5165646There are several good reasons why a Top 40 station stays in the format for three and a half decades and doesn’t miss a beat, but it all starts with leadership at the top. FLY 92 has just that and Marissa Lanchak plays a major role in that area for this Albany heritage hit machine. Marissa, along with PD Ally Reid, have ensured an unwavering, enduring and reliable brand that keeps the station in its winning ways.

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Marissa Lanchak

Marissa Lanchak has always been a fan of FLY 92 in Albany. The station she grew up listening to became her professional home in November of 2004 and she hasn’t looked back since…or sideways either….except once. Marissa has been dedicated to the station, and if not for a brief stint at KQKQ/Omaha in July 2006, she’s given the station ten years of service. In April of 2007, Marissa came home as a part-timer at FLY and quickly ascended to MD/afternoon host before the year expired. In January of 2011, she was awarded additional APD stripes and currently ranks as one of the most astute music mavens in the business, helping the well-entrenched Top 40 station celebrate its 35th anniversary this year.

You aggressively embrace new music at FLY and have earned the reputation of being one of the most musically informed Pop stations in the country. What is your main criterion for adding new singles?
We tend to look at a number of different things: national charts, Shazam, sales, but we also go by our gut a lot. Given that my PD and I are both female, running a female focused station, we feel pretty positive when bouncing things off of each other on what will work and what won’t.

When do you do the majority of your effective listening each week?
I’m always listening to music. I would say a lot of it happens at my desk when it comes to brand new stuff, but if I’m not listening to something, people are probably wondering what’s wrong with me.

How much of the art/science issue enters the picture when determining which songs you’re already playing get increases?
In a lot of cases we do base it on sales, Shazam and market play but in those rare instances where we may not have our local research back yet, we have based moves strictly on gut and most of the time it works in our favor.
It really does depend on the song. There are instances where we just feel really positive about a song and we feel we “need” that sound to go along with the flow, but most of the time we do want to see some evidence on it first. If we were always gambling, how could we stay at the top?

FLY is a heritage Pop station with a broad demo base of listeners. How would you describe your core target listener and what makes that listener so attracted to the station?
We have the luxury of being a heritage Top 40 station that is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. For the station to be older than I am says a lot. I grew up listening to FLY, so did my friends, so are their kids and so on. So, the majority of our core audience is lifelong listeners and they come to us for their new music, and maybe in some cases a little nostalgia.

How challenging is it to maintain a solid brand over the course of time?
Our brand is strong in the market. Again being in our 35th year and having that heritage brand, people tend to know what to expect from us.

How much of a role does social media play in extending the audience engagement factor with the station?
Social media is so huge right now for us. It gives us that extra element to interact with our listening audience which is great. When it comes to the music, I don’t necessarily believe it has that big of an impact but it allows us to see what is trending, what people are talking about, and what people are listening to.

Top 40 music has been exceptional for well over two years. What features of this year’s crop of Pop music has excited you the most?
I love that we’re starting to see more pure Pop and a lot of throwback type of stuff. For a while it’s been dance, dance, dance and while there is still a lot of it you have artists like MKTO and Katy Perry that are giving us Pop back; along with songs from Clean Bandit and Keisza that give us that early 90s dance feel, as well.

What are your thoughts on the current Top 40 music cycle and where it’s heading as you start to think about fall programming?
I’m hoping to see more of the fun Pop back and less of the EDM. When I think back to the late 90s/early 00’s it just had more of that fun, happy feeling and less of a ‘let’s go to a rave’ vibe.

FLY has been proactive with artist initiatives at the station. Which artist promo appearances have worked best for the station regarding audience reaction?
We’ve done so many it’s almost hard to remember. My favorite in the last couple of years was with One Direction. We had an “Eat ‘n Greet” where fans could win their way into a little party before the BTR show. We’ve also hidden tickets to some of the big shows like One D, Justin Timberlake, etc. in the area and gave clues. Those promotions always go over big.

How would you describe the optimal label/radio relationship and when is that partnership at it best?
I feel like I personally have a really good relationship with most of the labels we work with. I will always be straight forward with them and them with me. We have that working yet personal friendship as well, which I think is what makes both of our jobs easier.

If you could change anything about the way the music industry conducts business with your radio station, what advice would you have to offer?
I don’t know if I would really do anything differently. I’d love to have the opportunity to do things with more of their artists and I think that medium markets, like Albany, should be given that opportunity, however, that’s not up to our local reps. That’s a change in record company thinking of importance.

You and PD Ally Reid are both very active in music decisions. How would you best define your relationship when it comes to deciding on new music?
We are definitely a good balance. She might hear a song that I haven’t yet and we are able to chat about why we feel one way or another on a song. Although we may not personally enjoy a song, we both can usually grasp why our audience would.

Why is it important for a Music Director to also be on the air allowing a more intimate appreciation of the music mix?
For me, it’s good to know what requests are coming in and how people react to certain songs. I think being able to do a show and surround myself with the station as a whole allows me to feel the flow that should happen and hone my ear for what it should sound like.

What have been some of your more memorable artist experiences when they have come to the station on promo visits or interviews with you on the air?
I tend to have some of the most laid back, just chatting with a friend type of interviews. MKTO was very chill, Jason Derulo was fun at our Summer Jam because initially he wasn’t scheduled for an interview and then just popped in to say hi. I didn’t interviewJustin Bieber but I was the only one on our staff who knew of him back in 2008 when he stopped by. Our morning show thought he was a kid that wanted a tour of the station.