KTAR-FM Shines In The Desert

April 4, 2014
KTAR-FM Shines In The Desert
In the past few years a number of AM News/Talk stations have added
a full-time FM simulcast, but only a handful have successfully moved
completely over to the FM band, leaving their longtime AM home
behind. One such station that has made the move quite successfully
is Bonneville News/Talker KTAR/Phoenix. With a history that dates
all the way back to 1922, KTAR-AM had enjoyed years of success
and had long held the news and information
image for listeners in the Valley of The Sun.
But in 2007 Bonneville opted to move
the station’s News/Talk programming to
the newly-dubbed 92.3 KTAR-FM, while
simultaneously flipping KTAR-AM to allsports. I recently caught up with VP/Content
and Operations Ryan Hatch to talk about
KTAR’s successful transition from AM
to FM, and also find out what he’s learned
during the process that might benefit other
RYAN HATCH
Talk stations willing to undertake a challenge
that virtually all AM News/Talkers will need
to face in the near future.
Give us a thumbnail sketch on the journey that brought you to your
present role at Bonneville/Phoenix.
I was in Salt Lake City as PD at 1280 The Zone (KZNS). I also
hosted a midday talk show there. I was offered an opportunity from
Bonneville to go to Phoenix where they were planning to move
KTAR’s News/Talk programming to FM and wanted my help relaunching the AM as a new Sports station. In 2010 the company asked
me to be Operations Manager for their Seattle cluster -- KIRO-AM &
FM and KTTH. A little over a year later I was given the opportunity
to return to Phoenix in a new role as VP of Content and Operations.
When you returned, what was the situation like in Phoenix and what
were some of the initial moves that were made.
There were some ratings challenges. Although the station was still in
a good position, there were a few key downward trends that needed to
be addressed. About six months after I returned, we took Glenn Beck
out of the lineup in what was the first statement of our intention to
move the station away from being positioned as a conservative Talk
station. Glenn did some fantastic things for us in the years his show
was on here, but we were making a commitment to build a live and
local lineup that was not built around political talk. The move didn’t
take away from the conservative values that most of our hosts hold
dear, but we wanted to be more than just a conservative political talk
station and that’s when the tide began to turn.
So KTAR doesn’t talk politics?
Of course we do, but we don’t lead with politics and actively look
for politically based stories, because most of them just aren’t all
that interesting and not very relevant and relatable to the casual
news consumer. We want the KTAR experience to be one in which
our listeners not only think, but also feel. Intellectual connection
is inherent in our business, but the emotional connection is what
separates what we do from others, and hopefully makes the content
we produce remarkable and indispensable to our listeners, advertisers
and our community.
So how would you describe the essence of KTAR’s content?
The job that our customers -- the listeners and online users -- are hiring
us to do is keep them informed and connected with our community
and the world. But we believe the relationship is much deeper and
special than just the intellectual stimulation that we provide. It also
has very real social and emotional implications. We’re helping
people feel smarter and better about themselves, and giving them the
confidence and social currency to enter a workplace or water cooler
conversation. That’s powerful.
©2014 NTS MediaOnline™ — All rights reserved. To subscribe visit www.ntsmediaonline.com
(continued on pg. 3)
April 4, 2014
NTS MEDIAONLINE MONTHLY
MOCERI’S PERSPECTIVE
Moceri Media namesake Greg Moceri has
served as a consultant to Bonneville and
KTAR for the past two-and-a-half years.
From his outsider’s perspective, we asked the
veteran News/Talk programmer to give us his
list of the “Five Best Things About KTAR and
Bonneville.”
COMPANY CULTURE
The Bonneville culture is top drawer. I have had the privilege of working
with them for a number of years and the atmosphere within each of
their stations is the way it should be in our business -- strategic,
encouraging, solution oriented, collaborative and passionate about radio
and how their brand connects to both the community and their
advertisers. Like Cox Media Group, with whom I’ve worked for more
than 20 years and I consider to be the gold standard of media companies,
Bonneville is a company populated by good people who excel at
running successful businesses, while treating their employees with
support and respect.
MANAGEMENT
Bonneville/Phoenix cluster manager Scott Sutherland and VP of
Content and Operations Ryan Hatch are two of the most impactful
people I have met in radio and their leadership is just exciting
to be around. Both have this great blend of passion, activation and
healthy competitive spirit that I find infectious. Many could take a
lesson from their style of always pushing for excellence in the product,
while having a deep sense of commitment to all who work there. Both
are always challenging themselves to be better and it just transcends to
all. They are smart, unafraid, risk takers when needed.
