10 Questions with ... Zeb Norris

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

After spending time in high school and afterwards hanging out at KTYD/Santa Barbara, I won a "listeners become announcers" contest in 1976. Two weeks later, I was hired as the emergency late-night fill-in host. KTYD was the most amazing free-form station I've ever heard, and a real precursor to the whole Triple A format. Other notable stops include KPOP/Sacramento, KZAP/Sacramento, KAMT/Tacoma/Seattle, KSJO/San Jose and KRQR/San Francisco, where I rose to MD.

In 1994 I got my first PD job at a Triple A station consulted by my friend Dennis Constantine, WXLE/Albany, NY. We also worked together when I was PD of Triple A KUMT/Salt Lake City. For the last 11 years I've been at "The Point." I went for some other gigs over that time, but I am so glad they didn't pan out. I have carte blanche to do my idea of great radio, and my wife and I love Vermont!

1. How did you become interested in radio?

When the Beatles came out I was gobsmacked. "She Loves You" sounded like a jet blasting past at full speed. Love at first listen! About that same time my 1st grade class took a field trip to then "Beautiful Music" KFOG/ San Francisco, where I was awed by the studios and gear. All these years later I still love the Beatles and gear!

2. What do you like best about your job?

The freedom. Steven Silberberg, the station's owner, and our local GM Ed Flanagan spend zero time second-guessing my programming. It took a while, but I'd like to think I have earned this incredible level of trust by always keeping their interests ... and those of our listeners ... at the forefront of my decisions.

Least?

I don't get to listen to enough music! I have too many other demands on my time being PD, Promotions Director, and morning-drive host. But we have an excellent MD in Mike Luoma.

3. The Point Network is actually a group of signals reaching parts of New York and New Hampshire in addition to a big chunk of Vermont. How do you approach programming with that kind of territory to cover?

The network is a little tricky as we have different spot-break content in three different markets, and the network is on a total of nine signals. We don't currently subscribe to a ratings service, but the last time I saw data we had a cume of over 60,000. That's more than 10% of the population of the state of Vermont!

I focus on cume rather than Time Spent Listening, partly because of the variable competitive situations in these different markets and partly because that's what has worked best for me over the course of my 40+ year career. But the real keys are the same everywhere:

#1) Focus on the listener. Figure out what they want and consistently give it to them ... with the highest quality control and discipline that you can maintain.

And #2) Localize, localize, localize. It's all listener-driven, and our listeners are right here. In the last three weeks we've produced free concerts in Burlington VT, Montpelier VT, and Lebanon NH. I personally was on-site hosting these shows, spread out over 100 miles of turf. You can't replace the personal touch.

4. How do you market and do promotions for the different cites you serve?

We run our major promotions network wide, like The Point's World Tour series of flyaways that we've been doing for over a decade.

But we also do local, on-site promotions. And we are super-tied in to local concert promoters. As a segment, live music is right up there with car dealers in generating revenue for the station. That's unusual, but we have a really vibrant live music scene, and we've proven over and over again that we put asses in seats like nobody else in any of the markets we serve.

5. What are some of your biggest challenges working with an independent O&O?

I'm spoiled. It's so NOT corporate. Yeah, I work very hard and I don't make a ton of money, nor do I have crazy toy tools to work with, but Steven Silberberg, who owns "The Point" and WXRV/Boston among other properties, seriously supports the Triple A format, and my efforts personally. It's awesome. So really, my biggest challenge is going home to get some sleep each day. This is so much fun!

6. The station is celebrating 40 year! How has its sound evolved on 4 decades?

Forty years with a total of two owners and always independent is an amazing accomplishment. I credit management and sales. They've kept this thing vital and profitable, and deserve all the accolades I can give. In the early days of the station it leaned what is now called Americana. I had the station's founder, Jeb Spaulding, on the morning show for a guest DJ thing. He picked songs by The Allman Brothers Band, Canned Heat, and Taj Mahal.

