10 Questions with ... Greg Kretschmar

1. What was your first job in radio, and what were your influences?

I'm certainly the aberration when it comes to this, because my station is the one I'm still at. I started here in 1984, and started mornings in 1987. Yes, there have been offers to leave, but each time, the opportunities here outweighed them, so here I am. As far as influences, anyone who grew up in New England and loved radio, it has to be WBCN --Charles Laquidara, Ken Shelton and Mark Parenteau. If you didn't love them, you were a Communist in New England. Oh ... and you probably loved the Yankees.

2. What makes your station/market unique?

What makes it unique, and challenging is that we're 40 miles north of Boston -- and yet we compete with the stations there. The signals we're on reach there ... and Boston signals reach here. That's got to elevate your game because even though we're in NH, we're competing with market #9. And for the record, I think we stack up just fine, thank you very much.

As far as the uniqueness of our stations, I'd have to say they're very connected to the community ... and there's no attitude. We're all pretty down-to-earth folks and we like it that way. The connection we have with our listeners is so strong because we are no different than they are. Our affectionate term for listeners is "Lumpas" -- which basically is slang for working man. We're all Lumpas in one way or another.

3. How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with Satellite and Internet radio these days?

As long as I'm talking about New England stuff -- and things that affect those who listen -- we will always have an audience. I've listened extensively to satellite -- and yeah, it's good. But the one thing it can't do is connect with listeners on a local level. New England is an extremely territorial area -- they love their own (Thank God!) and they can smell a fake from a mile away. Local-satellite-Internet-whatever. Everything with an "on" switch is competition ... and our job is to connect with people in our area. If we do that well, we can handle the competition.

4. What do you think is the most important issues facing radio today?

Katy Perry's breasts. Sorry, I mean to say adapting to change, and concentrating on the one thing it can do that satellite and Internet radio can't. Stay local. And the Katy Perry breast thing just keeps popping into my head. I will never look at an Elmo shirt the same. Thank you, SNL.

5. What's the one truth that's held constant thru your career?

Listen to your gut. Every time I've gone against my gut feeling, I've been wrong. It's guided me well so far...

6. Worst promotion you've ever been involved with?

Someone had the bright idea to give a remote as an auction item for a Public Television pledge drive, hosted by ME. Turns out the winner was a marine shop that sold fishing equipment. Commercial fishing equipment ... to Japanese fishing trawlers. Yeah, heavy duty fish-finding sonar that works in deep ocean and sells for $6,000. Ever try to sell those things while giving away free hot dogs and balloons? Longest day of my life.

7. Closest you ever came to getting arrested for a stunt?

We were going to send our stunt guy on a mission with a real Repo Man. They were to pick up the car in the early morning. The stunt guy didn't know it, but the Repo Guy was actually going to a friend's house ... and the friend was going to come out screaming to scare our guy. In addition, the keys they gave our stunt guy didn't fit the car, so when the guy started screaming, he'd be freaking out because he couldn't get the car started!

Well, the "friend" of the Repo guy decided to bump it up a notch (completely without our knowlege) -- and come out with a shotgun. The thing goes down ... he comes out screaming ... our guy starts screaming and yells, "HE'S GOT A GUN!" (and we thought he was joking!). The next thing we hear is two loud booms -- and our guy starts crying.

We had no idea what was going on, so we told him it was a joke. Before we could even ask too many questions about what happened, SWAT surrounded the place. Oops. Our guy was thrown in jail -- and we were in a heap of trouble. The only thing that saved us was the admission by the Repo guy and the friend that we had no knowledge of the gun being used whatsoever. Ugh. I changed my shorts three times that day....

8. What approach do you take after a "soft" book?

Same one I do after a strong one. Books don't affect my/our approach. We do the best we can every day. I don't try harder just because the book is on. If you do that, you're failing the rest of the year.

9. In today's world of multi tasking and wearing many hats, how do you find time to show prep and what sources do you use?

For our show, we're never NOT doing show prep. Much of our lives are on the air ... and that becomes the best show prep of all. Sure I peruse the Internet, watch TV and stuff, but our best stuff comes from our lives. Everything we come into contact with is some form of show prep -- going to the gym, Facebook, dinner, parents, kids, spouses, school ... it's all applicable to the show.

10. What's the best thing about your job?

People always ask why I stayed in one place ... and the answer is two-fold. First, it's because the industry changed in my favor. I didn't have to move to get a bigger audience; we added stations and it has worked out great. Secondly, it's because of the people I work with. We have an excellent team -- Andy Blacksmith, Scott "Roadkill" McMullen, Laura Boyce and Kelly Brown. We're honestly like family (and that entails all the good and bad that comes along with it), but that's what makes it special. We have a great team ... and we are able to live in a great area!

If you weren't doing radio - what job would you want to have?

I'd want to be Katy Perry's Elmo shirt. Again, sorry. But it's true....

In your spare time - what do you do?

In my spare time, I do my REAL job. The important one. My wife and I parent our two kids. That means sports games, fundraising and doing stuff with 'em. Nobody takes their radio job more seriously that I do, but I fully realize which job is most important. Other than that, I'm an amateur photographer, and I give Brazilian Waxes to exotic dancers (but only on Wednesdays and Fridays).

Who would be a dream guest on the show?

I've been on a long time and have had most of my heroes, but here's the three I haven't scored yet: Paul McCartney, Stephen King and Dan Brown (whom I've met -- and is really nice, but just doesn't do interviews outside of book releases). Also, Katy Per........... ahh, forget it.

Biggest disappointment with radio today?

Voicetracking is killing our future because we are training people who can't think/talk on the fly. With voicetracking, everything can be perfect if you re-record it over and over. With live radio, there's no second chance most of the time. It scares me that future talent isn't being developed to support our industry...

You just won the lotto, and your boss is on the line. What's the first thing you would say?

I love doing the show and I'm not quitting. But the show starts at 8a now.