Cat Country 98.7 has deep roots in Pensacola. The station works hard at being at one with its listeners and clients. Brent Lane is the Program Director and also anchors the station’s morning show.
Cat Country 98.7 is today’s featured station in Barrett Media’s 20 Brands In 20 Days. When I caught up with Lane, he was on his way to one of the city’s signature events, Blue Angels week.
“Cat Country 98.7 is very much about the community of Pensacola. We’ve spent 21 years now being a Pensacola radio station. We’re fortunate to be locally owned and therefore virtually everything we do is locally responsive.”
“We are really about trying to echo what our community is all about. For instance, this week is Blue Angels week, so we’re all about the Blue Angels right now. Not everywhere gets the opportunity to do it the way we do it.”
“I’m very glad we still have the opportunity to do that. And it’s nice that, year after year, we get the chance to build on the chapters we’ve written before. What makes Cat Country special, I think, is our ability to be fun and up and celebratory.”
“I’ve been around long enough to watch somebody’s kids be born, grow up, go to college and come home. And that’s kind of the same for the radio station.”
Cat Country 98.7 has won numerous awards over the years, and Lane believes that they are a result of doing the right thing.
“I think that good radio is good radio. And it is certainly nice to be recognized for the work we are putting in at a national level. But we’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do. We’re doing it because it’s what makes us. It is really a ‘get to’ opportunity.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to be like, oh, now I’ve got to do this fundraiser. Oh, now I’ve got to do this thing. And that’s never really the case. It’s always, I get to do it. And I think that that is one of the secret sauces. I came from a radio station, an outstanding radio station. I just don’t remember us doing that much philanthropic work, per se. But success through service has really been this station’s secret sauce.”
“We get to do regular stuff that helps our community, and in doing that, not only does it make the radio station better, but it builds chapters of success that our community has come to rely on.”
For Lane, curating the station’s music list is built on creating a musical texture.
We have the opportunity to look at the texture of the radio station every day or every week. I’ll give you the best example. Scotty McCreery’s ‘Bottle Rockets’ is a smash summer song. It is fantastic. And so we should be playing that a lot, and we are.”
“How the rest of the radio station sounds around that, we can build without having anyone require us to play something. It’s got to sound right for the radio station. And 90% of the time, I feel like we are right on where we’re supposed to be for the music.”
Is ‘90s Country in the mix?
“A little for sure. Philosophically speaking, we’re a top 30 Country radio station. I want to play what you want to hear. And ‘90s Country really is something that people want to hear a lot of right now.”
“The Zach Top generation is loving it. I just played Lee Ann Womack, ‘I Hope You Dance’ this morning. I had the opportunity to talk about how it was a song I danced with my mom at my own wedding. And thought, ‘Man, that’s been around for a while, but it sure sounded great today.’ They’re a little like when the DJ in the club plays a song and you’re like, oh my God, that’s my jam!”
How does Lane feel about Post Malone and Beyonce joining Country’s big tent party?
“Well, I think Post and Beyonce are totally different. I think one is authentic in their ability to translate to a Country audience, and I think the other one is like… I don’t want to call Beyoncé inauthentic. But I don’t think anybody looked at the first album cover who listens to Country music and goes, I wear a metal bustier and a chastity belt, just out of habit, right? I mean, that’s not authentic, that’s not our audience, and I don’t even know whose audience that is.”
“The Grammys changing their tune to do a contemporary and traditional Country is probably a weird step. I don’t even know if it’s the right direction because it’s essentially validating somebody who said that this is Country music. The album is actually pretty good. The fact that she used all real musicians is a high compliment to the industry. But Country music is also about a lifestyle, and I doubt very seriously that Jay-Z and Beyonce are living the lifestyle as the average person is. And that’s hard to duplicate.”
We ended our conversation back where we started talking about local radio.
“I think local radio certainly is a winner. It was interesting to be in Washington, D.C., for the National Association of Broadcasters Service to America Awards in June. They were kind enough to honor us with a Crystal Eagle for last year’s Cat Country Cares for Kids event, which helped raise funds for cameras for every NICU bed in our Studer Family Children’s Hospital.”
“And it was great to be in a room of broadcasters and talk about the impact that local radio has. I’m not taking anything away from somebody who works at a corporate radio station. I’ve been in a corporate radio station that was pretty great as well. But speaking from the perspective that we have local owners whose expectation is that the radio station is going to make the community better. Whether it matters dollar-wise or not is a really interesting perspective.”
“And certainly as far as I am concerned, as a broadcaster, it has mattered a lot in my life and in my career. And in my family’s life. Because it encourages us to seek out ways to be good stewards of our community, and I think that is a role that I probably would not have gotten anywhere else.”
“It is genuinely something that is a game changer for your radio station. Brent Michaels at KUZZ does this a lot, too. I have a lot of respect for what he does. We don’t go far without finding ways to be helpers. And sometimes being a helper means you get to be a leader in something that makes your community better.”
And part of that for Lane is getting to know the movers and shakers in your market.
“I would tell broadcasters and radio station leaders, join boards, be leaders. Put your sweat equity into helping events be better, rather than just showing up.
“I can’t tell you how much that translates. I know I get more people to call me back because of being part of the Pensacola Navy Days Board of Directors over the last three years. Simply because I got introduced to a whole bunch of people I didn’t know before.”
“And now it’s like, how can I help your business, or how can we help you. All the things that we’ve been involved with, everybody takes everybody’s call. It is a winner at every level.
“So, being good community stewards is a great way to succeed in the broadcast business.”
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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.
