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KBKS Stunting, Bender out

I

iamarussianpirate

KBKS started stunting today at noon. Musically the format remains the same but KISS imagining has been removed and replaced by a rotation of three or four dry voiced liners saying things like "all good things must come to an end" and "no matter what happens, thank you Seattle."

Bender is out in mornings but no word of any other personalities leaving the building. I'm sure the format will remain the same and they'll just slap a new name on it.
 
Ouch! That was fast. Guess KQMV was too much for KBKS, even after returning to Top 40/CHR this year. The only speculation that could happen is a possible move towards a Alternative direction.
 
The only thing I keep hearing from iHeart is "Bobby Bones." That seems to be their biggest national priority. Someone has to have a good reason why he's not being heard in Seattle.

Alternative isn't going to help them in the billing department. Maybe that doesn't matter.
 
TheBigA said:
The only thing I keep hearing from iHeart is "Bobby Bones." That seems to be their biggest national priority. Someone has to have a good reason why he's not being heard in Seattle.
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Because Hubbard beat iHeart to the country format last December? The plan was to flip one of their properties to country to clear Bobby Bones in the market. Problem was Entercom screwed iHeart by flipping KMPS before iHeart took over KZOK and KJAQ. Hubbard jumped immediately into the format and iHeart doesn't want to be the third country station in this market. It doesn't work and even if Bobby Bones was amazing, live and local wins in Seattle, especially in the Country format. With KNUC and KKWF investing in local talent, country would be an uphill battle for iHeart.

That said, it's not happening. This is a rebrand.
 
iamarussianpirate said:
Because Hubbard beat iHeart to the country format last December?
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I agree with everything you're saying. I'm just reporting what I hear.

Here's a question: If Brooke & Jubal can air on a country station (as they do in West Palm), why can't Bobby Bones air on a station with another format? That being said, I think Bobby is on one of the fringe stations currently, keeping the wolves at bay. At least temporarily.
 
TheBigA said:
I agree with everything you're saying. I'm just reporting what I hear.

Here's a question: If Brooke & Jubal can air on a country station (as they do in West Palm), why can't Bobby Bones air on a station with another format? That being said, I think Bobby is on one of the fringe stations currently, keeping the wolves at bay. At least temporarily.
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He was all Top 40 prior to his move to Nashville. Could still be done, though the content has slightly changed from his prior incarnation.
 
Rebrand as what??? Channel 1061??? If you can't make it with a nationally recognized CHR brand like KISS-FM, what direction can you go within the format?
 
I think HE could air on multiple formats easily, he was a chr guy until 2012. But his SHOW is a country morning show now. They live and breathe that lifestyle, and their content is directed completely to those listeners. To produce a completely separate show to air on other formats wouldn't be practical, and with Elvis, Brooke & Jubal and others covering CHR and Hot AC stations it's not really necessary.

I think it's possible to plug a non-Country morning show into a country station like they're doing with B&J in West Palm. I don't think it's best practice, but it's possible. Doing the reverse though wouldn't work.
 
iamarussianpirate said:
I think HE could air on multiple formats easily, he was a chr guy until 2012. But his SHOW is a country morning show now.
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Once again, I agree. But if you have a nationally known personality, who's getting even more attention thanks to DWTS, and who has said he is seeking to be the next Howard Stern, maybe it's time to adjust the focus of the show. It's easier to change the show than reign him in. He is thinking about world domination. At some point, I expect him to grow beyond what he's doing now.
 
You can't think about KISS in Seattle without thinking about Bender. That's the problem. Easier to dump the name while you're dumping the morning show and start from scratch. Bender did a good job of branding the KISS name in the community with One Big KISS for Children's Hospital, etc. People associate the two and they always will. The format is legitimate, so picking a new name when you're dumping the guy that's been the face of your brand for the past two decades makes sense.

Also, listeners don't care that KISS has been the go-to name for CHR's in terrestrial radio since the 90's. They don't pay attention to the majority of the things we obsess over.
 
Yeah I agree with that. He's young and iHeart could see him as their new Seacrest at some point. If he's able to parlay this into other avenues of mass exposure then I'm sure that will be coming to a radio near you soon.
 
CaliRadioFan said:
Rebrand as what??? Channel 1061??? If you can't make it with a nationally recognized CHR brand like KISS-FM, what direction can you go within the format?
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"Kiss" is not a "nationally known CHR brand". While there are "Kiss" branded stations in quite a few markets, not all are CHR...

One of the oldest Kiss stations is WKYS in DC, an urban station. And there are Hip-Hop Kiss stations, such as Albuquerque... even AC Kiss branded stations. And most markets don't have any variety of "Kiss" so it's not a national brand.
 
