New director plans to revive WXRK Now
‘A station in New York is very important. We’ve got 3 million people who listen to us.’
A FEW WEEKS ago, WXRK (92.3 FM, 92.3 Now) didn’t have a program director or a morning show.
Since Now remains behind top-40 rival WHTZ (100.3 FM) in the radio ratings, this led to some speculation that Now’s parent, CBS, might pull the plug and use its choice FM frequency for all-sports WFAN (660 AM).
Scratch that rumor, says Rick Gillette. Gillette has been hired as program director and says a new morning show won’t be far behind.
“I wouldn’t have come here,” says Gillette, who had been programming two CBS stations in Phoenix, “if they hadn’t made it clear they wanted me for a reason.
“A station in New York is very important. We’ve got 3 million people who listen to us.”
Since he just arrived in town last week and has already made one return trip out West to pack up boxes, Gillette says he’s still in the process of getting to know the place.
“I’m talking to people,” he says. “That’s always my first step.” He notes he also worked years ago with current CBS senior vice president Don Bouloukos when they were with Cap Cities/abc.
Better yet, he says, he doesn’t see any big leaks in the Now ship.
“We have a pretty good staff,” he says. “We sound good.”
The long-term key to a winning station, he says, lies in the details of presentation.
“I’m playing a Rihanna record and so are 20 other stations,” he says. “But we’re the only ones who have Micki Gamez on the air talking about it.”
Until a few weeks ago, Now also had Nick Cannon on the air in the mornings talking about it. But Cannon’s well-publicized health problems forced him to bow out.
“Mornings are very important,” says Gillette. “But the station didn’t want to hire a morning host before it hired a programmer, so now we’re ready to go.”
He has no timetable, he says, but sooner would be fine. “If we’re still having this conversation by Labor Day, we have a problem,” he says. “If the right person or people came into my office today, I’d hire them.
“We might hire one host. Or we’d be open to a team, if it were the right team. We might hire someone and add someone later. It depends on who feels right.” One of the major wild cards for any top-40 station is that good music for the format ebbs and flows. There are plush times and stretches of drought, and Gillette says the present isn’t bad.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a 7 or an 8,” he says. “There’s some good pop with artists like Kelly Clarkson, some dance. There’s Nikki Minaj, Drake, Adele. You need balance. It’s like I love chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t just want a big wad of chocolate chips. I want the rest, too.”
As for the elephant in the radio room, Z100, Gillette says, “Honestly, I don’t pay a lot of attention to what other stations play, because I have no control.
“In a place like New York, most people don’t just listen to one station. What we have to do is convince them to make us the station they listen to the most.”
Rick Gillette, 92.3 Now program director