happened. Sixteen years
ago, we landed in Tucson and 15 years
ago we landed at the station. And
a couple of months later I realized
there’s a lot more to doing
mainstream/soft AC than I realized.
Describe
your programming philosophy: I
believe in having fun on the radio,
in attracting the widest possible
listening audience. It’s still
possible to be No. 1 without dialing
down to a narrow demo. The idea of
being in the top three with women
35-49 does not appeal to me. I want
to be big enough in every way, shape
and form to be the big deal in town
and be the No. 1 station.
Biggest
challenge: Our
business has gotten greedy. It’s
gone from “success is making a reasonable
margin and good money” to “we
have to have a much bigger margin and make
a lot more money.” As a result, people
who make the big decisions are cutting
back on things that we used to think of
as successful in the first place.
State
of radio: I
have moved in the last few years
from overtly optimistic to cautiously
optimistic. I don’t know what
is to become of terrestrial radio.
There will always be a place for
us, but there are many more places
to get audio entertainment today.
Career
highlight: My
experience in San Diego. I
was there three different times
over a 15-year period. The
first time was building a high-energy
top 40 station in the ’70s,
which was the first FM station
in a major market to go No.
1 12+. Returning to that same
station six-and-a-half years
later I reformatted it to hot
AC. Next would be figuring
out in 1993 that adult contemporary
didn’t have to be “dull
contemporary”—and
keeping that going for the
last 15 years on the same station
with top ratings. That’s
been very exciting.
Career
disappointment: I
made a ton of mistakes because
I was allowed to try things
by a lot of my employers. My
biggest disappointment was
not being a success in Seattle.
I was so miscast as the general
manager and co-host of the
morning show, I wasn’t
able to make it work and I
regret that.
Most
influential individual: My
first program director, Sam
Holman, was the first person
who taught me stuff I hadn’t
learned on my own yet. My first
great general manager was Paul
Palmer in San Diego, who now
runs Big Brothers Big Sisters
Foundation in San Diego. Early
friends in the business include
Michael O’Shea, who’s
now in Eugene; and [Nielsen
Music president/Nielsen Entertainment
East COO] Rob Sisco, who I
have learned a lot from over
the years. The one person it
all goes back to would be Pat
O’Day, PD and a jock
on KJR/Seattle while I was
growing up. He had an entertaining
and inspiring-sounding radio
station and to this day I think
back on it. And then my sweetheart
and partner for life, Debbie,
who has taught me more about
my target audience than any
other source.
Advice
for broadcasters: My
favorite quote is, “Love
what you do and do what you
love.” I recently came
across a new quote and immediately
put it on the wall in my home
office, my studio and in my
studio office. It’s unattributable: “Don’t
cry because it’s over.
Smile because it happened.” I
have been able to relate that
to everything from life and
death in my family and friends
to people I’m losing
in the business and people
who are being fired unceremoniously,
which is happening pretty much
every day.
'It’s still possible
to be No. 1 without dialing down to a
narrow demo.’—Bobby Rich
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