May 1, 2017, Issue 548
Big Numbers In Big D
Working at a small Dallas directional AM – KBOX, Mac Daniels listened to “All Star Country” KPLX sign on with Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” in 1980. Daniels soon went to work for the then-Susquehanna station in nights, rising to MD and eventually APD. For the duration of his 14-year run, KSCS was “the competition, the enemy,” he says. Returning as PD for both stations in February 2016, Daniels has proved you can go home again – even if the furniture’s been moved around. KPLX has spent the last three months as the market’s No. 1 station 6+ and this March as America’s largest cuming station. KSCS Mac Daniels has risen to more than one million cume. With heritage air staffs on both and minimal differences in the approach to imaging and events, Daniels says music has been the key to both differentiating the stations and to ratings growth. “Texas Country” and “’90s To Now” positioned KPLX is the Hot AC, as Daniels hears it, with a core 25-54 target demo. The station has grown from a 4.4 to 6.0 6+ over the past year. “New Country” KSCS has moved from a shade under a million in 6+ cume a year ago to 1.083 million this March, and is the Top 40-leaning offering aimed 18-49. “But 25-54 is very important on both,” Daniels says. Team (In) Building: Overseeing two Country stations in a market is nothing new for Daniels, who programmed KASE & KVET/Austin for six years after stints at WMZQ/Washington, DC and WYCD/Detroit. Since he lived the battle “back in the day,” Daniels wanted to “reignite the passion on both sides of the halls.” He concentrated on KSCS, since it was striving against the strong Wolf brand. “The KSCS staff was ready,” he says. Mark “Hawkeye” Louis has been on the KSCS morning show since 1988 – he’s the longest running morning personality on the FM band in DFW. His longtime co-host, the late Terry Dorsey, retired in 2014. Louis is now surrounded by youthful co-hosts Jasmine and Konnected K. Michelle Rodriguez started at KPLX in 2004 in promotion and on-air part time, switched to nights at (continued on page 8)
Know Way: Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean in Fort Wayne, IN on the opening weekend of his You Don’t Know Tour. Pictured (l-r) are WQHK’s Dave Michaels, the label’s Dawn Ferris, Aldean and WBYT’s Jesse Garcia.
Aldean Tour: Yes They Do
Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean kicked off his They Don’t Know Tour with RCA’s Chris Young and Kane Brown over the weekend in Toledo, OH, Fort Wayne, IN and Green Bay, WI. “What a night with Jason,” says Midwest WNCY/Appleton-Green Bay, WI MD/morning co-host Charli McKenzie. “You can tell why he was given Entertainer of the Year. I thought the screams were going to make me go permanently deaf. They couldn’t get enough.” In Fort Wayne, Federated WQHK PD/ MD midday host Dave MiAldean with chaels reports Aldean “opened McKenzie with the new single ‘They Don’t
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