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Kwame Dankwa is making his mark in Burlington, Vermont, as host of “The Kwame Show” weekday afternoons on “95 Triple X.” He is also the Program Director of the heritage Top 40 station. He has increased the station’s ratings by focusing on the listeners—not just on their ears but on what they need in their day-to-day lives. He’s also forged new relationships with organizations and non-profits that matter.
When Kwame joined the VOX Media outlet in June 2021, he was swamped with well-wishers and congratulatory calls from all over the country.
Iconic Brand
“’95 Triple X’” is an iconic brand. They put great talent out into the country. I wasn’t surprised that I got more kudos and calls about this job than any other, but I don’t know how they all got my number,” he says. He’s also PD at News/Talk 620 WVMT/96.3 and Sports Radio “The Game” 960 WEAV/97.
“A lot of great talent has walked through these doors,” Kwame explains, “so the first challenge was to bring “95 Triple X” to where it was when it was creating that good talent. I had to find a way to wrap my head around it while bringing it forward to the 2020s. There was a regime that ran the station for about 25 years, and a lot of things were very old school. We needed to increase our social media presence for the online people, and we needed to increase our street presence.
“We went to community organizations and established partnerships immediately to show the people in the world of non-profits and the people who make good things happen in our community that we are open for business. We want to talk to them. Because when people in your community see that you want to do well and to do good things for them, they will take the initiative to meet you halfway,” he explains.
Handshaking Hosts Needed
The next challenge, he says, was “finding jocks that wanted to be good on-air talent who also wanted to go out in the community and shake hands and win back the audience who didn’t realize we were still on the air.
“Once upon a time, you could wear pajamas to work, but those days are gone, with cameras being everywhere and social media content being created. In this day and age, when everyone has everything on their phone, people want to be acknowledged, face to face,” he says.
Ratings improved, and Kwame also has plenty of anecdotal evidence that people are listening, including at a recent event where he met a teenage fan who said she tunes in and showed up because her mom is a loyal listener who met Kwame at an event and never forgot it.
“To actually see listener conversion in real time made me feel like it’s working. All that I’m doing is not in vain,” he says.
“95 Triple X” made history by recently achieving their highest ratings in a decade. Kwame didn’t have much to learn about the idiosyncrasies of the Green Mountain state as this wasn’t his first Vermont rodeo. He had worked two stints at WZRT in Rutland, VT. Other stops included WJBQ Portland, WRTS Erie, the former “Power of 93.3” KPWK Seattle, and KWNW in Memphis.
Connecticut Roots
He got his radio start in Connecticut after growing up in Windsor, graduating from East Windsor High School and attending Central Connecticut State University and Briarwood College. He became a teaching assistant at Briarwood, where he created an online college radio station, “The Pulse.”
“The goal was to create a station that students could interact with that had a format so they could get the experience of working at a real radio station. A lot of times in college, people get to play what they want, but we’re teaching why radio works the way it does, and sometimes, playing what we want doesn’t necessarily give us the results that we want. We teach them why there are formatics.”
Kwame’s first radio opportunity was hard fought. He snagged the job old-school style.
“In 2006, I went to WKND in Hartford, Connecticut, every day for six months with my resume in hand, begging to be hired. There were two Latin stations in the group, and they asked if I was bilingual, and I said I’d learn.”
He didn’t have to learn Spanish. They relented and gave him a shot. He started as a producer for the Tom Jordan morning show, then worked his way to midday host.
While at WKND, he juggled multiple part-time jobs simultaneously, including at WILI in Willimantic and WDRC in Hartford. He credits the late Anthony Griffen from WKND with teaching him about arts and culture, how to run a business, and how to market himself.
He would then work at the station that he listened to with his grandmother when he was growing up, WRCH Lite 100.5. He was recruited by his department head at college, Kathy Wyler, who was an iconic voice at the station.
“One of the midday hosts needed someone to fill in because she did a lot of outside events,” he recalls. “Eventually, I crossed the hall and got onto WTIC as well.”
Creative Risk Pays Off with “Next Rated”
At “95 Triple X,” Kwame took a chance and flexed his creative muscles with a program highlighting new music and interviews with artists. The gamble paid off with his show called “Next Rated.”
“It was an idea I had kicked around in my head for a decade. I took a day part that most people don’t listen to, let’s be honest. Sunday night at seven o’clock. I interview artists from Burlington who got record deals, like Red Martinez, and talk to stars that have music that people may not have heard yet. Or I’ll play those records from the Paris Hiltons and still play the familiar ones and don’t throw the format completely out the window.