DavidEduardo said:


"Kiss" is not a "nationally known CHR brand". While there are "Kiss" branded stations in quite a few markets, not all are CHR...

One of the oldest Kiss stations is WKYS in DC, an urban station. And there are Hip-Hop Kiss stations, such as Albuquerque... even AC Kiss branded stations. And most markets don't have any variety of "Kiss" so it's not a national brand.
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David, I understand you have forgotten more about radio than most people will ever know about this medium. That said, your tendency to fact check minutiae in every post on every board is just plain annoying. The KISS brand is used in lots of different formats, yes, but predominantly in CHR. On top of that, your point doesn't add anything to the actual conversation.
 
iamarussianpirate said:
David, I understand you have forgotten more about radio than most people will ever know about this medium. That said, your tendency to fact check minutiae in every post on every board is just plain annoying. The KISS brand is used in lots of different formats, yes, but predominantly in CHR. On top of that, your point doesn't add anything to the actual conversation.
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The point is that "Kiss" is not a national brand in any format. It is, secondarily, not a CHR brand.

So any argument that takes the premise that Kiss is a strong, recognized brand because it stands for CHR everywhere is fundamentally wrong.

The discussion should be "what does the Kiss brand mean to people in the coverage area of the Seattle station that has used the name."

Wrong premise = erroneous conclusions. We are currently in an era where facts are increasingly irrelevant, and that's indeed a slippery slope.
 
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This one has me a bit confused. On the one hand, I see the argument for a rebranding. Carla Marie and Anthony were in mornings at Power 93.3 and for the first month or so of KUBE before moving to nights at Kiss. Putting them back in mornings and putting in a new night guy with a rebranding to Power 106.1 would make sense, but I've got a feeling that if they were to do that, they would have done so in May when they brought KUBE back. My gut is telling me Alternative. Even though it wasn't my favorite format, Alt 102.9 was quite well done. I don't see Country as an option for reasons already mentioned here. Another possibility is a return to Hot AC under a new name, as Kiss was doing pretty well under that format. That being said, why wouldn't they have just rebranded when KUBE came back?
 
Makes sense to blow up the KISS brand. It's been around since the Clinton administration and survived three format "adjustments" in that time.

iamarussianpirate said:
David, I understand you have forgotten more about radio than most people will ever know about this medium. That said, your tendency to fact check minutiae in every post on every board is just plain annoying.
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Wholeheartedly agree. David, grab a dube and chill. Please.
 
75% chance it will be 'Alt 106.1' come November 1st. With The Woody Show mornings. Also a slim chance they could pull a 'KNBQ' and bring KJR 950 back to FM. 'KJR SportsRadio 106.1'? FM sports is everywhere nowadays. San Diego, San Francisco, Denver all have full-power FMs (not translators!) with sports. 97.3 in San Diego recently flipped from Country to Sports. Another slim chance it stays CHR with a branding change and new airstaff. Maybe pulling a KYLD...'Wild 106.1'?
 
Maybe someone could share the revenue figure for KNDD as compared to other stations in the market. My guess is its underperforming its ratings, which would be typical for the format. My question would be is there enough revenue to split between two stations?
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
Makes sense to blow up the KISS brand. It's been around since the Clinton administration and survived three format "adjustments" in that time.
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When you own or run stations, you don't just blow them up for the sake of change. There is Fantasy Football, but no "fantasy radio".

There are essentially four tiers of revenue among the top 17 or 18 stations in the market.

Tier one is over $15 million, and includes KIRO-FM alone.

Tier two is KIRO, KOMO, KSWD, KRWM, KJR and KISW, all +/- 5% of around $10 million in billing.

The third tier is around about $7.5 million, and KBKS is at the high end of that group that includes KZOK, KQMV, KHTP and KNDD.

The fourth tier is around $6 million, with KNUC, KKWF, KCMS, KUBE and KJAQ as members.

Kiss is doing well and makes a good contribution to the cluster demographic and sales strategy. It's a hard business decision to sacrifice or jeopardize around $8 million in revenue just to put a new name, or, moreso, a new format on it unless revenues so far this year have fallen significantly from the 2017 level.

Wholeheartedly agree. David, grab a dube and chill. Please.
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Sorry, I don't do "dubes" and other mind altering substances. Try not to play with the electronic equipment while you are indulging.
 
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TheBigA said:
Maybe someone could share the revenue figure for KNDD as compared to other stations in the market. My guess is its underperforming its ratings, which would be typical for the format. My question would be is there enough revenue to split between two stations?
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It did not do particularly bad last year. It had a power ratio of just under a 1, but it has been relatively flat over the last three years, after a big increase between 2014 and 2015.

It does not look, however, like the format cans sustain two stations.
 
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