Originally published on December 7, 2007
Clark Smidt

New England radio mainstay is adamant about protecting localism

Clark Smidt continues to be a fixture in New England radio. With a successful background in programming stations for others, he founded his own company, Broadcast Ideas, to act as an adviser for station owners. And with a recent transaction, he has re-entered radio ownership.

Becoming interested in radio: Growing up, I was fascinated by radio and television. I did a lot of MC’ing at school assemblies, high school basketball games and city sports. When I graduated high school, I called the Connecticut Broadcasting Assn. to find out who might be looking for a new radio announcer. I was given three stations; one of them was WBIS in Bristol [Conn.], a 500-watt daytimer, before they had ESPN. I was told I had to get a third-class [FCC] license. I did, went back in and read a news audition. They said it was absolutely terrible, but to read it again, and I got hired for $1.75 an hour. My first day was July 13, 1966.

That fall I went to the University of Hartford [in Connecticut]. That was the one school I applied to that didn’t have a radio station, but I found out that WTIC had offered to donate a 1,000-watt FM transmitter. There were engineering students ready to put together an application to the FCC and from day one as a freshman I started the wheels in motion to create WWUH-FM that went on the air on July 15, 1968. It’s about to turn 40 years old [next] summer.

Liner Notes
Profile:
Clark Smidt
Title:
Broadcast Ideas managing member
Favorite radio format:
”Oldies or classic hits.”
Favorite TV show:
“ ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Boston Legal,’ local news and Red Sox [games].”
Favorite song:
“Here Comes the Sun,”The Beatles
Favorite book:
“A good Arbitron.”
Favorite movie:
“West Side Story,” “The Departed”
Favorite restaurant:
“I love [the ones] in my mom’s neighborhood on Second Avenue in [New York], and Lowell, Mass., has some great restaurants, too.”
Beverage of choice:
“Stoli on the rocks.”
Hobbies:
“Besides radio, being there for my children, going to flea markets and finding the time to enjoy listening to music.”
E-mail address:
radiofm@
comcast.net

Life after graduation: I had a low lottery number [for the draft] but also an invitation to receive a fellowship at Boston University to be the assistant GM and PD of WBUR. We converted the station to stereo in 1971, and I got a deferment on flat feet and stayed in Boston. My next job was operations director of WBZ radio in June 1971.

Founding of Broadcast Ideas: I left CBS in June 1981 and decided to be a broadcast adviser. The word “consultant” seemed to have some negatives. It was a way of working with individual clients on a totally customized basis. Every station has unique properties, signal situation, personnel, sales potential and competition. Some stations need sales and marketing and others programming, on-air direction or complete format creations and overhauls. I customize the work individually to clients mostly in the Northeast area.

Getting back into ownership: I found this latest opportunity right next door to me in Lowell, Mass., at WCAP 980, a heritage AM radio station. I purchased it from the original owner who put the station on the air in 1951. He selected me from all who were interested because I live nearby; I’m qualified and adamant about local service to the area. We’ve begun hiring salespeople, including Bill Wayland, who I worked with at WCOZ back in 1975. It’s almost more difficult than building something from the ground up. We want to be respectful of the existing programs, personnel and the tradition that has been established for 56 years, but we also have to bring it into this century. It’s a real fixer-upper, but very exciting.

Mission of the company: To get the radio station up and running and use it as a laboratory for talk programming ideas and services that sell and connect locally. I also continue to work with selected clients in everything from programming to marketing to brokering stations. We know we’re a minor league team but there are some very successful minor league teams in the Boston area.

Long-range plans: To see if WCAP can grow into additional stations in the New England area. I’ve been a participant in Boston radio since 1970 and there are some facilities I think have more opportunity.

Biggest challenge: Re-establishing a heritage AM station and local sales. I’d like to see Arbitron work with a ZIP code idea I have.

State of radio: Not too long ago the most stations anybody could own were seven AMs and seven FMs. Today you can have seven stations in one market. There’s a lot of stretching, voice-tracking and a lot of cookie-cutter approach. Radio has always survived because it has served local [communities]. Sometimes when people have too many things to do, that gets lost in the shuffle. If people running clusters and companies haven’t actually experienced the product, they’re going to lose the overall appeal of their facility and not be able to bring in the dollars they need to deliver.

Most influential individual: Larry Gilpin, [the] VP/GM who I worked with at WMUR/TV-9 [in] Manchester, N.H.—an exemplary broadcaster. Attorneys Brad Cook and Erwin Krasnow. Former FCC chairman Bill Kennard, who worked with me and signed my application for WNNH/Concord [N.H.]. Also Bob Fuller, JJ Jeffrey, Dick Ferguson, Dave Maynard, Curt Gowdy and many engineers who make it all work. I also get a lot of inspiration from my wife, Maura, and son, Jeffrey, who was a GM at his Colgate station and [is] now working at J.P. Morgan in New York. I have a daughter who’s learning psychology at Union College, Katie, so hopefully she’ll be able to take care of me in my older years.

Career highlight: Signing on stations for the very first time is a wonderful experience. I got to turn on the University of Hartford station and Oldies 99 WNNH in New Hampshire. We’ve kicked off new formats; the creation of soft rock for WEEI-FM, a CBS O&O. I wanted that job since I first came to Boston, and I got it in 1977. And also programming and weekly visits to WPIX-FM, not far from where I grew up in New York City.

Career disappointment: Some of the people you run into can be a little difficult. I like the opportunity of getting involved with stations that have great signals and sometimes you have to wait your turn to do it. If you’re positive, keep trying and you believe in an effective plan, sooner or later it’ll work out and you make the connection.

Advice for broadcasters: In the early days I was told to play the hits and keep it simple, stupid. If you really are one-to-one and understand how to connect with people, the station does a lot better.

‘We know we’re a minor league team but there are some very successful minor league teams in the Boston area.’—Clark Smidt