Joey V and Mia Amor in front of the ‘Q’
When KRBQ (“Q 102,” at 102.1) launched its throwback hip-hop format in September 2014, Joey V (V is not his real surname) co-hosted the morning show; Mia Amor (real name Maria Sanchez) anchored afternoon drive.
With its unique mix of familiar hip-hop, mainly from the ’90s, “Q 102” soon scored impressive ratings. But in radio, nothing is guaranteed. Joey V saw his first co-host being let go and, after the arrival of a new program director, the second co-host turned in her Entercom keycard. There’ve been DJ changes in all hours.
The only two full-time constants have been Joey V and Mia Amor, who now make up the morning show. (I should note that midday DJ and music director Billy Vidal joined two months after the station’s start, as a mixer and weekend DJ, until mid-2016, when he took the midday shift.) The Mia Amor move was made by Elroy Smith, the operations manager and PD of both KRBQ and sister station KBLX, who arrived in April 2016.
“It did not take long for me to see that Mia had a special talent that needed to be highlighted,” said Smith. “What better slot to allow her skills to shine than morning drive. She is bright, witty, well informed and simply likable. Joey V and Mia have different backgrounds and cultural experiences, which makes it more compelling to the listener. It is not two people agreeing on every subject matter.”
At 40, Joey V is a polished pro, a radio geek from Illinois who jumped into the business right after college and was on the air in Joliet in 2000. He arrived in San Francisco in 2005 to do afternoons at “Energy 92.7,” a dance music station, moved to oldies KOSF (103.7) and KBWF (the country “Wolf”), then landed at “Q 102.” Behind the control board, he is commanding, shouting stuff like “Forty seconds, everybody,” even though it’s only Mia and producer/mix coordinator DJ Ajax in the room. He hits his mike and revs up his delivery. It’s a throwback to Top 40. And he adds a trill to the “r” in “Amor.” Mike off, he exclaims, “I love radio!”
So does Mia, 33, who was born in El Salvador and moved with her family to San Jose when she was 8 months old. While studying radio and TV at Ohlone College in Fresno, she landed an internship at KYLD (“Wild”). From there, she went on air at KDON in Salinas and KVEG in Las Vegas, where she rose from overnights to morning drive. She’s also worked at Spanish language stations, including KRZZ (“La Raza”).
While KRBQ has scored some high ratings, peaking in fall of 2015 when it made the Top Ten, the overall numbers (counting listeners of all ages) have settled back down to Earth. Those numbers don’t matter to Smith — or any programmers. It’s a station’s target audience that advertisers seek, and with target demos of listeners aged 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, Smith says the station is often in the top 10. “And it’s a diverse audience of passionate people who say, ‘This is my radio station.’ ”
While KISQ (“Kiss”), with its “old school R&B” format, might have offered competition, it switched to “The Breeze” just before Smith’s arrival. Now, he says, the closest rival would be KMEL. “They’re incorporating throwbacks. But we’re committed, instead of dabbling. We stay in our lane.”
The station’s target demographics explain why the morning show sounds a little different from hip-hop and Top 40 stations aimed at younger listeners. Joey V and Mia conduct interviews, ranging from entertainers to officials like San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. They pose serious questions to the chief, but also engage in lighter chatter. Asked to choose between the Lakers and the Warriors, Scott (who was deputy police chief in L.A.) diplomatically responds, “both,” but adds that he’d admired the Warriors back to their Chris Mullin years. “Tupac versus Biggie?” “Gotta take ’Pac,” says the chief.
When I visited, Joey V turned the tables and put me on-air for an interview. Asked for a favorite artist I profiled in Rolling Stone, I mentioned Ray Charles. “Didn’t you win an award for that?” he asked.
That’s a pro. Or he knows how to use Wikipedia. Déjà vu: The California Historical Radio Society’s annual Radio Day by the Bay was highlighted by a live radio drama, a performance of a 1949 episode of “Candy Matson, Yukon 2-8209,” with Celeste Perry sparkling as the sassy private eye. The story, “The Cable Car Murder,” was set in San Francisco, with Matson narrating, “I wanted to get downtown … but I couldn’t take the F car on Stockton — they were ripping up about 87 blocks, which is par for the course.” Another episode had the detective driving to Civic Center. “I found a place to park,” she said. “A minor miracle.” In this town, some things never change.
The station’s target demographics explain why the morning show sounds a little different from hip-hop and Top 40 stations aimed at younger listeners.