There are several admirable qualities that resonate when studying the career of Christopher K. Primarily is the reciprocity of loyalty and respect displayed by both Chris and the station he’s worked at for the past sixteen years. As an original member of The End, upon its conversion to Top 40 in 1998, Chris has jocked and held the MD post ever since, and commendably served the station’s three PD’s throughout its history. He’s currently teamed with Station Manager Nikki Nite as they oversee two of Entercom’s prized possessions.

Chris K

Chris K

Chris K appears to have defied all the laws of radio gravity. As one of KDND’s first jock hires in 1998 when the station flipped format’s from Classic Hits to Top 40, Chris has managed to stay on board for the sixteen year (and counting) run of the station. He was appointed The End’s inaugural MD by original PD Steve Weed and has held that position ever since, an exceptional feat in a business characterized by perpetual change.  
The station distinguishes itself in longevity as well. Throughout its Top 40 tenure, The End has seen only three programmers. Aside from Weed’s nine year stint, Dan Mason served as PD for five and a half years and current Station Manager/PD Nikki Nite has been on board since 2012. The station simply exudes stability which has allowed its brand to maintain a special place in the hearts of Sacramento listeners.
For Chris K the symmetry of his job in the Sac market makes perfect sense. He grew up listening to KWOD in its heyday as a Top 40, and after tooling around at a few stations in Northern California, he took up permanent residence at the The End in ‘98. He didn’t have to stray too far from his home turf to land a great gig in a great market working for a great company like Entercom.
Today Chris, along with Nikki Nite, oversees KDND/107.9 The End and HAC sister station KUDL/Star106.5 (formerly KWOD), and their collective success is aptly displayed in The End’s past two year PPM report card scoring number one 6+ honors on several occasions.

You’ve been at The End since its inception in 1998. What have been the various phases the station’s been through over that period of time?
The End filled a void when it signed on in the summer of ‘98, with no mainstream Top 40 in Sacramento at the time.  There was so much good Pop music back then, much of which wasn’t getting airplay in the market, and thanks to artists like NSYNC and Britney Spears we rode that wave for a good 3-4 years to pretty quick ratings success.  Our ratings flattened out a bit in the mid-2000’s, but started improving again late in the decade.  For the first time ever, in late 2012, The End was the #1 station in town 6+, and held that spot consistently for the next eighteen months!
      We threw our first big summer EndFest concert in 1999, which really put the station on the map back then.  Over 20,000 music fans showed up at Sac State that day to enjoy the huge lineup we had put together and you have no idea how many listeners still bring that show up to me, telling me how much fun they had or that it was their first ever concert!  A Sacramento summer tradition was born!  We also do a Jingle Ball each Christmas, so it’s crazy to think we’ve probably put on about thirty shows over the years.

What are the significant changes the market’s experienced regarding competition and format composition during that term?
The End has stayed right down the middle in our CHR programming lane for 16+ years now, so Sacramento audiences know what to expect when they listen to us: all their favorite songs, entertaining DJ’s and fun contests.  On the other hand, all of our main FM station competitors have either completely changed their brands in the past few years or at least significantly altered their positioning.  We have two Rhythmic stations in town and a Hot AC which is really more of an adult Top 40, so there are several stations playing many of the same titles we do.  One of the Rhythmic stations even flipped to Mainstream CHR to go directly at us for a couple years, but gave up a few months ago and went back to Rhythm.

You have the distinction of being one of the initial two jocks hired when the format flipped in ’98. What significance does this hold for you?
I’m very proud of the fact that I can say I’m one of the original air talents hired at The End, and  I’m the only MD we’ve had in our entire run (I hit my 16 year anniversary last week!).  I grew up within an hour or so of Sac, caught the radio bug while listening to Sac Top 40 radio in the late 80’s/early 90’s, and now I’m the one coming through their speakers!  I had no idea right out of college when I took the night job at this baby radio station in Sacramento that I would stick around so long, but now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Your longevity speaks volumes. Given all this time in the same market, how do you keep your on-air persona and presentation fresh?
I think that’s something radio lacks these days, having personalities that the market has such a strong connection with because they’ve lived with them, grown up with them and personally interacted with them over the years.  I’ve always made it a point to get out of the studio and meet as many people as possible, whether it’s hosting events, speaking at career fairs, going to high school football games on Friday nights (something I did fifteen years ago as the night jock, and started again for the past four years).  People will come up to me quite often and tell me, “I met you at my football game when I was in high school” or “I took a picture with you at the such-and-such concert,” something along those lines.
      I feel that’s what’s kept me around so long, hearing someone they consider a friend and a familiar voice going through life with them each afternoon.  I don’t do anything that crazy on the air.  I’d rather talk more about the music or artists we play than celebrity gossip.  Pop culture has really gone into the trash during my time here, but I didn’t follow it there.  I didn’t get into radio to talk about sex tapes or wardrobe malfunctions, so I don’t.  People can get that elsewhere if they want it.  Instead, I love spotlighting what’s fun going on around town, interacting with my listeners on the air, and putting my unique spin on the events of the day.  I take my position in the public eye seriously, knowing that what I say can affect people’s moods, so I try to be positive and encouraging.  I think this sets me apart from many in my field.  I guess I’m proof that you don’t always have to be dirty or provocative to be successful.

