10 Questions with ... Nick Novak

NAME:Nick Novak TITLE:PD STATION:WWTC & KYCR MARKET:Twin Cities, MN COMPANY:Salem BORN:Cairo, Egypt RAISED: I was a State Department brat, so in chronological order: Egypt, Germany, DC, Ivory Coast, Austria, DC (again), Austria (again), and Seattle

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

KBSG Seattle, KIRO Seattle, KNZR Bakersfield, WWTC/KYCR Minneapolis

1. How did you get into radio? Why radio?

I took a promotions internship with KBSG while I was at the University of Washington. The second I walked into a control room for the first time, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I think I was drawn to the immediacy and intimacy of it all.

So, I came in on my own time, hung with the jocks, played around in the production room, and volunteered to do anything they would let me do. Eventually, they let me board-op and dub in spots on the overnight. Big thanks to Nick Reynolds for actually giving me a paying gig and starting me on my way. Then I started pestering Stephanie Rose (now with KMPS) and Lou Pate over at KIRO and that got me hooked on talk. My father was with the Foreign Service, so geo-political conversations were common place around the dinner table growing up. The talk format was a natural fit. I also knew I wanted to be a PD from the very beginning and made that my goal.

2. What are you passionate about?

Travel. I love seeing new places, meeting new people, trying new foods, discovering new ways of doing things. I'd love to program an English-language talk station overseas one day.

I'm also a college football nut, although the Huskies have sucked for several years.

3. You've moved quickly up the ranks in radio, making a big jump from KNZR to the Twin Cities (having been in Seattle before Bakersfield). Have you found many differences in programming for a smaller market as opposed to a large market line Minneapolis-St. Paul? What adjustments have you had to make in your programming philosophy, if any?

A big part of our success in Bakersfield was our ability to localize. I had signs all over the station that said, "how can we be more local?" From the talk shows to the service elements to promotions to our marketing efforts, everything revolved around being "The Voice of Bakersfield." We were also very much in cume building mode.

My current situation is a bit different. In Bakersfield, I relied heavily on our local talk shows to drive the localization. Here at WWTC, we run national programming 24/7 M-F. So, I try to focus on localizing around the national shows. Things like increasing the quantity and quality of our local service elements, targeting our marketing/promotions efforts to local groups, expanding the brand beyond the terrestrial broadcast (as a company, Salem is big into diversifying the ways in which we deliver our content), bringing in our national hosts for local events (we do this a lot), and going local with our weekend programming. I'm more focused on building TSL now. The overriding goal is to be the definitive conservative voice in the Twin Cities, both on-the-air, online and in print.

4. You have a show on the weekends that's hosted by some of the "Northern Alliance" bloggers. Do you see bloggers and podcasters as a future source of talent for "regular" radio? Where will the next crop of talent come from?

The Northern Alliance guys (there are 7 of them) are great and give us 6 hours of local talk on Saturdays. In fact, the first thing I did here was expand their show from 4 to 6 hours (divided into 2 hour chunks). They are some of the best bloggers in the country (the Powerline guys are the one's who exposed Rather-gate) and I'm glad they're with us. These guys basically do show prep all week and consequently they are super ready-to-go every weekend.

As far as the next crop of talent, are there bloggers out there who could be national caliber hosts? Yes. Are there podcasters out there who could be national caliber hosts? Yes. Are there people in the smaller markets who could be national caliber hosts? Yes. But no one will give a new show two to three years to develop and find their place. There's so much syndicated product out there (much of it very good) and it's so much more cost-effective. Or just plug in a celebrity for instant "buzz."

I'm optimistic though. There are people out there in the blogosphere and the podcasting community who will rise to the top and I'm following a couple of them very closely.

5. The Twin Cities market is highly competitive for talk radio, with several stations- AM and FM- covering several niches. Yours is the Salem conservative station- but what else can and will you do to help The Patriot distinguish itself against so many competitors?

This is a very competitive talk market and we do run the gamut. There's a female talker, Air America, a 100,000 watt FM talker, two "traditional" news/talk stations (at 50,000 watts each), at least one Christian talker and Minnesota Public Radio is a real player as well. That's what we're up against. And just about every one of them outspends us! So, the mission on our end is to stay focused on who we are. We are a conservative talk station and we protect that identity religiously. Being so well-defined does allow us to identify our audience a little easier and we commit ourselves to targeting a very specific group. And we offer them more than just the radio broadcast. We have a large contingent of online listeners, we frequently bring in our hosts for events, sponsor local conservative gatherings and we'll be launching a couple of new initiatives in the spring. We're constantly trying to find new ways to expand the "Patriot" brand and the more distribution channels we can find, the better.

6. Who are your inspirations, mentors, and/or influences?

Lou Pate (whose show I produced at KIRO) continues to be a great friend both professionally and personally. Chris Townsend and Steve Darnell were great teachers in Bakersfield.

Inspiration-wise, I think KFI is the best talk station on the planet. That station knows its market and executes. Everything is done crisply, aggressively, with attitude and with purpose. They also have a knack for getting noticed (in a market like LA, that's a big deal).

Otherwise, I think Kris Olinger was a great leader at KIRO and continues to do great things in Denver. Steve Moore at KMOX is another guy who really understands his market and audience. I'm also watching the various FM news/talks around the country (including here in the Twin Cities) with great interest. Courting the next generation of listeners is just as important as finding the next generation of talent.

7. Other than your own station's shows, what talk radio do you like? Any podcasts?

There are a plethora of interesting podcasts I enjoy. I would like to see a one-hour weekend show devoted to playing different podcasts each week. I've got a long list of what I'd feature if any syndicators are out there looking for a new show!

Otherwise, I used to listen to Opie and Anthony before "Sex for Sam." I haven't heard their show since they came back on Free FM. Outside of our Salem lineup, I really like Laura Ingraham's show for its pace, her personality and the production values. Michael Savage is great for his story-telling ability. Peter Greenberg's travel show is really innovative with their exotic broadcast locations. John and Ken at KFI for their ability to own an issue. Handel on the Law for making "law talk" funny and compelling.

8. What do you do for fun?

People have time for fun?

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _____________.

...Fark.com.

10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?

Best: "Treat your producers, board-ops, anybody with an "assistant" in their title, and your entire part-time staff well. You need them and they are grossly underappreciated."

Worst: "You want to try smoking? Here, have a cigarette."