Scott's Career Capsule
My high school had a 250 watt radio station and I joined the staff my freshmen year and later grew into the program director by role. In my senior year of high school I was hired on at Planet 96.3 in Detroit. I’ve worked at 93.1 DRQ/Detroit, 96.3 WDVD/Detroit, 102.5 WIOG/Saginaw, 100.3 The Kross/Tulsa, 106.9 K Hits/Tulsa as well. I’ve been at SOS Radio for 8 years now!

1. Tell us what’s new with SOS Radio. Changes? Expansions?

SOS Radio is celebrating its 43rd year on the air this summer. SOS Radio started in Las Vegas as KILA Christian Radio, but over the years it’s grown to serve over 37 different areas like Missoula, Salt Lake City/Provo, Laughlin/Bullhead City, Victorville/Palmdale, Elko, Twin Falls/Pocatello, Key West and others. Our leaders Brad & Chris Staley have built an amazing family culture at SOS. They care so much for the people they work with and the cities where they serve. Loving & serving people has been a core value of our ministry and I believe it’s one of the reasons why we’re able to make such an impact in our region.

2. Best programming advice you ever received? What was the worst?

Best: Without vision, the people perish & wander aimlessly. (Proverbs 29:19) 

Worst: Just read the liner cards. The listener doesn’t care about stories!

3. Regarding your career what are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of the team we’ve built at SOS Radio and at 100.3 The Kross before that. It’s been fun to see the talented people on these teams find their passion and connect in community with our listeners. It’s exciting to see our team mates blossom into dynamic on air personalities and creative programmers.

4. What’s one thing you must have everyday to do your job?

CreativeCardio.com. It’s a collective of on air personalities sharing unique angles on showprep & stories. The people posting inside the site challenge me daily! It’s a creative outlet that really challenges me.

5. Where will the future of CCM air talent come from?

Storytellers. Finding people who have a natural ability to share their heart and tell stories from a unique worldview. Let’s keep our eyes open for those natural communicators with a great heart. We can teach them the radio science.

6. Do you feel syndication is good or bad for Christian radio?

I love seeing the power of live and local radio as a conduit to bring a community together. I think live and local talent can be a very strong connection point, but the real bottom line for me is engaging content. The ability to share a story or reflect life back to a listener and have a real conversation is key. When syndicated elements can do that, I use them coupled with our live talent.  

7. Generally speaking what obstacles are facing CCM radio?

Many of the high performing CCM radio stations I talk to are noticing their P1 listeners are aging in AC radio, even when their stations are targeting listeners much younger. There’s a lot of smart people studying that relationship right now. There’s a lot of innovative companies investing a lot of resources to bring in the younger generation too. I look forward to brainstorming ideas for new business models so Millennial targeted media options can be financially sustainable. The business model is a key that we’ve been missing as an industry.

8. Who are your radio heroes and influences?

Garrett Michaels (from 107.7 The End/Seattle), Alex Tear (Y-100/Miami), Ann Delisi (WDET), and Mark Anderson (100.7 Star/Y 108/Pittsburgh) were my first mentors in radio. They taught me what it meant to serve and engage listeners in community. They all took the personal time to invest in me as a teen. Bob Thornton, Jon Hull, Bill Keith, Brad Staley & Chris Staley have  been amazing leaders who have challenged me professionally & spiritually over the years too.

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