Originally published on March 24, 2006

Rob Barnett

CBS Radio
President Programming

Tama BS Radio is responsible for some of the most exciting and challenging programming on radio today, and President/Programming Rob Barnett oversees the company's 179 radio stations while spearheading initiatives including talent recruitment and development and integrating CBS Radio content with emerging technologies.

 

Along with helping to introduce and establish such new brands as "Jack" and "Free-FM," Barnett was very involved in the replacement of one of radio's most high-profile talents, Howard Stern.

 

Beginning his career: "I started as a college radio maniac at a station called WTDU, which was in the basement of a dorm at Boston University. My college radio days took me to internships at both WBCN/Boston and WCOZ/Boston, when that station was hitting home runs. I had a great early education from some of the most experienced radio people around at the time, and it was an incredible opportunity to get started in the business. I moved to WAAF/Boston and went from a weekend all-nighter to Music Director to afternoons to PD."

 

Joining CBS radio: "I had a two-part radio career, with a lot of other media in the middle. I made a decision to get out of radio when other aspects of entertainment and communication grabbed me, but radio was always my first love. I saw an opportunity in 2004 to re-enter this business at a time of great change. I saw it as a unique opportunity to work with people who were interested in creating new formats and new shows and hiring new talent."

 

Being promoted to President/Programming: "I was given a great opportunity by Joel Hollander [CEO of CBS Radio] to work with him to bring new energy to the company. In the span of about a year we updated or changed formats at over 30 of our stations. There was a 51% increase in 25-54 ratings between 2004 and 2005. We have made a lot of very rapid moves to bring new energy into the company."

 

His programming philosophy: "I started the job by communicating three things to my co-workers: respect the past, embrace change and co-create the future. Those three elements are part of every decision we've made as a company. You can't make new radio without respect and love for and an understanding of what works in this business. There's fear connected to change. Many of us were brought up in families where our grandparents had one job and our parents had one job.

 

"In radio we like to think that we have one job, but the world we work in tends not to run that way. We have realized that there has to be a very smart and calculated amount of risk in order to win or to achieve something greater than what you have currently. Those are the philosophies that have informed a lot of what we've set out to do."

 

Managing his time: "It's a balancing act. We're currently sitting on top of 179 radio stations, and we have a great team of PDs and format captains and the ability to work with leaders who manage a lot of large-scale projects on a daily basis."

 

Long-term goals: "For me, it centers on the need to develop new talent and new programming at all formats — Talk, music, Sports and News. We set out to make this company a hothouse for talent. We have put over 30 new people into Talk formats just since October and over 100 new air talents on our stations since the beginning of 2005.

 

"I see it as an ongoing process of working with our PDs to build or to identify and buy the best talent we can find. We believe that the job of every individual radio station is to grow and develop on- and off-air talent inside the building. In fact, we're going to be announcing a talent-development system in the next few months."

 

What catches his attention, from a talent standpoint: "The best way to find your way to the airwaves is to have a specific idea, a specific target and a real goal in mind. Approaching things generally and sending a resume to human resources doesn't get you to the dance. There's a need for compelling and original ideas, and the people who can figure out how to bring that forth are going to get noticed."

 

Biggest challenge: "I was inspired a few weeks ago by meeting Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. What I took away from the meeting was a mandate he set for the company where each person was tasked to spend a significant portion of his or her work week on projects that are not designed to go live for approximately four years. I asked myself how, as radio professionals, we could possibly think that far ahead and avoid the thousands of small distractions that get in the way of bigger-picture thinking.

 

"Could the radio example be to commit 45 or 60 minutes a week to working on something that's not designed to hit the radio tomorrow, but six months or, God forbid, a year from now? If we did that, and really put time into developing a better product instead of crashing on the emergencies of the moment, would we have better radio stations?"

 

Measuring the success of his programming initiatives: "We made the decision at the beginning of 2005 to dominate major formats that we believed had great upside for solid business. We're actually two days away from the one-year anniversary of the launch of 'Jack' in Los Angeles. That was a decision that was made over a long period of time by this company, and the early success of the 'Jack' stations in Dallas and Los Angeles led us to believe that this was a format that we could launch in many markets.

 

"The same thing was true when we looked at the road map and realized that we had a unique success story with FM Talk that could also be developed and spread into other major markets. These are the first two examples of how we've worked as a cohesive, fast-moving unit, and we expect that level of creation to continue in the new year.

 

"Every situation is different. With 'Free-FM' we set out to dominate FM Talk in as many major markets as we could with an effort that we believe wins big in 18 to 24 months. It takes listeners time to fall in love with brand-new personalities; it's not an overnight thing. Our industry doesn't work that way. A real relationship between a radio station and its audience is something that builds."

 

Integrating radio with new technology: "A slow start has morphed into a very active present where broadcasters are realizing the need to spread exclusive and creative content through as many new pipes and pathways as we can find. There's a need to figure out ways to be both Christopher Columbus and Donald Trump when it comes to new technology. That goes back to the necessity of devoting a portion of your daily work life to building new pipes and pathways for consumers.

 

"We've put a tremendous amount of investment into new technology, and we have over 70 stations streaming online after a very rapid rollout, including KROQ/Los Angeles. We've made a significant contribution of both time and money to build these new paths."

 

 

State of radio: "We're at a very creative time. You can sense a hunger from listeners, advertisers and the industry itself to embrace new ideas and co-create change. It's a very charged-up time for creative and smart businesspeople to be in this industry."

 

Career highlight: "I've done a lot of different things in my work life, and I would say without a doubt that this job is the most exciting, challenging and stimulating job I've ever had. I'm very fortunate to have this position at this particular time."

 

Career disappointment: "I was heading up a startup company that made a run at a very exciting technology, media and music play that seemed like the key to wonders, riches and unending success. Unfortunately, like many startup companies, we ran out of cash."

 

Favorite radio format: "FM Talk."

 

Favorite television show: "My all-time favorite show was a tremendous creative experience called Rotten TV, with Johnny Rotten."

 

Favorite artist: "Definitely Bruce Springsteen."

 

Favorite movie: "Wings of Desire."

 

Favorite restaurant: "A little family Italian joint in Hoboken, NJ called Leo's."

 

Beverage of choice: "I'm a Diet Coke guy."

 

Hobbies: "Collecting music, movies and hiking."

 

E-mail address: "rob.barnett@cbsradio.com."

 

Advice for broadcasters: "I would constantly reinforce these three ideas: respect the past, embrace change and co-create the future. We held a programming conference at the tail end of 2005 and themed the conference with a three-word phrase that I grabbed from a former co-worker: Best ideas win. We try to constantly reinforce the need for our programmers to invent and execute."