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10 Questions with ... Kelly A. Rafuse (Kelly K)
April 28, 2009
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POSITION:APD/MD/middaysSTATION:WKRZMARKET:Wilkes-Barre/ScrantonOWNER:EntercomEMAIL:kellykladydj@yahoo.com
Please outline your radio career so far:
First airshift : age 14 (volunteer, community radio.) First paid airshift: age 16. Part-time all through high school and college. First full-time gig programming a small station in Northern NY, then APD/MD/afternoons at Kiss in Utica, mornings at WBHT/Wilkes-Barre, part-time at WBMX/Boston and full-time (nights) at WZMX/Hartford, then back to Wilkes-Barre for WKRZ, where I've been for eight years!
1) Lots of jocks like to claim that they "own their market," but you LITERALLY own a nice chunk of it. Tell us about your local real estate ventures.
My husband and I, in the space of a year, have built two real estate corporations that own four apartment buildings in the Wilkes-Barre area, and we're positioned for growth. We studied the market for about a year before we bought our first building, and our education continues daily. Steve handles the day-to-day maintenance and project manages the contractors while I handle tenants and the financial management. "Good People Good Homes" is our brand. We've already been recognized by the downtown revitalization effort; our third building is in the historic district and we rescued it from abandonment. It's an ongoing renovation project, but it's now fully functional and fully rented.
By the way, we didn't have piles of money lying around to start with -- just excellent credit and a little bit of savings. My family had nothing growing up and I worked in radio all my life, so I know how to do a lot with a little. When I buy my first radio station, management is going to be a snap!
2) KRZ has been a dominant player there for a very long time. Tell us about your heritage drive-time personalities.
Rocky & Sue -- heritage morning show! They've been KRZ staples since 1989 (they left briefly for a year in '98, but in a strange twist of fate ended up coming back!) They know this market inside out; they're smart, plugged in and more importantly, ACCESSIBLE. You can literally go out and have a beer with these guys; they do it with their listeners all the time! Jumpin' Jeff Walker in the afternoon is the same way ... accessible, REAL. That guy has been here since they turned the station on in 1980. Two generations have literally grown up listening to him and he's working on a third. And he's not some old guy, either. I think of him as Wilkes-Barre's most eligible bachelor -- he works out, goes out, and he's quite plugged in. Amanda, his producer and sidekick, is 23 years old and their chemistry is great! There's a broad range of ages in our listenership, too. We not only win 18-34, but 25-54 as well!
3) How would you describe your first radio gig?
I was a part-timer (and sometimes a full-time part-timer) all through school, but I'll tell you about my first FULL-TIME gig a few months out of college. WVNC in Canton, NY, a little full-service AC that ran CBS news at the top of the hour. Rick Jordan was the PD and he convinced me to come up and help him out. Then he left and I became the PD. The station was on the second floor of the owner's garage. The owner was the GM, the morning guy and the Mayor of Canton! It was like that little town in South Park. I had a lot of fun, and we rocked it - Mix 96: real promotions, real imaging, real music rotations. You learn so much at a small station where you have to do everything; I even sold time! So I have more respect for sales than maybe the average programmer has. By the way, Danny Meyers, Johnny O and Java Joel were some of the jocks who came out of that station and went to the majors.
4) How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?
Triple-tiered. In the advertising dollars game there are four big-dog players: WKRZ, WMGS (Magic, the AC), WEZX (Rock 107, the Classic Rock, and WGGY (our sister station, Froggy, Country). These represent the three big companies: Entercom, Citadel (Magic) and Times-Shamrock (Rock 107).
Tier 2 includes two Citadel properties that give KRZ a run for our money with the 18-24, 18-34 crowds: WBHT (Top 40/M) and WBSX (Active Rock). Then there's WILK, Entercom's News/Talk station, with a lot of local programming that does very well.
The third tier includes Entercom's AAA "The Mountain" with its niche audience; Citadel's classic-leaning Country, Times-Shamrock's satellite Oldies station, and an independent Classic Rocker "The River." There's also a Lite AC and a Classic Hits station run by small operators.
5) What makes your station unique? How would you compare it to other stations you've worked at?
KRZ has stayed true to its heritage. Rather than blowing up and starting over, KRZ has managed to update with the changing times, keeping it relevant while still maintaining that incredible brand. We don't rest on our name -- our PD, Mike O'Donnell, does not rest. He was named Entercom's #1 Overachieving PD for 2008!
The main difference between KRZ and other stations I've worked at? The winning attitude. It's not what you think - when you're the top dog, there's no time for egotistical gloating. You have to work harder and smarter to stay #1 ... you're actually competing with yourself. For most of my career, I worked for underdogs, striving to knock stations like KRZ down! It's a whole different mindset.
6) If you could add one full-time position to your budget right now, what would it be?
A Web Image and Content Manager specifically for the air staff! It's all about being interactive now -- jocks have to do daily blogs, make videos, upload audio, remain accessible to the Myspace/Facebook crowd - oh, all while preparing and performing a halfway decent radio show every day, doing club appearances, production and all that other stuff that comes with the job! Most jock website content sucks because it's thrown together half-assed after a long day. It would be cool to have somebody who could coordinate all that stuff for us, make us look good online the way our engineers fool with the knobs to make us sound good on-air!
7) Looking back, which years hold the best musical memories for you ... and who were your favorite acts at that time?
It would have to be 1984-86, when I was just getting started on the air. All the MTV stuff - Duran Duran, Eurythmics, The Cars, Mellencamp, Janet Jackson. I scheduled an '80s weekend awhile back and it was amazing - no tempo problems, because everything was upbeat. No sound-coding problems because there was a perfect blend of rock and dance pop. And every song had a HUGE hook!
8) Do you have a favorite hobby outside of radio?
Hiking in the mountains. It's the Vermont girl in me. There are some pretty sweet trails here in Northeast PA. One year my husband and I plan to hike the whole Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Maybe next time I'm between radio jobs!
9) What music do you listen to when you're not working?
Usually not the hits, unless I'm driving. I listen to Internet radio at home. I'm a fan of the AAA format - R.E.M., KT Tunstall, the Pretenders, Bob Marley, Dar Williams, deeper cuts from John Mayer - I love it! I've somehow never been cool enough to work in that format, except for a short time in Hartford. But if WNCS in Montpelier, VT came calling, I just might have to go home! Or WMVY/Martha's Vineyard ... My cell number is (570) 237-1866.
10) What advice you would give people new to the business?
Learn business! Study it at a good college or read books and go to seminars, or start one on your own and learn the hard way -- but learn how to run a profitable business in 21st century America. By all means, keep your passion for music and radio alive - go to shows, pull a part-time air shift and listen to what your PD tells you even if you think she's an idiot -- all while learning the principals of modern business.
Product development, marketing, sales, even accounting. Radio today is run by business people. "Suits." "Bean counters." The problem is, radio is a creative industry. That's why it's suffering -- a creative, right-brain industry is being run by left-brain business people. But if more creative people became business-savvy ... ground-breaking creativity backed by sound business principals could very well save the industry. It's how I plan to run the station I purchase with my real estate profits. My advice to people new to the business is to develop BOTH sides of your brain!
Bonus Questions
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I was going to be a rock star, but my parents wouldn't let me join a band at 14, so I volunteered for the community radio station at Lyndon State College and that was that.
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