To support the launch of the new Barrett Media, we’ve created a special series titled “20 Brands In 20 Days.” Highlighting successful stations across the country in various formats by conducting conversations with their brand leaders. Up next is Curtis Media’s Mike Biddle. Mike is the PD of Country WQDR (94.7 QDR)/Raleigh, NC. The station we are highlighting today.
Jeff Lynn: So, what’s up at QDR?
Mike Biddle: We’re coming up on our 40th year of being Country here on QDR. We flipped from a rock format back in ‘84. You would have thought the world turned upside down when that happened in the market.
We’ve survived 40 years, and it’s been great. We’ve got a couple of plans towards the end of the year to celebrate the 40th anniversary, but we pride ourselves on being a triangle station.
We don’t just say we’re local; we are, and we live and breathe it. I think it comes across clearly in everything we do on the radio. We don’t have to tell people we’re local; I think you just know; you can feel it.
We’ve got a morning show host, Mike, who’s been with the station now, gosh, what is it, 32, 33 years? So, for most of those 40 years, he’s been a part of this radio station, which is great. So, it’s a testament to ownership and leadership. How often do you see that in our industry now?
Don Curtis, the owner, is still involved. He comes in almost every day and invests back in the radio station and the market.
Radio obviously has its challenges these days, but we do our best to overcome those challenges and still invest back into our product, our people, our listeners, and our community.
We’re given the opportunity to do our jobs, and we’re entrusted to do them to the best of our ability. There is a collaboration that occurs. We have our weekly promotions meetings and such.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about making sure we’re super-serving our listeners and our clients.
JL: Let’s talk about music for just a minute. New versus gold. How much does gold still play a part versus new music?
MB: Very much so. I feel like we’re a very balanced radio station when it comes to currents and gold. There’s a need and want for new music.
We are today’s best Country. So, we don’t shy away from exposing new music and playing new artists. And if there’s a song that we feel like, hey, man, we need to jump on that right now, we’re going to jump on it.
Whether it’s a national hit or something that just makes sense for us locally, we look at our local research, which we still invest in. We have a lot of local data we can use.
We’ve got the national data we get from streaming and consumption and things of that nature. The chart is the chart. Interpret it how you will.
It’s not the Bible by any means. It’s part of the tools or one of the many tools, I should say, that we have available to us to make the best decisions we can.
We’re playing currents. We’re playing great gold. We do gold music research.
We’re playing 90s because people want to hear that, too. In fact, one of the most consistent pieces of feedback we’ve been getting from listeners a lot lately is that we love the variety on the station.
JL: Country has always been a big tent format. Where do you see opportunities moving forward for not only QDR but for the Country format in general?
MB: I think there’s a huge opportunity for the format right now, which is the amount of audience that’s growing and coming to the format with Post Malone coming over and crossing over. We’re in a good cycle of music right now, but not just from the standpoint of new. I noticed talking with the younger listeners of our station that a lot of them listen to old Country.
A lot of them listen to that 90s stuff, and some of them listen to Waylon. People’s listening habits are all over the place.
You can’t just put people in a box anymore, I don’t think. And so, we have to be open to being where our listeners are and creating opportunities to kind of, I guess, mimic or mirror what they’re doing away from the radio station.
JL: Hurricane Debby is bearing down on you. What does that mean not only for your station but your cluster?
MB: Well, the great thing is that we have live bodies in our studios—that’s the number one thing—so we can be here and react in the moment as things are happening.
We’ve got a local news product that can supply us with up-to-date information. In fact, we’re already running periodic updates as the storm progresses and gets closer to us. We’re making sure that we’re keeping people up to date as much as possible on not just the storm’s activity but all the things that go along with it.
We’re going to be here for you. Use us as you need us.
JL: All right. Personal question. There’s got to be a story behind your on-air name, “Mad Dawg.”
MB: I wish there was this great elaborate story. At this point, I should have made something up to give it a whole lot more. But honestly, when I was making the move from California to come back to the East Coast, Lisa McKay hired me to do nights.
She was my lifelong mentor in this business. I started working with her when I was part-time and growing up in Richmond, Virginia, working at WRVQ. When I tried to spread my wings into full-time radio, she had an opportunity here to do nights.
When she moved to the Country format, she hired me, and I was driving from California to North Carolina. We had settled on Junior Johnston was going to be my name on the radio. Johnston County is one of the major counties in the metro.
Junior Johnson was a legendary NASCAR driver, so we kind of married the two. That’s what we came up with. My mindset was, I don’t care what you call me, if I got a job and I’m getting a paycheck.
And then I remember I was driving, I gave her a call, I said, “man, I’m almost there, I’m so excited.”
And she goes, great, we came up with a new name for you. I was like, okay, what are you going to call me? She said, “we’re going to call you ‘Mad Dawg’”.
And I said, okay.
Let’s go with it. It stemmed from a more head-to-head format battle with QDR and Kixs Country. There was a guy doing mornings who went by “Mad Dog.”
It had been some time in the market that he hadn’t been on, and I guess somebody had maybe bounced that off as a possible idea for my name for nights. She was like, yeah, let’s do that. It’s got some name recognition in the market.
We’ll just kind of roll with that. When I first got to the market, there was a period when some people thought I was the guy who used to do mornings on that station.
JL: Any final thoughts?
MB: I appreciate you taking the time to spotlight the radio station.
We’re proud of what we’ve done here and of our accomplishments over the past 40 years. And we’re looking forward to 40 more years.
Listen to QDR here. Find them on Facebook and Instagram. Connect with Mike here.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
