KRTH ......and more

[Carlos Santana's Guitar]

Sorry, but I cannot accept it's recent programming methods.

And in other news, a few hardy souls remain who cannot accept the idea that the earth is not flat.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Hey, I bet the ratings would go even higher if KRTH started playing I Melt With You ten times a day! Does anyone have Chris Ebbott's phone number? Or would it be better if I simply e-mailed my suggestion to him?

Steve, stop being silly, sarcastic, and/or facetious. It only detracts from the discussion.

I agree with oldies76 on this one: That would be dumb.

 

[TheBigA]

Sorry, but I cannot accept it's recent programming methods.

Hoo-ray!! Stop listening! And stop complaining. They don't owe you crap. You left LA.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Sorry, but I cannot accept it's recent programming methods.

You don't have to. CBS doesn't answer to you.

 

[Thomps2525]

K.M., you should be pleased that I'm trying to detract from this discussion. I'm amazed that it has gone on as long as it has, especially considering all the many other KRTH discussions which have included similar comments and observations. Even I am getting weary of them!

 

[Bob Eubanks]

We may not listen nearly as much, but it's unfortunate, to see what has happened to a once legendary, unique station that was fun to listen to years back. If KRTH were the same or even half of what it was when PD's like Hamilton or Kaye were in charge, I'd listen Michael....and so would Steve.

The ones that continue to listen.....just go with the flow. They know, they have better options, but mostly listen out of habit. KRTH has lost it's edge. I really used to enjoy listening to them, even out of state.

The reason KRTH is such a hot topic, is because they had heritage (going back to Boss radio), they had the jocks, they had the jingles and the music. And many, MANY people enjoyed that and it was well-known throughout. To see it disappear is tragic and many realize it, not just ones who post here.

They could have done the same today, just with newer classics, but chose not to.

It seems the reason it's a hot topic is that two people throw fits over not getting whatever it is they want, and dismiss plainly evident facts.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

There should be a self imposed limit on all KRTH threads once it passes the century mark. There are --- what -- about 80 other SoCal/OC/IE radio stations we could be talking about

 

[K.M. Richards]

Even I am getting weary of them!

In that case, stop posting. That will help end them.

It seems the reason it's a hot topic is that two people throw fits over not getting whatever it is they want, and dismiss plainly evident facts.

I think we should take up a collection and buy them their own discussion board for Christmas, which they only get access to if they relinquish their accounts here.

There should be a self imposed limit on all KRTH threads once it passes the century mark. There are --- what -- about 80 other SoCal/OC/IE radio stations we could be talking about

If we were to subtract all posts by the posters Bob refers to, we wouldn't be past the century mark.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I'm always amazed that the same posters that tell other posters "just don't listen" to the stations they don't like choose not to follow their own advice when it comes to reading and posting about certain topics they don't like.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm always amazed that the same posters that tell other posters "just don't listen" to the stations they don't like choose not to follow their own advice when it comes to reading and posting about certain topics they don't like.

And the same people who complain about the repetition of songs don't seem to notice how repetitive those complaints are, and how useless they are.

 

[oldies76]

I think we should take up a collection and buy them their own discussion board for Christmas, which they only get access to if they relinquish their accounts here.

If we were to subtract all posts by the posters Bob refers to, we wouldn't be past the century mark.

And this board would not exist if it weren't for posters like us and our contributions. If it were a pro only board, there'd be very little to discuss or challenge. You'd miss the action.

We've suggested to the mods in the past for a hobbyist radio / music board here.

 

[oldies76]

And the same people who complain about the repetition of songs don't seem to notice how repetitive those complaints are, and how useless they are.

Change your tune then. Other stations have.

 

[TheBigA]

Change your tune then. Other stations have.

Not the successful ones.

And you don't want this station to change...you want it to go back to the 80s. That's not change.

 

[K.M. Richards]

And this board would not exist if it weren't for posters like us and our contributions. If it were a pro only board, there'd be very little to discuss or challenge. You'd miss the action.

No. I wouldn't. I would much rather have low traffic levels and a quality, intelligent discussion with my peers than have your pointless circular arguments ad nauseum.

Change your tune then. Other stations have.

Stations change in order to attain higher ratings and therefore revenue. KRTH changed for that reason, and -- OH MY! -- it's working for them.

But you give me an idea for another challenge, even though I know you'll ignore this one like you did the last one.

Give us an example of a major market radio station (I'll stipulate any market in the top-50 as major) in recent history (let's say 30 years, to match the size of the two primary ratings demographics) that changed format, decided to change back, and generated higher ratings and revenue after the switchback.

One verifiable example and you win the argument. No example and you lose it.

 

[Thomps2525]

A "century mark" is one hundred years. When the KRTH threads pass the century mark, I doubt that any of us will still be alive. And all the weathermen who like to say that the temperature has hit "the century mark" are obviously wrong. Temperatures are measured in degrees, not by years. And then there are the baseball announcers who make equally wrong comments such as "Shlabotnik is batting a buck-seventy-five."

 

[Thomps2525]

KGBS-1020 was top-40 from 1969 to 1973. It also was a daytime-only station until 1976 so this is not really a fair comparison...but KGBS switched to a country format in 1973 and then returned to top-40 in 1976 as The New Ten-Q, KTNQ. I'm guessing that Ten-Q had much better ratings than KGBS had in the early '70s.

 

[K.M. Richards]

A "century mark" is one hundred years. When the KRTH threads pass the century mark, I doubt that any of us will still be alive. And all the weathermen who like to say that the temperature has hit "the century mark" are obviously wrong. Temperatures are measured in degrees, not by years. And then there are the baseball announcers who make equally wrong comments such as "Shlabotnik is batting a buck-seventy-five."

Steve, stop it. For the love of all that is holy, stop it.

 

[K.M. Richards]

KGBS-1020 was top-40 from 1969 to 1973. It also was a daytime-only station until 1976 so this is not really a fair comparison...but KGBS switched to a country format in 1973 and then returned to top-40 in 1976 as The New Ten-Q, KTNQ. I'm guessing that Ten-Q had much better ratings than KGBS had in the early '70s.

KGBS called its format during those early years "contemporary" but not "top-40". And they had Bill Ballance doing his Feminine Forum talk show in middays. So not only isn't it a fair comparison, I don't think it counts.

 

[Thomps2525]

A few years ago, WCBS-FM did what almost every oldies/classic-hits station has done. They dropped all the 1950s hits and most of the 1960s hits and added more 1970s-80s and even some '90s hits (such as Dreamlover and Smooth). This may not be a fair comparison either, considering that the playlist is dramatically different from what it was ten years ago, but 'CBS-FM switched to the "Jack-FM" adult hits format in 2005 and switched back to classic hits two years later. I don't have the 2005 New York ratings handy but right now 'CBS-FM is in second place, behind WLTW.

 

[davideduardo]

KGBS called its format during those early years "contemporary" but not "top-40". And they had Bill Ballance doing his Feminine Forum talk show in middays. So not only isn't it a fair comparison, I don't think it counts.

As someone who programmed a similar station in the 1972-1973 period, what we were doing was derisively called "Chicken Rock" because we played Top 40 without the hard rock cuts. A variant was the format best known from John Lund's programming on WGAR in Cleveland, which was more gold based with far fewer currents; that is what KRTH was doing originally.

In other words, the difference between Hot AC and CHR today, with the Hot AC not playing the hard core hip hop songs.

In fact, I even considered taking Ballance in syndication... but felt that Birmingham was not ready for it yet.