Skip Bednarczyk is the Owner and General Manager of Y-Town Broadcasting WGFT in the Youngstown-Warren, Ohio market. This month we’re pleased to feature Skip, sharing some of the many highlights and successes from his 46-year career span in radio and his experiences with MusicMaster.

Of Skip’s 46 years in radio (and counting) 41 were spent in a GSM, DOS or GM capacity, and 24 of those years were in Urban radio. Skip was the first GSM of WSNY Columbus, which started up as a new station in a construction trailer and went on to become the #2 FM biller in Ohio in only three years!

As GSM, Skip lead a then-new Classic Rock format (the 2nd Classic Rocker in the USA at the time) from nowhere to #5 biller in a 42-station market without any rating services or outside marketing. Skip noted that, “Legendary Dan Mason was our company’s leader at the time, and I learned much from him.” Next, Skip directed market #6 WMJI/Cleveland to Ohio’s #1 FM biller. He shared, “I was very proud of the fact that I was instrumental in guiding Ohio’s #1 and #2 FM biller.”

Skip shared that he was “most honored when Ohio Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell and Procter & Gamble EVP of Worldwide Marketing decided to create a company, Blue Chip Broadcasting, and purchase about a dozen stations. They recruited me from WMJI/WMMS to be the company’s DOS.”

Next, Skip transferred to Dallas to join KLTY as GSM/LSM. He recalled, “This was a stagnant station in billing. In one year, we made our calendar year budget on July 17th and finished the year $2.7 million over budget using proven CSS practices.”

When Skip later moved back to Ohio for family reasons, he took over bankrupt WRBP-FM and brought them from #11 in the market to #1, #2 or #3 in every major demo with a UAC/Urban Contemporary hybrid within a little over a year. The station also, on several occasions, was Ohio’s Highest rated (12+) Urban radio station (out of the states 16). Skip recalled, “My job, per owner Fortress Investments, was to build it up to be sold. When that happened, I was promoted to Regional Manager and transferred to Florida. Before I left, I had the chance to purchase a translator and the company’s two AM’s that were left for dead.” Skip put the translator on WGFT-AM and Star 94.7 was born!

Radio enthusiast, Tom Taylor, reported in one Nielsen survey that WGFT-AM achieved the Highest share EVER (in the history of radio) for an AM/FM Translator. Since 2014, they have beaten three of iHeart’s five FMs in every rating period. Incredible!

Skip shared that the station “is loved by the community and those outside of our targeted demo. Our mission is to super serve the African American community while making the format “inviting” to the non-ethnic market as well. It works! We have a high awareness level, the second largest Facebook “likes” and “followers” in the office, and we have a special relationship with our local artists – we play one local song per hour during our upbeat and fun Saturday House Party.”

When asked about his experience programming music, Skip shared this story: “As Owner and General Manager/GSM/PD in a small market, I wear many hats (all remotely). One of those hats is PD/MD. I’ve spent HALF of my career in Urban radio and have developed “a good ear” for it. I may not have known “how” to program the music, but I knew what sounded good and what didn’t sound good. I hired several in-house and remote Music Directors, but something always seemed to be off kilter. So one day, I decided to add myself to MusicMaster and just “play with it” (using a fake station) with the same database.

“I found numerous oversights with the wrong tempo, timing was off, songs in wrong categories, duplicate carts, and so much more. I concluded these folks just weren’t paying attention to detail – a big pet peeve of mine. I’m a big proponent of the “1,000 percent factor” – doing 1,000 things a little bit better, is better than doing one or two big things better. In years prior, I learned a lot about programming from such great programmers as Buddy Scott, Carl Hamilton, and Harry Lyles. So, I took the leap and jumped in the MD role and haven’t looked back. I love it – so much in fact that I wish I had done it decades earlier.”

Skip also shared why he is a MusicMaster fan: “Looking in from the outside, many may be intimidated with the perceived complexity of the screen and the program. Not so! With a little nudging from the excellent MusicMaster support staff, one thing leads to another and you’re off and running. What I like most about it, is that if you take the time to enter your data correctly the first time, MusicMaster will do the work for you – as it was intended. Yes, there’s a minimal of “massaging” and I love the ability to insert various elements with so much ease – like the drop we use before we play the #1 and #2 UAC song in America – driving listeners to our website to find out what it is and watch the song’s video.”

When asked which features of MusicMaster he finds most helpful, Skip replied, “There are many… all at your fingertips. l like the Turnover Analysis, the Rule Tree, having your seasonal songs and drops on your left [in the InfoBar] for easy access. It’s an amazing program and offers the ability to listen to your elements. MusicMaster makes everything easier and better!” Congrats, Skip, on all your continued success in radio. We’re happy to have you on board as a MusicMaster fan!