The Infinite Dial

Name:
Chris Pickett

Current Title/Position/Company:
Operations Manager. Hot AC (KVUU) and a Soft AC (KKLI) Colorado Springs

How did you get your start in radio?
I auditioned for a children's radio network (Radio AAHS) affiliate at a mall in Denver. I got a call back a week later and became the Kid Radio Sports guy! I got to interview Broncos and Nuggets players and even got to introduce Denver to the mascot of the brand new Colorado Rockies!

What are your career goals?
To stay happy! Not a market size guy... just want to have enough freedom to be in control of my own destiny and make enough money for my family and me to be able to live comfortably.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
The best part of working at Clear Channel in Colorado Springs is being able to create experiment and strategize without being shut down. I have made changes on my radio stations that would have made a lot of GM's or OM's uncomfortable. Some of them worked, some of them didn't, but I'm allowed to try new things. Who wouldn't love a situation like that?

What are the biggest challenges ahead for radio, from your perspective?
Being able to stay relevant in an ever changing competitive landscape. We've got internet-only broadcasts, iPods, satellite radio, television and your competitor across the street. I think that in order to continue to stay relevant, programmers are going to have to give some control up to their audience. How much and how it's executed will determine future success.

What have you learned that you would most like to pass on to your fellow under-thirty-somethings?
Keep doing your thing. Sometimes you'll be right and sometimes you'll be wrong. You'll make mistakes, some bigger than others, but you have to stay confident. You can't let other people determine your outcome. There will be people who just don't like you, no matter what, and that's okay. At the end of the day, you have to be able to say you gave it all you had.