As the only Music Director in The End’s history, how do feel you have grown in that position over the course of time?
I think there’s something to be said for the fact that there’s only been one person scheduling the music at The End for well over a decade. I don’t remember exactly when Steve Weed let me take over the logs 100%, but it was probably around 2000-01 or so.  Do you think there’s any other CHR in the country where that’s the case?  I have no idea.
      From the early days under Weed where I just made music suggestions, talked to reps, and faxed our weekly playlist to the local record stores (wow how things have changed in 15 years!), to now where I do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to compiling as much data about the music as possible, I have gradually taken on more and more responsibility during my tenure as MD.  My music meeting with Nikki Nite is probably the thing I look forward to most each week, putting the perfect puzzle together of the best songs each week is always fun.  I’ve been here long enough now that I really feel I know our audience as well as anyone could, and have a decent idea of what songs will work and which ones won’t.

You’ve worked with three very accomplished PD’s at The End. What have been their major contributions to the growth and progress of the station, as well their influence on you?     
I’ve had the privilege of working under and learning from three excellent PD’s each with very unique management styles.  I’ve had good relationships and enjoyed working with all of them.  Steve Weed was more of a traditional boss, commanding respect from his staff.  He knew how he wanted his station to sound and was unwavering with his decisions and direction.  His ideas and leadership built the foundation for the powerful station we are now.  I owe a lot to him from those early airchecks as a night jock. He taught me a lot about being an MD, how to talk to reps, and then giving me a shot in afternoon drive (October 2002), where I’ve been for twelve years now.
      Dan Mason came along at the perfect time in the growth of the radio station, making slight tweaks with our music and presentation to give us a little more of an edge and cool factor.  He programmed aggressively and wouldn’t stop until he got the results he wanted.  His management style was more relaxed, being more the same age as most of the air-staff.  Dan really did an excellent job guiding us through the change to PPM, and how that would affect what we should do as a radio station.  In my opinion we were much more prepared for the change than anyone else in the market because of him.  Plus, he referred to me as the “Mayor of Sacramento,” which I thought was funny, but secretly loved of course!
      When Dan moved back to the east coast, along came Nikki Nite.  I’d heard so many good things about her since she’d also been with Entercom for a while, and they were all true!  Her leadership was instrumental in pushing our morning show, The Wake Up Call, into the ratings stratosphere, which has been a major factor in the station’s overall ratings success the past couple years.  She’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met and always full of great ideas. Her encouraging yet no-nonsense ways gets the most out of her staff, and she’s easily one of the nicest people in the business as well.

Can you speak to the personnel stability over the years and its affect on the station’s ongoing success?
Our morning show has been with us seven years, and that came on the heels of the previous show which had been there for five-plus years.  With both drive times being very consistent over the years, people really feel comfortable when they punch over to The End.  Stability leads to habit forming, and that’s a good thing in our PPM world!

You’ve worked very closely with the music reps throughout your career. How would you currently define the promotion process in general and how The End approaches new music?
I appreciate it when the label reps understand my station and can tailor their priorities to what makes sense for both of us.  I’m sure The End has the reputation for being a difficult add, but just because a song may be flying up the charts doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be right for us.  Especially with all the corporate consolidation and chart games being played, the chart is meaning less and less to me (with respect to The End) all the time.
      I’m always straightforward with my reps though. I don’t think leading them on or giving them false hope is good for either one of us.  I’ll come right out and tell them that “we’ll be talking about this one for a while” if I know we’re going to be late on a song. But at the same time, we’ll be out of the box or even early on records we believe in that make sense for us.  I have great relationships with many of my local reps since I’ve been dealing with several of them from my baby PD days up in Chico starting in ’96, when one of our stations up there first got reporting status.

How has social media allowed you and your station to better engage your audience and what have you found to be the most effective platforms to accomplish this?
Social media has been incredible for radio to create even more “personal” connections with listeners.  Back in the 90’s, one of the few ways you could interact while on the air outside of cracking the mic was answering the request lines.  While I do miss the days of the phone ringing off the hook, the different social platforms at our disposal today open up so many opportunities to be noticed by people if you know how to use them properly.  I love using Facebook to see what people are talking about and care about, what songs they’re digging, etc.  It’s all right there in front of you, and I’ll often get some topics to talk about on-air from people’s discussions.  You can learn a lot from your news feed!  It almost feels like cheating.  Twitter is fascinating because you can interact with people from your backyard or around the world.  Having exclusive information that an ardent fan base craves can really make you interesting in the Twitterverse quickly!  Radio should take advantage of this more.

How driven should radio be in general to outpace its digital competitors, and what is the best way to achieve this?
This is a big issue for me, because I think radio absolutely has to give people a reason to keep listening, otherwise radio will fade into the background.  In the same way I think most younger people don’t understand the difference between broadcast and cable TV when they’re sitting on their couch, the same shift is about to happen in the car.  A radio preset on their dashboard will soon be (and in some cases already is) just another button amongst a variety of entertainment options.  We have to be compelling enough as an industry to make people still want to punch that FM button, and need to be constantly promoting ourselves and reminding people (in a subtle way) what radio does that other mediums can’t: the locality, the immediacy, the intimacy, and the fact that it’s FREE!
      I believe CHR is on the front lines leading this charge, because our stations are the ones that most young people will gravitate toward first in the early months and years of their “radio development” and forming life habits if you will.  If we’re not on our game delivering content and entertainment that matters to them, we risk losing them.  That’s why it’s so important for stations to have as big a presence as possible in their markets, even more than just online.  Positive personal interactions create fans of you, your station and ultimately our industry!

What continues to motivate you as an on-air personality relative to your relationship with your audience?
I always remind myself that I have a job that most people find fascinating and are pretty jealous of.  I remember listening to the DJ’s on the radio as I was growing up, how cool I thought they were, and realize that’s now me on the other end!  We really have the power to affect people’s lives in small ways, and if I can make someone smile each afternoon either from what I’ve said or by playing their favorite song, or better yet, inspiring them to do something to make our community a better place, then I’ve done my job!