“I Had Such a Good Time, I Should Be Doing time”.  How WPLR Became a Progressive Rock Radio Powerhouse in the 70’s.

Veteran radio marketer and innovator Dick Kalt will tell his story of moving from Detroit to Connecticut in 1970 and then joining the management team of WPLR-FM where he helped create one of the most listened-to radio stations on the east coast. He’ll talk about the numerous on-air and in-market promotional campaigns he developed as General Manager that contributed to WPLR’s success, culminating in being named Billboard’s Station of the Year in 1977 and building a reputation as a heritage Progressive Rock station throughout the Northeast that lives on today.

Dick will tell an entertaining story of how WPLR made rock & roll history in the 70’s using breakthrough promotional approaches including live events, high profile interviews and more to create awareness and a powerful brand image for the station.

 

Dick Kalt is a retired Executive Vice President at CRN International and Sounds Great, LLC. He is a veteran marketing strategist and innovator and was a partner in radio marketing organization CRN International, which holds the rare distinction of being named three separate times to INC. magazine’s list of Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies. An expert in breakthrough digital technologies and monitoring consumer behavior and trends, Dick stayed on the cutting edge of marketing techniques and tactics and has been able to identify new growth segments, and media consumption characteristics including multicultural and generational market segments. Dick was inducted as a Charter Member of the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame in 2007.

Dick also managed several sports radio networks (including the New York Giants during their first Super Bowl winning season) and has or still does lecture at several local universities including Columbia, Yale, Brown, Boston College and the University of New Haven.

Speaker suggested by Charles Salmans.

Speaker Summary

Westport/Weston Y’s Men Director of Communications Dick Kalt regaled us with the story of how his move from Detroit to Connecticut to improve his family’s life, together with some bad and good fortune, created the opportunity to be part of the creation and building of Connecticut’s first (and best) progressive rock radio station. He then shared insights into what drove the strategies behind the creation of the station’s programming and marketing, providing entertaining examples of the many innovative approaches and programs he and his team developed that resulted in the creation of a compelling product and brand with sustained excellence, success, and relevance 52 years later.

Dick focused a great deal on the go-to-market strategy that was built around differentiating WPLR from its competition including: programming that was scheduled to capitalize on when the competition was running ads; fewer ads to offer more music; selling FM converters for cars to broaden audience retention and availability; and programming that was driven less by the traditional “Top 40” and more by the creation of play lists by each DJ that reflected their approach to storytelling and connecting with the audience. He noted that the on-air talent “looked like the station sounded” – including a funny story about Stoneman, the 6-12 PM jock with a penchant for warning listeners about police activities to help them avoid/evade trouble.

The biggest thing Dick talked about and shared was how he helped pioneer BIG events and promotions to drive awareness and help create a distinct identity for the station. He talked about capitalizing on Jerry Lewis’ presence in New Haven in 1971 (WPLR’s first year) for a Muscular Dystrophy telethon to get him to perform/headline the first ever official radiothon that raised $20,000 for MD. And how this then became an annual event when Jerry Lewis asked him to repeat it the following year (with NY radio jock Don Imus also appearing). He also shared how DJ Bob Dark did his show naked (including being photographed) with the story appearing in Playgirl – and how this dramatically improved the “exposure” for the station.

Dick talked about how his philosophy of “if you don’t try it, it won’t happen” led to a phone call and one hour on-air discussion with John Lennon, and how activities ranging from a series of in-studio concerts for 100 listeners featuring top bands, to being billed as the presenter for concerts by the leading rock promoters in New Haven, to running BIG promotions that gave away big prizes (funded by the sponsors) all contributed to creating a large, successful station and brand.

One of Dick’s last examples also reflected his belief that there was more to this than just creating and growing the brand by talking about the creation of the U.S. National 20K Championship as a charitable event in 1977 and how it continues to this day.  All part of his story about creating the Best Rock station in Connecticut.

Here is the video f his talk: Dick Kalt’s Talk