10 Questions with ... Vince Richards

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• Programming Assistant - Emmis KSHE/St Louis
• PD - Entercom KQRC/Kansas City
• OM - Clear Channel/Houston/Dallas
• National Om - Townsquare Media
• OM - Entercom/Sacramento

1. Congrats Vince! KKDO (ALT 94.7) has begun 2019 with the best ratings in the station's history and #1 18-34 in Sacramento! How have you guys found the sweet spot to success?

Thanks! We've been on a great run the last 16 months or so. Our success can't be defined with just one or two things; it is a number of factors that come into play. Our success has definitely been by design and not by default. Andy Hawk and I have worked hard to strategically and methodically get the station in a position to maximize our position in the market.

2. Give us the 411 on the station. How is the station positioned musically and what is most important when deciding what new music to put into rotation?

Music is the star on the station. We are Sacramento's Alternative Station but we are also a destination for listeners to elevate their normal radio experience. It's the perfect complement for our six station Entercom cluster in Sacramento. KKDO is the hardest station I program because it's non-traditional and unique in every aspect.

3. ALT 94.7 is very aggressive exposing new music and among the top stations in the format being over 40% current. Is playing more new music the golden ticket for success?

There is no golden ticket or silver bullet. We are very strategic about executing our plan. Golden tickets and silver bullets are tactical plays within the execution but we do not rely on tactics to win. You win with a great strategic game plan. The tactics are not the foundation of how I program any radio station. If you're relying on tactics to succeed, you may achieve short-term success but long term, you're just putting a Band-Aid on a massive head wound.

4. Tell us about your Like/Dislike program and how you weigh music decisions with traditional callout?

The best way to describe the "Like/Dislike" data is to imagine we are construction workers. There are tools like the power tool and hammer which are vital to get the job done efficiently and accurately. Then there are other tools like the Allen Wrench which you use when needed and not all the time. The "Like/Dislike" is somewhere in between both categories. It's data we use but in no way, shape or form is it the bible to how and what we do.

5. How does music consumption factor into your music meeting?

There is so much data right now and much of this data lacks the qualitative factors needed to make educated and informed decisions. As a programmer, we have to sift through the noise to get to the meat of what makes our stations great. How you ingest that data mentally and read it is where the rubber meets the road. I get stats from labels virtually every day. To me, much of it is just numbers to tell or skew a story about a song. There are a number of other filters I use and have always used before I look at raw data about a particular song.

6. Take us inside your weekly music meeting with your APD Andy Hawk and the process of sorting through all the new music?

In all honesty, the music is the easiest and certainly the most fun part of programming the radio station. Our weekly music meetings are often short, lasting 15 to 30 minutes at the most. Andy and I have a system that allows us to work together freely and sometimes even independently, so when we have our music meeting, we are not wasting our time on non-essential factors that slow us down. It's about quality not quantity.

7. How would you describe yourself as a programmer?

Interesting question. I would say that I am strategic, analytical, confident, a calculated risk taker and that I often see things differently. I've been doing this a long time and I've been very successful everywhere I have been. I think that my track record speaks for itself. I don't know everything and I rely on the people that I trust for advice.

8. What is a typical day like for you oversee programming for the cluster's six stations -- Alternative KKDO (Radio 94.7), Active Rock KRXQ (98 Rock), Top 40/Mainstream KUDL (106.5 The End), Classic Rock KSEG (Eagle 96.9), Top 40/Rhythmic KSFM and Sports KIFM-A (ESPN Radio 1320)?

I directly program KKDO and KRXQ and oversee the other four stations. Andy Hawk and Pat Martin (KRXQ) are great Assistant Program Directors. We do a lot of heavy lifting together and because I am the Operations Manager, I not only oversee programming, but also the promotions, events, digital, creative, engineering and traffic departments. I rely on my team to execute the game plan that we have in place. There are days where I am dealing with other departments and I am very comfortable knowing Andy and Pat are at the wheel. Every day is so different with some more challenging than others. I have a great team around me who after 16 months understand me and my idiosyncrasies of how I program and operate.

9. What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of the job is the people that I have the opportunity to work with every day. The Entercom Sacramento team is a tight knit cast of characters and I say that lovingly. I have the best Market Manager in Stacey Kauffman. She's a first time Market Manager but operates like she's been doing it for 20 years. She brings her "A" game every day, pushing not just me but our entire staff to be better today than the day before. Stacey and I work closely on every aspect of our team. We work collaboratively throughout the building and I have a great a relationship with the sales managers and sales teams just as much as I do with the programming team. While getting ratings is great, it's also about the revenue. I'm not just graded by the ratings but also the amount of revenue I can help garner for our bottom line.

10. After living in Houston and Dallas for almost 20 years, what do you love most about living in California's Capital?

Sacramento is really a Midwestern city dropped right in the middle of Northern California. It's a great radio market and much different than Texas in many ways. I love the NorCal region; the people are wonderful and the winters are nonexistent here.

What are weekends like for you?

We are always exploring, aka getting lost in NorCal. There is so much to do here. San Francisco is 90 minutes west, Tahoe is two hours east. There are beaches, mountains, and wineries all over this region with so much history. Many weekends we wake up on a Saturday and go on an impromptu day trip somewhere in the region.

I know you're a big sports fan. Rank your sports teams in order of passion.

• NFL: Dallas Cowboys
• NHL: St Louis Blues (even though they kill me every year in the playoffs)
• MLB: St Louis Cardinals (their championships make up for some of the Blues frustrations)
• NBA: I'm more of a fan of individual players than teams.

When you get back home to St. Louis, what are your top priorities?

• Family
• Great Italian food
• Sport teams

Favorite new band from this past year?

Honestly no one in particular. I am a fan of good, new music despite the genre.