Marty Linck, Brand Director of 95 KSHE and 106.5 The Arch in St. Louis, began his radio career in college on St. Louis Community College’s KCFV. He was the PD and Production Director. That eventually led to some weekend and overnight shifts around town and eventually landed him the midday slot at 99.9 KFAV.
While at KFAV, Linck landed a Production internship at KSHE 95. After the internship ended, he became Imaging Director at 105.7 The Point in 1996. Eventually, he became APD of The Point and then PD for upstart 97 KXOK.
“We competed directly against KSHE and had some great success,” Linck insists. After two years, KSHE’s owner, Emmis, bought Sinclair, and KSHE retained Linck. He eventually became APD at KSHE.
Fast forward a few years, and Linck spent some time in Nashville. Then headed back to St. Louis in 2012 to work for CBS KYKY/KEZK and eventually in network radio for JACK-FM. In 2019, he landed at Hubbard Radio as Brand Content Director for KSHE/WARH. He also handles imaging and promos for four of their stations.
I asked Linck to talk about the fabric of KSHE. “We’re hyper-local during prime hours,” says Linck. “It’s the longest-running Rock station in the world. So we must respect our heritage, but we also have to push things forward.”
“Sure, the songs are 25-55 years old, but we’re not going to sit around and reminisce about REO Speedwagon having played the Checkerdome in 1978 anymore, except during some of our weekend specialty programming.”
“We do four community blood drives a year. And we also do our mobile pop-up ‘KSHE Schtuff Store’ each quarter and sell KSHE merchandise. Lines got out the door at local bars when we show up for hours. It’s insane.”
“Our Schtuff store is our biggest passion project. The revenue pales in comparison to our ad revenue. But when you can sell 500 KSHE flags on Flag Day, and entertain a thousand people over an afternoon, that’s pretty cool.”
“I also think our Sunday programming is unique and makes us stand out. John Ulett, who has worked here for 49 years, hosts the KSHE ‘Klassics’ show on Sunday mornings from 7am-11am. John Ulett and Mark Klose host a one-hour weekly show named ‘Vinyl Exam,’ where they do a deep dive on a classic album each week.”
“Then we have Hubbard’s new syndicated show, ‘Classic Rock U,’ followed by ‘Sammy’s Top Rock Countdown,’ followed by ‘The 7th Day,’ which is six hours of complete albums from 6p-Midnight.”
Linck is extremely proud of his A+ talent on the station. “We’re fortunate to have major market-level talent like AD Rowntree (Mornings), Lern (Middays) is a fantastic talent who is also a member of The Rizzuto Show on sister KPNT. And our newest air talent, Tim Virgin (most recently at WLS-Chicago), has added lots of energy and fun to afternoon drive.”
“This caliber of talent is hard to find! One attribute I look for is a willingness to share their lives with the audience in an authentic and interesting way. I don’t really care so much about voice quality. Just be entertaining, be relatable, and find a way to get your message across efficiently. And work your butt off!”
What’s different about the St. Louis market?
“Everyone thinks their market is incredibly unique. But I think entertainment is entertainment, wherever you are. We might talk a little more about sports than stations in L.A. or anywhere with more entertainment options. We don’t have the beach or mountains to climb, so sports are front and center entertainment options for men and women here.”
As for the music and the gold library, “We share a lot of Classic Hits and some hair bands with our sister station (WARH) and with i-Heart’s KLOU,” admits Linck. “But there are no other full signal FM’s playing AC/DC, Rush, or the like. KSHE rocks pretty hard, which gives us an especially unique vibe. We also share grunge with our sister KPNT, but that’s where the musical similarities end.”
“The imaging, the marketing and the air talent are what keep KSHE fresh. We work hard to tap into topical content choices and try to reflect what’s happening today.”
As for the new three-minute PPM rule, Linck says they’ve moved some stop sets around, but nothing major. It hasn’t moved the needle for either of his stations like he thought it would. “But radio getting more credit overall helps everyone associated with the medium,” he says.
As for what’s missing in the industry right now?
“It’s understandable,” he says. “But there’s no real talent bench anymore. We’ve talked about putting live night and overnight shows back on after the pandemic. But the financial realities have caused us to press pause on the idea right now.”
“I also sometimes find myself focusing on the next day vs. the next year more often than I’d like. That’s a challenge I’d like to wrap my head around and start planning a long-term strategy in addition to the immediate future.
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Charese Fruge’ is an award-winning Content, Broadcast, and Marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, San Diego, and Las Vegas. As the owner of MC Media, she works with radio brands and individual talent, especially young women, helping them grow their brands and negotiate on their own behalf. She is also a Voice Actor and Voice Over Talent as well as a Freelance Writer for International Broadcast Outlets. Find her at @MCMediaOnline or www.mcmediaonline.com.
