One-On-One with Diane Michaels, Program Director, KPND Sandpoint ID/Spokane
Veteran programmer on the virtues of working for a "mom & pop," eagles, moose, dear, and bear...and Mark Fuhrman



By Dave Chaney

DAVE: Welcome! So you and I do go back some, having worked together over a decade ago at KTHX (The X) Reno with Bruce Van Dyke, the late Harry Reynolds and crew, when I was nearly your neighbor in North Lake Tahoe. You are originally from Northern Cal and I can even recall when you were on KSFM "Earth Rock 102" in Sacramento, but yikes, that would heavily date both of us! Anyhow, after Reno/Tahoe, tell us about your journey to Idaho and how you found this cool little station called 95.3 KPND? Aren't you going on like four years there?

DIANE: It was a bit of a mid life crisis, really. I exited Lake Tahoe and found myself in Calgary for a few years. Really missing the good ole' USA, I headed back to California. My first stop on the journey was in Sandpoint at a Best Western on Lake Pend Oreille. Woke up the next morning and was in awe of the lake and the beauty of this place. Reminded me of home (Tahoe), so I picked up a real estate guide and was pleasantly surprised to find out that compared to California, I could actually afford to live here. I bought a place without even looking for work first. But lo and behold, there was a Triple A station a block away from my house. I walked in, got a job and here I still am! I started work here in the fall of 2004.

DAVE: Since you guys don't stream quite yet, tell us about your staff and programming. I know you are a mom and pop; you seem to be a pretty typical broad-based Triple A station, in that you are not afraid to add new artists. Clue us in how much new music and recurrents you play vs gold. Do you skew more male than female? What specialty programming do you produce or carry? Do you do many in-studio artist interviews and performances?

DIANE: Let me answer that in reverse order. We love in-studio performances! Matter of fact, this week we have Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women, followed by Leslie Mendelson, and then wrap up the week with Jason Spooner. We also have the KPND Homegrown every Sunday, where we invite local musicians to come in and play. If someone is playing in town, our doors are generally open for them to come play couple of songs. Our specialty shows include KPND Homegrown, Acoustic Café, Little Steven's Underground Garage, E-Town, Blues Deluxe, House of Blues…and our locally produced Sunday Brunch…a pretty down to earth, roots oriented show. We are sort of oblivious to the male/female thing. That has never really affected our decision to add a record, although we do strive to keep a nice mix. We are fortunate to be a mom and pop operation, as there is no one sitting in a corporate office dictating what we have to play. We enjoy the freedom to think outside the box and play something simply because we think it's good. The jocks also have a bit of leeway to create their mix. Our ratio of currents/recurrents is about 36%, with gold about 45%.

DAVE: What is the competitive situation like in the market? First, of all, do you indeed reach into Spokane? And if so, how do you and KXLY (The River) sound comparatively? You guys obviously share some market overlap. 

DIANE: Yes, we do reach into Spokane, as well as parts of Montana, Canada, Eastern Washington and Idaho. I think there is room for two Triple A stations as we really are quite different. They are a pretty mainstream Triple A, where we are a bit more eclectic, digging deep into blues, reggae, Americana and a little outside the mainstream. It's almost like the old days of progressive radio. Being a mom and pop operation, we don't have the budget they do, so we have to be more creative with the music, and community involvement.

DAVE: I know that you hear all the buzz about new media. And as a veteran programmer, you've lived through the changes. In this age of Ipods, Iphones and non-stop blogging and twittering, what are your basic priorities when it comes down to keeping your relatively small market audience entertained and growing?

DIANE: Basic is it when it comes to tech. But we are constantly looking for ways to keep the format fresh with a nice mix of new and old music…sort of like the IPod shuffle. You never know what's going to pop up next!

DAVE: For those of us who have never been, give us a little flavor. What is the coolest thing about living in the Sandpoint area?

DIANE: It's natural beauty…a very large, deep lake, mountains with skiing, lush green forests and pastures, eagles, moose, deer, and bear in abundance. We have a great art community and are rich with many talented people.

DAVE: Nice! Ok, inquiring minds just gotta ask…have you ever met Mark Fuhrman (of O.J. trial fame)? I know he works in conservative talk radio somewhere there.

DIANE: He actually did a talk show on our AM station at one time, before doing a show in Spokane. But I have never actually met him, although he happens to be my neighbor - as neighbors go - in North Idaho. He's a ½ mile away. I do see him around town all the time.

DAVE: Lucky you. Hey, thanks, Diane, for the chat and have a great summer! Keep up the good sounds. My best to Dylan and all the gang for continued success at KPND!

DIANE: Thanks Dave…come on up and visit us! Otherwise, I'll have to come home and visit you!!! Happy Summer!

CHANEY: Dave, congrats on the launch of The Sound! Triple A radio has returned to a major commercial signal in the nation's #2 market, which has been nothing less than huge news in our world since the station sign-on of the new format. From the man behind "The Sound" curtain, if you will, how are things going by now?

