A Brief History Of Cats And Frogs

Here’s an example of what it means to be back in the town where you grew up, programming the market’s biggest, baddest radio station. Within weeks of her August arrival as PD for Cumulus Country WIVK/Knoxville, Nikki Thomas found herself in a client meeting. “Halfway through, the guy leans over and says, ‘You know I know your aunt Joan, right?’” Next, adds Thomas, “He brought his business partner in, who said he played music with my uncle.” Thomas grew up nearby in North Carolina, but spent every summer and holiday on the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains, just outside Knoxville. She got into radio; worked in Asheville, NC for years; and eventually landed gigs in California. Now, six months in at WIVK, she proudly says, “Momma lives 65 miles from here; this is home for me.”

Radio has and always will be a migratory career choice for those in it. In most cases, programmers and air personalities arrived in their current market by way of a long and winding road, far from where they were raised; it’s special for Thomas to be working in what is her de facto home town. But the move to WIVK was a wonderful double-whammy for her that goes well beyond a homecoming. She’s just the fifth PD in WIVK’s storied 65-year history, and just take look at the esteemed company she’s now part of: Bob Raleigh, Country Radio Hall of Famers Mike Hammond and Les Acree, and Bobby Denton. Like the select few before her, Thomas has been charged with the care and feeding of one of America’s great Country radio brands – one which has deep roots in the community and generations of listeners.

“To me, it’s an honor,” says Thomas. “Anyone who has ever worked in Country music understands the good that you can do with your radio station; it’s great to be a part of that and make that happen. Being able to do that here, around people who are neighbors, and knowing we’re helping the community that I have family in? That’s a pretty big deal to me.”

Thomas came to the iconic, Frog-for-a-mascot WIVK well prepared for the task at hand, having programmed another important, powerful radio brand for Cumulus, KATM (KAT Country)/Modesto-Stockton, CA. Launched in 1992, the KAT has been a ratings juggernaut since day one, with a bigger-than-life persona and a magical connection to its market. KATM is now 25 years old – a mere kitten when compared to WIVK – yet the station has been building many of the same characteristics and generational market impact WIVK has enjoyed for more than six decades. Similarly, KATM has had a short list of PDs during its history. Thomas was the KAT’s fifth-ever programmer, succeeding Bubba Black in 2011. Black was preceded by Greg Edwards and Ed Hill, who got the baton from the station’s original architect, Scott Mahalick.

Thomas first arrived at KATM in 2007 for MD/nights, and then quickly segued to middays following a four-year stint with CBS Radio Top 40 KWYE/Fresno. “I wanted to do something different when I left ‘KSF. I did Rock for a minute and ended up going to CBS,” says Thomas. “I missed Country the whole time and used to laugh, because when they would bring Country acts into [clustermate] KSKS, I would go down and listen to all their stuff anyway. So I went to work for [Bubba Black] in January or February of 2007.”

Missing Country music and its artists was just one part of it; there was another, long-term plan, recalls Thomas. “My whole reason in going to work for KATM was because it was Citadel (now Cumulus), and I knew Citadel owned WIVK,” she remembers. “We were having that conversation with my dad before he passed. Bubba had been trying to get me to work for him since the very beginning. He was asking me what it would take to get me to California, and I had to write back and tell him, ‘Well, I’m right here. Where have you been?’”

Once there, Thomas instantly realized KATM was more than just a radio station, or workplace, telling me instead, “It is a living, thriving being. That station was built to be larger than life,” she explains. “No one does anything bigger than KAT Country in that area, and that is just how it has to be. As long as there are people who know and love that radio station who are in a position to manage it, it is always going to be that way.”

That’s not a responsibility Thomas took lightly. “I used to have a paper over my desk that read: ‘What am I going to do today to make KAT Country better?’ It was right in front of me all the time and made me think, to branch out, to make it more active. That’s not only me; that’s the staff. With shows, making people feel like they’re part of the station. It’s so important to the people who work there. It’s not just a job. It’s who they are. There is so much good that comes out of that area, and they want to be a part of that.”