In 1977 the station served ONLY served Montpelier; population 8,500. So the evolution mirrors my evolution in radio; from Free-Form Rock in a small market to streaming-conscious, cume-driven regional programming. What hasn't changed is that we still break records and color outside of the lines!

7. What special things are planning/doing to celebrate this milestone?

We did a series of guest DJ things with some key former staff members ... like Jeb and longtime MD Jody Peterson ... to pay tribute to the founders.

We've stepped up the number and quality of free shows we put on. We just did "The Do Good" festival in partnership with National Life Group; Guster headlined!

We also partnered with the folks from Higher Ground, who run a great club and produce most of the major shows in Burlington, to present The Tedeschi Trucks Band (echoing founder Jeb's love of the Allmans) with The Wood Brothers and Hot Tuna at the state fairgrounds. We play all of those bands; in fact we're one of The Tedeschi Trucks Band's biggest supporters nationally. It was a sold-out show with over 5,000 attendance, and really great from an artistic standpoint.

We've also imaged just about everything as being part of our 40th anniversary ... "Different on Purpose for 40 years; The Point"... but that's just cheap radio sleight of hand, isn't it?

8. What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?

Lack of confidence. Yeah, there's a lot more competition for listeners' time. And streaming does let listeners get what they already know they want on-demand. That makes reliably offering correctly targeted "music discovery" all the more important, and that's where being an independent Triple A station has a real advantage over being a tight-assed corporate jukebox.

When we as broadcasters focus on the listener's needs and wants, and then deliver, they are there for us. Then, when we expand that relationship of trust to include our sponsors ... especially our local sponsors ... it turns into a win-win-win situation. Local radio is a perfectly viable business ... as long as a station isn't over-leveraged.

9. Your thoughts on the state of the Triple A format?

It's a bit dismaying to see stations scared to add records that aren't cross-cumers. I mean, I focus as much on cume as I can ... while retaining a unique flavor. Part of that is playing records nobody else in the market will touch. At least at first. Let's not forget; Triple A broke Adele and Ed Sheeran. This station was very early on both of those artists.

I know that some in the business view me as a tight programmer, and in some ways I am. But we still have room for passion adds, and I'm very proud of our batting average on those. People falling in love with records and artists is how this whole thing works. We need to allow ourselves the chance to do that!

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

... telling my wife that I love her. I know I have a strong personality, but she helps to keep me grounded. Without her I'd be even more of an arrogant ass. She reminds me of the many reasons I have to be humble . I am a work in progress ... and the progress I do make is in myriad ways because of her.

Most surprising record of the past 12 months?

"The Night We Met" by Lord Huron. I love that band, but that album came out in April of 2015. I don't watch much TV, but thanks to streaming data we get from BDS (thanks Haley Jones!) we spotted it as hit with cume potential in April of this year after it was used in Netflix "13 Reasons Why." It's really great when we can have a record like that all to ourselves in the market and also know there's real listener demand for it.

Last non-industry job:

Selling Volvos. Good money ... REALLY good money ... until the dotcom bubble burst. The first car I sold was to Anne Litt of KCRW. A black V70R ... a 300-horsepower all-wheel-drive wagon. That car was a rocket ship. A very safe rocket ship.

First concert:

I am one lucky individual. It was The Beatles at their last concert ... Candlestick Park San Francisco in 1966. The show was produced by Thom Donahue, who later started the legendary FM Rock station KMPX/San Francisco and, after a strike there, KSAN/San Francisco. I was 10 and trying like hell to win tickets from Top-40 KYA, where Donahue worked at the time. Well, my next door neighbor, an attractive young woman, knew I was trying to win and also knew a DJ at the station. He fixed the contest and I wound up getting a pair of tickets. I felt pretty guilty about that, too, but like I said I was hooked on Rock 'n Roll.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I'm sorry; what is this "spare time" you speak of?