Episode 183
What Utah Radio Can Teach Us All | Guest: McCall Taylor, Utah's 94.5 VFX
This time we head west where McCall Taylor, radio show host for Utah's 94.5 VFX, breaks the misconception of radio's decline and explores its transition into a new era across various platforms. McCall's genuine commitment to community-building shines as she encourages listeners to fearlessly express themselves online. Engaging with her audience through Q&A, personal growth advice, and relatable stories, McCall creates an inclusive podcast community. By incorporating feedback and sharing valuable resources, she fosters a strong bond with her listeners. Join McCall on this empowering journey of connection and self-discovery as she challenges traditional radio norms and embraces the limitless possibilities of storytelling in the digital age.
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Transcript
Well, one day the secretary of the radio station came in to deposit a check
McCall:and I said, Hey, how do I get a job there?
McCall:She said, come in, talk to the boss and we'll see what we can do.
McCall:So I came in, talked to the boss.
McCall:I interned for about a month or so, and then the afternoon guy went to jail.
McCall:So I got his job.
Kipper:So whoa, whoa, whoa.
Kipper:Went to jail.
Kipper:Went to jail.
VO:Welcome to BRANDwidth On Demand, your Guide to Rebooting Radio.
McCall:I mean, I wish I knew how.
McCall:Radio was going to adapt into the social media climate of things because
McCall:I know there's some radio stations that are adapting and there's a lot
McCall:who still have denied, denied, denied that it's coming, that there's this.
McCall:Transition period that's happening right now.
VO:BRANDwidth On Demand, rebooting radio with a different take on all radio can be.
VO:Now your guides through the Mediamorphosis, David Martin and
VO:author of the book, BRANDwidth Media Branding, coach Kipper McGee.
Dave:This time we had to Utah, where today's guest was born and raised.
Dave:She grew up dreaming of being.
Dave:On air because of her passion for music, she got the opportunity to
Dave:chase her crazy radio dream and join the morning show on Utah's 94 5 vfx.
Dave:The first incarnation of her show was formerly known as AJ and McCall.
Dave:Then after some typical radio changes, the show evolved into a married
Dave:couple, Joey and Warren with McCall.
Dave:She's an adventure seeker, lable things furry, and she sassies all get out.
Dave:As a matter of fact, literally just pumped about life.
Dave:She believes you can achieve anything with hard workers
Dave:termination and a positive attitude.
Dave:And she lives by the motto.
Dave:There will always be people who tell you you can't, which you gotta do in
Dave:that moment is looking right in the eye.
Dave:And say, watch me, BRANDwidth On Demand is proud to welcome McCall Taylor.
Dave:Hey McCall.
Kipper:Hey McCall.
McCall:Hi.
McCall:Thanks for having me.
Kipper:So clearly you have a passion for media.
Kipper:So why don't you tell us a little bit more about how you got that first job at
Kipper:94 7 VFX, you know, kind of just tell us how that happened, how'd it come about?
McCall:Yeah, so I actually started in Vernal, super small town in eastern
McCall:Utah and I was working at a bank, moved in with my boyfriend out there.
McCall:And there was a radio station out there, super eclectic, and I thought,
McCall:you know, I love this radio station.
McCall:I think it would be awesome to work at.
McCall:Well, one day the secretary of the radio station came in to deposit a check and
McCall:I said, Hey, how do I get a job there?
McCall:She said, come in, talk to the boss and we'll see what we can do.
McCall:So I came in, talked to the boss.
McCall:I interned for.
McCall:About a month or so, and then the afternoon guy went to
McCall:jail, so I got his job, so
Kipper:Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Kipper:What time?
Kipper:I went to jail.
Kipper:Went to jail.
McCall:It's a typical radio shenanigan though, right?
Kipper:Oh, he was just playing.
McCall:Yeah.
McCall:Yeah.
McCall:You know?
Kipper:Okay.
Kipper:Maybe we shouldn't ask.
McCall:No, no.
McCall:Anyway, after that, I ended up applying for this position in the morning show
McCall:up at uh, 94 5 VFX in Logan, and just right time, right place type situation,
McCall:fell into the morning show and.
McCall:I've been here for just over five years.
Kipper:So with the show as it is right now, you got a married couple and you,
Kipper:so who does what and how's, how do you divvy up the, uh, workload off air?
McCall:Oh, off air.
McCall:So currently the morning show, it's like a syndicated morning show.
McCall:So I'm doing a lot of the segueing of the on air and then the updates
McCall:of the news, the weather, just local information, traffic and all of that.
McCall:And then, Outside of that, just prepping my own shows.
Kipper:Okay.
Kipper:Does Joey and Lauren are like all the Cash stations or is it running
Kipper:on a full network or what's the deal?
