If you live in Knox County and listen to the radio, you’ve probably heard the mellow voice of Joe Stutler. He is the program director/operations manager for WFIV, also known as Knoxville’s independent radio. The station, tucked into a hill on a curve of Watt Road, has listeners all over the world.
Joe has an interesting and unique role at the station. He spends a chunk of time each week listening to new songs and selecting his favorites, which he adds to the weekly schedule. The station is categorized as Americana, but that includes most styles of music, from blues to rock to alternative. He sorts through dozens of songs he receives each week from record labels and promoters and has a knack for picking future hits.
He recalls playing songs from artists like John Mayer, Norah Jones and Adele before they made it big.
“It’s really fun to be able to say I’ve helped launch bands and see where they go,” he says.
WFIV is a station geared toward adults who are interested in hearing both new music and classic standards. Joe creates daily schedules by mixing up familiar tunes and artists with fresh songs that he thinks will catch on. The result is a broader playlist. Top 40 stations might play current hits 30 times a week, while WFIV plays the best new songs 15 times a week, he says.
“We play them enough so the audience can hear and get a taste for a song, but they might not hear it again for a day or two.”
Joe has been with the station for 11 years — long enough to know what listeners will like. Still, he occasionally misses the mark. If a song doesn’t catch on, listeners let him know.
“Sometimes I’m right, and sometimes I’m a little off.”
One of his favorite parts of the job is creating the Top 105 list that plays each New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Putting the list together takes months and choosing songs for 2019 was especially difficult because of the abundance of great music. Song lists from the past decade can be viewed at myi105.com
Radio is a constantly changing industry, Joe says, and he’s lived through numerous challenges during his 30-year career. Streaming is the latest music format to compete for listeners. But radio is still the best way to find new music because of the relationships independent stations build with artists, he says.
“Radio has been declared dead four or five times in my lifetime. The cassette tape, CDs, everything was going to kill radio. Radio’s not dead.”
A struggling economy is a different challenge. The 2008 recession and the economic blow dealt by COVID-19 slashed advertising budgets, resulting in layoffs at some radio stations. Joe is worried about the local businesses that advertise on WFIV.
“I hope everybody can come together. I’m worried for the bands, too, who make money doing concerts, and the people who work at the venues.”
In the meantime, he’ll continue to play new music and send his comforting voice over the airwaves.
“I like to think, as we’re going through this difficult time, we’re still here. So, you’ve got something comfortable.”
Town of Farragut marketing and public relations coordinator Wendy Smith is your reliable Farragut Insider.