Charlie Van Dyke’s KRTH Mission: Maintaining the Course

How’d you like to be the one taking over the morning radio slot not only on one of the top-rated stations in the second-biggest market but also in a chair previously occupied by one of the true innovators of morning radio?

Charlie Van Dyke, just named to the post at KRTH-FM (101.1) vacated by the retirement last year of Robert W. Morgan due to the lung cancer that would claim his life in May, says he isn’t feeling any pressure. After all, it’s not the first time Van Dyke, who starts at the oldies station on Aug. 31, has stepped up to take over for Morgan.

“I followed Robert once before, in 1972 at KHJ,” Van Dyke, 51, says of a stint at the AM station after its “Boss Radio” heyday. “I was 9-to-noon, and he was the morning guy, and then when he left there, I took over his slot.”

So Van Dyke, who won the job via a one-week tryout in June, says he’s not feeling any pressure.

“ ‘Pressure’ isn’t the right word,” he says, speaking from his Phoenix home, where he’s preparing for the move. “I’m paying attention to how important the job is and certainly cognizant of the contributions many people have made to the station, particularly Robert W. Morgan. But pressure? No. I feel excitement. I feel enthusiasm.”

Van Dyke says he doesn’t feel he was hired to be a new version of Morgan, nor to make any radical changes. It’s not a matter of righting a troubled ship but of keeping a smooth-sailer on a steady course.

“Robert W. was obviously one of a kind,” he says. “There was never an intention or possibility of looking for another Morgan. The notion, and probably why I was a fit, was to find someone who does have a history of L.A. mornings. And I had the connection with KHJ, where Robert and the Real Don Steele [who also worked at KRTH and died from lung cancer last year] had their initial success.”

But he does intend to make an impact.

“The station is enormously revered in the industry, and the competitive nature of the market, particularly morning drive, means the freedom you get to stretch out can be enormous,” he says. “[KRTH general manager] Pat Duffy and [program director] Mike Phillips are interested in stretching things. That’s what we’re evolving now. But I assure you it won’t be so much of a change that you won’t recognize the station.”

One thing sure to make an impact is his voice, a resonant baritone that has allowed him a successful side business doing voice work for commercials for the last 20 years as he moved around the country through several radio jobs, before settling in Phoenix.

It was that voice that was his ticket to the airwaves to begin with, moving into the low register when he was just 14 in Dallas, and supplying an effective calling card when he inquired about a job at a local “beautiful music” station. Soon, he moved to KLIF-AM, owned by Top 40 format inventor Gordon McLendon.

From there it was the standard deejay nomadic life--Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, San Diego, Chicago, as well as L.A. He’d thought he might have finally found a place to settle in Phoenix, where he and his second wife, a physician specializing in cosmetic dermatology, and their combined six kids live the standard suburban life.

For the last year, he’d been working at a start-up station airing ‘70s and ‘80s hits, but the outlet has just been sold and will be changing formats. Still, his voice work would be plenty to keep him rooted, and he had in fact turned down offers from other stations in other cities. The KRTH offer, though, made it relatively easy to pull up those roots, with the blessing of his family, which will join him eventually as school and job matters are resolved.

“When you’re invited to go to KRTH, that’s a no-brainer,” he says. “The answer’s yes.”

Country Roads: So much for the two-year experiment at country station KZLA-FM (93.9) that attempted to broaden its audience by broadening its playlist. With Bill Fink now named officially to the post of program director, there will be no more of the country-tinged rock (the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett et al.) and less classic country than under John Sebastian, the architect of the now-discredited philosophy whom Fink replaced on an interim basis two months ago after KZLA floundered to 17th place among its primary target age demographic of 25 to 54.

“My predecessor had a really broad spectrum, from Eric Clapton and Bob Seger to Patsy Cline and Merle Haggard,” says Fink, who was the station’s music director before his promotion. “We are no longer going to play what are generally thought of as classic rock cuts, and we will continue to play traditional country music, but significantly less. It is the roots of country music--we don’t want to forget that. But at the same time, we will be playing big-appeal, massive country hits of today, more than we have in the past.”

That means building the station’s identity around such contemporary names as Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Shania Twain, Brooks & Dunn and, of course, Garth Brooks--names that pop up on just about any country station in the nation.

This alteration, Fink is convinced, can bring KZLA into the top 10 in its demographic. With no major competition in the nation’s top country-music consuming region, it already has the most listeners of any country station. Yet he believes it’s been underperforming.

“I really think we ought to be [in the top 10], not just can be,” he says. “If we get everything right and fire on all cylinders, we can be that--not necessarily in the next couple of months, but I’m committed to it within a year.”

Oh, Brothers!: Three spirited, opinionated brothers in a room together make for lively conversation. But do they make good radio? That’s what music business mavericks the Copeland brothers are going to test.

Stewart, the former drummer for the mega-star rock band the Police; Miles, who was the band’s manager (he still handles Sting’s career) and is the founder of I.R.S. Records and the new Ark 21 label; and Ian, who runs the F.B.I. concert booking agency, are teaming for “Sibling Rivalry,” an hourlong round-table debuting Friday at 5:30 p.m. on KPLS-AM (830).

Stewart says the show is meant to share the trio’s cumulative insights into music making and business. Regular features will highlight music news and gossip and professional tips about the business, as well as a segment showcasing an unsigned band that will be evaluated by a rival music executive.

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* OWENS OUT AT KABC: In a station shake-up, Ronn Owens is ousted from Michael Jackson’s old spot. Page 55.