Dylan Sprague earned his programming pedigree while working at some of the leading CHR radio stations in America. His work ethic and keen sense for building winning teams has garnered him respect from fellow programmers. He now faces the challenge of programming two stations for Entercom-Denver, Hot AC KALC and Classic Rock KQMT.
Dylan Sprague has enjoyed success at some of America’s leading CHR radio stations. From his early days at WNCI/Columbus while still in college, to his first night gig at KJYO/Oklahoma, he knew his future was in radio. He segued to crosstown KYIS/KATT for P.M. Drive and moved on to KMXV/Kansas City where he attained MD stripes and was able to develop his management and programming talents. It was on to WWWQ (Q100)/Atlanta where he would garner his first PD job and utilize his leadership skills to build a winning team. He calls Denver home now and brings with him the knowledge and patience it takes to face the challenge of running two stations.
What were some of the things you learned about the Denver radio market that surprised you?
I wouldn’t say I was terribly surprised. Denver is a lot like Kansas City in that it has traditionally been a Rock-leaning town. There are amazing Rock brands here that are well-entrenched in the culture of this city.
After spending many years as a CHR programmer, what were some of the adjustments you had to make with respect to Hot AC and Classic Rock programming?
Transitioning to Hot AC wasn’t too much of a challenge in that KMXV/Kansas City and WWWQ/Atlanta have always been very “mainstream” CHR outlets. I was certainly aware of a lot of the core records that Hot AC was playing at that time. Also, the format itself was transitioning at the time with great Pop product available that was very adult friendly. Those Pop hits continue today and have really allowed the format to expand. Certainly there is a different mindset to the life-group and I tried to spend the first few months absorbing not only what that was for the format but also specifically for Alice. I guess the biggest adjustment was keeping in mind “the young end” meant 25 year old women and not 18 year-olds anymore.
The transition to Classic Rock was a trip! In high school, all anyone listened to was I-95 WRKI in Danbury, CT. I loved Z100, but desperately wanted to fit in, so I spent a lot of time with I-95. A lot of this music is stuff I’ve had in my cassette/CD/iPod over the years. Getting an opportunity to program it has been a blast. The Mountain is a phenomenal radio station.
Since your arrival in Denver, what have you done to put your signature on the stations?
Alice had all the right pieces when I joined the team, but they all needed to be glued together. For example, we had two tremendous drive-time personality-driven shows that sounded like they were on two very different radio stations. We worked very hard in the first six months to create a “station sound” for Alice that tied everything together.
The Mountain has been more of an evolution. I am thrilled with the progress the station has made. Mountain rolled in their best book in a year in Winter ‘09 and the latest trends show continued improvement.
I think both stations and staffs were pretty desperate for some leadership and direction. I’m very proud of the teams we have created from creative services to web/video to promotions to programming. The players all know their roles and understand if they just complete their work at the highest level possible, everything will fall into place. No one wants to be the weak link. These guys are some of the most driven I have ever worked with. And it shows with the product we put out each day.
What are some of the challenges facing today’s programmers?
The immediate challenge is how to maintain and improve upon your current level of success with less tools and people to work with. More than ever your people are the key. Getting the most out of everyone on your staff is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity. In the past maybe you could begrudgingly survive with a talented jock that brought in big numbers but didn’t work well with sales. Nowadays, everyone must be the full package and often that is hard to find. We work hard to bring in the best, train them well and let them do their thing. That’s true in Denver and part of the culture of Entercom across the country. It’s refreshing.
Increased competition for attention of radio listeners will always be an issue for radio. But great content will always win – whether it’s on radio, TV or the web. We must continue to drive innovation with new formats, interesting and compelling personalities and great content. I think for the most part, today’s programmers understand that content we create can be delivered in more ways than just the traditional FM or AM signal and that that additional “touch” will inevitably increase radio listenership.
You’re fortunate to have a successful morning show with B.J., Howie and Erica.
I am fortunate to have two successful personality shows on Alice with BJ, Howie and Erica in mornings and Slacker and Steve in afternoons. BJ, Howie and Erica have been together five months and the progress has been astonishing. I have never seen a show work so hard. I can only imagine where this show will be a year from now. Slacker and Steve have been number one 25-54 persons for a year now. This show has only been together two years! Both shows are really just so young and new. Both shows crave discussion, teaching and learning. It’s the perfect setup for a long successful run.
Having a quality support staff is vital and at KALC you have Sam Hill as your MD. How important is it for you to have someone like her on your team?
Sam is one of those rare people in our business. When you meet her you just know right away. She is so smart, so passionate, and so incredibly detail-oriented! And you have to be able to deal with me and schedule music for two such drastically different stations.
How are your stations utilizing new technology social network platforms?
Alice has had a lot of success with social marketing. We use the station’s Twitter as an extension of our entertainment news platform. We constantly update with the latest breaking news (at least once an hour) and have found our tweets are regularly re-tweeted by listeners with their own comments. The individual jocks use Twitter as most do – an extension of their personality. It’s an amazing way to keep the conversation going with those P1’s who can’t get enough.
What should radio do to maintain its hold as the go-to media of choice?
Stay FREE! Create great content! Every station and format can define “great content” as needed. But we need to be innovative, creative and thought-provoking.
***QB Content By Mark LaSpina***
