10 Questions with ... Victoria Frederick

1) What was your first job in radio? Early influences?

My first job (I was 17) in radio was doing weekends at a Religious station in Riverside, CA. I lived in L.A. at the time and spent the weekends there in a motel, where drunk cowboys would try and break the door down every night. When they decided I should move to Riverside so I could be on calls even days a week, I said, "Adios."

My next job was at KDIG/La Jolla, CA. I was hired by a GM who liked my phone voice. He told me he'd blackball me from radio if I didn't got to bed with him; I didn't and he didn't -- although he did make my stay uncomfortable (which is another story). I then got a job at XHIS in San Diego and did sales for about a year. Hated that and went into TV for awhile at the ABC affiliate that was beaming out of Mexico.

Hooked up with Michael Harrison, who was the PD at KPRI, then ended up back in my home town for a while then Michael turned me on to a job at KBPI/Denver, where I worked with Cody and Jeff Pollack; it was fun. I then ended up at KATT/Oklahoma City. From there I went to KZOK/Seattle. This story could go on and on with some amazing experiences in radio, such as fighting a bull in the downtown bull ring in Mexico to racing elephants in Seattle to riding in the first Bigfoot in Fresno. But eventually I ended up as a PD in my hometown at KKZX.

2) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now what you didn't then, would you still do it?

If radio was more like it was back when I started, of course I would. Unfortunately, consolidation has taken some of the fun and exhilaration of competition out of our industry. Corporations these days are just as happy with jukebox stations that are cheap to run as they are with stations that get higher ratings, but have more expensive talent to pay. Don't get me wrong; I love my job and consider myself extremely lucky to be doing what I love to do, but not everyone is a wiz at multi-tasking and these days if you aren't, you are unemployed.

3) How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with the satellite radio and Internet these days?

It's great that there are other media but with budgets tight, listeners come back to terrestrial radio because it's FREE. I recently had a listener tell me that they didn't realize how much they missed our station until their free satellite radio subscription ended and they came back to us.

4) What is a typical day like in your position?

Talk to talent, do music logs, do a seven-hour air shift including a 'live' all-request lunch hour, voicetrack Colorado station, do production, blog, work on promotions, do PD paperwork, radio prep, listen to new music and work on imaging.

5) Describe your weekly music meeting ... a) what is the process when you listen to new music? b) approximately how important by percentage is gut, research, sales, video play and chart position when determining the status of a record?

Unlike many other Classic Rock stations, we do play new music (doesn't have to be old to be a classic). Our listeners love Classic Rock, but that doesn't mean they don't want to hear new music -- especially when it's good from their favorite classic rockers of from groups that have that Classic Rock sound. I go by "gut," but I'm not programming for myself so I use the other factors as well ... 50% gut and 50% all others.

6) How do you stay in tune with your audience?

I answer their phone calls and do "live" remotes as well as Facebook, Twitter.....

7) What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you? The worst?

The worst: You're a female in radio and the only way you'll ever get a job is through couch psychology.

8) Tell us what music we would find on your car or home CD player (or turntable) right now and what is it you enjoy about that particular selection?

You'd probably find the latest from Scorpions, Ozzy and Joe Bonamassa.

9) Please describe the best or worst promotion you've ever been part of?

We did a promotion surrounding the Sammy Hagar/David Lee Roth tour. Listeners qualified by racing at a local go-cart race track. They got to pick their favorite Van Halen lead singer and then raced against each other (Sammy listeners got red T-shirts; David listeners wore the blue). They won the opportunities to race on-air and the top 10 on each side scored a pair of tickets to the show.

10) Of all the skills you have gained through the years, is there an area you'd like to improve?

I'd like to figure out how to get more that 24 hours out of a day.

Who would be your dream guest on the show?

Robert Plant

What was the first song or full-length release you purchased?

Cream - Disraeli Gears