Why not with a morning or talk show adapted in general to rural Minnesota?
LINDER: Local flavor keeps our stations popular. KTOE, for instance, features on-air personalities that are well-known because of their longtime presence. Bill Smith, who died last year, was a KTOE announcer for 52 years. He also worked in sales and management. Barry Wortel has been on-air 30 years. Don Rivet, our morning personality, has been an on-air fixture 25 years. Pete Steiner, our news director and program director, has been on-air 15. Without the truly local flavor, our stations would be no different than those broadcasting off satellite. It’s our niche. CONNECT: If you can’t or won’t syndicate within your own station group, what else are you doing to cut costs? LINDER: The mere fact we have a number of stations helps us in negotiations with our service providers such as Associated Press and ABC. Our sales representatives sell our stations as a group. On a smaller scale, having a group makes for better buying with equipment manufacturers and insurance companies. When we get ne
