“Personalities INSIDE RADIO”

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It’s big news if Gary Berkowitz isn’t flashing his trademark ear-to-ear smile.

In addition to being one of the industry’s foremost consultants, Emerson College/Boston-educated Berkowitz is one of our medium’s most ebullient ambassadors.

That non-stop enthusiasm stems not only from a genuine passion for the business – but much more importantly for the people who’ve shaped it.

Momentous Trip
A young Berkowitz would passionately listen to his analog GE clock radio at night in his Long Island bedroom. “I’d very slowly tune up so I could hear stations from far away; it blew me away,” he recounts with great animation. “I’d listen to WOWO/Fort Wayne clear as a bell. I thought it was a great station. They had cool [personalities] and TM’s Phase Two jingle package. I asked my mother to show my where Fort Wayne was on a map and [when I saw it], I told her it couldn’t be that little city.”

When Berkowitz was 11 years old, his father took him to Times Square, where Top 40 WMGM air talent Peter Tripp was in the middle of a Sunday remote. “As I watched him, I told my father that was what I wanted to do,” Berkowitz remarks of the early-1960s incident. “I was very much into music and played drums and was really smitten by this radio thing. It was just so fascinating to me how it all happened.”

Legendary WABC ruled New York City’s contemporary radio roost, but always had challengers like WWDJ, which featured the late Bwana Johnny. “I always thought it was a pretty cool station, but it was in Hackensack [NJ] and had a bad signal,” explains Berkowitz. “They didn’t have a prayer, but when they first came on, I thought it was really cool. I was one of the first people to really get into WOR-FM, one of the first Top 40s on FM. I grew up in a very exciting radio time.”

Data Sharing
Several of his Emerson buddies were working part-time for the Norman & Scott Knight-owned chain of New England area stations. The closest one to Boston was in Worcester, 40 miles west of The Hub. “There were many AM-only stations back then,” Berkowitz notes. “I went to work for Knight Quality as a part-timer [under the name Dave Gary at WEIM-AM/Fitchburg, MA] and they began using me at [Fall River, MA’s] WSAR. I very quickly learned about this thing called [WPRO/Providence] and thought that’s where I needed to be. Jay Clark, who is now Sirius’ VP/Programming, was the PD there. I called one day and asked to be his intern. I hung around long enough and the next thing I knew I was working on the air part-time.”

In contrast to ascending the programming ranks through a series of small-to-medium market moves, Berkowitz fashioned an exemplary pre-consultant programming career that began in Providence - at WPRO. “I look back at it now and think I was very lucky with how that happened,” concedes Berkowitz, who later programmed WJR & WHYT/Detroit and RKO’s WROR/Boston. “Of course, it was beyond a different world then. [My programming career] certainly had its highs and lows, but more highs than lows. When you’re the PD of WJR, you’re the king of the world. Your phone calls are returned [instantly]. You could see the effect WJR had whenever it did something. I’d get goose bumps at times. It was such a rush for me.”

During a recent client visit, Berkowitz gathered with all the cluster’s programmers in the conference room and noticed one PD kept giving him “a look” throughout the meeting. “When the meeting ended, he sheepishly walked over and introduced himself,” Berkowitz remarks. “It turns out he’s from Rhode Island and listened to me when he was growing up. He said he’s in the business because of what we did at WPRO. For me to hear that was just great. I always try to learn something from everyone I come in contact with [and am also] a big believer in sharing my knowledge.”

Family Wise Guy
One perk of fronting Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting is that its President can obviously enjoy the luxury of operating the business from wherever he chooses, and he happily does so from suburban (West Bloomfield) Detroit. “I was let go from WROR in November 1983 as part of an executive housecleaning,” he recounts. “I was living in a beautiful home in Marblehead [MA] and called CapCities President Jim Arcara, who was annoyed at me that I left Providence to begin with, and asked if he could help. Guys at CapCities like Warren Potash, Dick Rakovan and Jim Arcara were my radio family. They took this wise-guy kid who thought he knew everything and whipped me into shape.” The goal for Berkowitz at the time was to return to WPRO, but since Assistant PD Tom Cuddy (now WPLJ/New York’s VP/Programming) had been elevated to PD, Providence wasn’t an option for him.

There was an opening, however, at WHYT/Detroit. “Quite frankly, I needed a job,” Berkowitz comments, breaking out that big smile. “I liked everything about it and it was a company I was comfortable with. My wife was very depressed because we always wanted to live in Boston and that was coming to an end. We never [exactly] viewed Detroit as the garden spot of America. I thought if we really hated it, we could always go somewhere else. Virtually from the time we moved here, we loved everything about it. We’re in the same house we bought in 1984. I came here with one child and there are now three. It’s definitely our home and this is where we’re going to live.”

Impulsive Decision
Someone who always pushes himself to do more, Berkowitz nearly 16 years ago decided it was time to go out on his own. “Looking back, I was probably a little frustrated and burned out,” he opines. “I was looked upon as a programming guy and felt none of the companies I worked for would make me the GM. They basically told me that. I studied every angle of a radio station and figured I could run the whole place. That’s me – I’m always looking for the next step.”

In this case, that meant establishing a consultancy. “It was pretty obvious that my strength was programming,” Berkowitz observes. “Other consultants set up the models and I thought, ‘Hey I could do that’ and maybe even better.”

At the time, his wife was pregnant with the couple’s third child and Berkowitz told her he was going to quit his job the next day and start his own business. “That’s actually how it came down,” he points out. “The worst that could have happened was that it didn’t work and I’d have to get another programming job. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad, but I have a very [impulsive] personality.”

