K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Just curious if you were to program klos what would you do with it if you were given free reign but what you do has to produce results which I am sure would be no problem. There numbers seem to be pretty good as is...If anything what would you change?
I'd probably tweak the music a little more and set new balance points between decades. Classic Rock is a unique format to program, as it still plays a lot of the biggest AOR hits from the 70's (and a decent amount from the 60's). I'd probably do away with the talkover of intros as that's a little too "top-40" for my sensibilities.
But the most important (and non-negotiable) condition would be total programming autonomy. I don't work well being second-guessed by management that lacks programming skills. As Jhani Kaye once said, programming is an instinctive skill and cannot be taught. I consider my talent to be my God-given gift and I can prove by the success I am having in Albuquerque that I know how to use that gift (and the owner reminds me of that often). There is something to be said for managing to stay in the PD chair for nearly four years and the management not having any plans to replace you.
If Meruelo Media would just concentrate on sales (like KRKE's owner does in ABQ), KLOS would do just fine. If the corporate offices can't keep themselves from meddling with a format that they don't understand, maybe it needs to be spun off, as I suggested in the post you replied to.