KAZR/Des Moines programming has been in the hands of Ryan Patrick for the past seven years and has flourished under his guidance. The station’s ratings overall remain near the top of the heap in Des Moines, Lazer’s key demos shine bright and Lazerfest has become one of the most successful radio festivals in the country. Add in some very creative twists on standard Rock radio promotions and it’s no wonder that Patrick isn’t showing any signs of a seven-year itch.
Ryan Patrick
KAZR/Des Moines programming has been in the hands of Ryan Patrick ever since the life-long Buffalo native left his gig as MD/morning show producer at WEDG for the PD role at Lazer. It’s been a seven year run and Lazer has flourished under his guidance. The station’s ratings overall remain near the top of the heap in Des Moines, Lazer’s key demos shine bright and Lazerfest has become one of the most successful radio festivals in the country. Add in some very creative twists on standard Rock radio promotions and it’s no wonder that Patrick isn’t showing any signs of a seven-year itch. FMQB recently caught up with Patrick for a one-on-one about his time in Des Moines.
eQB presents excerpts from the November FMQB magazine Rock Up Close: KAZR/Des Moines Program Director Ryan Patrick
“As a whole, radio has done a good job of creating content for the web. With that being said, we still have a ways to go to properly monetize it. Breaking through to clients is a problem. Many of the high profile national accounts get the value of the web and new technologies, but don’t want to pay for it.”
“We’ve worked very hard to engrain the Rock Girl in the fabric of the radio station. Many stations put this huge promotion together and then forget about her. We are constantly looking for new ways to work her in. She is just as big of a personality as any of the jocks, including the morning show. We make sure she is everywhere online, on-air, and at events. This year we even sent her out on sales calls to help explain the Rock Girl promotion to clients.”
“As a program director, I love working with the personalities, promotions, and interactive departments to come up with cool content ideas. The biggest restriction is the fact that we only have one person to take our ideas and translate it to the web.”
“For a long time, stations always wanted expensive billboards. Today, Facebook is a highway, and each of your station’s posts is a billboard – and it’s free. It’s a great example of going where the audience is.”
“We are just what we advertise, “Everything That Rocks”. The station is a unique animal, partially due to the competition of the market and partially due to our philosophy. In terms of library, we blend classic, ‘80s, Grunge, and ‘90s Alternative.”
“We had some people shaking their heads earlier this year when we added The Dirty Heads. We had talked about it for weeks after watching such a great story build at Alternative for so long. It had that familiar Sublime sound, which the audience still digs. It turned out to be a cool little summer record that helped broaden us a bit.”
“Today’s personalities need to use all of the tools at their hands – Facebook, Twitter, video, and old fashioned appearances. It is easier than ever to make “eye contact” with the listener. The hard part is making it count so you’re not boring or spamming them.”
“It’s not about a direct competitor, but more about the additional choices. Right now, I believe Pandora is the most viable threat, but I fear the technologies that are 2, 5, 7 years away. Somewhere, some kid is in his basement working on the next big app that will splinter our audience even more.”
**QB Content by Michael Parrish**
