Some radio careers begin with a childhood dream of sitting behind a microphone. Others begin in promotions, production or an internship that somehow turns into an overnight shift. Riley Floerke’s path includes pole vaulting, long jumping, Texas A&M athletics, News/Talk, sports broadcasting and now a seat on a CHR morning show — all in roughly the amount of time it takes some of us to figure out where the station keeps the new microphone windscreens.
Bryan Broadcasting’s Candy 95 KNDE in College Station, Texas, is adding Floerke to “Morning Candy” alongside Ted Hallowell, moving one of the cluster’s rapidly developing young personalities into an enormously important role on its CHR brand.
And there is something about this one that we really like.
Because Bryan Broadcasting didn’t have to search the country for its next morning personality.
They developed one.
From Aggie Athlete to Broadcaster
Floerke’s résumé doesn’t begin in a radio studio.
She’s a former Texas A&M track and field athlete, competing in the pole vault and long jump before graduating in May 2025.
Then came radio.
Following graduation, Floerke joined the Bryan Broadcasting operation and began accumulating experience quickly.
At sister News/Talk 1620 WTAW, she became part of “The Infomaniacs”, working as both a co-host and sportscaster.
By December, she had added another substantial responsibility:
Sports Director for the cluster.
Now add CHR morning personality to the business card.
That’s a remarkably fast progression.
But it also demonstrates what can happen when a company identifies somebody with potential and actually gives them opportunities to develop it.
And Think About the Skill Set She’s Bringing to CHR
This is where the hire gets particularly interesting.
Floerke hasn’t spent her first year in broadcasting learning only how to execute a music-intensive airshift.
She’s been working in News/Talk and sports.
Those environments force you to develop muscles that can be incredibly useful in morning radio.
React.
Listen.
Interview.
Think quickly.
Know what’s happening.
Have an opinion.
Communicate information without sounding like you’re reading somebody else’s homework.
And perhaps most importantly:
Learn how to TALK.
Great morning radio isn’t somebody announcing songs with considerably more enthusiasm because the clock says 7:15 a.m.
It’s conversation.
Chemistry.
Storytelling.
Timing.
Reaction.
Humor.
Information.
And the ability to make listeners feel like they’re sitting at the table rather than listening through a speaker.
Floerke has already been getting reps doing exactly that.
Then There’s the Texas A&M Connection
In College Station, this matters.
A lot.
This isn’t simply a young broadcaster being dropped into the market.
She’s an Aggie.
She competed for Texas A&M.
She graduated from Texas A&M.
She understands the culture surrounding the university because she actually lived inside it.
For a station targeting younger adults in Bryan-College Station, that’s potentially an enormous authenticity advantage.
You can teach formatics.
You can teach clocks.
You can teach PPM fundamentals.
You can coach backsells, teases and benchmarks.
You cannot manufacture someone’s genuine connection to a community.
Floerke already has one.
Now Comes Chemistry With Ted Hallowell
That’s the part no press release can predict.
Morning shows live or die on chemistry.
Not manufactured:
“Now Riley disagrees with Ted about pineapple on pizza! CALL US!”
Real chemistry.
Listeners can smell forced radio from approximately three counties away.
The opportunity for Ted Hallowell and Riley Floerke is to let the relationship develop naturally.
Figure out what each person brings.
Find the differences.
Find the similarities.
Discover who tells the story and who delivers the punchline.
Learn when to challenge each other.
Learn when to get out of each other’s way.
And let listeners become part of the process.
If that happens, Candy isn’t merely adding another voice.
It’s building a show.
An On The Dial Perspective: THIS Is Talent Development
We cover enough layoffs around here.
We write enough stories about somebody spending 15, 20 or 30 years at a station and suddenly being gone.
We cover consolidation.
Syndication.
Voice tracking.
Centralization.
Positions disappearing.
So we’re going to get equally loud when we see the opposite.
A young broadcaster getting a bigger opportunity.
This is how the next generation happens.
Somebody gets hired.
Somebody notices potential.
They get another responsibility.
Then another.
They make mistakes.
They get coached.
They get better.
Eventually somebody says:
“Let’s put her on the morning show.”
That’s radio development.
And frankly, our industry needs considerably more of it.
Because if radio doesn’t create opportunities for people in their 20s to become great broadcasters, we don’t get to act surprised 15 years from now when we’re wondering where the next generation of great broadcasters went.
And Riley’s Story Has Another Great Lesson
Think about this trajectory.
Texas A&M athlete.
Graduation.
News/Talk.
Morning-show co-host.
Sportscaster.
Sports Director.
Now CHR morning personality.
Different disciplines.
Different formats.
Different responsibilities.
But every one of them involves performance under pressure.
Maybe pole vaulting and morning radio aren’t quite as unrelated as they initially sound.
In one, you sprint toward something terrifying and hope all the preparation you’ve done allows you to clear the bar.
In the other…
you turn on a live microphone at 6 a.m.
We’ll let Riley decide which is scarier.
Welcome to Morning Candy
Congratulations to Riley Floerke, Ted Hallowell and the entire Bryan Broadcasting team.
This is exactly the kind of personnel story we enjoy seeing.
A company developed somebody internally.
A young broadcaster gets another opportunity.
A local personality with a genuine connection to College Station gets a bigger microphone.
And Candy 95 gets an intriguing new dynamic in mornings.
Now the fun begins.
Turn on the microphones.
Let Ted and Riley figure each other out.
Let College Station get to know her differently.
Let the show evolve.
Take some chances.
Have some fun.
And Riley, after competing as a Division I athlete at Texas A&M, you already understand pressure.
But there’s one challenge they probably didn’t prepare you for at practice:
Trying to make coherent conversation with another human being before the coffee has started working.
Welcome to morning radio.
The bar is officially raised.
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