We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mason Kelter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
When I was 10 years old, I discovered Open House Party. A nationally syndicated show heard on over 200 radio stations every weekend from 1987-2017. Hosted by one of the most accomplished people in broadcasting, John Garabedian, it was he who taught me everything I know and love about the radio industry. In 2020, he became my boss. In addition to being my best friend, nobody has ever supported my career and well-being the way he has. But even with his credibility, resources and money, my success was not certain.
I grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin and lived there my whole life until moving to Boston, Massachusetts in search of a big new opportunity in radio. Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic affected a majority of businesses, but especially radio, who was firing and laying off employees constantly, cutting budgets, limiting resources and sacrificing quality on-air programming. At the time, John owned four stations on Cape Cod, one of which was a Top 40 station called Y101 (WHYA-FM). John and his team were unhappy with their weeknight show, and after months of looking for my own job radio, John and I developed Liveline, a 100% LIVE, interactive, all-request music show, with it’s simple goal to make listeners the star and build a sense of community. Prizes and contests every hour, people calling in from everywhere, superstar interviews, features, segments and bits that build appointment-listening so fans tune in at the same time every night, cool mixes and remixes, cutting edge technology and beautifully produced, the way no other show in all of radio does today. After launching on Y101, we realized that nearly every other Top 40 station in America had the same problem. A lack of talent, money and staff to put together an exciting, fresh and compelling show five nights a week… And the craziest part, it all broadcasts from one of my three home studios: one in the Boston suburbs, one on Cape Cod and one on top of a huge mountain in Vermont, looking out 30 miles of trees and little villages.
Though the actual show itself is fun, constantly evolving and delivering good top ratings for it’s current affiliates, everything behind the scenes is what makes the magic happen, in addition to being very stressful, expensive and time consuming. Every day, we have to call radio stations and convince them that what we’re doing is better than what they’re doing. You have to identify the problem and then offer a solution. Whether they trying to save money, get better ratings, improve the energy and charisma of their night show (or likely all three), we face a dozen competitors who are all fighting for the same slot on their radio station. There are many objections as to why a station won’t put Liveline on, but the main one is that they must give up control of playing their own music locally, since we are a request show and it’s all programmed and produced live. You must neutralize that objection by telling them that 95% of the music on every Top 40 station is the exact same, and that there’s nothing to worry about with us since we follow the charts, research and statistics closely. We also don’t give in to the record label payola game, where they’re essentially giving you things in exchange for playing crappy songs or third-string artists that they’re trying to break.
Getting the show into major cities is difficult because a majority of them are owned by four companies, all of whom have their own in-house shows with their staff, their technology and their money. So far, we’ve grown Liveline to 65 affiliates, including Tulsa OK, Chattanooga TN, Burlington VT and even vacation destinations like Key West FL, Maui HI, US Virgin Islands and all of Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard/Nantucket. We also added our first two Canadian affiliates this year in Kingston ON and Winnipeg MB.
With all of that being said, Liveline is still not profitable. Advertising revenue for radio in 2025 is a fraction of what it used to be 20 years ago, so making money from playing commercials (which is how every station makes money) takes a very large audience in a lot of big cities to attract national advertisers. Any normal person would give up and close the doors after five years of losses, but we are doing something so different, special and groundbreaking. All it takes is one big station or person to add the show before it all clicks. But an old quote inspires me often, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. We built our own stage and followed the road less traveled by. It’s harder in the beginning, but much rewarding in the end. You have to pay to play. The losers give up. The winners keep chugging along.
Mason, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, Mason knew from a young age that his future would involve music, entertainment or technology. He was the definition of “class clown”, often telling jokes, talking too much and finding himself in detention. He was everyone’s friend, loved to meet new people and craved attention. Family, teachers and peers always pushed Mason to be a stand-up comedian, singer or some kind of performer. Radio was the perfect fit.
Before graduating high school, Mason had already landed hundreds of gigs announcing and DJing school dances, sporting events, weddings and house parties. He started a 24-hour internet radio station out of his bedroom and operated it completely solo for almost three years, playing today’s hits, managing social media, web design, booking artist interviews and advertisers for his worldwide audience online. He studied the formatting, concepts and details of great radio while making connections with all the local stations and disc jockeys. Mason always believed that the future of radio would depend on live, interactive, content-driven excitement that listeners could connect with. After all, reality is the best entertainment.
