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10 Questions with ... Paul Kriegler
February 21, 2012
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Pirate radio, public radio, APD/MD of KNNC/Austin, then onto PD for KMYZ/Tulsa, KOZN Kansas City, KEDJ/Phoenix, various Clear Channel stations in Atlanta, a stop as a GM somewhere in Illinois, and then a very grateful, eventual return to Tulsa.
1. After recently celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Austin's K-NACK, what was your greatest memory from programming the "Psychobaby?"
The "bootstrap" mentality of the whole station. If you worked at K-NACK...at one time or another, you did a little of everything. Some very smart and talented people walked the halls of that station. Richard Rees was a good judge of talent: sales and programming.
2. What led you back to programming KMYZ?
I came back to Tulsa in 2006, to program KTSO, KMYZ's sister station, and last August I took over for Kenny Wall and began handling both. What ultimately led me back to Tulsa, though: a desire to make a difference, work with friends, and be closer to family, and not drive an hour to get to work.
3. What changes have you made to the station since taking over as PD?
We hired Derek Kastner ("Deek") to do mornings (he used to work in the market at Rock 102.3), Chuck Stikl moved to afternoons, we upped one of our part-timers Drew to middays, we snagged Malcom Ryker to add some spice to the imaging and voiceovers, and we hired some new weekenders.
4. Why did you decide to make a change in mornings?
We saw Derek as great opportunity for us to liven up the daypart.
5. What is the strongest daypart on Z104.5 The Edge and what makes it so successful?
As of late it's middays and afternoons. The Edge is fairly gold-focused throughout the workday. The Flashback Lunch is one of the strongest features on the radio station. Since I programmed KMYZ in the '9os, I have intimate knowledge of what requested and what researched back in the day. In this last book, we just "Edged" our primary competitor middays 18-49 Adults.
6. How are you programming a rock-leaning alternative station with the current musical shift at the format?
We will always reflect what the audience wants. In the '90s, we played Jewel and Tool on the same station. Today we get away playing both Foster The People and Five Finger Death Punch...just not back-to-back.
7. What is most important to you when championing new music for The Edge?
If I'm going to stick my neck out on a record, it's got to sound like a hit. If it becomes one, it's up to our listeners. I simply do not care about MScores, national research, or "the chart," really.
8. What may surprise people most about the station?
104.5 is, to a degree, a heritage frequency in the market. KMYZ has been a contemporary rock music station since Mel Myers successfully programmed it in the '80s. Rock/Alternative was a very logical evolution in 1995. Under Kenny Wall, in the past five years, the station has been ranked inside the Top 5 Adults 25-54 several times.
9. What would surprise people most about you?
I'm pretty serious about my granola.
10. What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your radio career?
If change is good, radio is heaven.
Bonus Questions
When you're away from work, what are you music listening habits to the radio, iPod, online, etc.?
I listen to some dance and chill mostly. I like Deadmau5, which throws my daughter for a loop. I don't listen to a lot of other terrestrial radio stations online, but I do burn quite few CDs for the car and have a non-Apple device for running and biking. I keep up with: Pitchfork, NME, and Stereogum... I do like XMU on SiriusXM!
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