Beyond The Mic: Meet The New Indy GM

Getting To Know People Who Make Our Advertising Happen – With Chuck Williams

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 the Sr. Vice President-Market Manager for Emmis Communication’s Indianapolis office, Chuck Williams.

Chuck has been in media advertising his whole career, and joined the Emmis family in August of 2016, after spending the past eleven years in the market with Radio One. Prior to his move back to Indiana, Chuck spent nearly 25 years in Chicago. He and his wife have three children, two daughters and a son, which brought a smile to his face when asked about them.    

Chuck’s passion for radio and where it is headed, because of the tools and talent within Emmis, could not be contained when I had a chance to speak with him about his time here so far. 

What has seemed to always stay the same from a marketing standpoint in radio, and what aspects have changed?

Chuck: Our focus in this industry is on clients, creativity and people. That is something that hasn’t changed, and will never change. The content, the creativity and caring for client success is what drives everything. The basic principles of caring has not changed.

What has changed immensely is the number of products, the number of ways to get to a product, and the number of ways that people absorb media and what (radio) has to do to stay involved with that…which is why we at Emmis have such a heavy commitment to digital marketing and NextRadio.

As other forms of media seem to suffer, why does the digital platform help keep radio constantly moving forward?

Chuck: It fits us…it fits us! Radio, being the audio medium -and putting the video piece together with it- and the fact that the audience comes to us because of a relationship they have with our content, personalities, and radio station. There is a reason they come to us, so our job is to roll everything into one, which includes digital media too. I think radio is in a good spot.

Now that you have been with the company for over half a year, how do you view Emmis Communications and your relationships within the building?

Chuck: A great group of truly professional and talent people who are willing to invest in the future, willing to make investments that bring the best services to clients and best products to our listeners, the consumers. This is a forward leaning and forward looking company. Emmis is loaded with professionals who have been here for a long time…people that have been icons within the market and are just really, really good at what they do.