KHOWL Intercepts Local Listeners with Livewire

Snarl Greywolf is Co-Owner and General Manager at KHOWL (KHWL 98.7), the local rock station in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, about 105 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. KHOWL maintains a big presence in the local community, appearing at just about every event in the area. Live broadcasts are lifeblood, and as a relative newcomer to the area, having operated only about five years, doing so many remotes at local events and getting in front of people is how KHOWL has made a name for itself.

Snarl Greywolf's avatar

Snarl explains that it’s a business model that has allowed the station to grow. “When we started out in radio, it was not to make money… We’re not in it for that. We provide a quality product and engage the community, so I figure everything else will fall in line,” he says. So far, it has. He notes almost every bit of profit goes into buying more gear, including an Axia Radius console, a Telos Z/IP ONE for all those remotes, a Telos VX Prime phone system, and a recently purchased Omnia VOLT.

Another recent purchase doesn’t fall into the category of traditional broadcast gear, but will certainly help KHOWL in their ongoing effort to connect with the local community. Snarl explains: “We made the decision to go one step further in the area of community involvement. We decided to take what extra money we had and spend it on making a huge splash in the community, and that meant buying a brand new vehicle, putting a Livewire studio in the back, and broadcasting live from every community event.”

That’s quite the lofty goal. To reach it, they’d need quite a vehicle. Enter the Ford Explorer Interceptor—Interceptor as in the type of engine typically only found in police vehicles.

KHOWL Interceptor

As you might imagine, it was quite a feat for a small town radio station to land such a vehicle. Normally, civilians can’t buy a Police Interceptor, but upon hearing he wouldn’t be able to do so, Snarl refused to take “No” for an answer. He contacted Ford directly, got in touch with the National Sales Manager for the Interceptor program, and told him what he wanted to do. Two weeks later he received an email: request approved. The only problem? The local Ford dealer didn’t believe it. When they called Ford to verify the deal, they were stunned when the sale was pushed through. A few weeks later, the Explorer arrived—pre-wired LED flashing lights and all.

As if attending and broadcasting from so many local events wasn’t great publicity already, Snarl says the truck is a huge attention getter. And not just when it's out in the community, but even when parked at the station in neighboring Altus, OK. “Our station is on the corner of the busiest intersection in town. Even though we have the lettering outside, people often say, ‘I didn’t even know you were down here until I saw your vehicle.’ It’s already paid for itself a hundred times over with the visual advertising it gives us sitting in front of the building.”

As for the mobile broadcast setup, it's based on the Axia RAQ and QOR, along with a Telos Z/IP ONE for a link back to the studio, and some high-end wireless mics and on-air monitors to produce content from remote events and send it back to the studio.

KHOWL Intercepter Remote Livewire Broadcast Unit

Snarl wanted the mobile setup to use Livewire since that’s how KHOWL has rolled from the start. “From the beginning, we said to ourselves that we’d try to do the best we can with whatever we can muster and we’ll start higher on the food chain. I did a lot of research and we drank the Telos Alliance Kool-Aid and bought all Livewire gear,” he jokes. “We were able to plan our studio based on the Livewire protocol.”

And how has going with Livewire from the get-go benefited KHOWL? “What it’s done for us is we don’t have to worry about soundcards, hum, audio distribution… Everything in this building just listens to the network,” Snarl explains. “I want something here... Click, here it is. I want something over there… Click, there it is! Zero wiring, zero effort, a couple mouse clicks and it’s done.”

"We don’t have to worry about soundcards, hum, audio distribution… Everything in this building just listens to the network"

—Snarl Greywolf, Owner & General Manager, KHOWL

With Telos Alliance and Livewire, Snarl says KHOWL is way ahead of most other stations in the area. “We’re the most technologically advanced radio station within 100 miles, easily.” He adds that he loves the nostalgia of old radio equipment and has fond memories of cutting his teeth on some of that gear, but from a practical standpoint, it doesn’t make sense anymore to embrace technology that isn’t ‘one-click easy.’

KHOWL Studio featuring Axia Radius console and Telos VX phone

Whether in the studio or the remote vehicle, that one-click simplicity is a huge bonus when remote broadcasts are such an integral part of KHOWL’s on-air activities. Because of the commitment to the community the station has made, the live remotes are a business model for continued success.

And for Snarl, they're also a passion. Especially when you consider he’s something of a ‘lone wolf’—pardon the pun—for most community events. “I’m a one wolf show. It’s pretty much just me schlepping the gear out to where I need to be and getting it done. If I can do it, anyone can. There isn’t anything special about me except that I just want to.”

And we’re glad to be able to help, Snarl!