Dennis Constantine

Dennis Constantine, the new program director at KFOG, says music stations like his have an advantage over online music services like Pandora.

“With companies like Google or Pandora, you’re dealing mostly with technology,” Constatine tells the Friday Morning Quarterback (FMQB) newsletter. “With radio stations you’re dealing with humans. You’re dealing with people who have feelings, like the people who are listening. We can get excited about a song. I don’t know how excited analytics and digital computers can get about a song.”

Constantine arrived at KFOG in February after years at legendary adult album alternative (AAA) stations such as KBCO Boulder and more recently at KINK Portland.

“I’ve been meeting with a lot of KFOG listeners just to make sure that I don’t have any sort of preconceived notions or ideas about what it is they want,” Constantine said. “I want to hear directly from them what it is they want.

“Yes, they’re a very musically active audience. Whether they’re mature or younger, the reason they listen to KFOG is not only for companionship — because we have an incredible air staff that really connects with them – but also for music discovery, and that doesn’t necessarily just mean new music either. … that we’re finding those gems that either bring back memories or are songs that maybe they’ve never heard before or they’ve only heard on the periphery.”