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Radio host resigns
(Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 31--After a career in radio that's lasted half as long as the medium itself, Bob Gourley is handing over the reigns Friday at Clear Channel's four Colorado Springs stations.
"If I had my way, I would put the last few items in a box, sneak out the back door and honk on my way out," he said.
Instead, he's being honored at a retirement party at the Antlers Hilton that will draw friends, colleagues and competitors across the country from his 43 years in the business from around the country.
"He still gets excited about it," said Travis Daily, the former program director and afternoon deejay at Clear Channel's KCCY (96.9 FM), now at a station in Tampa, Fla. "He understands that if you hire passionate people that care about it, it's still magic."
When Gourley got his first radio job, 1963 in Midland, Texas, there were no Arbitron ratings, no corporate ownership. Most cities only had maybe three radio stations, all AM, and a 60-second commercial in Midland sold for about $7.
"That was certainly a kinder, simpler, gentler time," Gourley said.
In 1968, he earned his general manager stripes for a pair of stations in Hobbs, N.M. Next came a stint running a pioneering rock station, KELP, in El Paso, Texas, KELP. Then in 1979, a friend in the business mentioned a station for sale in the tiny town of Monte Vista. Gourley, who grew up taking fishing trips to Colorado, said "sSold!" before he even asked how much they wanted.
He moved to the San Luis Valley, joined the cChamber of cCommerce and was prepared to spend the rest of his days running a small-town radio station.
"When I was there, I was living the dream," he said.
Three years later, however, a partner on a deal for another small radio station left him in a financial lurch. Gourley needed a higher paying job and moved to Vero Beach, Fla., for two years before being offered the general manager job at Colorado Springs country station KKCS.
"I couldn't get out of there fast enough," Gourley said of Florida.
Although he's moved on, Gourley is still the co-owner and president of KSLV AM and FM in Monte Vista.
"He knows a ton of people in this business," said Gerald Vigil, KSLV's general manager. "That has helped us stay on top of the game."
By the late 1990s, radio was going through a massive wave of consolidation as corporations snapped up mom and pop stations. During the tumult, Capstar grabbed KKLI (106.3 FM) and KVUU (99.9 FM) and recruited Gourley to run them. Capstar was swallowed itself by AMFM 17 days after Gourley signed up and later became part of Clear Channel.
Although he'd been happy at KKCS, Gourley says he was curious how he'd do as a cluster manager for one of the new giants.
"I never had any intention of leaving," he said. "I was polishing up the (fishing) waders."
It turned out to be something of a culture shock, especially after Clear Channel added what is now KIBT (96.1 FM) and country station KCCY to the local cluster. For a manager lauded by colleagues for his people skills, running a cluster of stations meant putting on a green eyeshade and doing some serious number crunching.
"I had no idea how much of a demand this would put on my knowledge of accounting procedures, financials," Gourley said. "I was deficient and had to scurry to get caught up."
But he did adjust and, recently, all four of the stations have thrived. Lee Larsen, Clear Channel's senior vice president for the eight-state Rocky Mountain region, said many managers struggled to keep up with the changes thrown at them in recent years.
"Only the best managers have kept operating in those roles," he said. "There's been a tremendous amount of turnover caused by the fact that you have to run businesses differently when you run multiple radio stations than when you were running one or two. It takes an extremely high degree of people skill."
Crosstown rival Lou Mellini, general manager for rock station KILO (94.3 FM) and KYZX (103.9 FM) is one of the few people in local broadcasting who's been here longer than Gourley.
"To me, Bob Gourley epitomizes broadcasters who were involved with the community," Mellini said. "He was the kind of guy you could always pick up the phone and talk to."
Bob Richards, Clear Channel's operations manager in Colorado Springs and Gourley's successor as market manager, said Gourley is leaving just as the Springs stations are hitting their stride.
"He went through all the pain of spending the extra money, and he's leaving just as some of the benefits are making themselves apparent," Richards said.
After four decades presiding over one wave of change after another, Gourley doesn't expect the radio industry to slow down once he leaves. In the next few years, Gourley said, radio will have to adapt to meet challenges from the Internet and satellite.
"I don't think I have any crystal ball at all," he said. "The technology is changing so rapidly, I don't think it's possible for any of us to look five years down the line."
For his part, Gourley said he's ready to take a break from the merry-go-round.
"I told someone today I was going to have business cards that say 'REV. Bob Gourley," he said. "Resting, eating, visiting ... I need to add some fishing."
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