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Steve's
Career Capsule
The very first time I was on the radio was when I was 14 years old.
I won a call-in contest and got to be on the air for an hour. The
tape is locked up under tight security!
Later, I worked
in mainstream radio in Indianapolis, Benton Harbor, MI, and Eau
Claire, WI, primarily in oldies. I became a Christian in Eau Claire
and several years later moved on to The Fish in Sacramento before
coming to WMHK in November of 2003.
On a personal note, we are working on adopting a little boy from
Haiti. We’ve been in this process since August of 2005 so it’s
really taken a toll, especially psychologically. There have been
many delays and complications. We’d appreciate your prayers!
1.
Personally how do you keep the ministry in the “business”?
It’s very easy
to get so lost in the day to day details that I forget the eternal
impact of what we are doing. But when I am more focused on God in
the rest of my life, I tend to be more focused on Him here as well.
I also think that whenever we hear from a listener who has been
touched by the radio station in some significant
way; it’s kind
of like a wakeup call. It reminds me that we’re not just here to be
a good radio station, but to play our part in doing God’s work here
on Earth. I think it’s important to take a step back once in a
while. Think about what we get to say on the radio. We get to
share the hope of the Gospel. That’s pretty amazing! Sometimes
I’ll try to listen to the station as though I’ve never heard a
Christian AC or any of the music before it reminds me what a
privilege it is to do what I do.
2. Overall,
how is Christian radio different today, from 5 years ago?
Five years
ago I was still pretty new in the format. I had been in it for less
than a year. I think that my perspective has changed, I don’t know
if that correlates to an actual change in Christian
radio itself.
There are more stations doing this format well than I realized.
More people on Christian radio stations seem to be focused on being
transparent and real rather than as setting themselves up as role
models. I think this creates a stronger bond with the listener.
3. What do you think are the main characteristics of
today’s Christian radio PD?
Just like in
every position at a Christian Radio, a Christian radio PD needs to
know God and know radio. That’s a tough combination to find.
Because what we do has eternal consequences, it’s non-negotiable
that a Christian radio PD be in an active relationship with Jesus
Christ. On the other hand, he or she needs to have all the
strategic and management skills a mainstream PD would have in order
to be competitive with the mainstream stations in the market. I
think it’s critical to have a passionate belief that our format
offers something of value to listeners that no other format does.
It creates a sense of urgency and a desire to attract listeners from
other stations that goes beyond simply wanting to be #1,
4. What criteria do you require for a song to be
played on your station?
There is no
exact formula for that. The simple answer is that it needs to be
one of the best songs for our audience. How we get to that
conclusion is another story. The lyrics need to in some way glorify
God. As you know there are many ways of doing this; direct worship,
encouraging or edifying people by pointing them to Him directly or
indirectly are a couple of examples. But that doesn’t eliminate
many songs that are sent to us. The best songs make some sort of
deep emotional connection with the listener in their words and
music. Gauging this is not an exact science but we do our best!
Obviously the music itself needs to be great and it needs to sound
like it belongs on our station. Research is an important tool for
us as well.
5. What kind of promotions work best for Christian
radio?
I prefer
promotions that in some way relate to the listener’s real life. If
it’s a game or a contest I think it should be compelling for the
thousands of people listening, not just the one person playing.
Games that bring out stories in an entertaining way are some of my
favorites. The best events are like the best on-air content. They
relate somehow to the listener’s life.
6. How do you think Christian Record labels can
better serve Christian radio?
I think the
labels are doing a pretty good job as it is. The main thing we need
is great music, and we get it. It’s also helpful when label folks
understand that we have a strategic music structure that dictates
that we only have a certain number of slots for songs.
7. In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles
facing Christian radio today?
Getting
people to give us a chance is a continuing problem. I still run
into people who think all Christian music is lame and expect
everything else on the station to be the same. So often if they
give us a try they are very surprised. Also, of course the
increased competition from new technology is an issue for everybody
in radio.
8. What do you believe is the primary role of the
Christian radio air personality?
Make a
connection with the listener. It can be done with humor, stories
about your life, topical content, or other things. Talk about what
is relevant to your listener, but do it as a real person. Don’t be
afraid to be transparent and show your flaws. It makes people more
comfortable with you. When you’ve made this connection you will
have a stronger platform to stand on when you say something overtly
spiritual.
9. What (if any) Christian radio stations do you
consider as innovators today?
There are a
number of stations that sound great, but two that always come to
mind for me are KCMS and WPOZ.
10. Where do you see Christian radio in 5 years?
I think under
normal circumstances I would say we’re going to continue to grow,
get better and gain larger audiences. But with new technology
adding more competition I don’t think we can look at it that
simply. People will soon have so many choices that we are going to
have to look at ourselves as content providers rather than just as
radio stations. Anyone can play our music. We need to be
compelling enough between records that people won’t want to leave us
for a jukebox. I think wireless internet is going to be big, so
website development will be very important. I sure hope we can get
this streaming royalties thing worked out.
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