When Cumulus Corporate PD Bob Raleigh – who also programmed WIVK – left the company in May of last year, Thomas’ long term plan to end up at WIVK took a serendipitous turn. “I went back to my guys in California, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” she remembers. “They understood. I told them if I ever have a chance to go home, I’m gone. Everyone who worked with me knew that.” Thomas also shared that dream with Cumulus SVP/Content & Programming Mike McVay. “I told him if I’m not in Modesto, you have one market and one station where I want to be. And he was so sweet; he was throwing stuff out there. But I told him, ‘Knoxville.’ He asked why, and I said, ‘It’s home.’ And Mike said, ‘I had no idea.’”

Now, just like in Modesto at KATM, Thomas understands the daunting task of maintaining – and growing – a unique radio station like WIVK. “You don’t want to be the person that jacks it all up,” says Thomas, mostly laughing. “You do not want to take these people off their course. I have been so blessed and so fortunate. I haven’t been to a billion markets or worked in a million different places, and I’m totally okay with that. It was a hard decision for me to leave KAT, but I came over here and assessed the situation, and I’ve tried to be really careful. You don’t want to change the personality of the radio station and damage that. It’s not like I was handed a broken toy. This is something that is performing at a very high level.”

Thomas expressed respect for the job Raleigh did with WIVK – and said the staff did the same – but adds, “We have very different sets of ears. I love the element of music discovery. I’m more aggressive, even with the imaging. I felt like it had to be updated,” adding, “We’ll see if it works!”

Her admiration extends to the existing staff in the building, all of whom she has known personally, or known about for years. “I remember when [morning teamers] Andy and Alison were hired, and I was doing mornings at WKSF. I used to go to showcases back in the day with Alison. I grew up listening to [Afternoon personality] Gunner. He’s not your average bear, and I wouldn’t want him to be any other way.”

Describing her management style, Thomas says, “I try to pay attention to my people – I don’t do one size fits all. Different people react to different things. I haven’t seen anything but creativity here so far. It’s like coaching any good talent. They just want to make good radio. We’re all on the same page. They’re all pros. They respect me, and they know that they’re respected. Not saying they weren’t all that before, but I knew who they were before I got here. I know how important they are.”

Thomas’s overall radio experience, her time as PD of KATM, the knowledge of WIVK as an influential brand in Knoxville, and her close personal ties to the area converged in a perfect, yet unfortunate storm during December, when the Great Smoky Mountain wildfires destroyed 1,200 residential structures and killed 14 people in Sevier County, TN. The station went wall-to-wall with coverage, providing the kind of touches only staffers with hands-on experience in the community could understand and execute. If a disaster of this sort was bound to happen, WIVK could not have had a more prepared PD.

“Public service,” says Thomas. “I believe that we’re all so blessed. We have an opportunity where we can help people. Yes, we do make money, and there are cool, great, wonderful things, but if we’re able to help our neighbors... ‘IVK has a great history of that.”

During their fulltime coverage, Thomas remembers, “There were people calling us who could not find their family members. People would break down and cry, because they were watching tires melt on cars in front of them. I went over at 10pm one night, and three of us stayed together on the air until 7am. We had people contact us after the fact saying that we were the only thing they had, even after the fires were all out. We still provided updates, because it was our job. That’s what we do here. I have never been more humbled by a situation and proud to be in radio as the days that followed that.”

So now, Nikki Thomas is living the rare radio dream. A great gig with a monster radio station, and home again with aunts, uncles, and her momma nearby. Her time away has given her an appreciation of family. Her previous time at KATM makes her transition to – and grasp of – WIVK almost seamless. “Listen, Bobby Denton was amazing and created this huge monster with WIVK,” says Thomas. “It’s not just a radio station. It’s not just where you come to get your music. We’re offering a hell of a lot more than that. We take that responsibility seriously, just like we did at KAT.”

Editors note: This article was updated on Monday, January 30th to include Greg Edwards as a previous Program Director for KATM/Modesto-Stockton. Apologies for the omission.