Thin Airwaves: Local radio broadcasters do more with less.

• Author: Rhode, Scott
• Position: MEDIA & ARTS

Two years ago, I was sitting in the tiny room where I had worked for nearly a quarter century. My entire professional radio career was spent in the newsroom at KENI in Anchorage. At that point in 2020, the studios in the Dimond Center were practically empty as a COVID-19 precaution; only essential personnel worked at the station in person. I had a badge that said I, as a news reporter, was essential.

My audience was relatively deserted, too. Radio stations depend so much on drivers listening in their cars that COVID-19 crashed ratings by keeping people at home.

The medium is doing much better now. "It was a record-setting ratings period, as far as the entire cluster," says Andy Lohman, area president for iHeartMedia's ten Alaska stations, of the spring "book" results, published in August.

Ratings were also up for independent, locally owned KLEF. Rick Goodfellow, president and general manager of Chinook Concert Broadcasters, says his station placed 7th among commercial stations in Anchorage (non-commercial KSKA always dominates) and 6th nationwide among stations playing classical music. At times, he says, KLEF has been the highest-rated classical station in the country. Goodfellow sees potential for the audience to grow; today's teenagers don't know they're supposed to hate classical music.

Lohman is likewise optimistic about his format mix of news-talk, classic rock, Top 40 pop, new country, adult contemporary, and sports stations. "From the listener's standpoint, it's as good or better than it ever has been. The music is more on target, we have more custom formats from which to choose, we have more and stronger talent throughout the day," Lohman says. "Below the surface, it's very different. There's not as many people." Don't 1 know it. Lohman was my boss for all those years I was on KENI, and he's the last person still working at the Dimond Center who was there when I started. The company was smaller then, with only three stations, but more people were on the payroll.

Not So Essential

Broadcast announcers and radio DJs in Alaska numbered 117 in 2018, according to the most recent data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The department projected a 22 percent decrease in that occupation by 2028, leaving 91 on-air staff. The drop would be the biggest in the category of "Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media."

Engineer Van Craft knows why. "The equipment is more reliable now. Doesn't fail as often," Craft says, "so you have fewer people doing the job." He is the only other person who worked at the Dimond Center longer than I did (although some more senior broadcast veterans arrived later, after a merger with another company). Last year, Craft jumped ship for Alaska Public Media, where he is now the FM broadcast engineer.

He had a choice; I didn't...