Kevin Weatherly Returns to KROQ After Two Years at Spotify
12.05.2022 - 22:27
/ variety.com
Kevin Weatherly, the former program director at Los Angeles’ KROQ, who helped build the station to become a leading influence in alternative rock music nationally, is returning to the station as senior vice president of programming.He leaves Spotify, where he held the position of head of North American programming, after a little over two years, starting officially at the Audacy station on June 6. In March, Variety reported that Mike Kaplan had stepped down as program director at KROQ, the station he revamped after joining in 2020. KROQ had weathered major changes under Kaplan, who initially steered the station away from its rock and alternative roots towards more pop-leaning fare, riding the wave of TikTok-launched hits.
“Rock music is part of what we do, it’s part of alternative, but it’s not the only part of alternative,” Kaplan told Variety in a May 2020 article titled “It’s the End of the World Famous KROQ as We Know It.” “We’re not just looking to play four white dudes in a band. Our audience is as diverse as ever and our playlist needs to be too.
Whether it’s Billie Eilish or Lana Del Rey or rappers making alternative tracks such as 24kGoldn and Dominic Fike, we’re bringing together what millennials and Gen Z fans want. … We don’t just stand for one thing.
It’s a lifestyle and an attitude.”But in targeting a younger audience, which doesn’t traditionally listen to the radio in great numbers, the station lost a significant portion of its core audience, and was trailing behind competitor KYSR-FM (“Alt 98.7”), an iHeartRadio station, in the rating. (Worth noting: Alt 98.7 is programmed by Lisa Worden, a protege of Weatherly’s who spent 20 years at KROQ.)In his new role, Weatherly will oversee KROQ’s content strategy,
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