10 Questions with ... Bill Gruber

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Worked in college radio the day I walked onto campus; graduated with a Broadcasting degree from Kent State and took an entry-level job here at WAPS radio. Strangely, I've been here ever since!

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I think it's genetic: my father was building Heathkit audio gear in the '50s and helped wire the nation's first public TV station, WQED/Pittsburgh, while an electrical engineering student in college. He got a real degree and a high-paying job in the power industry, but his proudest achievement was being the owner of the first Sony Betamax in the neighborhood.

2. What do you like best about your job?

Stability in an unstable world.

3. How would you describe the music on the station?

Melodic and tempo-driven, the perfect blend of familiar and new.

4. What kind of tactics do you use to effectively compete with commercial radio?

We use the same competitive programmatic and promotional tactics they utilize so well, without the burden of commercial-clutter and corporate mandates breathing down your neck.

5. What would surprise people most about the station?

How few people and how little space is involved in creating a competitive station with local program origination 90% of the day. And purposely NOT carrying any of the NPR programs often heard in the noncomm world, as our market is already served well with two established stations offering a combined full slate of such programs ... so we can focus on music, music, music!

6. What has been your biggest challenge at the station?

Sounding larger-than-life with small watts, small facility, small staff.

7. Describe your weekly music meeting with Liz Mozzocco.

Very informal and candid, bringing together the weekly big stack of candidates coupled with common-sense research on what's playing and selling nationally ... and rationally funneling that stack down to a few titles based on our ears and the fact and figures. Never bloody! She brings the station great, tasteful, youthful ears, coupled with a commercial radio background, and respect for good formatics.

8. Besides your own, what is your favorite radio format?

"Smart Talk." Sadly, not so much a cohesive format, but islands of radio hope scattered across several stations at any given time on both the commercial and noncommercial bands -- but never together on one station, it seems. Imagine Car Talk, Dennis Miller, Bruce Williams, Clarke Howard, Stephanie Miller, Marketplace, Art Bell, Bill Press and Kim Komando on one station, with news breaks alternating between NPR, ABC, and for comic relief, Fox News Radio! And keep right on imagining.....

9. What do you think of the current state of noncomm Triple A format?

Cautiously optimistic. The widespread commercial medium-market launches of a few years ago didn't bear the long-term fruit we hoped for, but, the noncommercial launches and conversions have mostly been given the time to ripen and grow and establish themselves.

10. Tell us about your recent simulcast arrangement with WKTL/Youngstown.

As we try to grow our station with a combination of local HD sub-channels, Internet audio and conventional terrestrial radio expansion, we approached the fellow school system-owners of WKTL (90.7FM) in the Youngstown market, about an hour east of Akron. They were operating a tiny but dated student radio station with no automation gear, broadcasting only during school days and hours.

We offered to provide them with all the needed studio, interconnect and transmitter control gear to legally operate 24-7 using our WAPS audio feed during the hours they normally signed off ... while still maintaining their local control and ownership. We've expanded our public affairs scope to include groups and events in the Youngstown area.

WKTL now carries our programming from 7p-8a Monday through Friday, and all day on Sunday. During school breaks and holidays, they carry us all day long. When you add it up, annually, our WAPS Summit audio is heard on WKTL 72% of the broadcast year.

The Youngstown market has no Triple A format, so, we've been welcomed with open arms. WKTL has a 13,500-watt signal that reaches well into the western Pennsylvania counties fringing on the Pittsburgh market; westward, their signal ends just about where our main Akron/Canton signal begins. So, we're now heard in Arbitron market ranks 76, 126 and 130

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Collecting and restoring little-known classic cars from the much-maligned '70s era.

Last non-industry job:

None

First record ever purchased:

7" single of "Arizona" by Mark Lindsay. No idea why. Listened to it recently. Still makes no sense. And, album-wise, being a childhood cheapskate, K-tel's "22 Explosive Hits, 22 Original Stars!!."

First concert:

Elton John, Pittsburgh Civic Arena, sometime in the mid-'70s

Favorite band of all-time:

Really can't pin that down, more a song versus artist guy, and, for that matter, more solo than "band."