10 Questions with ... Eddie Gutierrez

1. It’s crazy to think that March 2022 marks 28 years since KJEE signed on as Alternative station. You just had an incredible Fall ‘21 Book. Tell us about it.

Everyone’s really happy about it because we felt we did well, but we weren’t expecting such a good book. For a small market like Santa Barbara, Nielsen is still using diary books and averaging the Spring ‘21 with the Fall ‘21 book to make the Fall ‘21 numbers (this way there is not such a dramatic rise and fall in ratings). It seems like we are on the right track because the Spring ‘21 book was also a good book for us.

2. Congrats on KJEE being the #1 rated Alternative station in the Nielsen Ratings in the just released Fall ’21 Book with a 6.9 12+. Where are you seeing the biggest ratings growth?

We did well across the board in every category -- 12 + went from 4.8 to 6.9, our P18-34 went from 10.3 to 13.8, our P18-49 went from a 6.7 to 10.3, and our P25-54 went from 6.8 to 8.5. Overall a very good book for us.

3. Why do you feel KJEE is having so much success with the Alternative format in Santa Barbara?

The music we are getting has been great for us, artists like Foo Fighters, Glass Animals, Billie Eilish, Twenty One Pilots, Maneskin. Having great music for the format makes the job easy.

4. How have you managed to keep KJEE Live & Local and how important is it to the success of the station?

Being live and local in a small market is very important. With the pandemic, we had to adapt to the way people listened to the radio. With many working out of their homes now, we adjusted ourselves to put more local news breaks during music hours during the height of the pandemic. Our DJs are great about always promoting the local music scene and local community events. Also having venues like the Santa Barbara Bowl and the Ventura Theater usually keeps us busy with local big-name concerts.

5. What make your on-air lineup so great? Tell us about each daypart.

The on-air lineup is the best part of KJEE.

Our morning news host John Palminteri is our local celebrity of Santa Barbara, and also has the best mustache in town. Not only is he on our morning show, but he’s also a local television news anchor, he has a huge social media presence, and is constantly hosting local fundraisers and events in town. Dave Hanacek is the midday person and has also been Music Director for over 20 years. He’s our rock and roll guru and true staple of the Santa Barbara music scene

Ricky Biggs is our PM Drive person and production director. Ricky started out as an intern years ago and worked his way to the top. Sounds great on the air, and even does a music news segment on our morning show.

And our night guy is Phat J, the rock and roll DJ you’ve come to expect with this format. He’s our version of Wolfman Jack and he rules the nights.

6. Being in a smaller market, what sort of research tools do you use and what stations do you like to follow?

We use BDS and Mediabase to build charts with stations that we follow. I use 98.7 in LA, 91x in San Diego, KNRK in Portland, and The End in Seattle. I sometimes take a peek at the Triple A chart to see what’s happening on that format and if it’s something that fits KJEE we will play it.

7. While the music shifted for many stations during the pandemic, you stayed away from the TikTok trend and stayed true to the format. How would you describe the station?

We’re playing all the currents that the format has, but instead of playing TikTok records we pivoted and played reggae records which work great for us. There’s a lot of good reggae in this area, that we felt was a good fit for us. Bands like Rebelution, Iration, Stick Figure, Dirty Heads, and SOJA. Being a beach college town, those bands work well for us. I think a lot of these bands would do well at any Southern California radio station.

8. What is a typical day like for you as GM and PD of KJEE?

When I get in, I check the commercial logs, Dave gives me a music log report, go through emails, and get the next day ready. In between the daily routine, I'm listening to new music, catching up on my favorite podcasts, and working with Christal Radio in Los Angeles working on national sales for the station.

9. Tell us about the owner James Evans and the culture at KJEE.

Jim’s been a great owner and is very involved behind the scenes. He started the radio station in the 90’s with a 4-person staff and we grew from there. In regard to station culture, we try to keep a professional, friendly environment here. We like to go out and enjoy ourselves, and there are always a lot of local events happening to keep us busy.

10. You mentioned the other day that Santa Barbara is “Northern L.A.” being only 90 minutes away. How does being so close to L.A. benefit KJEE?

Santa Barbara is 90 miles out of LA so many bands that play in L.A. can play Santa Barbara because it’s outside their 90 mile clause range. So, when Coachella or any other big L.A. festival goes on, if the band wants to do a one off, they can come up to SB for a quick show at the Santa Barbara Bowl. It’s also nice for reps from out of town to come up and visit, who doesn’t want to come to Santa Barbara for a drink on the beach?

What are weekends like for you?

I go hikes with my wife and friends. There are lots of cool places to go hiking in Santa Barbara from the beach, the mountains, to the back hills of Montecito. Plus I have a Golden Lab and he likes to go on hikes with us and he keeps us pretty busy now that the kids have grown up and moved away. When not hiking the wife and I usually like to go out to dinner with friends and family in downtown Santa Barbara.

How often do you get back home to Fort Lee, NJ and what are your top priorities when you get back to the east coast?

I don’t get to go to the east coast as much as I like, but I'll be out there for a good friend's wedding, this summer. Usually, my top priorities are going to see family and friends. The wife and I like to spend at least a night or two in New York City, and the rest of the time in New Jersey eating at my favorite pizza places.

I know you’re a big New York Giants fan. Rank your sports teams in order of passion.

#1 NY Giants
#2 Los Angeles Lakers

What are your favorite places to eat in Santa Barbara?

My top 3 are:
Harry’s Plaza
Luckys in Montecito
Brophy Brothers by the beach.

Favorite new band over the past year?

Maneskin, old school rock and roll vibe, I love it. Second Place STICK Figure, good beach music.

Anything else you would like to add?

Again, the reason KJEE is successful is because of the people we have working here. It’s never one person that does it all, it’s about team. I feel we put together a great team.