Partnered with my brotherand CFO Bill Yde
Bill raised a lot
of money
but none of it
was free.
We bought
K103 in Portland
which became #1
Shoulda stopped then
cuz we already
had it done.
As I said in the previous chapter (Good Time Charlie), when our new format, “Class,” ballooned up to 46 radio stations, we were not at all prepared.
When we launched the new format in San Antonio, I just hoped it would become successful enough to survive.
Back in those days, whenever I was asked why I thought KVIL became so successful, my answer’s always been, “They did everything with class!”
So, of course, the new format in San Antonio had to be called “Class.” Duh!
The only thing different about “Class” in San Antonio from its predecessors was it became successful a lot quicker.
KVIL took two years, WRMF took a year, but “Class did it in six months. Were we prepared for its success? Hell no!
When I left Fairbanks I was taking a big chance so when “Class” became successful, I needed to get the word out quickly.
Years ago, Jim Hilliard told me that a person is usually the bext answer to most questions.
The only person I knew that was great at spreading good news because he knew everybody was Jim West in Dallas.
Unfortunately, Jim was so good that before you could even catch your breath, we were in 46 markets. Great right? Not!
The way Jim sold the format was to include a visit from me every month for a couple of days. Do the math!
Finally, I said, “Jim, you’ve gotta stop selling; we’re oversold.” Jim responded, “It’s not in my nature to turn down certified checks, so get some help.”
Jim, who also ran Fairwest, had some folks who worked for him, so we tried sending them.
However, none of their visits counted; they all wanted to know when that Johns guy was coming.
My solution was to talk my Brother Reg into becoming my partner.
Not only was he a great programming/promotion guy (He kicked CHUM’s ass in Toronto), but he understood the philosophy. Oh, and he also had that Johns name. (Reg and me pictured on top)
Still scrambling because you’re never prepared for success, I decided to do something that I came up with while working my way across Canada.
In my early days of radio, I moved around a lot and soon grew weary of having to start over at every new radio station I was hired at.
What I came up with was a road crew of sorts.
The guys I chose not only knew what to do, but they could also explain to the new guys why we did it and then go on air and show them.
In those days, the guys I trusted to be by my side were Gary Russell, Roger Klein, Keith Elshaw, Doc Harris, and Woody Cooper.
Not only were they a formidable crew, but they were fearless.
Using the road crew in Canada as a model, Reg and I put together a crew that consisted of Reid Reker, Bill Gardner, Bruce Buchanon, Cat Simon, Mike Donahue, Tony Mann, Jason Williams, the Magic Christian, and Bill Baily.
Pretty soon, a few of these guys started to create their own road crews, and it was kinda like we all belonged to this private club.
The way it worked was we’d bring new talent we found to San Antonio or San Diego, where we’d teach them the philosophy and then put them on the air on weekends to practice.
Then whenever we’d get a new client, we’d send a couple of them to the market to get it rolling.
My good friend Ivan Braiker best described the Class philosophy when answering a question from his owners.
He was asked why their station, which ran the same elements as all the Class stations, didn’t sound anything like a Class station.
Ivan said to them, “It’s because your station is also doing things a Class station would never do.
The Class format is a 24-hour-a-day philosophy, and most of their sound comes from what they’re not doing.”
Things were going so well then that a financial guy from my old employer Fairbanks Broadcasting named Bill Yde, talked us into buying the company that Jim West ran, Fairwest.
As Bill explained, “If you guys ever want to own your radio stations, you’ll need to own some brick and mortar first.
KKCW not only became K103, but it also became the #1 station in Portland and stayed there for over 35 years.
The bad news? Jim West never showed for the closing.
So when the smoke cleared, we’d gone from owning 51% to 49%, and of course, the money guys now thought they knew more about radio than we did.