McCall:So they're on in Boise right now, and then we're one of the first
McCall:stations to pick up their morning show.
Kipper:Interesting.
Kipper:Okay.
Dave:Being in a smaller but really important market.
Dave:Mm-hmm.
Dave:The company you work for, Cash Valley Media Group has a number of radio brands
Dave:along with a publishing, the award-winning best of Northern Utah Magazine and a lot
Dave:of clusters, people wear multiple hats.
Dave:What other duties do you have besides the morning show there?
McCall:So I'm on the night show as well, six to 10:00 PM and that started back
McCall:in February and then, Outside of that, I help with some of the social media stuff.
McCall:We've created a new page to try and highlight some of the local things.
McCall:What's up?
McCall:It's called What's Up Cash Valley.
McCall:Just whatever's going on within like the Cash Valley area and
McCall:the vicinity, just to try and.
McCall:Gotta get our hands into everything because obviously
McCall:radio is such a powerhouse.
McCall:But I think it's really important to also let people on the internet remember
McCall:that radios can be a powerhouse.
Kipper:So McCall radio is really an industry going through some
Kipper:big changes, as we all know.
Kipper:So the question is how do you navigate shifting the concept and
Kipper:casting of the V M X Morning show?
Kipper:How, how do you get through all of that?
Kipper:And what advice might you give to others who find themselves
Kipper:in a similar situation?
McCall:Well, I think that radio as a whole, obviously the conversation
McCall:people always say is radio's dying.
McCall:Radio's not really dying.
McCall:We're just kind of transcending into a new era, you know?
McCall:Uh, storytelling has always been around.
McCall:We've been telling stories from the time that we figured out how to
McCall:write on cave walls, and now we're in this area of, well, how do we now?
McCall:Translate our on-air bits to social media or to our websites.
McCall:And it's the same kind of thing.
McCall:It's just storytelling on a different platform.
McCall:And so I think, uh, not being afraid of getting out there and actually,
McCall:and making a fool of yourself on the internet, I think is just my biggest
McCall:piece of advice as far as that goes, to transcend everything else because like,
McCall:we obviously know how important radio is.
McCall:We know how important it is to help impact the lives of other people.
McCall:And it's like, we can do it.
McCall:Anywhere now.
McCall:Oh,
Dave:McCall is streaming and podcasting.
Dave:You know, it's pretty easy to check out what other shows and other
Dave:markets are doing or even podcasts.
Dave:What are some of the ones that you like to sample and what makes,
Dave:uh, them one of your favorite?
Dave:A station, a show, or a podcast?
McCall:Um, I really enjoy the Miguel and Holly Show.
McCall:I love them.
McCall:I love that their whole focus is positivity and uplift.
McCall:I also really like Frankie and Jess in Salt Lake.
McCall:I've been listening to them since I was young, and so I like listening to them
McCall:because they've created this like family.
McCall:I think the, the family type.
McCall:Aspect of some of these different radio stations and morning shows
McCall:and podcasts is what I really enjoy.
McCall:Cool.
Kipper:So getting back to VFX, I noticed the station does a lot of cool promotional
Kipper:stuff and events and all over the place.
Kipper:Can you give us an example of something that was a big hit with
Kipper:the audience and what made it great?
McCall:Um, some of the things that we've done in the past, we've created a.
McCall:We call it the back to school tour.
McCall:And so we had a high school that got started and opened about five years
McCall:ago in the Valley and they thought, you know, it would be cool to have
McCall:the morning show come bring donuts or whatever and celebrate this opening
McCall:of this new high school, cuz there was kind of some pushback with it.
McCall:Anyway, we have done this for about four years now and we have gone to
McCall:each of the high schools in the valley.
McCall:There's five of them in the valley.
McCall:And then we've kind of extended outside into some of the other listening areas.
McCall:So I know at one point we did 10 high schools or 11 high schools in the span
McCall:of two weeks, basically going to each one of the high schools, welcoming
McCall:back to school, giving 'em donuts.
McCall:We did a spirit competition, and that one's been really impactful, I think,
McCall:because there's a lot of kids I know.
McCall:For me growing up, I loved listening to the radio.
McCall:I always wanted to meet the jocks that were working, but.
McCall:We weren't ever in the area where the jocks were broadcasting live.
McCall:So to have that extra step is really cool.
McCall:Cause I grew up in this area.
McCall:I grew up about 20 minutes outside of Logan.
McCall:Mm-hmm.
McCall:And so to, to be able to actually do that and kind of raise up the community that I
McCall:lived in is what is directly to my soul.
Dave:Do you have folks that you grew up with, McCall that listen to you now?
McCall:Yeah, it's kind of interesting cuz it's always like the people
McCall:that I went to high school with that didn't want anything to do with
McCall:me, and then they're like, oh hey,
Kipper:you're best friends now.
