Media is obviously a people-business. Personalities on-air, on-line and in social media create content that attracts audiences.
But many more people are involved in our daily operations than just the voices you hear, the faces you see or the authors you read. Without these behind-the-scenes roles, sponsorship fulfillment to our audiences wouldn’t happen.
Today, Radio Indiana introduces you to Bob Richards, vice president of programming at Emmis Communications
Bob Richards. He is a home grown Hoosier. He attended Bishop Chatard high school and then studied at Ball State University. Bob Richards got his start in the restaurant business, not in radio. Bob was in the restaurant business for ten years before deciding radio was his calling. Bob started out part time as an on air personality in New Castle, IN. Bob Richards has been with Emmis Communications now for 9 years.
If you had to explain what your day-to-day job entailed, how would you do so?
Bob: The two main aspects of my job are building and leading a team. After building and leading that team, we go out and achieve the goals that we have set out to achieve. There is a lot of different things that go into that. It is about the people. It’s about the people you have on your team and the passion and drive in what they want to succeed in. You bring together the right group of people with the right skills and talents and you can accomplish some pretty crazy things.
What has seemed to always stay the same from a marketing standpoint in radio, and what aspects have changed?
Bob: I think what has remained the same is we want to act on behalf of our clients to get their message to a large group of people. We have a lot of different ways of doing this. But how we do it has changed incredibly and will continue to change. It is finding out what our clients’ needs are and we go from there. We create products and have compelling personalities that help carry that message.
How beneficial has Emmis Communications been, in regard to giving you all the assets that you need?
Bob: It starts at the top of any organization, and if you look at the top of Emmis Communications that’s Jeff Smulyan. He is someone who has a passion to succeed and has a passion for radio, whatever that version of radio might be. Jeff is constantly thinking forward in what we need to do in radio now and what we need to do in radio 20 years from now to keep moving forward. Along with that it’s providing the support and counsel and the tools that we need to customize what we do to serve our market and be successful.
