May 22, 2017, Issue 551
Kage Free In The Rockies
As radio stories go, it’s both fortunate and familiar. Programmer has a good run, but his company is sold and he gets an offer in another market. He jumps, the cluster he was at is sold and broken up – hindsight proves the move was the right call. That’s where the narrative changes for KYGO/Denver PD John E. Kage. And happily so for all involved and, not least, the station’s ratings. Ready for a challenge after 17 years at Rhythmic Top 40 KQKS/Denver, the leap to a more mainstream Top 40 with Cox’s WPOI/ Tampa made sense. Lincoln Financial eventually divested KQKS to Entercom, while sister KYGO landed with Bonneville. All John E. Kage good, it seemed. But as a single father, Kage saw his son was struggling in their new Florida home. After only 10 months, Kage’s former Denver GM Bob Call reached out with news that KYGO PD Eddie Haskell had resigned. “My GM in Tampa, Keith Lawless, might just be the greatest next to Bob,” Kage says. “He understood.” Within a month, Kage was a mile high, back in the building and sitting across from his old office at the helm of KYGO (Breaking News 9/16/16). In addition to his knowledge of the market and radio landscape, Kage also has a strong radio pedigree. He started as an intern at powerhouse Top 40 KDWB/Minneapolis and “worked my way up as fast as radio would take me.” Stops at Top 40 and Rhythmic stations included Grand Forks, ND; Ocean City, MD; St. Cloud, MN; Albuquerque and Sacramento. Putting It Together: Back in Colorado and again working for Call, Kage was in his comfort zone. There’s just the matter of a completely new format. “I understood 100% the tools Bob would provide, and his expectations of a PD,” Kage says of his GM. “A little known fact is I have worked with every PD KYGO has ever had including Bob, who was the first. I was aware of the station’s legendary status. I never went looking for what I could bring back. I asked myself what it needed to be in 2017.” First up? Mornings. Five-year station vet Tracy Dixon had been holding down the fort for a year. (continued on page 7)
That’s An Ender: Arista’s Brad Paisley opens his Weekend Warrior Tour with a little help from his radio friends. Pictured (l-r) are the label’s Luke Jensen, WNCB/Raleigh’s Carletta Blake, Paisley and WQDR/Raleigh’s Mimi Wheeler.
Radio’s Weekend Warriors
Brad Paisley’s Weekend Warrior Tour blazed a trail from upstate New York to New Jersey and North Carolina in its first weekend. Radio attendees agree – Paisley’s show is bigger and better than ever. Paisley invited radio and two local high school senior classes to attend a pre-tour rehearsal at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Townsquare WGNA/Albany PD Matty Jeff says, “They ran through the show in about an hour and a half. What a cool experience for those students to be there.” A thunderstorm delayed the first show by Matty Jeff about a half hour, but the crowd hung in for the fun. “Somehow Brad got around the curfew and played until midnight, and everyone stayed to see it,” says Jeff. “The show was fast-paced and visually exciting right from the start,” says CBS Radio WXTU/Philadelphia PD Shelly Easton.
© 2 0 1 7 Co u n t r y A i rc h e c k ™ — A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . S i g n u p f re e a t w w w. c o u n t r y a i rc h e c k . c o m . S e n d n e w s t o n e w s @ c o u n t r y a i rc h e c k . c o m