Purchaser of stations sets growth strategy

When Jerry Evans bought KGVM in Gardnerville about 60 days ago, he saw nothing but potential in the little FM station.

But now that his Evans Broadcast Co.

Inc.

has acquired KPTL, an AM station in Carson City, Evans figures he can leverage the stations' potential several- fold.

Here's his plan: Don't fiddle too much with the format at each station a combination of adult-oriented music and a good dose of news and talk.

Look for synergies in the back-office functions scheduling commercials, for instance, or billing and begin planning for the day when a combined studio and office facility for the two stations might be built halfway between Gardnerville and Carson City.

Seek approval from the Federal Communications Commission to boost the power at each station.

Regulators are considering a request to boost the power of KGVM to 25,000 watts from 3,000 watts.

A filing to increase the power of KPTL is expected this week.

At KGVM, higher power would allow the station to reach from Gardnerville into the South Lake Tahoe market.

From KPTL, meanwhile, a power increase would allow the station to reach Reno and sell advertising in the larger market.

As important as the upgrades may be to Evans Broadcast's long-term plan, Evans said last week the most important steps to building the two stations are straightforward:

"It's as simple as returning phone calls and doing what you say you'll do," he said.

"Under-promise and over-deliver."

The Gardnerville station, he figures, can double its revenues with a moreconcerted effort to get sales representatives in front of potential advertisers.

At the Carson City station, the biggest upside may be the ability to reach the Reno market.

Ultimately, Evans said, 20 percent or more of the station's revenue may come from Reno advertisers.

But if the Carson City station ventures into Reno, the old-fashioned approach to building relationships in the sales process will be key.

It's a strategy that Evans has put to work at stations he's owned in California, Missouri and, most recently, Bangor,Maine.

A hands-on manager, he got his start in radio as a disc jockey, working 14 years at stations in progressively larger markets across the nation.

When he sold his station in Bangor, Maine, in 2000, Evans was 45 years old and thought he was ready to retire from the radio business.

He went so far as to run unsuccessfully for the Legislature in Maine.

But he found the radio business wasn't easy to escape.

"Radio is a disease, not a career," he quipped.

That brought him to look over KVGM when it came onto the market.

And once he had the deal done, he started thinking about adding KPTL.

At the time, the Carson City station was owned by Holder Hospitality Group, a Sparksbased company that owns the Silver Club Hotel-Casino along with other gaming properties around the state.

Evans acknowledged that his firm is a dinosaur: One of the few mom-and-pop radio outfits left in a world dominated by media giants.

And that, he said, allows his debt-free company to do things its own way.

"We're not beholden to anyone but ourselves," Evans said.