At the crossroads of broadcasting and technology, Kim Komando found her niche in radio by creating her own network. She then used that network to bring knowledge to the masses and will soon be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
But Komando, who grew up in New Jersey, wasn’t planning a life in broadcasting.
Her connection to the tech world started with her mother who was with Bell Labs as a system analyst. Her father worked for United Airlines, giving the family plenty of free flights.
Komando’s first job out of school was for IBM. She tried her hand at television on Fox as Komando, an attractive blond, was told she had a face for the medium.
“I really didn’t like the scripted nature of it,” Komando told BNM. “I felt like I was just reading a prompter.”
However, some people would also say she had a “voice for radio,” and it all began with a Saturday late night call-in show about computers on Phoenix’s KFYI.
“As soon as I sat in front of a radio microphone, I was home,” Komando said.
At the time, Komando was selling computers for Unisys as a district manager. Komando graduated from Arizona State University at the age of 19 in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems.
Networking
By her mid-20s, she was willing to leave a $150,000 a year salary on the table. Money notwithstanding, she wasn’t happy with the job and consulted with her parents. Komando quit to forge a radio career. There was no need to find a radio name, as Komando is her given name.
“People thought, in the beginning, that I had to make that up,” she said. “But I never took my husband’s name, not even legally, because I am Kim Komando.”
Despite the notoriously low pay, Komando wasn’t discouraged. In fact, she was quite determined. She had a sense of building her brand from the start— as Komando would write syndicated newspaper columns and formed the Komando Corporation in 1992.
Around that same time, Komando sold the “Komputer Tutor” training tapes via informercial that was a “screaming success.”
She landed a deal for running a computer section on AOL (America Online), but getting radio stations for the unproven commodity would prove to be more challenging.
“None of the big companies would syndicate my show, so I did it myself,” she said. “Those were pretty humbling beginnings,” she admitted. “Quite frankly, I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Fortunately, her husband, Barry Young, a Phoenix on-air personality, did. By 1995, they had formed WestStar MultiMedia Entertainment, where ultimately her brand would come to life nationally.
“He taught me radio formatics and he built our first studio,” Komando said.
Aside from her husband, Komando didn’t look to any broadcasters for help, although she credits Fred Weber, who gave her the first radio job, with a special bond. But she always listened to radio. Komando recalls taking her Walkman with AM/FM bands on a trip and would hear stations pop in and out from different markets.
“I thought that was so slick,” she said.
At her fledgling company, Komando was the talent, but also handled affiliate relations and sales.
The Kim Komando Show
Today, Komando’s three-hour weekend show is heard on more than 400 affiliates nationwide. A daily tech update airs worldwide but she does her best to “super serve” the stations. Komando will add a localized “tag” or outro for any affiliate that requests it, so listeners think she’s part of that particular radio station’s on-air team. She even provides an assist with station imaging and records any ad copy for free.
Generating multiple pieces of online content daily, Komando also distributes to station’s websites, “so it looks like they have a tech section.”
It was a slow incline for Komando as only two stations were initially on board—one in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is still part of the network, another in Augusta, Georgia—WGAC, which also remains loyal to Komando.
She gained traction when Tom Clendening, the former boss at KIRO in Seattle, asked for a demo tape of the show. He wanted the cassette overnighted, but Komando, paying out of pocket, didn’t want to spend extra for the sample to just sit on his desk.
After he hung up, Komando worried that she was too demanding. However, Clendening called with tape in hand the next day and enjoyed the demo so much he was willing to air the show on KIRO AM and FM, Saturdays and Sundays.
While Komando’s tech update is heard in the top market on New York’s WCBS-AM, they haven’t added her weekend show.
The show is done through barter, splitting the advertising time with affiliates. H sponsors include T-Mobile and LinkedIn.
As the technology space has grown in the past 20 years, so has Komando’s presence.
“I have no debt. I have no investors,” she admitted.
“The show is actually more relevant today than it ever has been,” Komando said. “It affects everybody in, pretty much, every aspect of their lives.”
Cars, Homes and The Hall
In an effort to keep her show as fresh as possible, Komando reviews shows every quarter.
“If you don’t innovate, you’re going to evaporate,” she said. “The show you hear today is probably quite different than the show you heard two years ago.”
These days, a major focus for Komando is giving back to callers. A woman spoke to Komando about a man stalking her college daughter after connecting on Tinder. The investigation hit a dead end with police, so Komando stepped in.
“I called in some forensics folks, and we should be serving an arrest warrant to this guy pretty soon,” she said.
Another time, a dad and 11-year-old daughter called the show. She was starting a Disney princesses-themed podcast and asked Kim for pointers.
“I told her how to do the podcast and make sure she smiles… because that comes through. So in my inbox now is her first podcast for me to listen to and critique.”
While the brand is all Komando and she is the only voice on her product, she is mentoring three people.
“I’m hoping that at some point they can have their own podcast first,” she said.
Mentoring is new for the veteran broadcaster, as she explains how important it is to tell the story.
“This is not a TED Talk,” Komando said. “You have to be entertaining and then you can be informative.”
Radio, unlike other mediums, is an intimate way for interaction. You may be speaking to millions at any given moment, but the hosts who do it well can talk directly to one person.
“I can have a great conversation in, like, 2 to 4 minutes, that’s it,” Komando said. “If it requires help afterwards, I call them. I use my personal cell phone number. I get emails and texts. They’re all really just good people.”
As many show hosts will do, Komando, at times, will bring the audience into her own personal experiences, including discussing her mother’s battle with cancer.
“They know who I am. It’s full transparency,” she said.
However, delving into politics is one area that Komando avoids at all costs on her show.
In addition to her advice on the air and online, she also has been writing columns for USA Today for approximately 20 years.
“I probably work 40-50 hours a week. I don’t have to, but it’s just that I want to,” she said. “I could retire but I don’t want to. I still am having a ball.”
Her main studio is in Phoenix. It’s where her employees are based, although many have been working remotely since the pandemic started.
Komando is also fully equipped at her homes in Santa Barbara and Beverly Hills.
While she has reached the pinnacle of her profession, Kim says the hard work combined with expertise and personality were ingredients for success. One perk of that success is enjoying her hobby—collecting cars. She’s building a garage to hold 13 of them. Her favorite car — which she owns—the 2012 Mercedes Benz SLS.
She doesn’t like to discuss future plans until they come to fruition, but Komando is working on something “that will revolutionize the way that we’re disseminating some of the content right now and some of the broadcasting products.”
In the short term, Kim is excited to be immortalized in the National Radio Hall of Fame later this month.
“That was never a goal when I started out,” she admitted. “You start looking at all of the people who’ve been inducted, like Limbaugh, Hannity, Bing Crosby, all these stellar names. I’m up there too. How the hell did that happen? I’m very humbled.”
Looking at how far she’s come in the industry, she’s delighted to share her insight with so many listeners.
“I’ve been very blessed, I really have. By just doing a good, honest day’s work, I think everybody appreciates that,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s been a really great ride.”