None other than legendary programmer/consultant Paul Drew is the source for the prototype of the consulting contract Berkowitz uses to this day. “I still have the copy he sent me from a Xerox machine,” Berkowitz states. “You can see where he [crossed out] the numbers. I wish he didn’t, because I would like to see what he was getting back then.”

Format-Exclusive Consultant
Unique about Berkowitz’s consultancy is that he purposefully limits his clients to one format – Adult Contemporary.

Input about being a specialist came from former Research Group CEO Bill Moyes, who was very instrumental in helping Berkowitz start his business. “He was my researcher at WPRO and in Boston, and I also used Bill in Detroit. Forget about radio - he’s one of the smartest guys in the world and I’m fortunate he’s my friend.”

The now-President of Colorado Springs-based Moyes Research, in fact, came up with Berkowitz’s marketing line, “I specialize in one thing – improving 25-54 ratings for AC radio stations.” He advised the then budding consultant he shouldn’t try to be all things to all people. “I looked at all the formats and asked myself which one I would be most comfortable doing,” Berkowitz states. “It was 1989 and AC was on a very strong path and I felt that’s where I wanted to be. I also felt that - no matter what – Adult Contemporary would be a format that would be around for a long time.”

The Adult Contemporary music that today’s 25-54s use to relax with may be a little different from that of 15 years ago, but Berkowitz notes, “No one would have believed Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ would be an AC staple – but it is. The music has certainly changed, but AC listeners still use [the format] as a relaxing and unwinding tool; usage definitely takes away the stress.”

A recent major development has been the proliferation of ACs jettisoning regular programming in favor of wall-to-wall Christmas music between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “It’s a very critical position for an AC station to own and I wish I was the guy who thought of it,” Berkowitz jests. “I totally get it and I’m a big advocate of it. When my clients ask what I think of it, I just tell them to do it. Don’t even think a quarter of a second about it. It’s a total winner.”

End Of An Era
Many stations, including one Berkowitz was particularly partial to, made permanent flips in 2005 to “Play Anything” Adult Hit formats. “To a degree, [CBS Radio’s WCBS-FM – formerly Oldies and now ‘Jack-FM’] was my hometown station and I was sad to see it go. They played the music I grew up with.”

Former WCBS-FM morning personality – and onetime WMCA “Good Guy” - Harry Harrison has developed a friendship with Berkowitz over the years. “To this day, I can’t believe I have a chance to talk with him,” Berkowitz concedes. “He’s great because he always wants me to do an impression of him. I give [CBS Radio] a lot of credit for identifying Jack and putting it on [several] of their stations. We have a ‘Doug’ in Detroit [ABC’s WDRQ] and it has an interesting music mix. Radio has always been a business that’s driven by youth. It’s been a young medium for a long time. It always has and always will be.”

Watching WCBS-FM evolve to Jack was one thing, but Berkowitz was even more adversely affected when WABC transitioned from Top 40 to Talk many years earlier. “I’ll never forget talking about the consulting business [with WABC’s renowned PD - the late Rick Sklar] over dinner at a beautiful table at Jimmy’s Harborside Restaurant/Boston,” Berkowitz fondly recounts. “The important thing is I can look back and say Rick Sklar was my friend.”

Can You Hear Me Now?
Terrestrial radio, he cautions, has a lot to “worry” about from many new technologies that are “popping up” all the time.

An occasional satellite radio listener, Berkowitz doesn’t have a receiver in his car, but gets XM through AOL. “If terrestrial radio doesn’t play what I want to hear, I can get it at The Sixties On Six. We have more choices today than ever. Twenty years ago, you bought a pair of jeans. Now, there are 1,000 different kinds. As each day passes, radio faces more competition. I’ve been known to tell many of my clients that our competition isn’t other radio stations; newspaper; cable; or satellite. When I’m stuck in traffic, I look around and see everyone is on a cell phone. When that’s the case, they’re not listening to the radio.”

Enjoying The Rush
Reluctant to reveal the exact number of AC stations he advises, Berkowitz will only say it’s a “very comfortable group.” Service and personal attention has always been his mantra. “I don’t have any associates - it’s all me,” he explains. “When you hire me, you get me.” A company structured without partners or associates can produce advantages, as well as some drawbacks. “If you have other people, you can have more stations and more business,” Berkowitz reasons. “I’ve often thought of that over the years, but I like it the way it is and don’t want to mess with something that’s working. Not many stations I consult would [welcome] a call from me saying I just hired a new guy to work with them.”

Many Berkowitz clients are long-tenured. WEBE/Bridgeport, CT was one of the first stations on his roster. “Unfortunately, they were sold to Cumulus, which doesn’t use consultants. I’ve always felt it’s easier to keep a client than get a new one [so] I work overtime on the guys I have.”

That entails an ambitious travel agenda that’s seen Berkowitz amass a five million-mile platinum status with Northwest Airlines. “One thing I hate about [traveling] is that I’m away from home so often and have missed many parents/teachers nights over the years,” he laments. “I wish we had Jetsons technology, so I could get in a bubble at night, go home and get zapped back the next day. I love the clients I work with and love being with them. The rush comes when I’m at a station. That’s the laboratory where we make it all happen. When you’re doing four cities in five days, you can come home pretty edgy, especially after the fourth week. But I know it’s coming, so I deal with it.”

Mister Freeze
The rigorous schedule Berkowitz adheres to would dampen the spirits of many others, but his outlook is always cheery. “I’d be very happy if I could freeze things the way they are right now,” he declares. “I love the business and know it pretty well. [But] if it all fell apart tomorrow, I think I’d be equally as happy to go back to a station. I’d be better than I was 15 years ago because I’ve learned so much about business. I started young, have a lot of juice left in me and have never looked back.”

WHO: Gary Berkowitz
WHAT: President
WHERE: Detroit-based Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting

Back to http://www.garyberk.com