The Elite Twelve – The Top Twelve Group Program Directors of Australian Metro FM

The Group Program Directors role is a demanding and challenging one. There have only been around Twelve people who have held the role of Group Program Director of FM Metro Radio in Australia. It is one one of the most highly specialised and crucial roles in any radio company.

It combines programming, strategic and research skills, executive and organisational skills, music knowledge, creativity, people management, talent management as well as drive, determination and leadership.

With a 36-year history in Australia, six of the Elite Twelve are from SCA and Austereo and pre-merger, Hoyts.

• Ian Grace 1986 to 1993 – 7 years (Hoyts)
• Greg Smith  1986 to 1995  –  9 years (Austereo)
• Brad March  1995 to 1997 –  3 years  (Austereo)
• Jeff Allis  1997 to 2005 –  8 years (Austereo)
• Guy Dobson   2005 to 2010 –  5 years (Austereo)
• Craig Bruce   2011 to 2015 –  4 years (SCA)

Four of the Elite Twelve are from the Australian Radio Network.

• David Rogerson  1999 – 2001 – 2 years
• Jeremy Miller   2002 to 2007 – 5 years
• Peter Yiamarelos  2007 to 2010 – 3 years
• Duncan Campbell    2010 to present – 5 years

And Nova Entertainment (formerly DMG Australia), have only had two GPD’s since it launched 20 years ago.

• Dean Buchanan   2000 to 2010 – 10 years
• Paul Jackson  – 2010 to present 5 years.

One thing does stand out, a female has never held the role of GPD of any of the major networks, yet.

There have been and still are many extremely talented and highly successful FM Metro Network PD’s also; names like Brian Ford, Dan Bradley, Dave Cameron, Gemma Fordham, Mike Fitzpatrick, Derek Bargwanna and Sam Thompson.

The Group PD role has changed over the years but the fundamentals are still the same, its about product, content and ratings.

Radio Today asked each of the former and current Group PD’s, the same three questions.

What’s the most important lesson learned?

What’s the most important factor to programming?

What’s the most important thing for great talent?

We also asked a number of past and present industry experts and peers, for the first word that came to mind to describe each of the Elite Twelve.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

Be fair and focused and treat people as you would want to be treated yourself. Doesn’t mean you can’t be firm and drive your teams forward but you need them to be with you or you won’t be successful.

What’s the most important factor in programming?

Listen to people and understand the issues before deciding what you need to do to fix them and be clear on what outcomes are expected. Listening is a real art in the ego driven world of media. For on-air talent  it’s so important and it’s one of the first things you get taught if you study acting. So many content breaks never reach their full potential because talent are not listening to each other. Improv is essentially based on listening.

What’s the most important thing for talent to remember?

In today’s world you need to create content that gets talked about and that takes some planning and thought.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

Hire outstanding people, in all craft groups. Best talent wins. Research (what do people want?), gut, strategy, great ideas and excellent execution are all essential ingredients. Be brave.

What’s the most important factor in programming?

Performance and results. To nail it, master the mix between science and art. Audience first…not sales, not corporate. Resource and the backing of your boss helps!

What’s the most important thing for talent to remember?

Compelling content wins, great ideas brilliantly executed cut through. Understand your point of difference; work hard creatively and on your planning; be a positive force in your team and demand the highest standards. Don’t be a dick… The moment you put yourself ahead of your audience and brand, you’re gone.

What’s the most important lesson learned?

The drive, determination and the will to win is as important as having the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job. You need it all to win.

What’s the most important factor to programming?

As well as knowing how to use the research you need ‘ears’ you need to be able to hear it. And you need courage to make change and then back it in. Then you have to give it the time it needs to work. And always put the listeners first.

What’s the most important thing for great talent?

To be yourself on air. You have to be real, authentic and reveal yourself on air. That takes courage.  Make sure you have the right Content Director, coach or consultant for advice. And make sure you entertain!

What’s the most important lesson you learned?

Never let sales dictate the target and format. Find the audience first and sales will come.

What’s the most important factor in programming?

Wow. Broad question. Factors vary format to format , region to region. Broadly, I’d say make sure your fundamentals of programming – the morning show , the music and the messaging is on target every day.

What’s the most important thing for great talent to remember?

Its not a platform for you – its a platform for your audience. They will ultimately judge if they like you or not.

What’s the most important lesson you learned?

Meaning of life is the quest for knowledge.

What’s the most important factor in programming?

Courage to do what hasn’t been done before.

What’s the most important thing for great talent to remember?

When your bullshit outweighs your talent, you’re gone.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

Lots of lessons and hard to pin down to one favourite but the one important lesson I’ve learned is to plan calmly and attack with emotion. The rest will fall into place after that. Also don’t get caught up in the politics.

What’s the most important factor in programming?

For a GPD it’s not always about the idea it’s about the execution. I always tried to empower my PD’s/CD’s to execute well. Group strategy is important but more important for individual local station strategy to work. Give your PD’s/CD’s the support, resources and direction. In that sense everything needs to be running like a well oiled machine .

What’s the most important thing for talent to remember?

To be prepared to hear the truth, don’t ask for too many opinions , don’t become complacent and at the end of the day it’s all for the listener.

In Part TWO of the Elite Twelve, we will hear from Ian Grace, Paul Jackson, Greg Smith, David Rogerson, Craig Bruce and Jeremy Miller.