As PD of KRBZ/Kansas City, Lazlo was able to lay down a Modern Rock foundation by playing hits and left-of-center records that weren’t necessarily red state-worthy. He eventually caught the eye of Entercom brass and was chosen to helm the vacated KNDD/Seattle chair. As he continues to settle in and help steer the ship back into winning waters, we caught up with FMQB’s Modern Rock Program Director of the Year to find out what The End is up to these days
eQB presents excerpts from the February FMQBmagazine Modern Rock Up Close with KNDD/Seattle PD Lazlo
As PD of KRBZ/Kansas City, a city not especially known as an Alternative music Mecca, Lazlo was able to lay down a Modern Rock foundation by playing hit and left-of-center records that weren’t necessarily red state-worthy. Having successfully given the listeners more credit than most other radio stations do, and winning with music that totally dependent on national stories and safe, generic hooks, he caught the eye of Entercom brass and was chosen to helm the vacated KNDD/Seattle chair. It seemed a perfect fit as The End is widely looked upon as a champion of new music and a station unafraid of changing up and taking chances.
As he continues to settle in and help steer the ship back into winning waters, we caught up withFMQB’s Modern Rock Program Director of the Year to find out what The End is up to these days…
On the difficulty of tweaking a station that has been redefined so many times… It is harder. A lot of times when you come into an Alternative station you know you can change things and it’s done. This station has changed from being a Neo station and before that a station that played KoRnand Limp Bizkit, and of course one of the first Alternative stations in the country. So it’s hard. The good thing about coming to a station like this is that I believe people want to like the radio station. They want to be fans of it, which is a unique challenge and a unique place to be, but also a good place to be.
On the differences between Seattle and Kansas City… It’s the exact opposite war. The war in Kansas City was that they told us you couldn’t be successful unless you played Three Days Graceand 3 Doors Down and Trapt, because that’s what people wanted. We proved them wrong. Here they say that you can’t be too mainstream, and if you’re not playing Morrissey and Tapes & Tapesrecords all the time you won’t be successful. The actual battle is to find that balance no matter where you are.
His message to the air staff as the incoming PD… The message to the air staff was that I cared about music, and that I wasn’t going to come in and not play cool music. We would still take chances on records, and it would still be a station that broke records. I also wanted to go back and add records from the ’70s and the ’80s that hadn’t been played in a long time, like I’ve done in other cities… We need to not take ourselves so seriously. Sometimes we can talk about serious subjects, and sometimes we can just have fun… We need to be a full service radio station for the Alternative listener… In order to be a successful Alternative radio station, we need personalities that transcend the format.
On terrestrial radio’s competition… What we need to worry about is making a good product. If we make a good product, then we’ll compete with anybody else. People start talking about: Oh it’s got to be available on your cell phone; it’s got to be… Just make the radio station sound good and you’ll compete, and I believe that to be true. Don’t talk about how we’re losing because people are listening to music on their cell phone. That’s bullshit. They’re finding a way to listen to music on their cell phone because we suck. We’re looking at it backwards.
On satellite radio… They have the same problems we have, and if they don’t realize it, then they’re dead in the water too. They’ve got to bring in content… We’re arguing about what delivery system competes with terrestrial radio, but it’s not about delivery systems, it will never be about that, it’s about content. People won’t listen to wireless streams or satellite or terrestrial radio if the content isn’t good. With satellite, 137 channels of different types of music is not the answer. It’s about content. It’s about getting the right people on the radio.
On attracting younger listeners to terrestrial radio… Somebody is going to have to make a stand somewhere; terrestrial radio as a whole or company heads as a whole, and try to figure that out, but that’s their job not mine. Right now I’m held responsible for ratings and revenue…. We haven’t figured out a way to monetize [the younger end] in radio yet. We’re still stuck in this 25-54-year-old world. We’re turning our backs on 12-17 and 18-24-year-olds because we can’t make any money in those demos, while other people are focusing on them. That’s pretty scary.
** QB Content By Mike Bacon **
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