Kipper:That's right.
Kipper:Yeah.
Kipper:They want those, those concert tickets.
McCall:Yeah, all the time.
McCall:All the time.
McCall:But.
McCall:No, there's, there's other ones that I went to high school with
McCall:that have been really supportive the entire time, so that's great.
McCall:Uhhuh,
Dave:We are with McCall Taylor from Utah's ninety four five, VFX,
Dave:somebody you'd love to hear from.
Dave:We'd love to hear your suggestions.
Dave:Email us show@brandwidthondemand.com.
Kipper:And, we'd love to hear your thoughts.
Kipper:Plus you'll pick up some other stuff too.
Kipper:By checking out BRANDwidth Plus, that's BRANDwidth . P L U S.
Kipper:It's on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and uh, we hope and we
Kipper:look forward to seeing you there.
Dave:Coming up McCall shares the one thing she knows now.
Dave:She really wishes she knew way back when.
VO:Hi, it's Gary Berkowitz AC programming consultant at Berkowitz
VO:Broadcast Consulting in Detroit.
VO:Hi, this is Jake Neman with 96 7 Cran.
VO:Hi, this is Dave Tyler from Music Master with even more raving fans.
VO:Did someone say Music Master raving fan?
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VO:They're always there and willing to help.
VO:They save me every time I'm a major fan.
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VO:Hey, it's Hannah B.
VO:Associate producer of the BRANDwidth podcast and a huge
VO:fan of Morning Show Boot Camp.
VO:This will be my third year in a row attending bootcamp,
VO:and it's truly the best.
VO:Experience.
VO:Kipper encouraged me to attend Boot Camp when I was looking
VO:to get my foot in the door.
VO:I took his word and ended up attending my first morning show bootcamp back in
VO:August of 2021, and just a few weeks later, I was offered my first on air gig.
VO:We all know networking is huge in this industry.
VO:Right, and that's why Boot Camp is simply the best.
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VO:Volkman on three stations.
VO:I'm so incredibly grateful for everything Morning Show Boot
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VO:Anthony, Chris Cruz, Sean Tempesta, Mike McVey plus so much more.
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VO:The stuff we know now.
VO:We wish we'd known then.
VO:BRANDwidth On Demand
VO:. Dave: We're with McCall Taylor.
VO:Hey McCall.
VO:Thinking about your career so far, what's the one thing you know
VO:now that you really wish you'd known way back when you started?
McCall:It's a tough question.
McCall:It's a doozy.
McCall:I think radio in general has this kind of a preconceived notion that.
McCall:People in the industry are out to get each other.
McCall:And I think when I first started out in radio, that was what I thought was that
McCall:the company down the street was the enemy.
McCall:They were the worst people that ever existed.
McCall:All of that chicanery and you know, when it comes down to ratings and
McCall:stuff, I guess I get it, but at the end of the day, the people that I've
McCall:reached out to and have been able to reach out to have been so supportive
McCall:and they're such a beautiful.
McCall:Just a beautiful nature around radio because there, there's something
McCall:about being in a room of people who are passionate about the same
McCall:thing that you're passionate about.
McCall:That's just magic.
McCall:And so many people just wanna see other people succeed within the industry.
McCall:And I, I wish I had known that before.
Kipper:Following up on that, what do you wish you knew today about what's
Kipper:gonna be the case in 10 or 15 years?
McCall:Oh man.
McCall:I mean, I, I wish I knew how.
McCall:Radio was going to adapt into the social media climate of things because I know
McCall:there's some radio stations that are adapting and there's a lot who still have.
McCall:Denied.
McCall:Denied.
McCall:Denied that it's coming, that there's this transition period that's happening
McCall:right now, and I wish I knew how that was all gonna play out because I
McCall:think I would end up making decisions based on that for my own career.
Dave:Terrific talent.
Dave:Kipper...
Dave:McCall Taylor from Utah's 94.5 VFX.
Dave:We've got links to McCall's Station, some of their great promotions and more.
Dave:All in the show notes.
Dave:Just scroll down on your phone.
Kipper:As always, our thanks to exec producer Cindy Huber for putting all the
Kipper:magic together and to associate producer Hannah B for booking and coming up next.
VO:Hey, this is Scotty Kay from US 99 Chicago, and on the next BRANDwidth On
VO:Demand, I wanna talk to you about how you can make a one man show sound like
VO:and be as successful as the big shows.
Dave:That's a wrap Kipper.
Dave:What can we learn from the State Fair?
Dave:You'd be surprised.
Dave:It's all in One Minute Martinizing in the show notes@BRANDwidthOnDemand.com.
Dave:I'm Dave Martin.
Kipper:And I'm Kipper McGee.