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Dale's
Career Capsule
WDYL/WGGM Richmond:
January
1999-January 2000 /
Overnight and weekends
Left radio for 2
½
years to roadie and speak to teenagers nationally with Camfel
Productions
Cox Radio
Richmond Cluster:
July 2002-April 2006
– Web
Production/Fill-In
jock
KKCM: April 2006
– Present
1.
Personally how do you keep the ministry in the “business”?
Everything is spiritual.
Everything.
The way
I
treat
a
listener, the way
I
treat a
client, the way I treat my co-workers, the way I treat an artist and
label folks, the way I treat the station across the street. I could
be a
part of the most successful radio station in the country, but if I
don’t love people
in
every aspect, then it all will simply mean nothing.
2. Overall,
how is Christian radio different today, from 5 years ago?
I
love
that mainstream companies like Cox and Clear Channel are taking a
chance on the format. Unheard of 5 years ago.
3. What do you think are the main characteristics of today’s
Christian radio PD?
Someone who’s connected spiritually, mentally and emotionally to a
P1.
4. What criteria do you require for a song to be played on your
station?
Cox is all about research and making sure we play the best possible
music. We have a great team in place to make sure that music is
executed properly. Chris Kelly,
Spirit 102.3’s
PD, tells me all the time that we’re judged
by
the songs that we play, not by the songs we don’t play.
5. What kind of promotions work best for Christian radio?
I
can tell you two kinds that I enjoy executing: promotions that
give people an experience that they can’t buy and promotions that
genuinely help our listeners where they are.
6. How do you think Christian Record labels can better serve
Christian radio?
It’s nutty for labels to suggest what a station promotion should be
or how a station should sound without taking into account the goals
of the station. Creating genuine trust and
community between radio and label folks should be of utmost
importance.
Each should understand and respect the other’s
agenda and goals. 1 Corinthians 3 should be required reading
for radio and label folks who deal with each other.
7. In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles facing Christian
radio today?
A
huge obstacle is
the
competition
with a
listener’s personal iPod habits and
the onset of social networking.
Also,
figuring
out ways to connect with your listener beyond just having them
simply listen to your
frequency is a challenge.
8. What do you believe is the primary role of the Christian radio
air personality?
See answer for question #3
9. What (if any) Christian radio stations do you consider as
innovators today?
Hate to toot my own horn but I think Spirit 102.3 is a great
station.
I’m a firm believer that competition breeds excellence and Tulsa has
two of the best Christian music stations in the country in Spirit
102.3 and KXOJ. KCMS in Seattle and KSBJ in Houston are doing some
amazing things for their
respective communities.
10. Where do you see Christian radio in 5 years?
I’m not sure about 5 years…but I have a dream for what it may sound
like 10-20 years down to road.
We
are all
affected by, shaped by, and in many ways,
a
product of culture and culture is changing.
Sociologists now say that culture completely reinvents itself every
2-3 years.
50
years ago, it was every 20. In this day and age, most Americans have
heard of Jesus. He’s on their hats,
He’s in their music,
He’s on their cars, He’s in the hands of their kids and their lives
are unchanged. Like it or not, people have heard the gospel
but it’s never been communicated in a way they understand and the
American Christian subculture simply seems
irrelevant
to
their lives.
As
twenty-something Christians slowly make their way into the target of
many station demos,
I
believe Christian radio stations will
begin to see
the need to make an effort to speak a new kind of language and
articulate
a
deeper kind of meaning. Many stations will
see and understand and follow the
potential to become vibrant communities of listeners.
I
see stations becoming a tool God will use
(despite man’s agenda) and lives will be authentically changed.
I
believe in a station being
truly Kingdom-focused…and
I
also believe
research will show it needs to be this way so it can be executed!
How will it sound sonically:
you’ll hear Chris Tomlin next to U2 and
David Crowder next to
Ben Folds…Tobymac next to Matisyahu and
Nichole Nordeman next to Natasha Bedingfield.
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