Mel Flores
KRZQ has been going strong as a Rock station for 17 years, and PD Mel Flores has spent most of her life listening to its evolution. Growing up in “the biggest little town in America,” Flores has been a fan, an intern and now the Program Director for KRZQ. She told FMQB recently what makes Reno such a unique market and why radio has a responsibility to its local community.
e-QB presents excerpts from the April FMQB magazine Modern Rock Up Close with KRZQ/Reno PD Mel Flores
On the loss of the Adam Carolla morning Show and what’s next…
Right now we’re still doing “The Best of Carolla” and teasing something new is coming. We definitely know who we’re replacing Carolla with. I can’t say who just yet but it’s a known morning show that will start in April. I’m really bummed that Adam Carolla isn’t doing mornings anymore. He was just finally starting to do well for us and two books ago, he actually beat out one of the top morning shows here in town. That was a huge feat for a syndicated show. He’s smart and I’ve always followed him since I was a kid when he was on Loveline.
On the characteristics of the Reno market…
It is of course a tourist town because we have the casinos and then we have the mountains for snowboarding and skiing. It’s a weird town, actually I was just saying to a friend the other day that Vegas is probably a little bit more transient, and its people are accustomed to the casinos and the ruffles and all that stuff. Then you come up here to live. A lot of people here…you’re probably going to meet more locals born and raised here than you do in other places.
On the radio landscape…
I think we have the most competitive market ever. We have so many of the same kind of radio stations here it’s ridiculous. I don’t know how we all are surviving, to be honest with you, especially now when we have such crossover with Active Rock and Hot AC and even Triple A. It’s amazing that we’re still here, but we’re going on 17 years in this town as an Alternative Rock station.
On the Reno local music scene…We’re huge supporters of the local music scene and trying to bring it all together. Every Spring we do a promotion called the “Spring Forward By Paying Forward” campaign, and we peg three non-profits to represent three months during the Springtime, and local bands partner up with that to help raise money for those non-profits. Then the bands that raise the most money get incentives. We give them a DJ shift where they get to play anything they want. They get their song played on the radio in regular rotation. We set up a big festival show in the summer downtown for them to play. The band that raises the most money get studio time or gift certificates to music stores. We do compilation CDs; we do T-shirts.
On community efforts…
I feel as a radio station we can get more ears than just somebody on the street, so it’s our responsibility to make our community a better place. We’re a very active radio station. We’re out there in the community helping non-profits all the time, but it also helps us, obviously. It’s exposure and we get to a demographic that normally we wouldn’t be able to hit. But at the same time, I think that local radio stations will only survive if their community can identify with them.
On assessing what’s wrong with terrestrial radio stations not emphasizing a local presence…
That’s one of the biggest mistakes in terrestrial radio right now. They’re shipping the personality out of the radio station, and how is a listener going to identify with your station if they don’t feel like they’re a part of it? I understand that listeners don’t necessarily listen to our station 24-7. But I always tell people we’re a lifestyle station. So I feel like when they get that Arbitron diary, they’re going to identify more with a lifestyle than just, “Oh, this is the station I listen to.” Instead, they’ll think “This is the station that is more me.”
** QB Content by Joey Odorisio **
| Also in the April Issue: |
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BuzzBands Spotlight: Atom Smash Formed in 2006 by frontman and songwriter Sergio Sanchez and producer/drummer/co-writer Paul Trust, the team set out to write and record what would become the Atom Smash debut album. Hundreds of ideas were spilled on tape before a record was even a consideration. Fast forward to the present and the band has a legion of great radio support behind them and a touring schedule that keeps them sharp and focus on spreading their music organically and realistically. FMQB chats with frontman Sergio Sanchez about the band’s recent success. |
