post june 2009 john jay and rich

8/9/2019 POST June 2009 John Jay and Rich

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1 JUNE2009www.postphx.com

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40 JUNE2009

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Being radio stars isn’t all glamorous.

First of all, the hours suck. Don’t believe me? Well, you try

getting up at 3:00 a.m, then kissing your sleeping wife and kids

goodbye 20 minutes later, ve days a week.

Te pressure can be immense. A morning show at a major-market, big-time radio station drives the ship for the entire station, and magnify

that a bit when you consider the station we’re talking about ts under the biggest

radio company umbrella in the world, Clear Channel, which never hesitates to let

its talent know that if the ratings aren’t high, you just might y.

But when planets align, talent meshes, management cooperates and

your product is at-out superior to anything else going on at that hour,

anywhere, well, listeners ock and you create the kind of buzz and success

that Johnjay (Chandler native Johnjay Van Es) and Rich (St. Louis native Rich

Berra) are living at 104.7 KISS FM . (Carrie Moten is the third personality

on the show and oen the sensible voice of reason who does a great job of both prodding the two guys along and reeling them in when she has to.)

If you haven’t heard the show yourself, you are in the minority. You apparently

don’t like starting your day laughing your ass o. You certainly don’t get to hear

the conversations this dynamic duo have DAILY, wait, correction, damn near

HOURLY with A-list stars in sports, V, movies, music and just entertainment

and pop culture in general.

Seriously, you’d think Paula Abdul would have something else to do besides

call in to the Johnjay and Rich Show multiple times a week, or invite the fellas

to the ultra-private debut of her smokin’ hot new single. You’d think one of the

nalists on Dancing With the Stars, Gilles Marini, would have something, other

than the number one radio duo in Phoenix, as his personal good luck charm. Ormaybe Enrique Iglesias could nd another backup guitar player than Rich, or

Kurt Warner would have someone else to take to the Super Bowl with his family

than Johnjay.

I’m not done. How many local radio show hosts dance with El len on her show?

I’ll answer that. I can only think of two.

Who hangs with U2’s Te Edge? Or answers regular phone calls from Luis

Gonzalez, Matt Leinart, Larry Fitzgerald, Jeremy Roenick and anyone else who’s

anyone.

Tat’s one of the most unique things about Johnjay and Rich — yes, they have

the unpublished private digits of all these people, but it’s the stars who usually call

them! Not because they have to, or the star’s publicist is putting a gun to his or

her head. It’s because they want to, and it makes for great radio, great ratings anda great future for the morning leaders in every signicant, (that means revenue

producing) demo in this and many other markets.

“From day one, our goal was to be Arizona’s morning show,” Johnjay explained

to POST as we kicked it with the duo aer a recent show in their Clear Channel

studio near Sky Harbor Airport o Van Buren. “We pushed that agenda everyday

and we let everyone know about it. It took ve years to get there and man, the ride

was great.”

Here’s how the ride started. Johnjay and Rich were working in exas, at

separate stations in Dallas and Houston, when they both were at a crossroads in

their lives and careers. Tey were doing ne, but each wanted to nd something

special. Be part of something not just unique, but once-in-a-lifetime, impossible

to duplicate, rewarding, fun and dierent. Making a lot of money would be cool.

Being heard nationally would be nice, but they wanted to do a show they created,

Johnjay and Rich, the hosts

104.7 Kiss FM, have A-Listbiggest and most loyal fans.




that t their personalities, that just felt right. Tey both were humble, and at the

same time self-condent enough to know that if they stayed with a formula that

they had in their mind, busted their tails and found the right radio laboratory

to work on ne-tuning the vision they shared, they could create a great show.

It’s really that simple, yet think of all the things that had to fall into place.

First they had to meet each other, and that happened at a radio convention. Teirstrengths and styles were dierent enough where, together, it created a coherent

and distinguishable voice. Before they launched the show, they interviewed each

other for hours on end, in person, on the phone, non-stop talking and scripting

and brainstorming to see if what they initially believed was true — that they had

found something in each other they probably wouldn’t nd anywhere else.

Rich runs the board and is kind of the air trac controller of the show, and

a steady and level mind that keeps everything on track. He’s able to see the big

picture of what they want to accomplish collectively, and the trust they share

is strong, palpable and a big part of what’s helped launch them into a morning

show elite status that few ever y in.