Mason’s life changed when he moved to Massachusetts in January 2020 (age 18) to advance his career in radio. The coronavirus pandemic was just beginning to shut down much of the world and left Mason stranded at his new home, without friends or family. Only focused on succeeding and doing what he loves, Mason teamed up with his friend and longtime idol, John Garabedian, who taught Mason everything he knew and loved about the radio business, to create Liveline.
Now 24 years old, Mason is heard six nights a week on 65 stations in the US and Canada. 100% LIVE and interactive, Liveline revives the key compotents of once-great radio by utilizing it’s core superpower which no other meda source provides: Companionship, immediacy and FUN!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I “met” John Garabedian when I was 15, but the five years before that shaped my passion, journey and outlook on life. Every Saturday night starting in 2011, I tuned in to his show Open House Party which at the time was in a station in Wisconsin I grew up listening to. During the week, they had solid personailities and good ratings, but Saturdays felt like the birth of something fresh, new and exciting. This larger-than-life, legendary personaility broadcast an actual party from his house for all of North America to hear. He played the best music, interviewed all of the biggest artists and made the callers a priority. People were checking in from everywhere, doing all types of different things. Driving around, hanging out at home, on the way to a club or even having a party of their own, where the show was their soundtrack. From 1987-2017, this show ruled the airwaves on over 200 stations, including major markets like Chicago. Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston where it all started.
I started calling his show every week to request songs and pick his brain about the radio and music business. In 2015, he signed my first paycheck as I started doing little projects for him like social media, mixes and production for the show. He constantly guided me on how to get further in the industry, who to talk to, where to go, what to say and how to be the best (personally and professionally). The day I turned 18, he suggested I take a major step in my career and move somewhere (Boston) with actual opportunities if I wanted to achieve great things. I was filled with confidence, hope, passion and determination. I had nothing to lose. Exactly three years after being in the studio with him for his second-to-last Open House Party, I packed everything into my car and drove out to Boston with my extremely supportive, kind and amazing father David, who flew back to Wisconsin after we arrived. The rest kind of happened from there. Now 5 years later, the learning never stops and I’m extremely humbled, honored and privileged to have John’s wisdom and guidance in my life. I owe my life to him and genuinely do not think I would be anything today without him. He’s the most important person I’ve ever known.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
In addition to adding new affiliates for the show, there’s a whole different energy and dedication to retaining the current ones. Just like owning a restaurant, not every customer is going to have a great experience every time. Maybe the food was dry, service was slow, they were served the wrong thing or the waiter wasn’t nice. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re never going to visit again, but the customer/business reputation has a small blip. The same could be said about the ratings on our affiliates (and every other business); you can not provide a perfect product all of the time. Unpredictable, uncontrollable and unachievable things happen. It’s your job to check on the table, ask if they need anything, seek criticism and always go the extra mile to make them happy or reach a goal. Liveline gets great ratings on most of the stations we are on, but sometimes that changes for a number of reasons, whether it be the flawed ratings system (small sample size/not enough people listening overall, which effects every station), a listener complaining to them about something we did on the show or just a new/opposing philosophy on how something should be done. You have to make them feel heard, understood and appreciated. You have to be the McDonald’s of reliability and consistency. You must deliver a solid product as much as possible and put your customer first. If you get bad food your first time at a new restaurant, you’re much less likely to go back. But McDonald’s is so well-known, so consistent and so reliable. You can have five bad experiences there, but still go back because of the brand familiarity, comfort and overall image. If you mess up, own it. “The customer is always right”. People just wanna hear “I’m sorry, you’re right” and they’ll go away happy. Once you start arguing, making excuses and blaming them for having unrealistic standards, you just tarnished your product with them and everyone they know for life.
There is nothing so powerful as your reputation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://LivelineRadio.com
- Instagram: masonkelter
- Facebook: masonkelter
- Linkedin: masonkelter
- Youtube: http://YouTube.com/@MasonKelter
