Originally published on March 04, 2005

RJ Curtis

KZLA
OM/PD

This week the Country radio and record industries will meet in Nashville to attend the 36th annual Country Radio Seminar, produced by the Country Radio Broadcasters. Overseeing the CRB this year as President is RJ Curtis. Curtis is OM/PD for KZLA/Los Angeles, America's most-listened-to Country station.

Getting into the business: "I was a radio geek. I listened to a lot of radio growing up in L.A. I was also friends with Rick Minyard, whose dad is Ken Minyard. I was fascinated with what he did, and I pointed my sights in that direction. Any time anybody would ask me what I was thinking about doing when I grew up, I said, 'I'm gonna be in radio.'

"I went to college, played football and took all kinds of radio courses. I got a job my first semester at KBIG/Los Angeles, answering the music line. KBIG was a Beautiful Music station, and they hired college kids to sit by the phones. Listeners would call in with questions about the music. I did that for nine or 10 months, and then I got a part-time job in San Bernardino, CA at an AM-FM combo, KDUO & KFXM. I did weekends and then went full-time for close to two years.

"In 1980 I got a part-time job at KZLA two weeks after it had switched to Country. I did weekends for nine months, overnights for two years and evenings for a month. Then Fritz Coleman was hired at KNBC-TV. He had been doing mornings at the time under the name Jay Coleman. I got the morning show in November '82. I did mornings until July '87, when I went to KNIX/Phoenix.

Returning to KZLA: "I was at KNIX for six years and then was hired back to KZLA by Bill Mayne in February '93. I programmed the station to the end of '95. The station was sold to Chancellor, and everybody got cleaned out. I spent 10 months in syndication at After Midnight Entertainment. I really wanted to get back into day-to-day radio, and I took a job in San Antonio as OM of KCYY & KKYX. In 2000 I got a call from the KZLA GM at the time, who asked me to come back, and I've been here ever since.

"It's been five years now, and it's gone so quickly. Six months into my third time here, the station changed hands again: Emmis bought it. That's always a very unsettling time. You're worrying about your future and your stability. But it's turned out to be great. This is a great company. They're an impressive group of people. They treat their people well.

"The first time I met [Emmis Radio President] Rick Cummings, he was describing the company. He said, 'We are really careful about the people we hire. We want to make sure they are right for the job and that they are qualified. And once we decide who we're going to hire, we let them do their job. We ask a lot of people, but we're not assholes about it.' And that's pretty much the way it's been since I've worked for them. They are demanding, and they challenge you every day. It's never status quo. It has helped me become a better programmer, a better thinker and a better manager."

His involvement with the Country Radio Broadcasters: "I was brought to the CRS the first time in '85, by Bill Mayne. I had no idea what it was, and I hung around him for three days. I went every year after that and got more involved. I got involved with the Agenda Committee in 1998, and I was elected to the board in '99. After I served a year Ed Salamon asked me to become a member of the Executive Committee, and then I ran for re-election. I was elected, and then last year I ran for President."

Why it's important to attend the CRS: "It's the most unique conference out there. It's a great place to make business contacts and friendships that can last your entire career. The radio and the record industries get together every year to address the problems, challenges and issues. They sit down together and try to figure it out, and they are great caretakers of this industry. When the CRS comes around, the radio and record industries use each other's perspectives to help out the greater cause."

Biggest challenge facing the organization: "Right now there's not a lack of willingness to come to the CRS, but there's a lack of budget. It's harder and harder to convince people's management that it's an important tool for their business and that when they attend the CRS, they come home with actual ideas and information.

"We're also seeing radio groups meet around the same time that the CRS is happening, and that grabs the attention of those programmers. Their companies are asking a lot of them in the two or three days before the CRS. Then add in the changing ways that business is being done. We've got to deal with issues such as satellite. Are we going to be the Country Radio Broadcasters or the Country Broadcasters Convention?"

State of radio: "I don't think it's as messed up as people accuse it of being. It's gotten a lot of unfair and undeserved criticism. It's still the most viable form of communication and the best way to reach listeners. It's the most personal medium out there, and people still use it more than any other medium."

State of Country radio: "Right now we should be optimistic. In the last year, if I'm a label, I'm feeling pretty good. They had a 15%-20% increase in sales. They were able to break two new artists on a big level: Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich. If you look at the score card for radio from the fall, it's not great, but some other factors are involved, like the election. Generally speaking, though, I think 2004 was headed in the right direction, and I see some stations gaining momentum and going in the right direction."

Something about the CRB that would surprise our readers: "A lot of people don't know that the CRB is a nonprofit organization. Unlike the CMA and the ACM, we don't have a TV show to anchor our organization. The biggest thing we do all year is the CRS."

Most influential individual: "My parents were very, very influential, because they were very supportive of my pursuing radio. I remember them saying to me, 'If you are really going to do this, you've got to go for it and do the best you can.' My mother still says to me, 'Don't underestimate yourself.' Once I got into the business, the first person who was very influential was Bill Mayne. He was the guy who told me that I wasn't going to be a radio star but that he thought I had some skills that could potentially be helpful for me in the world of programming.

"At some point he kind of handed me off to Larry Daniels, and Larry was tremendously influential. Working directly with him was like receiving a Rhodes Scholarship - it was incredible. A lot of the core beliefs I have and a lot of the things I think are important, I learned from Larry."

Career highlight: "I'm proud that I was able to come back to KZLA not once, but twice. It's a challenging situation in this market, but I think we've done a good job of branding the station and making it a product that people are loyal to and that they rely on. It's consistent, and I'm very proud of the things we do."

Career disappointment: "The most disappointing thing that's ever happened to me was being fired by KZLA. It happened on Pearl Harbor Day: Dec. 7, 1995. A date that, for me, personally, will live in infamy. We were being consistent, we were starting to brand ourselves, and the station changed hands. It was devastating. It was as if I came home tonight and Social Services decided that I had been a horrible parent and took my children. I was literally the first guy in the building. I'd turn the lights on, and, because I was the last guy to leave, I'd turn them off at the end of the day. You put so much of yourself into it. To have that taken away is tough."

Favorite radio format: "Country and Alternative."

Favorite television show: "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Favorite song: "'Reelin' in the Years' by Steely Dan."

Favorite movie: "It's a Wonderful Life."

Favorite book: "I've been fixated on the Founding Fathers. I've read everything about Jefferson, I just finished reading about Alexander Hamilton and His Excellency, George Washington, and now I'm moving on to something about James Madison."

Favorite restaurant: "East Coast Dogs and Deli. It's a little hole in the wall across the street from the station."

Beverage of choice: "Usually, it's water, but if I'm gonna have a drink, a shot of Cuervo 1800 with a Heineken."

E-mail address: "rcurtis@kzla.com"

Hobbies: "My hobbies are pretty much working out. I'm a cycling nut. Also, I swim. I'm doing a lot of cross-training stuff now. I lift two days, swim three and cycle four. And eat seven. It's all to justify my gargantuan appetite."

Advice for broadcasters: "I'm going to paraphrase John Adams, who said, 'The journey is better than the end.' I've always treated my career like a marriage. I decided when I was 18 that I was going to be in radio, and a year into it I decided that I was sticking to it for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. I love the business no matter what it brings, and it brings you a lot of good things and a lot of challenging things.

"My advice is to look at it as a long-term commitment. Stay with it, go to your job every day with enthusiasm, and try to have a good time. As Bill Clarke told me once, if you're not having a good time in this thing, get the hell out, because it's not worth it!