“Even in the age of social media where things have to be fifteen seconds, people still want to hear a story. Artists and stories are so important, and a lot of artists don’t really have the chance to tell their stories on their own, so I said, let’s try this experiment and see if it works.”
It worked. Listeners like it.
“We looked at the ratings after one book, and they picked up. Anytime I get a chance to give something new to the audience that they might not have experienced, I’m going to take that chance. Also, the artists we feature will remember that we played them first.”
Kwame has the ability to take risks, he says, and has what he calls an “unfair advantage” because he works at VOX AM FM DIGITAL. He sings their praises.
“If you work in the Burlington market, VOX AM FM DIGITAL is the best place to land. My boss said, ‘Do whatever you want, and if it doesn’t work, just kill it.’ So we could experiment. I was able to secure interviews with artists mixed in with our obvious hits to see if it caught on.”
It caught on. Within four months Kwame and the station had won an award for “best radio interview segment” from the Vermont Association of Broadcasters.
“I sent in my interview with Jessie Murph, a Columbia artist. We talked about who she wanted to collaborate with, and it was good to see her open up and talk about her influences. I love the fact that we’re able to do these things that are fun and innovative. It didn’t even dawn on me that I would win,” he says.
“It’s not that the ideas are revolutionary, but that other stations don’t have the time or ability or bandwidth to do that based on their structure. So, being here at VOX AM FM, we can do things and see if they work because we want to give our listeners the best, and the only way to do that is to try.”
Listener Focus
He’s laser-focused on the listeners.
“When we look at the psycho graph of our listeners, we say, ‘Who is this person, and how can we help?’ One of the issues we identified was addiction and homelessness and how it affects our audience, especially in our target age bracket. So, we raffle off Christmas trees and help people get housed and treated for substance abuse,” to benefit ANEW Place.
He’s hosted the “Penguin Plunge” to support the Special Olympics on WCAX television and Paws and Prints Soiree for Passion 4 Paws. He has emceed a bridal show and an eclipse-watching party. He often elevates the experience by DJing.
Just like on the radio, Kwame knows what in-person crowds love to hear. He is excited that he gets to share Afrobeat and house music during Burlington’s big Juneteenth celebration.
“Our partnership with the city for Juneteenth is important because this city has a large and expanding African refugee program,” he says.
“There’ s no station here that super serves that community. We wanted to let the refugees and immigrant population who are consuming our product know that we are still thinking about them, too. We need to diversify because we can no longer pretend this part of our audience is not here and listening to us. If we go to a county fair in Williston, we also go to Juneteenth.”
Kwame says the Burlington music scene should be showcased. “As a music station, it’s our job to talk about that and to show the rest of the country what Burlington is about.
“It’s a lot of peace and love in these venues,” he says. “There’s a lot of electronic, hip hop, and your jam bands on any given night. I found in my three and a half years there are artists like 99 Neighbors who sell out the big music venues. DJ Craig Mitchell is putting on shows here and people are paying good money to see these acts, and not just coming from Burlington. They’re coming from upstate New York, they’re coming from Quebec. I’m confident that in twenty years, people will still be paying to see these acts.
“It’s just a matter of time before somebody here breaks. Five years ago, Noah Kahan was a local guy. As a radio station, we want to do everything we can to create that environment.”
Tips for Talent
Kwame’s coached plenty of talent, both student and professional, and now he’s the PD of a top-rated heritage Top 40 station, a news talk, and a sports talk station. The 40-year-old tells aspiring radio folks to get out there.
“Coming up in radio, when I was program director in Rutland, I was still socially introverted. My GM said, ‘You need to do something,’ and she didn’t specify what. She wasn’t clear with her instructions,” he jokes, “she said, ‘You need to be out even if you’re getting in trouble. People need to notice.’”
Kwame agrees. “The key to making yourself indispensable in media is: people have to know you and have to know someone who knows you.
“The days of just being behind the microphone are over. When cuts are made, they’re thinking, who can we cut that people won’t notice? You have to be seen, even if it’s online. Someone has to see you somewhere doing something.
“Every listener counts,” he says. “I’m constantly at events, socializing, and helping in the community, and yeah, I like to do it. But at the same time, what you do outside your job helps you maintain your job.”
