10 Questions with ... Kevin Mangan

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• WJYY (105.5)/Concord, NH - (2003-2006)
• WAPE (95.1 The Ape)/Jacksonville, FL - (2006-2009)
• WKZY (106.9)/Gainesville, FL - (2008-Present)

1) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment, which made you realize "this is it"?

My interest in radio began in third grade on a very cold, snowy day when we were forced to have indoor recess. I drew a radio station called "WMOO" with a cow flying over it (little did I know, a real WMOO existed). From there the spark grew into a flame as I discovered my mom's old 8 track recorder and microphone. The collection grew from there, making tapes of my radio broadcasts and even constructing an "ON AIR" sign from my old "Lite Brite" toy. I had a very creative way of turning it on and off-if you'd like to know, feel free to email!

2) What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

Growing up only 50 minutes north of Boston, I had two favorites stations, WBCN (for the rock and the Patriots games, of course) but my primary station was KISS108.

3) How would you describe the radio landscape in your market?

Up until three weeks ago, life in Gainesville/Ocala was pretty simple. Then, the University of Florida pulled the rug out from a 30 year old Rock station (WRUF-FM, Rock104) to make way for yet another Country station. Needless to say, this is the most excitement this market had seen in quite some time and it will be interesting to see what impact it has.

4) How do you position the station musically and why did you choose this direction?

KZY is a HAC, but not a sleepy-boring HAC...Gainesville is a college town with an average age of 26 or so. So our station needs to be slightly younger leaning. Given our signal challenges, we program for Gainesville and points west and tend not to get too wrapped up in the different age in Ocala (a lot older). KZY is poised to serve as the "Full Service" Top-40 for the Western counties (as the market Top 40, WYKS doesn't cover them very well) while also making for a pretty darn good HAC for Gainesville. For years this station has had an identity crisis because there have been so many format flips. It's my goal to try and get it going on the right track and finally get some growth out of it.

5) What's been the biggest difference from being a jock to being a PD?

I now spend a lot more time focusing on the music, promotions and overall execution of the radio station than I do on just my shift. While I'd love to devote 100% of my attention to just programming, in this current era of radio nearly every PD is also on the air, so you gotta be able to balance both. As a "baby PD" this sometimes is easier said than done, but it is getting easier as the weeks go on.

6) How many CDs and/or download notifications do you get each week?

The number of download notifications I get can be mind-boggling. Many of which are record companies who think we're still Top 40 or even 80's rock (see flipping formats above).

7) How do you interact with your sales staff?

Our sales staff is stretched very thin, so I try to feed them as many promotional ideas as possible and assist in production and supportive material as much as possible. The more money we make, the better the chances are of getting another live-body in the building somewhere. (We have 6 stations, so an addition ANYWHERE would be nice)

8) How did you get your on-air name?

Seriously? The phone book. When I took my gig in Jacksonville at WAPE, I had to drop my original name of "Mann" because of a previous jock and wanting to avoid confusion. So I broke out the phone book and started looking for other Irish last names that began with "M"!

9) How are you using new music technologies to work with the music you program on your station, in production, and in your personal life?

KZY recently launched an IPhone app and an app for the Droid phone is soon to come. In this ever changing landscape, it's imperative that stations do so to offer listeners as many possible listening platforms as possible. I try to spend time with other station's web streams, apps, etc to try and gain ideas for my own station.

10) What is the current state of radio's "talent pool"?

The talent pool is huge, lots of fish and not enough bait. I personally have a lot of close friends and mentors on the beach right now who are having a tough time finding work. If I could, I'd hire them all to fill some sort of role here. I only hope everyone finds a gig (radio or not) ASAP. Being unemployed is no fun.