Mall music: Lakes Media moves radio HQ to Belknap Marketplace

BELMONT — How did the region’s radio station wind up in the middle of the area’s largest mall? With some convincing.

Dirk Nadon, president and general manager of Lakes Media, said he was working with a real estate agent to consolidate his company’s offices, which were split between the Lakes Region and Concord, into one location. He agreed to meet with George Vernet, the new owner of Belknap Marketplace — formerly known as the Belknap Mall — out of courtesy. But he wasn’t expecting the meeting to go anywhere.

“He poured it on,” Nadon said about the meeting with Vernet. “He’s already put a ton of money into the facility. He made us a hell of a deal to come in here.”

Since January, Lakes Media, which operates Lakes FM 101.5 and The Hawk 104.9, has been headquartered in the Belknap Marketplace. The company also serves the Lincoln, Lancaster and Gorham area with Mountain Country 97.3 FM.

It’s a vastly different experience from where most regional radio stations do their business, which is usually tucked into industrial parks or office complexes, largely hidden from the public. The design of the new Lakes Media space makes the most of its unusual visibility. The primary broadcast booth is separated from the mall’s interior corridor by a glass wall — allowing passersby to wave at the on-air talent, and gently reminding the public that, while the trend might be for regional commercial radio to be driven more and more by preset, robotic playlists, Lakes Media still employs human disc jockeys.

But, Nadon said, the ability to see radio professionals at work isn’t new. His business philosophy calls for his DJs to broadcast live from community events. “Most of the radio station isn’t inside this building, it’s out of this building,” he said.

And, as someone who grew up in the Lakes Region and in the radio business, Nadon has a sense of history. One of the local giants of the industry was Esther Peters, a trailblazing radio personality who hosted her WLNH show “Around Town” from the front window of Woolworth’s on Main Street in Laconia.

“Radio was very accessible and visible, and it is again,” Nadon said.

While a string of songs played, DJ Heather Bishop waved back to pedestrians passing the booth and said it feels good to interact with the public while she’s working.

“That’s what good local radio stations do. They’re on the same level as the people,” Bishop said. Being seen, she said, “really does make radio more accessible to people, and that’s what radio needs to do to survive.”