BEASING: To paraphrase Mark Twain, "Reports of The Sound's death are greatly exaggerated." It's no secret that some industry pundits wrote this station off before it even signed on. What they don't realize is that our parent company, Bonneville, doesn't answer to Wall Street or bankers. So you can't view this project by typical 60 and 90 day industry standards. They're giving us time to build a brand. Granted, it's been a slow build if you measure it using Arbitron, but we're pleased by the momentum, especially since the holidays. We'll never have a big weekly cume like a CHR or even Jack, but this is a quality audience that buys quality. 

CHANEY: Well, talking to my non-industry friends, there seems to be a genuine buzz about the station going in the Southland 'burbs. You've got quality and name air talent in Larry Morgan, Julie Slater, Andy Chanley, Mike Powers, Dred Scott (both from KFOG) and my old friend Mimi Chen! And now you've added another veteran, Jeff Gonzer! There's billboards and bus coverage, great on-air production and a solid, interactive Website. And people are digging the album tracking ("Album Madness," "Album Sides Wednesdays"), right?

BEASING: Those features look like just another day in Arbitron PPM, but you often see an increase in audience checking us out in the days following. The word-of-mouth has been big. If we walk it, they’ll talk it. 

CHANEY: As for your Music Dept, you've managed to recruit one of the best for your Music Director, Haley Jones (KFOG and KMTT Seattle), and you guys seem to be spot on with the music LA grew up on (The Who, Zeppelin, Clash) sprinkled with relevant currents from breaking local area bands like The Airborne Toxic Event, but it has to be a tight rope walk keeping your demo's balanced in the land of cutting edger's and aging rock dogs, yeah? What would you say the age of your average listener is, and do you lean male or female? And is it accurate to say that the station is similar to KFOG in San Francisco?

BEASING: A listener who moved here from the Bay Area recently calls us "K-Smog," and we take any comparison to that station as a compliment. We're a little more male than female, but not much. And the average age is in the 40s, but we're aiming for a psychographic more so than a demographic. Our target is people who love music and are tired of all the clutter on most commercial radio. And by the way, you're right, Haley is awesome – both as a professional and a person. 

CHANEY: I know that you recently had to make some staff cuts. That had to be personally painful and professionally rough for a start-up situation.

BEASING: Hated it. Unlike some broadcasters, we're fortunate to have cut only a couple of folks. That's good, unless you're one of them. 

CHANEY: Although one could argue that it was a different time, for market outsiders the city seemingly has a history with failed Triple A formats over the years (KMPC-FM, KSCA, KACD/KBCD). So why will The Sound endure?

BEASING: We have time, patience, and we're not locked into a set format formula. Triple A has so many variations around the country, and we're building yet another – one that's designed for Southern California and the PPM.

CHANEY: I first met you nearly a decade ago when I was MD at KTHX Reno and you were consulting our cluster Modern AC down the hall. Tell us a little about your radio background. Where are you from originally? And do you miss the road?

BEASING: Last question first… NO! We've adopted a little boy, 18 months old now. So having him greet me with a smile and hug every night is everything. I'm originally a Cornhusker, from the town where the sad-but-true story behind the movie, "Boys Don't Cry," happened. Unlike Hillary Swank's character, I got out alive. I've done about every format, and had the pleasure of working with some brilliant people – both in and out of radio – as a consultant with Jacobs Media. 

Spindale NC, a service of Isolthermal Community College

MARTIN: I've been here 7 and a half years now. I've been the morning or mid-day host the whole time, and Music Director since about 2004. I moved here after some stints as music host for all sorts of styles and some underwriting coordinating at KHSU in Arcata, CA, and KLCC and KRVM in Eugene, OR in the 90's. Fun college radio stuff at the U. of Delaware before that. It was KLCC's weekday "Fresh Tracks" mix that first exposed me to Triple A. 

MIKE: I've always thought your station's reach has been under-appreciated sometimes. WNCW covers Charlotte, Greenville, Boone and Asheville, right? 

MARTIN: Yes, and a good bid of East Tennessee too, including the outskirts of Knoxville. 5 states total, when you include the smidges of VA and GA we reach! Our tower is way up on a peak next to Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, so we have a big ole' reach. Folks can drive a good 3+ hours on I-40 and get 88.7 the whole way. Plus we have translators for downtown Charlotte, Greenville, and Boone, and we're in the process of taking over the college station in Wilkesboro, NC (home of Merlefest) soon.

MIKE: As a man living in a market with an NPR/Classical non-comm, I enjoyed your fund-drive last week. Great music specials. How did the drive turn out? 

MARTIN: Glad you actually enjoyed it some! We make a point of making them sound fun, and of course music-oriented. We met our on-air goal of $100K, though just barely. Smaller pledges, but more of them. I think listeners are more dependent on and appreciative of public radio during this Recession, as well as following that wild election season.

MIKE: How has WNCW been doing overall during this economic downturn? Harder to keep/get local underwriting? 

MARTIN: I think we're definitely taking a hit with underwriting lately, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We're able to emphasize the more attractive demographics public radio attracts compared to other media, plus the near-rabid loyalty of WNCW listeners; but we're still hurting there. Any guarantees of grant revenue are in question too, I'd imagine.

