Accepting the position of program director at KETR was really a homecoming for Jerrod Knight. A native of Wolfe City, Knight grew up in Hunt County and graduated from the radio/television program at Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2005.
Knight’s connection to the university is strong. His mother works at A&M-Commerce, and he held a position on the housing maintenance team for three summers before attending the college. Knight worked with KETR as a student and the student radio station at A&M-Commerce as well.
“I love the fresh feel that A&M-Commerce has now,” Knight said. “The campus I walk now is not the same as the one I attended.”
Following his graduation, Knight began to gain some valuable experience in the radio industry.
“The final semester they tell you that if you’re not already looking for full-time employment, you’re definitely behind,” Knight said. “I was already working for the campus radio station and 99.5 the Wolf. I took a night job in a small town in Oklahoma, where I worked for six months. After that I started doing the afternoons at another station in the area.”
He then began to also do the traffic for the station.
“I wanted to go back to Texas, so I accepted a position at a relatively new classic rock station in Jacksboro Texas,” Knight said. “They wanted someone who could come down and juggle live programming and satellite news and automation- someone who was a jack-of-all-trades. So I became their program director.”
Knight was married in 2007 and decided to move back to the Hunt County area. Initially, he was going to work for Jacksboro from his new home, but when the job opened at KETR he decided to see if he could take advantage of the opportunity. He was soon selected as the KETR program director.
“When you realize, as fun as it sounds on the radio, you’ll never be Howard Stern, so you start thinking about management,” Knight said. “I always wanted to be program management for a radio station.”
Knight knows that the radio industry is a competitive one.
“What’s hot isn’t hot for long,” he said. “The pay is low, so those that compete in the industry don’t do so out of love for money. It’s either love of the business or the glory. People have a certain reverence for the folks that are on the radio.
Knight explained the numerous advantages of working at KETR.
“KETR is a 100,000 watt station, which is as large a signal as the FCC will allow,” he said. “We have a 70 mile radius, so ou could potentially travel for 140 miles and listen to the same station. We’re in a unique position to focus on the suburban and rural markets. Although we’re also in the DFW market, which is the fifth largest market in the nation, because we are in Commerce we can do things locally and focus on local highlights.”
Knight’s vision for KETR focuses on the station becoming an important media outlet for North Texans.
“I want KETR to become as much a part of our listeners’ morning routines as brushing their teeth,” he said.
Knight also mentioned that KETR’s relationship with A&M-Commerce was a unique and exciting opportunity for the staff and students.
“The station has resources that some stations can only dream of,” he said. “We also understand our responsibility to provide an accurate learning environment for A&M-Commerce students.”