At Jacobs Media and in this blog, we often talk about the importance of radio personalities making that emotional connection with listeners. No one on the air embodies that concept better than Delilah. When it comes to turning the spotlight on her audience and truly listening to their rainbow emotions, Delilah has ruled the nighttime airwaves for nearly two decades. How has she pulled it off?
Now that we’re more than a year into our “Radio’s Most Innovative” initiative, it’s become apparent that for a new innovation to succeed, perseverance and belief in an idea is often every bit as important as the concept itself. The success of Delilah’s nationally syndicated night show on Premiere Networks is a great example of faith and effort. Like the late host of Pillow Talk, Alan Almond, Delilah has proved that the evening hours are the perfect time for personality radio, giving the audience emotional rewards with music, talk, and atmosphere.
After having initial ratings success hosting a highly listener-interactive night show focused on requests and dedications from audience members, it still took more than a decade to convince anyone the concept could work on a national platform. But Delilah stuck with her dream and eventually got her shot.
Today, she is heard weeknights on more than 150 stations, making her the most listened to woman on radio in the U.S. The show combines Delilah’s life experiences and her encouraging words with the listener’s own stories to create a compelling and positive radio experience. This week in “Radio’s Most Innovative,” Delilah talks about the path that led her to where she is today, and the insights she shares about her successful radio journey.
JM: Tell us how your show came about.
D: For the first 10 years of my career, I worked at Rock, Country, and Jazz stations, and was even an airborne traffic reporter. In 1984, I started “Lights Out” on KLSY 92.5 FM in Seattle. I took the show from #13 to #1 in just two books, but I knew it could be bigger.
JM: How did you get from there to national syndication?
D: I didn’t think I could do it from Seattle, so I left and went to Boston, and then Philadelphia, and then back to Boston in an attempt to get syndicated. Everyone thought the success in Seattle was a fluke, but I refused to give up. I always knew the program would be successful outside of Seattle. No matter where you live, we have similar experiences and emotions – love and happiness, heartache and disappointment. It’s the human experience.
In 1996, Ken Spitzer and Mike McVay believed in me and took a chance. Mike added the show on three stations, and Ken helped get me a studio and paid for the satellite uplink and phone lines. We proved ourselves after about 10 months of really hard work, and then Ken started shopping the show to additional stations.
JM: Has the level of audience interaction always been a major part of the show or did that grow over time?
D: It’s actually because of my audience interaction that I decided to do this particular show over 31 years ago. I had such a wonderful relationship with my listeners and they would tell me amazing stories on the request lines while I was on the air. I asked my program director at the time, Chris Mays, if I could record their stories and incorporate them on the air. From the first week or two that I started doing this style of show, the phone lines went crazy and the letters started pouring in. Not just one or two letters, but dozens every week. Remember, back in 1984 when the show was born, we didn’t have social media, so all the letters were hand written and I answered each one.
JM: What are the biggest obstacles you’ve had to overcome over the years with the show and how did you handle them?
D: In the beginning, the biggest challenge was selling the idea that an AC show could win at night. I was told that no one would listen because they were home watching TV, but I kept asking for a chance to prove it could work. Luckily for me, it did!
Today, the biggest challenge is balancing the radio show, my family and all their activities, and my work with Point Hope. Sometimes it’s hard to find time for it all, but I feel so blessed to live the life I’ve always wanted, and to be surrounded by an incredible family and wonderful friends.
JM: What is Point Hope and does it play a role in your show?
D: When I started Point Hope, it was just a handful of friends gathered around my kitchen table making hundreds of tuna fish sandwiches for hungry families in my home town. With the help of my generous listeners and supporters, it has grown into a non-profit organization that helps West African refugees in Buduburam and the surrounding district, including 30,000 Ghanaian residents. Now in its 11th year, Point Hope has provided tens of thousands of individuals with quality service and critical care, including medicine, food, essential supplies, funds for education, and fresh water.