Johnjay is a daring mad scientist behind the microphone. He’s like a Formula

One driver who just got the keys to a brand new Lamborghini and turned it

loose on the 101. It’s going to be a fast, exciting and unpredictable ride, but he

knows exactly what he’s doing, which is why he can lead listeners down paths

they never could believe they would go down. Of course, if he does wrap it

around a tree or light pole, Rich is there behind him with a tow truck.

Listen to some of the segments and see how Johnjay expertly prods and

pushes without begging, sounding condescending or outwardly humiliating

people that call in. Te listeners tend to do it themselves because the hosts havecreated an atmosphere on the show that makes listeners feel they are one of us.

Te secret is: they really are.

Sure, the show is syndicated now and very popular in Portland, Colorado

Springs and a handful of other markets, but it’s that common man approach and

relaxed, conversational vibe that has made it a ratings monster.

“Money was never a motivator,” Johnjay told us. “I did that once in my career

and I will NEVER take a job because of money again. It’s about family and

quality of life and happiness! My dad told me when I was a kid, ‘do what you

love and the money will come. Find something you love to do and you’ll never

work again.’ I’ve found that to be 100% true.”

David Khalaj, a friend of Johnjay and Rich as well as a close personal friend

to most big name sports stars in Phoenix, knows there is something special

about Johnjay and Rich that makes athletes feel comfortable around them.

of the most dominant radio show in the Valley on

celebrities and sports superstars as some of their



42 JUNE2009

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“Tey are on top of their game. Tey are so genuine, incredibly genuine

human beings. When you are around them, you are dealing with real people.Tere’s no motive, everyone is equal. Whatever they say comes from the heart,

and that’s what makes them so special because they are just as kind in person

as they are on the radio.”

Te biggest star in the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals, echoes

David’s thoughts.

“Johnjay and Rich are to radio what Joe Montana and Jerry Rice are to

football. Tey get me going every morning. I love those guys and would do

anything for them.”

Kurt Warner felt strongly enough about them to take them to the Super Bowl

in ampa on a private jet. No, I’m not making any of this up. Usually celebs or

superstar sports jocks will cozy up to radio jocks if they are selling something,not just because they have built up close personal relationships with them. It just

doesn’t happen very oen.

Johnjay is a fan of the personalities of sports but certainly not what you would

consider a sports fan. Rich grew up in St. Louis, where it’s almost mandatory you

follow the Cardinals baseball team at least.

“I think Rich knows more than Johnjay when they are talking sports and

that’s what makes it so comical,” former D’backs star Luis Gonzalez said. Gonzo

is also a good friend, who took a trip with them and their wives to LA on a

private jet for an Enrique Iglesias concert last year.

“Tey are like the guys next door. Tat’s why whatever happens in their

personal life is shared and completely out in the open. Tey talk about it, and

it’s hilarious. Tey kind of represent two opposite viewpoints, and then you

have Carrie in the middle, kind of the mediator or voice of reason. I’ll text them

regularly during a show; if a bit falls at, I’ll give them a hard time. But they are

just great guys to be around.”

Johnjay has an explanation why athletes enjoy the approach the show takes

when talking to them.

“I’m sure it’s partly because when they come in the studio they’re probably

surprised that their stats never come up, old plays never get brought up or

questions about a game. In fact, I don’t even know how to use sports language,

to tell you the truth. We don’t ask them sports questions. Now, that’s not onpurpose, I just don’t know these things.

“We ask questions that you never hear a sportscaster ask. I think we ask

questions that would come out aer hanging with somebody for hours. Aer

you get the stats out of the way then you get to the human stu, that’s what we

like. We ask them what V shows they watch, where they buy their clothes, how

do you go to dinner in one car and get a reservation if you have seven kids? We

also talk about the incredible charity work these guys and their families do.”

Tey might not follow sports stats very closely, but the numbers they are

putting up right now are pretty impressive. Te Johnjay and Rich Show is number

one in the key demos of total listeners 18-34, total listeners 25-54 and women 25-

54. Tey actually are number one in a tota l of 37 demos. Tey reach over 250,000

listeners per week in Phoenix a lone, well over half a million when you take in their

syndicated audience. Maybe that’s part of the reason they appeal to so many sports

personalities and entertainment stars — it’s all about scoreboard. Sports stars

instantly respect results and winners and know what quality looks and sounds like.

