Mike Peterson is Vice President of Brands Denver, Brand Manager for Alice 105.9 and Vice President of Talent Development for Audacy.
Since Peterson is VP of Talent Development and one of my consistent questions is where radio will find the next generation of big talents, we began our discussion there.
“I think you have to have the mindset, Jeff, of finding charismatic, unique people. So, where do you find talent? You’re looking within radio stations, podcasting, anybody on the entertainment stage. It’s just looking for authentic, genuine personalities, and for the most part, some of them have radio experience or varying degrees of radio experience, and sometimes they don’t.
“Then it’s up to us in terms of the radio medium or the audio medium. Where we have to paint pictures with words and the tone of our voices, can we teach them to work within the framework of a cast and tell stories? When people are driving in their morning or afternoon commute, they can consume it and find it entertaining or informative, and develop an emotional connection.”
I ask if we run the risk of finding creative people who are unencumbered by no rules in a podcast and stifle them within the confines of radio formats.
“I can understand why somebody would say. You have to prioritize what you’re looking for and why you’re looking for that. Whatever that type of personality is. Then is radio a part of what they do? Is it the core content creator, or is it one of two or three things that a specific person might do? I think we live in a world where we can entertain somebody from another medium and ask, can you work within the framework of how radio functions?
And speaking of personalities, Alice 105.9 has always been about personality first. A cornerstone that the station still stands on today.
“Our personalities on Alice are the reason that Alice exists. When Alice was first introduced, it was designed with a personality-first, music-second, strategic mindset. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to hold true to that. It’s not that music is not important. It’s very important in what we do.”
The station has “BJ & Jamie” in the morning, who have been together for around 14 years, and their approach and content are unique.
“They’re just very dynamic and unique. I would put them right up there as one of the most original shows in the country. They prep differently. Their content is different. It’s very much life through their lens. It can be topical or it can be personable. It can be relationship-driven. But it’s very original. They don’t do a lot of what many shows do. They don’t have the same benchmarks.”
Slacker anchors Alice 105.9 afternoons.
“’The Slacker and Steve Show’ changed a year ago when Steve left. So now we’re in the evolution of what the modern-day version of ‘The Slacker Show’ looks like. We’ve just hired Erica Shea. We’re very excited about what the future brings.”
I asked about the evolution of music stations having teams in afternoon drive.
“I think more people are willing to take the risk. Here’s my position on it. Music strategy is super important on music-intensive stations. Alice is just not one of those radio stations.”
“Afternoon shows that function like morning shows scare a lot of people. It’s a risk, and it takes a lot of work. You have to give it time. You might fail a couple of times before you get it right.”
“That’s a hard thing for people to do. I don’t blame people for not doing it. Or not trying to do it. It takes a huge commitment. It takes programming, sales and market managers. If you work for a bigger company, you have the chain of command all the way to the top. How long are you going to give this? You have to have discipline in terms of that commitment. But once it does, it creates a dynamic for a radio station.”
“Alice 105.9 Cares For Kids Radiothon” is a Denver tradition that has raised over $26 million since 2001. Cause marketing is a significant focus for the station and its personalities.
“The big personalities are the key drivers, and the stories. We have a really strong relationship with the hospital. They know how we speak. They know our language. We know their language. It’s definitely one of the big identifiers for the radio station. We have a total team commitment to it. There’s not one person on our team who doesn’t believe in the power of that relationship and the greater good for the kids.”
With as many job plates as Peterson has spinning, I asked if he or his staff was making use of AI.
“We’re in the aggressive discovery mode, and what I mean by that is what works and what’s going to make our lives easier now versus experimenting with so many different types of AI. We’re now using it in some forms for video editing and are very happy with the results.”
And speaking of video, Peterson says that it is the focus of social media.
“We’re steering everything towards short-form video. What’s interesting about social media is that you really have to pay close attention to the trends and the algorithms. We have some smart people within Audacy that can help us with that.”
“But right now, everything’s being pointed towards video. In studio video, out of studio video. We understand that with Instagram Reels and YouTube, our content will be fed to people who aren’t necessarily followers of the brands. So, there is an actual marketing component there.”
“If you’re loyal listeners are consuming it, there’s engagement with the brand that is really powerful. We’re trying to work towards a goal of 75% of our content being video of some kind.”
Reach out to Mike Peterson by email here.
Listen to Alice 105.9 here.
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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.