MIKE: The royalty fight continues. What's your take on both Internet royalties and performance royalties? Which way do you think these issues are leaning right now?

MARTIN: What a friggin' joke. Only, we're not laughing, are we. The joke part of it is the claim that their main objective is to help the artists. That's bull, and they certainly won't be helping them if they make it impossible for us stations to keep broadcasting music, whether online or otherwise. I know it's quite possible, but (knock on wood) I don't think it
will end up happening. That's just my hunch though.

MIKE: I've always thought you had a great ear, Martin. I was listening last Friday at 9am at the start of your show and heard Madeleine Peyroux's "To Love You All Over Again" seamlessly segue into Randy Newman's "Mr President, Have Pity On The Working Man" off one of my favorite albums ever, Good Old Boys. I didn't even notice the segue taking place. Terrific key matchup. I loved that. Don't you love being able to present music like that?

MARTIN: You bet. The freedom to mix styles and songs together like we do almost balances out the frustrations of this job! Ha ha... Yes, I consider my airshifts to be almost zen-like opportunities for me. When that perfect segue happens, or idea comes to grab that one from so-and-so that hasn't been played in forever, it's great. But of course, I'm also being mindful of balancing our rotation picks (which are about half of what we play) with older tunes, making sure we're not overplaying or underplaying all our disparate styles of music we cover, etc. So it's a good bit of work doing it the "old-fashioned" way like we do, and many say it's inefficient nowadays. But we're still compelled to do it this way, and maybe enough listeners appreciate it that our membership will continue to keep us going.

MIKE: You are AAA and Americana at WNCW. How do those two genres actually breakdown in their percentages on the air at NCW? 

MARTIN: Well based on the AAA and Americana playlists we report to R&R and AMA respectively, it's about 60/40. But in reality it's probably closer to 50/50. Roots music styles like bluegrass and blues, and the alt. country genre have always been at the core of WNCW. As a result, we find that a lot of core AAA artists/styles, particularly of the pop and urban variety, don't work so well here. But we've been holding strong with certain indie artists throughout, especially in the afternoons and evenings here, when we move away from the mountain music and focus more on artists heard on the World Café, CMJ charts, etc. 

MIKE: Let me know what your new favorite artists and tracks have been from the last year. 

MARTIN: I never had M. Ward on my radar until She & Him came out last year; I love that, as well as "One Hundred Million Years" and "Fisher of Men" on Hold Time. Neko Case's "People Got a Lotta Nerve" and "This Tornado Loves You" are of course great, and then there's Kathleen Edwards and other great AAA/Americana hybrids from last year. There's a new one from Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers on Ramseur Records (the tiny NC label that gave birth to The Avett Brothers here): RIYL Jessica Lea Mayfield. I also love this neo-soul/R&B revival of late, with acts like John Nemeth, T Bird & the Breaks, and James Hunter. The latest NMAS incarnation, Hill Country Revue, kicks ass. Oh, and there's this Argentinean reggae artist named Fidel you gotta check out....Too many to list!

MIKE: As commercial music radio continues to decline, do you see non-comm's doing enough of the right things to keep new listeners coming? 

MARTIN: I guess the short answer is no, because there aren't enough stations adopting AAA (and Americana) formats, and most of us aren't keeping up enough with the changing habits and trends of 20-somethings. But there are also some out there that are totally doing the right things, i.e. keeping a local focus, being informative and not just a radio-juke-box, and finding creative ways to increase exposure. Programming diversity is key as well, in my opinion. Consistent diversity, if that's not an oxymoron.

MIKE: Any trends you've noticed that we might find interesting? 

MARTIN: Yeah, this indie-meets-oldtime blending with acts like The Avett Brothers and The Felice Brothers! But bigger-picture, this Recession/corporate industry collapse phase we're in has really given rise to a greater appreciation of all things local: local musicians, regional styles/cultures, supporting local businesses more, etc. This trend is something we independent stations, commercial and noncomm alike, can really capitalize on if we get on board. 

MIKE: See you at the Non-Comm? 

MARTIN: Alas, this Recession thing is preventing us from traveling to conferences, so it is with big regret that I have to say no. It's a highlight of my year, so I'll be depressed all weekend while you're there.

MIKE: Thanks, Martin.

MARTIN: I enjoyed this chat, Mike. And I enjoy the outlook you give in The Forest. Keep it up!

MIKE: I think I've given you a chance here to empty your head with something interesting for the AAA family. I really appreciate it!

One-On-One with Jimmy Steal, VP of Programming, Emmis Broadcasting/101.9 RXP New York
Jimmy Steal is the VP of Programming for Emmis Broadcasting and also the longtime PD of KPWR in Los Angeles, annually one of the top two or three billing radio stations in the country as well as ranked #1 for a record breaking 15 #1 18-34 books in a row. Jimmy and I worked together back in the day at his very first weekend radio job while in college at rocker WDIZ and later at #1 rated CHR XL106.7 Orlando. We always shared an addiction to finding cool new music through the ensuing years. Now Emmis owns AAA icon KGSR in Austin and just flipped WQCD in New York City to