From BOB-FM to 20 states

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/11/2009 (5966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you take a road trip to any one of 13 U.S. states and turn the dial to the local ’80s or country music station, the chances are pretty good the music you’ll hear is being programmed out of La Salle, Man.

Howard Kroeger, the man who created the BOB-FM and HANK-FM concepts, sets the playlists and daily schedules for about 20 stations in California, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon, Montana, Indiana and Alaska. Kroeger also provides station imaging and he even does voice-over work for HANK — all from his home office just south of the Perimeter Highway.

Kroeger said it doesn’t matter where he hangs his shingle because, thanks to the Internet and computer software, he can provide his services from anywhere.

"My offices are pretty much all virtual. I have production facilities in La Salle but I also have a (BOB) voice-over person in Ormond Beach, Florida, and a producer in Daytona Beach, Florida. I’ll send copy to the voice-over guy, my producer produces it, he lets me know it’s finished, and then I download it and send it to all my BOB clients," he said.

"Nobody cares where I am. That’s the great equalizer with the Internet. If I’m going on vacation, I’ll take my laptop, which is equipped with a studio on it, and set up (voice-over work for HANK) in my hotel room."

John Sheftic, market manager for Panama City Radio Group in Florida, decided to change the format of one of its local radio stations a couple of years ago, and after researching multiple options, decided BOB’s focus on the "’80s, ’90s and whatever" would go over big in its market, located about two hours west of Tallahassee.

"Our ratings went through the roof. We went from almost not showing up in the ratings to the number one station in the market," he said.

Sheftic was so impressed, he hired Kroeger to rebrand an underperforming country station to HANK, too.

"It’s very cost-efficient to use (Kroeger). He has the research that we couldn’t afford to spend the money on in a small market. That allows him to give us the best possible product at the best possible price," Sheftic said.

Sheftic said it makes no difference to him where Kroeger is based and he probably has as much contact with him on a daily basis as he does with people down the hallway.

"We’re constantly connected with our computers, BlackBerrys and cellphones. It’s no different than him sitting in the office right beside me except that I don’t have to buy him lunch," Sheftic said.

Kroeger said because of the success of BOB, he decided to leave the security of his job and strike out on his own with Kroeger Media Inc. As the owner of the HANK trademark in Canada and the U.S. and the BOB trademark south of the border, he took a chance on the opportunity to provide one-stop programming to radio stations.

"I felt that providing a brand which was recognizable and programmed the way the creator felt it should be programmed was a great business model. It’s not just about playing everything, there is a science behind it. A lot of radio stations were looking for guidance," he said.

Kroeger, the former director of operations at CHUM Ltd., one of Canada’s leading media companies, got his idea for BOB while at a friend’s 40th birthday party in late 2001.

As the DJ, he played tunes from the ’70s and ’80s by bands such as Boston and The Cars, most of which were enthusiastically received. Older songs from the ’60s, even from iconic performers such as Jimi Hendrix and The Doors, were met with relative indifference.

Armed with his new-found market research, Kroeger began poring through a Billboard chart reference book and compiled a list from 1974 to the present day of songs that fit into the Rock/Adult Contemporary category, but which weren’t receiving a lot of airplay. In March 2002, BOB was born and HANK followed a few years later.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca