10 Questions with ... Chris Kelly

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I accidentally stumbled into radio in 1998 in San Angelo, TX and instantly fell in love with it. I did not so much fall in love with San Angelo or the powers-that-be, so I returned to Colorado where I grew up. I went to work for Stu Haskell at Clear Channel of Northern Colorado as his Promotions Director 10 years ago this month, then took over as PD of KISS in 2002 and have programmed virtually every station in the building at one point or another since, in addition to OM duties. KISS has been the constant for me and Northern Colorado is a beautiful place! I've loved my time here, every second of it.

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

SUPER-competitive. We've got local competition, obviously, but from a ratings standpoint, the real competition is every Denver station penetrating our market with a city-grade signal. We're part of the Denver TV market as well, so it's a David vs. Goliath kind-of thing. KISS has maintained a steady #1 or #2 position in 18-34 since basically 2003 even with all the Denver signals, so based on the level of competition, we're very, very proud of that.

We have our moments with our "friends across the street," but I'd like to think we conduct ourselves on the air and on the streets respectfully. The pie is big enough for all of us if we all just concentrate on keeping the listeners home and away from Denver radio rather than tossing mud at each other. That said, if our local competition would come up with their own ideas now and again rather than just duplicating everything that works over here, that'd be sweet. Feel free to edit that out. Or not.

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

It's very special. Our Market Manager is one in a million, I believe that. He's the reason, in many ways, that it's so special. We have a beautiful facility because of him, with our own 4,400-seat amphitheatre literally in the backyard. We host several concerts for each of our stations all summer and were lucky enough to have Train headline our sold-out "Say Hello to Summer Bash" at the height of "Hey Soul Sister." Pat Monahan climbed the light rig and even crowd surfed. It was a spectacle.

The staff shares victories like none other and consoles each other in defeat. Our dear friend, News Director and Colorado State University play-by-play guy Rich Bircumshaw passed away last year suddenly from a stroke, which devastated all of us. 2009 was a terrible year. But everyone leaned on each other and helped everyone else through all the garbage life threw our way, and 2010 is one of the best years we've ever had in so many ways. Management grew much, much closer. The lines drawn between the staff of the different stations in the building finally were erased. Programming and sales grew closer. People from other markets tell us all the time they're envious of the vibe in our building and to me, there's no greater compliment.

3) What is your favorite part of the job?

There's nothing better in the world than being out somewhere with the station blaring and seeing some hot girl wander past singing along with your jingle. That's when you know you're doing something right. Beats sitting in a fluorescent-lit office doing someone else's taxes! That's my favorite part -- knowing that my job is a dream for a lot of other people. We're very lucky.

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

Keeping up with the paperwork of 2010. I'd be lying if I said I loved all the TPS reports we all fill out these days. But the funny part is the vast majority of the exercises we go through actually force you to think long and hard about what it is you're doing and challenge you to do better. It's tough to look deep inside your own station sometimes and not like what you see. So while it's a challenge to constantly be overhauling the way we do things; truthfully, a lot of good things come from it in the end. And I'm not just sucking up in case any corporate people read this!

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

They're my family, period. We literally do Thanksgiving and Christmas together ... that kind of thing. Drew was the first intern I ever had 10 years ago he's and super-versatile, covering so many duties cluster-wide. Kramer is the most loyal friend and staffer you could ever ask for and a fantastic ambassador for myself and the station as the Music Director. I plucked Big Rob from our defunct Top 40 sister station in Denver when they went Mega years back and he simply possesses the most natural instinct and talent on and off the air that I've ever been around ... and he's only 25. He will make a helluva Program Director someday. Johnjay and Rich out of KZZP/Phoenix are the newest members of our family (since November 2008) and they simply do great morning radio each and every day. You never notice if they have an off day.

All of these guys fight hard together, for each other and for the station. I am truly, truly blessed to have the staff I do.

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

Mid-nineties for sure. Whenever I hear that stuff today it makes me miss a ton of people. Everything from R Kelly and LL Cool J (great show when they toured together!) to Pearl Jam, Bush and the early No Doubt. Del Amitri. Man, that was a great band.

7) What music do you listen to when you're not working?

Truthfully not a lot of what we do at KISS. I listen to the station obviously and enjoy most of it, but I can't say I would ever intentionally throw some Justin Bieber on my iPod. I listen to KBCO from Boulder. I like a lot of Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Beatles, Ray Lamontagne, David Gray, the Stones, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, U2 ... I'm all over the road. I'm trying to get into Country. Turns out Taylor Swift has more songs than "Love Story!"

8) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

Always wait 15 minutes before clicking send on a nasty e-mail. More often than not you don't send it and avoid the fallout it creates. That and a handwritten or hand-signed note goes a long way in endearing someone to you. I learned that from a conference call with Rick Dees about 100 years ago.

9) What advice you would give people new to the business?

Own up to your mistakes and never BS your way out of something. My staff gets it ... it's okay to be wrong, but it's wrong to be a liar and try to cover your tracks. "Sorry, I messed up" almost always ends whatever you're so worried about covering up! I guess that goes for life more than just the radio business, but there's a lot of room for error in what we do so it's a good golden rule to live by. Otherwise, if you're in programming, make friends with some salespeople and the sales manager. If they're you're allies, you've got it made in the shade.

10) What would you like to do to save radio from its "dying-industry" image?

We all need to tune up our streams, STAT. Things like iHeartRadio and other mobile apps are where we're headed and I'd bet money traditional transmitters will be turned off well before the end of my career. Everyone's streams generally are cluttered with PSAs, unprocessed and sound like garbage. I just bought a system called Sonos, which wirelessly pushes audio through up to 32 zones all around my house. I can literally listen to virtually any radio station in the world for free. All of it is driven by Internet streams.

We also have to figure out a way to not entirely ignore radio's heyday ... some of the things PPM markets are doing make me want hide under the bed. A radio station without an on-air brand is like a blank red can on a grocery store shelf that used to say "Coke." To me, you can still be clutter-free and clean sounding without totally eliminating the fun from your station. I'm listening to a station in another market right now and this might possibly be the least fun Top 40 station in America. Where'd the magic go? It makes me sad. I know we can find the balance as an industry, but it's going to take some hard thinking and some risks. I want to be bold and try the best of everything we've done with a new spin rather than going bland.

We have to figure out how to interact with our listeners beyond them calling and e-mailing us, and even beyond social marketing. It's moving fast and furious but we can't forget to entertain and inform people, to stay true to our roots. We have to stay in front of it but we can't leave all of what's worked and been special since radio's beginning behind.

Name the artist/act (living or dead) you'd love to meet and why?

Tossup between Frank Sinatra or Britney Spears. Sinatra to teach me how to party the way he did and Britney to put those skills to work. All these years and artists I've met... and I've never met her.