JM: What innovations have you incorporated over the years to keep the show fresh and vital?
D: Technology has changed everything. I no longer record calls on a TEAC and edit with a grease pencil. Now I can take a 15-minute call, edit it down to the vital two or three minutes of great content, and turn it around and have it on the air within a few minutes. That would have taken me an hour when this show began. It’s also easy to locate songs and lyrics with the Internet.
JM: Since you started your show, social media, email and texting have come into play, connecting personalities with listeners. How do you maximize the opportunity they provide?
D: Social media makes getting great content as simple as posting a quick message about falling in love under the falling leaves, and seeing what the response is. Facebook is my main focus, but we also have a presence on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. It’s a lot of tonnage to keep up with, but I love staying connected to my wonderful listeners.
Facebook has become a wonderful tool to keep me connected to my audience on another level, too. I watch the insights and trends with almost every post I put up, and I read the comments so I have a pretty good awareness of what people are thinking and feeling.
JM: How else do you stay in touch with your audience – research, email, what?
D: I talk to my listeners on and off the air every single day along with reading their social media responses. My producer, Janey, and I also track ratings in each of our markets and we utilize as much research as we can to produce the best show every day.
JM: Many in radio have given up on night time programming. Tell them what they’re missing?
D: They are missing millions of potential listeners who are in a totally different frame of mind than they are during other day parts! Evening listeners are winding down from their busy day where many different factions are vying for their attention. At night, they are more apt to listen in an engaged, focused manner instead of for a few minutes at a time. They not only listen, but they also respond to the messages I share.
JM: More radio stations than ever before are using syndicated programming. Aside from the impact it’s had on your show, do you see this trend as good or bad for the industry?
D: I think it’s a great time to be in radio when stations have so many incredible options to connect with their audience. Whether you’re a local talent or national personality, the focus should always be on providing listeners with compelling, engaging and entertaining programming that strikes an emotional cord.
JM: Is there a radio personality you’ve encountered whose show is particularly innovative or interesting to you?
D: Bill Barrett in Eugene, Oregon, was brilliant when I lived in the area and could enjoy his program. While living in Boston, I enjoyed listening to Loren and Wally, and years later, The T Man in Seattle was another favorite. Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion is a program I still enjoy.
JM: Of all the listeners you’ve talked to or interacted with over the years, are there a couple of stories that stand out from the rest?
D: The boy who fell from the sky – Levi Cave.
Levi called into my show to share an amazing story of how he jumped from a plane and his parachute failed to open. He managed to open it partially, but not fully, and Levi slammed into the earth. Thankfully, he survived and was not crippled or paralyzed. After a few months, he was able to walk, and he called my show to share his miraculous story. He said that as he was falling, he envisioned his children in his mind and prayed to God to let him live to raise them.
Several years later, I ordered Internet to be installed at my farm, which is in a tiny community. The young man who came to install the Internet service asked my broadcast engineer if he could meet me. He said he had called me a few years previously to share his miraculous story, and standing on my front porch was… Levi Cave!
JM: What advice would you have for a young radio talent who has the dream of carving out a national footprint like you have?
D: Be true to yourself and stay the course. It takes a lot of energy and commitment to succeed in this business, and it doesn’t hurt to be a little stubborn. If this is your dream, keep at it and don’t ever give up.
Thanks to Mike Stern for writing this week’s “Radio’s Most Innovative.”
INNOVATION QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Entrepreneurs fail most often by not understanding the four-letter word W-O-R-K.”
Gail Ayers, CEO, Commercial Real Estate Women Network (CREW Network)
More of Radio’s Most Innovative
- Radio’s Most Innovative: Coca-Cola’s First Taste Fridays
- Radio’s Most Innovative: Norm Pattiz/PodcastOne
- Radio's Most Innovative: WTOP Digital
- Radio’s Most Innovative: The Elvis TV Casting Project
- Radio’s Most Innovative: Emmis’ “Where Hip-Hop Lives” App
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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