10 Questions with ... Chris Edge

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• WKSS/Hartford '90-'94 (Promotions/AM show producer)
• WDCG/Raleigh 94-'03 (Overnights/middays/afternoons/promotions/APD/PD)
• WNOU/Indianapolis '03-'07 (PD)
• KLBJ/KGSR/Austin '07-'08 (PD)
• Emmis Austin '08-'09 (Digital Sales)
• KGSR '09-TFN (see above)
• Writer/Blogger '09-TFN The Digital Edge here on All Access or visit chrisedgecreative.com

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I was taking a film class my senior year in high school and radio vet Jon Reilly was a classmate. He had an opening on weekends at small AM station in town and needed a board op for the French Show. I spoke no French but took the gig ... it came with a weekend shift that I could do whatever I wanted with. That's all it took.

2. Who are your mentors?

There are too many to list here. I really believe we are all a product of the people who have lent a hand along the way. We should all be listening and learning every day of our lives. Some of those mentors taught me a lot about what not to do or say, others from their success. I'm thankful to have had the chance to work with all of them.

3. Since resuming the programming reins at KGSR, you have decided to make some significant changes. Please tell us about them.

KGSR had gotten into niche and as Austin evolved and the KGSR core audience aged, the stations ratings declined. It was a gradual process, but we reached a point where it was time to make a significant change. That change for some (core constituents) has been a 180 degrees in sound. A lot of what's on the station was there before; it's just that some of those sounds are being exposed in a controlled environment. The station is still playing Texas/Austin music, just not as much hourly exposure. We added a lot of traditional Triple A staples from the '80s, '90s and '00s. Moving forward the station will be a lot more contemporary than it was.

4. Have you had much resistance from the staff? From the listeners?

I wouldn't call it resistance ... more like hesitation. I never felt that internally anybody was pushing back and saying this is wrong. I think the staff understood that we needed to do something and what I felt from them was cautious optimism. We want to believe this will work, but we're not sure. The tough part is proving it. As we have rolled through the changes, the station has started to settle in.

In addition to the station's music changing, we also swapped frequencies and lost our iconic afternoon air talent Jody Denberg. All these happening at the same time created a perfect storm. Adding insult to injury, the new signal actually wound up being weaker than the old for some fans in South Austin. (Home to a lot of P1s!)

You can imagine as a jock how hard it would be to do your job when all the calls to the station were either: "What happened to the music?" "Where's Jody?" (or) "Your new signal sucks!"

Listener complaints were primarily about those three things. Interestingly, I never got complaints about the new music or the more contemporary sound of the station, it had more to do with iconic Classic Rock or Alt '80s bands. That's what got people fired up. We've navigated through most of this, but for some listeners it was like losing a loved one. Not an easy thing to deal with. I've tried to be as respectful as I can and still keep the station focused on moving forward. We certainly aren't going back.

5. Tell us about your Digital Media duties at Emmis/Austin.

I'm still working with our digital sales team on a more macro level. I'll help guide and develop the strategy. We've recently hired a replacement for me there that will have the ability to go out and sell our digital assets. The two of us work in tandem.

In addition, I'll jump in on larger corporate projects from time to time and work closely with our webmasters/designers moving forward making sure all of our content is on point. Admittedly, this has taken a backseat during the transition, but with the addition of Mark Abuzzahab, our new MD/afternoon personality (from KBCO), I'm looking forward to putting in more effort here.

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

We don't let ourselves make mistakes anymore. So much work is spent analyzing and deciphering what the science says we should do, by the time we do it the idea has been watered down. If our industry is going to move forward we have to allow ourselves to experiment, fail and fix. Great innovators make mistakes before they create greatness.

7. What innovative things is Emmis doing to adjust to the ever-changing landscape of radio broadcasting?

Emmis is a great company, and is constantly trying to look ahead to see what's next. There are a couple of things getting kicked around right now that I'm really excited about, but nothing I can publicly share.

8. What other Triple A stations do you like to keep track of?

Right now I'm looking at KBCO/Denver, WXRT/Chicago, KMTT/Seattle and KINK/Portland, OR, but honestly what I'm discovering is that we are all pretty unique and what works for one may not work for all.

9. Do you have any plans in place yet to celebrate KGSR's 20th anniversary in 2010?

No.

10. KGSR recently flipped signals. How are you getting the word out to the audience about the switch?

We ran a "Reset Your Preset" campaign and simulcast on both frequencies for a week. It was also Jody Denberg's last week on the air so we got a ton of press from print and TV.

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

Hire character over skill. You can teach someone to be better at their job; you can't always make someone a better person.

Twice I got burned hiring people I was unsure about based on the recommendations of others I respected. Don't do that, trust your gut.

Last Non-Industry Job:

Marois Construction Company/general labor

First Record Ever Purchased:

Doobie Brothers "What A Fool Believes" (45 speed)

First Concert:

The Outfield

Favorite Band Of All-Time:

Genesis