In a world filled with streaming music services, satellite radio, iPods and even the occasional CD and cassette player, does anyone listen to radio anymore?

Why, yes they do, says Mike Knar, which is why he and his wife, Lori, started Southern Colorado Radio – better known as SoCo Radio – nearly three years ago. They began with one station, KFEZ 101.3 FM, which went live at the end of 2012. Now, two years later, they have four southern Colorado stations, including one that launched Nov. 1, plus a management agreement with a station in Pueblo and a sales arrangement with two others in Colorado Springs.

They have 20 to 25 employees.

And the operation is profitable, he says.

Still, they’re mindful of the challenges, not only from the constant advancements in technology, but from the David-and-Goliath landscape of radio. The U.S. radio industry is dominated by two giants: iHeartMedia, formerly Clear Channel, and Cumulus Media. iHeartMedia owns and operates 840 broadcast radio stations in 150 U.S. markets, while Cumulus has 525 stations in 110 cities, according to the companies’ websites.

Knar, however, sees opportunity in a locally owned enterprise with a regional presence.

“Sure, the bigger conglomerates are funneling money into the market through the employees they hire,” Knar says. “But most of that money is taken out of the market. We tell advertisers that.”

An even bigger advantage, he says: Major decisions don’t have to make their way up the corporate ladder.

“If someone in my string of stations needs something, it’s provided rapidly,” he says. “I don’t have to ask anybody.”

In fact, the giants may own a lot of stations, but they’re crumbling, says Jerry Del Colliano, a longtime radio veteran, editor of Inside Music Media and nationally known expert on radio and other media. He notes that iHeart is soon expected to lay off 33 percent of its workforce, corporate revenues are flat, and changes in the industry favor the little guys.

“We know a couple of things: Local radio outperforms national. We know that smaller markets tend to generate more revenue in all types of economies than larger markets. They’re less volatile. They have more interpersonal relationships that matter,” Del Colliano says.

Takeover led to layoff

Knar took the plunge into radio ownership after losing his job in 2011. Radio was mostly what he knew. He had been in the military, but after that, he went into management in the broadcasting business. He worked in Atlanta before coming to Colorado Springs in 2007 to be general manager and vice president of Citadel Broadcasting. And then, Cumulus gobbled up Citadel – and Knar was out.

“Fortunately, I was able to get some stock and able to take a minute to breathe,” he says. “Obviously, I was shocked that I lost a job. It’s the first time that ever happened to me.”

It was during that taking-stock time that he considered owning a station.

“I said, ‘I think I can probably do this.’ I’ve been doing it for so many years,” he said.

He and his wife took all of 2012 to get organized, and at the beginning of 2013, they started acquiring stations. Their first was an off-the-air station that was owned by a Chicago resident who had the FCC license, but never did anything with it.

But Knar couldn’t just flip a switch and go on air. The 1,000-foot-tall antenna had been used as target practice. Water got in through the bullet holes and when they turned on the power, the transmitter blew.

“Here I am, standing in the mud, trying to figure out what we’re going to do.”

He spent “tens of thousands” to fix it, and finally, KFEZ went on the air in late 2012.

“It was a lot of pain and anguish,” Knar says. “But we’ve learned; we go in with eyes wide open and we deal with things.”

After that, the Knars entered into a management agreement with KJQY in Pueblo, and last year, they purchased the Pueblo Radio Group, consisting of two stations.

Their latest venture went on the air Nov. 1: KCBR at 1040 AM and 98.5 FM in Colorado Springs. It goes by “Tailgate 98.5,” and its multiformat playlist reflect changes in Americans’ listening habits. So there’s country, rock, and pop.

“We call it iPod on steroids,” Knar says. “People don’t listen to a format as much anymore.”

Knar and his wife have been growing the business in spite of a major personal challenge: Their 11-year-old son, Aden, has been fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia since he was 4, and they’ve dedicated themselves to finding a treatment that will save his life. A few days before Thanksgiving, Knar traveled with Aden to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for an experimental treatment program. More trips are in their future, but Knar says the business will be fine because many of his employees are long-time colleagues from his days with Citadel.

“I can’t crawl up in a ball,” Knar says. “I have to make sure I’m working to pay insurance premiums. It’s not easy, but there are very close people who work with me who have been around (Aden) for many, many years, and will drop what they’re doing; cancel vacations. It’s a benefit of not having a corporate operation.”

Listenership still high

Although SoCo Radio seems to be thriving now, Del Colliano cautions that the industry is changing so rapidly, the radio most people know today won’t be around in 10 years. Not only are younger people are tuning out because they have newer, more high-tech ways of getting what they want, he says, but traditional content is losing its appeal.

Still, he says, if anyone can make a go of things, it’s Knar.

“First of all, it’s easy for him because it’s in his DNA,” Del Colliano says. “He’s proven himself to be a real good local operator, and to me, radio does not work unless it’s local.”

Knar realizes the industry is going through changes, much as newspapers have – though, according to the Nielsen media ratings company, listenership is still relatively high: In 2010, 93.2 percent of the U.S. population listened to radio every week. The percentage is now 91.3 percent, Nielsen reports.

So for now, Knar is focused on the people who still listen to radio.

“I constantly think about who’s listening,” he says. “I picture a 35- to 64-year-old woman. She’s possibly got kids; possibly grandkids. Or she’s single and working. They’re making a lot of decisions for their family. I believe she’s the consumer that our clients want in their door.”

There might be even more stations added to the SoCo Radio lineup. Knar says he’s talked to a group operator in Trinidad and looked for opportunities out of state.

“But right now,” he says, “we’re live and local.”

D.J. Michaels is the afternoon deejay at the new radio station Tailgate 98.5 FM. Michaels says the catch phrase is “party music for party people.” The studio is located at 5050 Edison Rd. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette

CAROL LAWRENCE

D.J. Michaels is the afternoon deejay at the new radio station Tailgate 98.5 FM. Michaels says the catch phrase is “party music for party people.” The studio is located at 5050 Edison Rd. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette

CAROL LAWRENCE