SECRET SAUCE
The KTAR secret sauce is living up to the brand of ‘The Voice of
Arizona’ at almost every level. In this day and age to have an
entirely all local product in prime time is really amazing. Breaking
news, continual traffic, weather coverage and imbedded local talk hosts
are the main ingredients. Political talk is not the foundation of the
station and that, combined with the move to FM, has captured a
younger and much more equally balanced audience of men and women.
Page 2
MORE THAN NUTS AND BOLTS
There is something beyond just the nuts and bolts of the product that
makes KTAR standout. It has a unique sound that appeals to more of
the potential radio pie. It’s why Ryan’s vision to present a product that
is not about anger and vitriol has found a toe hold in the market. Yes,
KTAR’s hosts have strong opinions and can tackle tough subjects, but
the presentation is done through a filter of ‘what does this topic or story
mean to you?’ -- not about what side of the aisle you are on.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The station was a big early mover in making the investment years ago
to expand the pipeline for the product beyond broadcast audio. KTAR
has a substantial team of people who do nothing but ‘fill up the bucket’
-- connecting to listeners through multiple platforms in an everexpanding effort to offer connection to the station’s community. The
vision that Scott, Ryan and Bonneville had in being an early adopter in
this space is paying big dividends.
FEATURED PHOTO OF THE MONTH
The National Religious Broadcasters recently presented Fox News
Radio commentator Todd Starnes with the group’s 2014 Board of
Director’s Award. That’s Starnes (third from left) pictured with his
family at the award ceremony.
©2014 NTS MediaOnline™ — All rights reserved. To subscribe visit www.ntsmediaonline.com
NTS MEDIAONLINE MONTHLY
April 4, 2014
(continued from pg. 1)
Why do you think KTAR has succeeded where others have failed in
moving a heritage AM News/Talker to FM?
Certainly you need to embrace the heritage and history of your
station, but don’t live in it. We are stewards of these great AM brands,
but when you get on FM you are going to have the opportunity to
speak to a younger and more diverse audience -- specifically women
and minorities who just don’t use AM radio or really even know
AM News/Talk. You simply cannot assume for one second that your
programming and content that has been so successful for so many
years on AM will translate. One adjustment we made was that we no
longer prepare our content based on the idea that our listener is a news
junkie. We speak to 41-year old casual news consumers who are split
about 50/50 between men and women. They’re busy -- they have a
job, they have kids, they have a life -- so we don’t expect them to be
completely tapped in to the issues of the day. To me the most exciting
thing is to have a younger female come up to us at an event and say.
‘Wow, I just found you guys, I’ve never listened to News/Talk before,
but I love what you do.”
KTAR has long held the radio news image in Phoenix, how important
is that to your image today?
To me, it’s taken on an even higher priority to own that image. If
you don’t have that dominant news image and strive to hold on to
it everyday, you’re done. I would argue that KTAR has the best
radio news team in the country and they provide the station with the
legitimacy and credibility that surrounds our talk shows. They provide
the halo that allows the talk hosts to do what they do. We’re not a talk
station, we’re a news station that talks about the news and reports the
news. The engine that drives the train is our news team and they take
a capital ‘J’ approach to journalism.
How important has your digital media strategy become as part of the
overall product?
We believe strongly in what we do on the radio, but we don’t believe
we’re a radio company. We’re a local media and marketing company.
Radio is our core competency and will be for many years to come, but
we are a local media and marketing company that, as new platforms,
new opportunities and new technologies emerge, is quick to jump on
and test them. Sometimes things don’t work out, so we’re quick to fail
fast and move on, while embracing and building on the ones that do
take root with listeners and advertisers.
The one exception to your live and local weekday lineup is the syndicated
Dave Ramsey Show that airs in evenings. How does Dave’s show fit into
KTAR’s contemporary programming philosophy?
Dave fits perfectly. The fact that his show is non-political and his
mission is to help people, aligns perfectly with our station’s overall
mission. While his program isn’t specifically driven by current events
like the rest of our prime time lineup, he offers a fantastic alternative
and has performed really well for us. We’re big Dave Ramsey fans.
Finally, what advice would you give News/Talk and Sports stations
considering making the move to FM as KTAR has done so successfully?
Number one, don’t assume your AM product is going to be received
well by the new audience available on FM. At the same time, don’t
make major changes to your lineup without doing some major
audience research and analysis of that data first. Don’t go in thinking
you already know what the audience wants. Most importantly I’d
advise you that in the end, you can’t afford to lose sight of the reality
that we are all primarily in the business of being interesting.
CONTACT NTS MEDIAONLINE
Al Peterson
Brooke Williams
+1.858.486.7559
[email protected]
+1.512.589.8568
[email protected]
©2014 NTS MediaOnline™ — All rights reserved. To subscribe visit www.ntsmediaonline.com
Page 3