This Morning Duo Keeps It Light and Reverent

While most of their FM morning-show cohorts seem bent on keeping up with the (Howard) Sterns, Ted Ziegenbusch and Lauren Kitchens are more comfortable playing to the Bushes (as in George W. and Laura). It may not be the hippest audience, but it’s a growing one.

And it’s one they pretty much have to themselves on KFSH-FM (95.9), which, as the Southland’s most prominent Christian radio station, is more alternative than stations that use that word to describe their playlist.

“There’s a tremendous market out there for a station that’s family-friendly,” said Chuck Tyler, director of programming for KFSH. “We feel there is a large audience out there who wants to turn on the radio in the morning with their kids in the car and not have to wince. Very few stations take the high road.”

The high road can, of course, mean different things to different people, but few would argue that most FM morning shows haven’t taken it. Perhaps it’s more illustrative to detail what Ziegenbusch and Kitchens won’t be talking about. For instance, don’t count on any Viagra-related humor.

“At the same time, we’re not going to avoid the issues of the day,” said Ziegenbusch, a veteran of L.A. radio. “We’re just going to be taking a different angle when addressing them.”

KFSH management took a familiar angle in forming the Ted and Lauren duo. With Ziegenbusch listeners get a voice they are accustomed to, one who spent the past 18 years hosting “Love Songs” on KOST-FM (103.5) (before a contract dispute ended his run). The Mississippi-reared Kitchens brings knowledge of the format, having worked in Christian radio since 1993 (most recently in Nashville).

For their first two months on the air, Kitchens has been heard via remote from Tennessee, preparing for her move to Los Angeles this week. The two will finally share the same studio beginning Monday.

But already their roles seem well defined. Ziegenbusch is the velvet-voiced straight man, while Kitchens is the storyteller. He’s the rooted family guy; she’s the single girl finding her way in the big city.

While Christian radio would seem to be a less pressure-filled venue, Tyler made it clear the station is investing a lot in its morning show tandem.

“We’ve spent $1 million in marketing, and we do research just like the mainstream stations,” he said. “We’re not niche-oriented. We feel we can appeal to a huge range demographically.”

Females 25-54 are the primary target, he said. They have helped to make Christian music a genre on the rise, with sales up 17% in the first quarter of 2001. Total music sales, meanwhile, decreased by 1% during the same period.

“Christian radio has realized there is a vast audience out there who’ll buy CDs, who’ll go to concerts,” Ziegenbusch said. “It was a surprise to me how good some of these artists are. Christian music has been around for a while, and it’s changed a lot. All of the sudden it’s really taking off.”

Artists like Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith pioneered the format, but Eagles-inspired singer-songwriter types no longer dominate the genre, now populated more by performers and even a few teen pop bands. Imagine the Backstreet Boys singing about celibacy.

“The audience here in Tennessee kind of takes this music for granted because it’s not new here,” Kitchens said. “So it’s more exciting seeing the Southern California audience really accept it. They are so grateful to have a station like the Fish out there.

“It’s exciting for me knowing I’m reaching nine times the listeners I was in Nashville,” she added.

Neither Kitchens nor her co-host is shy about saying the job isn’t just a career opportunity, but a ministry. You’ll hear more than a few “praise the Lords” while they are on the air.

“There are a lot of Christian believers out there who are relieved to hear a station that doesn’t insult their values but instead celebrates them,” Tyler said.

But heavy proselytizing doesn’t take precedence over your basic morning-show patter. You’re more likely to hear Kitchens talk about her lost dogs than a dissection of the Gospels of Paul.

In fact, Kitchens said she is looking forward to “being around more open-minded people” upon her move to the Southland.

“Our heads aren’t in the sand,” she said. “If people are talking about something, we’ll address it. I mean, if we didn’t mention the Timothy McVeigh execution, it would look like we are out of touch.”

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* Ted Ziegenbusch and Lauren Kitchens can be heard weekday mornings from 5:30 to 10 on KFSH-FM (95.9).