After leaving SiriusXM, where he spent nine years talking about rock ’n roll, Nik Carter was taking a break.
“I had offers, some of them very intriguing, but none of them seemed right,” he told me.
Stations in Boston, Chicago and even San Francisco made offers, but he turned them down.
“I am sure I was driving my agent crazy, but I wanted some time to think. I took a year to try to figure it out; in my mind, I wanted to find that ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity … if those opportunities still exist in radio today.”
That opportunity came in the form of KLOS (95.5 FM), where Carter starts hosting afternoons (3-7 p.m. weekdays) on February 3rd.
“Even though I am from the East Coast, I have always had an affinity for KLOS,” he said. “There are so few stations with a history as rich as KLOS – with the same call letters and basically the same format for decades. This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
But he’s an alternative guy, playing progressive and alternative rock at at WBCN/Boston and WXRK/New York, among others. What’s he doing at a classic rock station?
“I like all music,” he explained, with his main complaint about the classic rock format being that “It became predictable and boring. The spark was just missing.”
In response, he hosted a nationally syndicated classic rock program and proved his flexibility on VH1 Classic playing pretty much everything. For his show on KLOS, he hopes to bring a new energy to afternoons. “Music should be fun. Radio should be fun. I want everyone listening to have a good time … to lighten things up a bit.”
Carter is long known for his interaction with listeners. Pio Ferro, Senior Vice President of Programming and Content for KLOS owner Meruelo Media, described Carter’s approach “as entertaining as some shows that have multiple hosts … and he does it all himself.”
“Nik can paint a picture using very few words. That’s an art. I am very excited to have him with us at KLOS,” Ferro enthused.
I found Carter a very likable, down-to-earth person, and I do think he will be a good fit for KLOS, especially if (as I continue to hope) the station expands the playlist. I asked him what he plans to do to set himself apart from the crowd.
“I plan to let people get to know me, initially,” he said. “The shenanigans will come later.”
“I am a music dork … and a pop culture nerd. I like to talk to people. I will be very interactive with my audience, and the show will discuss things that are different than the tired rehash of where this band recorded that song.” I expect bands will drop by for some interviews as well, though Carter didn’t mention it specifically, as that is one of the things he is well-known for doing.
It appears that KLOS plans to give Carter time to grow his audience, one of the benefits of being part of a locally-owned group of stations. I asked station programmer Keith Cunningham to comment on his new hire, and he declined, preferring to stay in the background and let him shine. Carter has known Cunningham for many years, the latter consulting one of Carter’s stations in New York.
What of Kevin and Sluggo, who held down station afternoons until September? “I am a lifelong fan of both … I have literally boxes of tapes of Sluggo on the air, and Kevin and Bean were the gold standard of morning shows for decades on KROQ (106.7 FM). I have nothing but respect for both of them,” he said.
“The problem is, in this business, if you’re around long enough, you’re probably going to take over for someone you know. It’s tough, but it happens.”
Carter made his local debut by crashing the morning Heidi and Frank show last Friday, another event not lost on him. “To be part of a station with such a great morning show is like a dream.”
Once in a lifetime.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com