A star like Paula Abdul is savvy enough to know a strong following in Phoenix

helps record sales and total eyeballs for American Idol , but her friendship with

the duo, which started with Rich, is really amazing. Tey are in touch via text or

phone almost every day and Paula is a regular on the show.

“She’s very funny,” Rich said. “Very cool and very clever at this business. She’s

got a heart the size of Camelback Mountain. She’s very spontaneous and calls at allhours with some very funny outlooks. I’m not sure why she likes us and continues

to go on the radio with us because we’ve gotten her in some HUGE trouble with

things we’ve gotten out of her on the air, but it is very real. She’s been to my house.

My dog, Penny, the poodle... peed on Paula Abdul. Tat’s friendship!”

When they aren’t chatting with celebs, they are talking about the crazy

things that happen in their life, or doing a bit on the radio that oen veers into

something you can’t stop listening to. It would be interesting to see how many

listeners have strolled in late to work thanks to “War of the Roses,” “Second Date

Update” or “Confession Update.” It happens all the time, because they have the

ability to take ridiculous scenarios, like a confession a listener wants to get o

their chest, then crank up the conict by making them do it live to that person,

and pouring enough gas on the re by egging both sides on to hopefully start a

fast moving brush re, if not a full-on inferno, of radio entertainment.

Bove Left: Johnjay and Rich

were the personal guests

of Gilles Marini at Dancing

With The Stars, here with his

partner Cheryl Burke.

Above: Johnjay and Rich

on the set of American Idol

with their close friend Paula

Abdul.

Left: Johnjay and Rich hangwith U2 legend The Edge.




“We try not to go too far,” Johnjay told POST . “Sometimes things just happen,

like in real life. I just go o the top of my head. Rich is genius though, because

he thinks things out at a hundred miles an hour and rarely crosses the line. Plus,

we have Carrie, the ‘mom,’ and she’s supposed to keep us in line. I will say that

when we are in commercials, you’d be surprised at the sick, sick mind of my life

partner Rich Berra.”

Rich oered his perspective on how they’ve mastered the art of constantly walking right up to a line, dangling their foot over it, hovering it there for awhile

and seriously consider crossing it, if it makes good radio.

“On the air, I would never dream of pulling Johnjay back. I like when he

takes us down a road of trouble. Tat’s what makes the relationship fun. Sure,

there are meetings that we never escape from, mostly me, because Johnjay will

leave in the middle to go to yoga, but that’s our deal.

“We know sometimes we are going into uncharted waters and that’s cool. If it

works, we love it. If it doesn’t, then we have the ability to take the audience with

us and feel with us the emotion of its sweeping failure. We have done pretty well

mostly by just ‘moving ahead without direction.’ Tere are a few times here and

there where we take a step back and realize our ideas weren’t good, but mostly

being a bit oblivious to consequence has served us well.”

While the show will continue to grow and expand to markets all over the

United States (they are in ve other markets outside Phoenix already), home

base will always be Arizona. Tis is where the mad conversion of talent was

born and perfected. As Johnjay and Rich pointed out, there is no better city to do

this in than Phoenix, because there is always something going on that’s relevant

nationally right here in the Valley. In the last couple years alone, we’ve hosted the

Super Bowl and NBA All-Star game, welcomed Shaq to the Valley, had our NFL

team go to the Super Bowl, had Jordin Sparks win American Idol , a Mesa womanwin Biggest Loser and that’s just a tiny portion of what’s gone down. Besides, if

they ever moved to LA they’d have to kick Ryan Seacrest’s ass in the ratings there,

too, and, who knows, he might cry.

For the sake of Phoenix listeners, let’s hope Johnjay and Rich have permanent

bags under their eyes and bedtime of 9:00 every night for the foreseeable future.

In the changing world of local V news and the disintegration of the importance

of the local newspaper, there is one thing we know for sure, people still have

to drive to work in the morning to jobs they really don’t like. In that car, or

while they’re getting ready, it’s a pretty cool thing to have Johnjay and Rich (and

Carrie) help get us through the day by opening up their normal yet glamorous

lives and sprinkling it with the attention and love they get from their friends

and guests that are the people you see every night on TMZ or SportsCenter or

Entertainment Tonight .

“From day one, our goal was to be Arizona’s morning show. We pushed thatagenda everyday and we let everyone know about it. It took ve years toget there and man, the ride has been great.” -JJA VA E

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