10 Questions with ... Riggs

NAME:Riggs POSITION:Program Director STATION:WYKS Kiss 105.3 MARKET:Gainesville, FL OWNER:Gillen Broadcasting

Please outline your radio career so far:

I started as an intern in Indianapolis for Emmis Communications, landed my first full-time gig programming WXXB in Lafayette, IN ... moved to WKXJ Chattanooga, TN first as MD/nights, then upped to PD ... and I'm now PD of WYKS in Gator Country, Gainesville, FL.

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

The Gainesville/Ocala market is extremely unique. We market mainly towards Gainesville proper (Alachua County). Ocala is a very eclectic town with mainly farmers and horses ...I can't program to horses, man. We superserve the Gainesville area and the University of Florida campus, a lot of community events around UF and local happenings. UF is Gainesville. It's a ghost town when the students are on break.

2) What makes your station unique? How would you compare it to other stations you've worked at?

Having a local owner definitely makes Kiss in Gainesville stand out from the rest. It's an incredible advantage when crucial decisions need to be made, or tickets need to be purchased for giveaways to a Hannah show, or a piece of studio equipment goes bad, its all one person away for an answer. This definitely fosters a great radio environment. We're a small company with only Kiss and our Radio Disney station, WAJD-A, so we don't get lost in the chaos of operating a cluster of four or five stations.

3) Are you wearing more "hats" than you have in the past?

Definitely. But it's a different type of multiple hat wearing. Definitely less stress, but with the few people we have at our company, everyone's focus is Kiss, so there's always someone there to make sure everything gets done. We have a great team and we all rely on each other to make sure we put together and market a successful radio station in the Gainesville market. It's been working great for the past 20 years, and it still runs great today!

4) What is your favorite part of the job?

Being in Florida isn't half-bad. I'm originally from Indiana, so it's been a lifetime goal of mine to get to a warmer climate with a forecasted snowfall of ZERO inches. Sure, it gets cold, but not Indiana cold. I also enjoy being in a college town; it's such a central "heart" of this town. You can feel the energy when the football team is doing well, and you can hear the crickets when we lose our bowl game.

5) What is the most challenging part of the job?

Balancing all of my daily tasks can be a tad challenging every once in a while. We are among the few, and maybe the only, stations in the country without a voicemail system, so we have written records of every call that comes into the building (it's actually been helpful in a few instances), so I may have a stack of messages from the record community, while still needing to finish a day of music, prep for my show, juggle the schedule of air talent, write and produce commercials, keep the imaging fresh, ... oh, and keep tabs on all things UF and promotionally for Kiss.

6) What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I have an unhealthy obsession with penguins. I can rattle off species like a nerd. Gentoo, Macaroni, Humboldt, Chinstrap, Emperor, Galapagos, South African, Adelie ...I used to work with the keepers of the penguins at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

7) Could you give us a little insight into your on air staff?

Kevin, our Ops Manager, and Casey hold down our morning show. Kevin has been with the station for 10 years, and is probably the most recognizable voice on our air staff. We put him together with Casey, a diamond in the rough we discovered from WSOY in Peoria, IL. They have an amazing chemistry on the air together. When you listen it's almost like you're listening to two friends ham it up -- very hard to come by with a local morning show, but they pull it off quite well. We have Ryan Dupree entertaining our listeners at work. Ryan does a great job of making his listeners a part of his show. He also doubles as our Production Director. I hold down the fort in the afternoons for the ride home. Brett Douglas is our night guy, and another highly recognizable personality in the market given his tenure with the company, and his exposure to other dayparts (he auditioned for our morning show a while back). That does it for the full-time folks. We have a solid part-time/weekend staff as well: Dave Fox, Greg West, and Mike Gillespie are all great additions to our on-air arsenal.

8) If you could add one full-time position to your budget right now, what would it be?

A full-time Promotions Director/web content person ... that would be nice.

9) Who is your favorite air personality not on your staff?

Mike "Jagger" Thomas, who does nights at WKTU in NYC. A VERY talented jock who has gone so far since I first met him, and is working on launching his own syndicated "Weekend Throwdown" show on Saturday Nights. I'm also a fan of Shawn Stuart (formerly Shrek). I loved hiring him in Chattanooga (He's at WDOD now), and I'd hire him again if I had the chance ... OUTSTANDING personality.

10) Looking back, which years hold the best musical memories for you and who were your favorite acts at that time?

When I was 14, I was a HUGE Green Day fan. "Dookie" was my first CD purchase, and my Dad took me to my first concert ever, Green Day ... he fell asleep with his earplugs.

For someone vacationing in your market, what one thing would you say they "must see"?

You GOTTA see the UF Campus and downtown Gainesville for sure. Lake Alice on the UF campus is gorgeous ... a nice place for a walk. Best time to visit Gainesville is fall time, game day weekend. The traffic sucks, but the energy is amazing, and the city comes to life. Go Gators, go!