Let’s get this out of the way; Jared Hart is not a nerd. Still, I’m perplexed at how while still in high school in the 90s, he knew who The Drifters were. He was familiar with the Four Tops and knew songs belted out by Janis Joplin. Who was this kid?
His radio career was born partially from his ability to identify those and many other eclectic tunes off the top of his high-school head.
“I have a step-sister my age,” Hart began, “In high school they wanted us to do a job shadow as an assignment. To spend the day with some professionals in the area. I told her I was going to call up KGOR radio out of the blue and see if I could do my job-shadow there.”
The dubious step-sister said he was nuts, they’d never let him do it. She did hedge her skepticism and said if they did let him do it, she wanted in.
KGOR let them shadow.
“It didn’t seem like it mattered much to them,” Hart explained.
When they got to the station, they heard the DJ play a few songs. Hart leaned to his step-sister’s ear and said the first song was Me and Bobby McGee. He then informed her the second song was This Diamond Ring by the Four Tops.
“I told her I was surprised they were playing these songs,” Hart said. “The DJ overheard me and said, ” Why do you think that? I said because these were more Woodstock songs, and KGOR was more of a Leader of the Pack station.” (The Shangri-Las.)
The DJ pressed Hart, testing his musical acumen. He played another song and asked Hart to name the title and artist. Hart told him it was On the Roof by The Drifters. The DJ played a couple more and Hart named them as well.
“He was amazed,” Hart explained. “He told me I should work there. I told him thanks, but I couldn’t be an intern for free, and had to save money for college.”
The DJ said, ‘Who said it was an internship?’ Hart was just 18 years old and landed his first radio job.
“They threw me on the board on Saturdays,” Hart said. “I started in the summer and then that September, 9/11 happened.”
Hart had an idea he would go into journalism at the University of Nebraska–Omaha but majored in graphic design. He wrote for the high school paper, then his college newspaper.
“Ever since I was a teenager I liked to argue,” Hart explained. “I often took the other side of an argument just for enjoyment. That’s the way I was with my parents. A contrarian my whole life. It’s something talk radio used to do very well. You can’t always stand behind the pitchfork. Sometimes you have to be in front of it. Whatever perpetuates the conversation.”
Later, Hart worked for the NFL as a producer for Oakland Raiders pre and post-game shows.
“When I was working as an NFL producer, I learned you had to be quick on your feet as you had a lot of things thrown at you at once. You had to get the feel of the broadcast. Constantly prioritizing. Something always needs to be executed immediately, and you have to identify what that is. There’s a ton of pressure and no room for a meltdown.”
Hart said there’s one disheartening thing about the work he’s done on film sets.
“There is no ‘Attaboy,’ or ‘job well done,” he said. “In radio it’s different. If you work hard and do well, you can get more money, get rewarded, and get promoted. All you have to do is shut up and work hard. In film, it’s much more political.”
Hart has worked in radio and film since 2001, including feature-length films and documentaries.
He’s currently the operations manager at Cumulus-owned KKOB and KNML in Albuquerque. Before that, it was WPHT where he helped transition the station from its 90s style of talk to a humorous and relevant political station.
The man enjoys film and spent some time working in the industry. Hart said high-quality projects are shot in New Mexico. News of the World, with Tom Hanks, was filmed there. Hell or High Water, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, and Better Call Saul, among others.
“Those aren’t California mountains you see in the background, those are New Mexico mountains,” Hart said. “New Mexico has done a good job in creating long-term relationships with filmmakers. Strong incentives to shoot there. Not just a shoot and leave situation.”
Hart said unequivocally podcasts are the future.
“Radio used to be the tribal thing that podcasts have moved into,” he said.
“I have a friend that runs a super-successful podcast. When they have a podcast party, four-thousand people come out. It’s like a midnight movie like Rocky Horror Picture Show or Avenger movies.”
Hart said in a lot of ways we’ve become numb to all the political luggage thrown at us each day. But Hart said in his experience, there is still a hunger for the facts.
“Everywhere I’ve been during my radio career there have been political debate watch parties,” Hart said.
Debate watch party?
“When I was in San Francisco, we had a very educated listenership that didn’t want to watch the debates alone at home on TV. They wanted a more communal experience. One night there was a Giants and A’s playoff game scheduled at the same time as a debate, and 250 people showed up. We didn’t think anybody would show up for a VP debate with that kind of a heavy sports night, but they did.”
Hart explained as far as attending a debate watch party goes, it’s not all about rallying behind the same candidate, it’s about people talking about a shared experience.
“It’s kind of like a cruise to Italy,” he jokes. “These experiences touch people in different ways. With podcasts, people are already truly fans of the subject of the podcast.”
He admits he’s never seen the political climate as turbulent as it is today. But Hart said it’s not like it has never been this way before. Every generation thinks the sky is falling, politically speaking.
“I’m sure when Thomas Jefferson opposed John Adams, at the time they figured nothing was going to be that terrible again,” Hart explained. “I’ve covered five presidential new cycles. Every time you think what was happening at the time never mattered more. It was the same with the administrations of Clinton, Bush, Obama. It always seemed like you were dealing with an existential crisis.”
Hart said there is a lot of Doom Scrolling these days by all age groups.
(I know. I’m old. Doom Scrolling: obsessively scanning social media and websites for bad news, triggers the release of stress hormones that can affect your mental and physical health.)
“People are always looking for the beast to be fed, the quicker the better,” Hart said. “Just because you want to refresh your Twitter feed doesn’t mean news is going to move that quickly. The New York Times spends months writing in-depth pieces and we just want something now.”
Attracting and retaining listeners is the name of the game and Hart said there will always be pressure regarding the ratings.
“Nobody tunes into our stations to hear something boring,” Hart said. “We’ve made a conscious decision to try to not make the station solely political like many talk stations in the country. We don’t allow any name-calling. Only one person was Hitler. The government is not the Nazi party. You can say someone’s policies are stupid, but we stop short of calling someone an ‘elf on the shelf.’”
To keep shows moving in the right direction, Hart said producers play a key role.
“We need exceptional call screening to make this vision work,” Hart said. “When I first arrived here it took a few months for people to get a feeling for what I was trying to do. A few producers didn’t want to go along with the change and moved on.”
Hart said you can’t say whatever you want on his stations. He said there are plenty of outlets to post whatever you want. Again, no name-calling is a general rule.
“The word ‘hate’ is degrading,” he said. “Just because you don’t agree with someone doesn’t give you permission to say that word. Part of the reason I was brought in here is the station used to be the voice of New Mexico. Now it’s the voice of a small faction of the Republican Party here. I don’t think staying on one side or the other is a viable business model. This is the first election since I’ve been here where we’ve had significantly more Democratic dollars spent on advertising.” You don’t get spending from both parties by ostracizing one of them.
The first two mega-stories that Hart recalls since he broke into radio were the invasion of Iraq and the Terry Schiavo story.
“It seemed there was room for two sides of the debate regarding each issue. There were a lot of tempers flaring, but the discussion was more thoughtful than today. We as radio stations are not the ringmasters. At the same time, hosts need to feel some freedom and they need to know we have their backs. I have to defend them. I need to deflect criticisms.”
Hart said he’s thrilled with Albuquerque. No surprise as it is the Land of Enchantment.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said. “My wife and I needed to get out of the East coast grind. We needed to get away from throngs of people. Out here we have the expanse, the western sky. In general, there’s a great vibe here. I walk more, eat healthier, and drink less.”
Hart makes New Mexico sound like Los Angeles—without the water.
