1. Tell us about yourself and how you landed where you are today?

I grew up in Northern Illinois loving music and electronics.  At any given time you might find me playing the piano, saxophone, singing, or messing with old CB’s, consoles, and computer equipment.  It seemed a natural fit to use technology to air the music I enjoy about a God who has already done so much for me.

 

2. What is the most fulfilling aspect to you personally about being in Christian radio?

Without question, lives changed by the power of God.

 

3. Why is the production important to the overall sound of a radio station?

There are two primary ways to increase your audience and ministry effectiveness.

1. Improve your on air quality

2. External Advertising

On Air Production is important because it’s the first of the primary ways to increase both your audience and ministry potential.

In God’s word he says that we are to do our work as unto Him.  Our non-believing listeners are looking for stations that sound great and serve their needs.  With this in mind, is my station setting the standard for production in my market?  Non believing listeners are looking for the best quality… when we earn their trust on quality, God opens the doors for us to also earn their trust with our message of God’s love.  We can teach God’s love, but we must also demonstrate it with professional production and service to our community.

When we do this, our audience will increase giving us greater opportunity to share what it means to follow Jesus.  (Though not the goal… a natural byproduct is that it helps the bottom line of both listener supported and commercial stations.)

 

4. How can using an outside voice for imaging enhance a station’s presentation?

Using an outside voice talent does a number of things, but most importantly it gives you a dynamic, relatable voice that introduces your station to your listeners. 

Another great benefit is that it preserves your morning and afternoon talent and adds variety to your staff.  I mean, come on, how many times do you want your morning guy doing a great job on his or her show only to go to a stop set with their voice in the commercials or promos.

 

5. What would you say to the PD who says they don’t have a budget for imaging?

Quite frankly I’ve been there and that’s why we founded Yours and His Productions. I got tired of waiting up to two weeks for copy that needed to run ASAP.  And I got tired of trying to find someone who didn’t charge $75.00 to $100.00 bucks a page because my station could not afford it.

Now, before I go any farther…I’m not saying that voice talent, myself included, shouldn’t be paid what they're worth. We may be worth more, but that’s not our goal.

At Yours and His Productions our mission is to empower Program Directors with the ability to improve their on air quality. Giving PD’s the opportunity to secure major market talent for liners, copy, and even voice tracks at a price any station can afford.

Best of all, while outside talent makes you sound like you have more staff…you don’t have to pay all the extras of hiring extra staff….401k, insurance, benefits, nothing… you only pay for what you use.

 

6. When choosing a signature voice what should a PD consider?

1. What voice best serves my target listener or life group?

2. Are they too busy with “bigger contracts” to get my copy done when I need it?

3. Will my boss laugh me out of the office when he sees the price.

 

7. How can an outside production person assist the sales staff?

We work directly with your marketing department to have spots completed to both you and your client’s satisfaction… usually by the end of business that day… guaranteed in 24 hours or it’s free. The sales staff can sell with confidence knowing they can trust Yours and His Productions for great work done fast AND it won’t cost their clients an arm and a leg in additional talent/production fees.

I asked the Marketing Director at GoForth Media, Charlie Smith, about this and here’s what he had to add…

It is a pleasure to work with "Yours and His Productions".  We have one non-com and 2 commercial stations and we use Yours and His Productions  for most of our spots. The prices are good and the quality is great.  Brent has the ability to add an inflection in speech that sets off a line or sentence just the way I envision it when It's being written, and many times those little changes or voice inflection really sets out the spot. Many thanks for what you do. Charlie Smith Marketing Dir.   Goforth Media Inc.Mobile, AL

 

8. From the technical side what does a station need to get services such as yours?

Not much. 

We receive copy by email or snail mail. We email the finished 44.1 mp3 or wav file back in a matter of minutes to a few hours. For the cost of postage, we’re happy to burn it to CD and drop it in the mail. We’ll get it there as fast as you need it.

 

9. What new audio technology has caught your attention recently?

Actually has nothing to do with Voice Talent per say… but ipods are without question growing like wild fire lately.  It’s cool to see stations creating shows you can download to your ipod.

 

10. Where do you see Christian radio in 5 years?

Anyone can listen to Christian music via Satellite Radio, ipods, etc… but cannot listen to their favorite personalities and catch local information on XM.

Stations that are satellite fed or play a ton of music from hard drive without a lot of local interaction are in for a tough road ahead.  Folks don’t need radio to hear their music anymore.

Stations that invest in their local personalities, production, and local information will continue to grow because you can’t find local information and your favorite local morning duo on XM.