Charese Fruge’ Talks To Cameron Moore

This article was originally posted to AllAccess’ “The Bigger Picture” series, written by Charese Fruge on March 30, 2022 

Cameron Moore is the Program Director/ APD/ Midday Talent for WNKS and APD/ Weekends On-Air for WSOC in Charlotte. She started in radio working at WASU-FM during her time at Appalachian State University. “I randomly came across a flyer for our campus radio station and decided to give it a try. I immediately fell in love,” she says. “After graduating, I took a job in Springfield, MO. I worked as the imaging director and afternoon on-air talent for KOMG, and on-air for KOSP for about 2 ½ years. In 2017, I came back to Charlotte and started working as midday talent and MD for WNKS. In 2019, I added the as APD/ MD role for WSOC, as well as WNKS,” says Moore. “In February of 2022, I accepted the role as Program Director, APD, and midday talent for WNKS as well as APD, and weekend talent for WSOC.”

“With my programming duties, I help decide and schedule all the music on both WNKS, and WSOC. As a talent, I do daily shows on-air, as well as interact with our listeners on our website, and social media accounts,” explains Moore. “So far, the best part of the job is meeting so many incredible artists and getting a behind the scenes look at their process and songwriting. It’s been one of the most exciting parts of my job. Also, I’ve love getting out in the local community and doing local events. Those are some of my fondest memories,” she says.

“My biggest accomplishment so far would be becoming the PD of KISS 95.1. John Reynolds has been PD for 22 years, so for him to trust me enough to turn over the reins was a big moment for me,” says Moore. “Originally, I thought on-air would always be my main goal. Once I became MD, and started learning more about programming, I fell in love with that. I love the music, the strategy, and everything else that goes on behind the scenes to make a radio station great!”

One of the biggest challenges for Cameron initially was moving so far away from family and friends. “I have a tight knit group so being so far from them to work my dream job was very hard for a few years,” she says. “Now that I’m back in my home state, time management has been the biggest challenge. I’m wearing a lot of hats, and I’m a perfectionist. I want to do everything to the best of my ability, and I have so many ideas, it can just be hard sometimes to implement all of them because there just isn’t enough time in the day.”

Cameron’s passion for the business goes far beyond just programming. “My goals for the industry are to make radio a preferred choice, even with all the DSP’s. Radio has the advantage of being local, and if we use that, as well as local trends in music, we can create a curated playlist, and product that fits our community better than streaming devices ever could. Right now, my goal for my career is to make KISS the absolute best it can be and serve our audience to the best of my ability.”

Cameron’s advice to women who want to get into the business, “We need more women in programming!” She says. “It never ceases to amaze me how many target audiences are younger women, and those stations are being run by older men. My advice would be to get in there and get started! Work hard, ask questions, and know your value. Often, we are the demo that programmers are trying so hard to please, so we should be confident in our decisions and opinions!”

What keeps Cameron up at night? “The future of radio keeps me up at night,” she says. “We have an outdated way of measuring listenership and ratings in radio, and it’s causing us to be too conservative, and serve demos that are not always who we should be serving, just to be able to survive. In the long run, this worries me because we are ostracizing an entire generation of younger listeners. Without that representation in the younger audience, I worry about our future of being relevant.”

She does find a way to bring balance to her busy schedule. “My family and friends bring me balance. I also try my best to take time when I need it. In radio, you’re never really ever on vacation, haha, but I love what I do so I never feel too out of balance. Our business is fun, and I always try to remember we’re in the business of fun!” She says. “In my spare time, I love to hang out with my friends, and family. I also love getting out and going to local restaurants, and events. I look up ‘Things happening in town’ almost every weekend cause I love being out and experiencing all my city has to offer,” she says. “I’m also binging ‘Worst Roommate Ever’ right now on Netflix. I love any and everything True Crime, so that’s usually what I’m watching. And a few things people are usually surprised to know about me,” she adds, “I’m almost six feet tall! Also, I used to be the president of an acapella group in college.”

As for what Cameron is excited about, “I’m looking forward to live music coming back! There is a momentum and excitement in the air now that the world is opening back up. People are excited to get back out there and experience things. I think this will lead to a lot of great music, and opportunity for events in the next year!”

Follow Cameron Moore on Instagram @cameronontheradio