George Bower took over program duties at Northwest Iowa’s legendary KICD-AM 10 years ago as the station commemorated 65 years on the air. His job was to keep a heritage station relevant to a new generation. Last year, he transitioned to the station’s respected farm department and considers his mission to be the same. George grew up on the family farm near Osage, IA, and started in radio at age 16 for KSMN. His 32-year career is neatly divided into decades. Ten years in news, ten years hosting a “morning zoo”, ten years as Program Director and Morning show host at News/Talk KICD, and, as of last summer, the station’s Farm Director. He feels the skills he picked up as a reporter and programmer prepared him for the “farm gig.” From day one, things were streamlined with shorter stories, shorter newscasts, shorter market reports, and shorter interviews. “A good newscast is three stories, a good interview is three questions, and I think you run the risk of tune-out if anything runs longer than three minutes,” Bower believes. “I once thought longer was better, but today I can edit a five-minute interview down to four minutes and think it’s pretty good, then come back the next day, find another minute to cut, and make it even better.” But shorter broadcasts don’t mean less content. KICD-AM actually added an additional farm newscast in the morning, and added The KICD Midday Farm Show at noon. The program runs half an hour, but is comprised of short, punchy segments. KICD (and sister FM Big Country 107.7) have not only bucked the trend of skeleton staffs by maintaining a farm director, but have two full-time farm reporters allowing them to leave the building and cover farm news in person. “We’re four hours from Des Moines. That’s a full-day just in travel,” Bower says, “I’m grateful our company (Saga Communications) and my General Manager Dave Putnam realize the value of generating our own unique, local, farm information instead of ripping and reading wire copy.”
Bower and Farm Reporter Katie Johnson have not only increased the volume of news, but increased KICD’s scope by putting more emphasis on poultry production – huge in the broadcast area – and the emerging dairy industry in Northwest Iowa. Some of the changes over the past year were purely cosmetic: Sounders and bump music on broadcasts that used to start and end cold, farm promos, and even the farm news itself has been rebranded as ag business. But above all, Bower puts emphasis on content, always looking for a good sound-bite or different angle. A recent wire story talked of the devastating drought in North Dakota. Bower tracked down a North Dakota Ag meteorologist who had a much less dire analysis and told KICD’s listeners, “I think everyone will be shocked at the good yields that might come out of North Dakota at harvest time.” Bower says the 1980s were an interesting time to enter the business. “Some of the guys who pioneered the industry in the 40s and 50s were still around, but things were changing. I’m kind of the last of that generation, but also the first of this generation, and I try to take the best from both.” Bower remembers early in his career suggesting the radio station start using a news sounder, and being reproached with a lecture on radio stations that promote “flash over substance.” Bower listened “doe-eyed” and then asked innocently, “But why can’t we have both?” Bower thanks his fellow farm broadcasters for their help in getting a running start. “My predecessors, Dan Skelton and Troy Leininger, got a lot of phone calls and texts the first few months, and my colleague, Michelle Rook, at WNAX got a lot of market questions for a while.”
Bower values the contacts he’s made through NAFB. “I can’t imagine doing this job without the resources and support given to me by NAFB. It is the most collegial group to which I’ve ever belonged. Tom Brand and his staff are always responsive to my needs.” He continued, “I was amazed at the supportive, collegial atmosphere right from the start— from the first Washington Watch I attended where Ken Root took me under his wing, to the commodity conventions where veterans like Tom Cassidy and Ken Anderson made sure I was getting to the right events, to former NAFB President Brian Winnekins making sure I was taking advantage of the professional support NAFB has to offer. Ben Nuelle and I have a great relationship even though we’re technically competitors.” He concludes, “Five years ago doing ag news wasn’t even on my radar, but now I feel it’s what I was put here to do. It’s really the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.” George’s wife teaches kindergarten, and they have three children.
George’s Checklist
George hit the ground running a year ago with a checklist for what he wanted to do:
1. Shorter segments and shorter stories
2. Less repetition
3. More original reporting
4. Add production elements like a news sounder and bump music
5. Rebrand “farm news” to “ag business”
6. Make ag information relevant to the entire audience
