Bill Virgin's Radio Beat November 16, 2006

Includes archive of Bill Virgin's columns fromJ une 2006 - March 2009

Postby radiofan » Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:18 pm

Thursday, November 16, 2006

On Radio: Stations want a piece of successful Christian radio duo's show

By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER


For a contemporary Christian-format radio station to do well in the ratings against all the other secular pop, rock and country formats on the dial is remarkable.

For a station to do it in the Seattle market, notoriously one of the least "churched" regions of the country, is ... well, miraculous may not be the appropriate word in this context.

But the track record KCMS-FM (105.3) has compiled in the Seattle-Tacoma market -- finishing in a tie for fifth in the most recent quarterly Arbitron ratings -- has caught the attention of other stations that hope that borrowing some of the station's content might allow them to borrow some of the station's success.

Specifically, they're interested in Spirit 105.3's morning "Scott and Sam" show, hosted by Scott Valentine and Samantha Kelly.

Valentine, who doubles as KCMS's program director, says portions of the morning show are carried on stations in Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., and Salt Lake City. The show also had been carried weekends on a Spokane station until a format change, although Valentine says a new arrangement may be worked out for that market. He also says there's been interest from other stations for using morning-show excerpts in other parts of the day.

Stations in other markets take material they want (minus the Seattle references) and run them the next day, with their own local news, traffic and weather reports inserted. Valentine says he and Kelly also do local material for those specific markets. While the time lag would seem to limit talk about the topic of the day, Valentine says the show's format tends to be driven not just by music but by discussion of issues such as relationships and raising a family, which are less dependent on an immediate news peg.

Valentine and Kelly have been working together for nearly a dozen years, first at oldies and adult contemporary stations in Spokane, the past six years at KCMS (operated by Crista Ministries). The challenge, he says, was to combine a Christian orientation in the music and talk with mass-appeal radio. People who grew up listening to great personality-driven radio in Seattle (Valentine cites such performers as Charlie & Ty and Ichabod Caine as examples) don't want to give that up, even if they're now listening to contemporary Christian music and hosts.

The "faith, fun and family" approach at KCMS also has to be engaging and uplifting, he adds. Listeners "don't want to listen to a Christian station that plays hymns and is stodgy and boring."

In other radio notes:

Author Scott Turow is the guest on "Weekday" at 9 a.m. today on KUOW-FM (94.9).

The Greg Sinibaldi Group performs on "Sonarchy" at midnight Saturday on KEXP-FM (90.3).

The Sunday edition of Jim French's "Imagination Theatre," heard at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KIXI-AM (880), includes a new Harry Nile mystery.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat appears Thursday in the Seattle P-I
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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