40 years at one station is a helluva long time...especially surviving multiple ownership changes and numerous "philosophical differences". Tom Peake has done just that, but now he's coming off the air: https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...30-peake-goes-off-air-at-kool-after-40-years/ A tip of the fez to this talented personality who has kept us KOOL in the Valley for a long, long time!
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Take A Peake at change at KOOL
- Thread starter DrAkbar
- Start date
Downfall? There is a six-way tie for 4th in billing in the market and KOOL is one of the 6.
That said, they have not target the music well enough for today's 25-54 in Phoenix, and the first books of 2019 have it going from 14th to 19th in the sales demos. It looks like recent adjustments, and the shortening of the playlist to KRTH proportions has not worked well.
A long time ago I had heard a story that, when Tom Chauncey finally sold KOOL-FM (don't recall to whom, but it wound up with CBS Radio), after selling KOOL-AM circa '78 to Stauffer, and KOOL-TV in the early '80s to Gulf United (KTSP-TV...remember the company's ruse "Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix"?), that he (Chauncey) wrote Tom Peake's name into the sales contract which supposedly guaranteed him (Peaker) lifetime employment with 94.5. Don't know if this was true, or if any subsequent owner could be held to that "little cottisole in the Faber by-laws" or not, but it sure seemed true...until this week, when I guess it crashed and burned somewhat.
Gonna be hard to sell those numbers, and it doesn't look like they're making any effort to improve them. If I remember correctly, KOOL used to be a personality driven, active station with events and promotions tailored to their target audience. Now they appear to be turning into a jukebox. First they get rid of the morning show, and now their heritage mid-day talent. Is Entercom giving up on the station?
Can't help but wonder if KOOL's decision to challenge KEZ with All Xmas Music caused some of their listeners to bail and not come back. With so many stations offering similar music, the very last thing you should do is give listeners a reason for leaving. Going All Ho-Ho-Ho was not a KOOL idea!
If you can come up with a way to pay for it, I'm sure they'd be happy to play just about anything other than very violent rap. The issue here isn't programming, but sales. They need this audience to attract their advertisers. There's another oldies station in Phoenix that operates with a much lower budget, so they are aiming at older folks. Why not listen to them?
I switched from KOOL to the Goldmine more than a couple of years ago. Even gave up FM stereo for crackly AM and fading signal until they finally found a home on FM (and digital FM as well). The Goldmine doesn't have the great personalities that once decorated the KOOL FM studios but their music is.....well, music to my ears.
I'm sure they could add lots of great personalities, but it would cost more, and that would mean they'd have to do what KOOL does. If the former KOOL DJs want to work for a lot less money, there's certainly a place for them. It's all a matter of priorities.
An HD2/FM translator combo, which is what Oldies 92.7 basically is (they simulcast on AM to keep that license alive, they don't have any listeners on 1440). The translator has limited coverage, so it has limited room to grow. It's the same reason why Hubbard doesn't put any effort in its sports station. 5,000 watts at 1060 AM doesn't travel as far as 5,000 watts at 550, or even 910.
Without an HD radio (KDKB-HD2), Ancient Modulation with 52 watts of pow-pow-power is still the only way to hear KAZG in Mesa. 1440 actually comes in fairly well out here.
I'm willing to bet that Mother Hubbard puts far more effort into 1060 than iHeartDebt does into 910. Other than Dan Patrick, and the games aired on Westwood One or from the Uof A, there is no reason to bother with 910. Fox Sports Radio is and always has been a joke that caters to those with an IQ in the single digits. Two words: Colin Cowherd (losing him was one of the best things that ever happened to ESPN Radio).
iHeart/910 has two local shows in which they employ the hosts, 1060 only has Bob Kemp. Once Kemp finally retires, they're stuck with the brokered talk and national hosts. And if there's one national sports radio network not to be stuck with, it would be SB Nation. They are the bottom barrel of national sports networks (along with Sports Byline USA, if that's still a thing).
Hubbard has the money and resources to turn 1060 into a sports station with legitimate hosts. But the paid hosts, no matter how unprofessional they are (and there are some real stinkers on that station--Roc and Manuch took the crown of worst sports hacks on the radio from Roy Garibaldi after he left the local airwaves), allow them to make a modest profit.
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Wow, that threw me for a loop! "The Goldmine," as found at goldmineradioaz.com (90.7 FM), claims to be classic country along with some newer-ish country. Clicking 'play' on the bottom of the site yields a super-distinctly NOT country sound! It's much closer to reggae than any country I know. (-:
Then there's the site that claims that 90.7 and 92.7 are just two different translators for the same station, but whose webcast domain is for sale.
And finally there's the oldies 92.7 / 1440 website, which is playing neither country nor island music, but the oldies I expect on 1440.
I like broadcast radio a lot better than streaming. (-:
Then there's the site that claims that 90.7 and 92.7 are just two different translators for the same station, but whose webcast domain is for sale.
And finally there's the oldies 92.7 / 1440 website, which is playing neither country nor island music, but the oldies I expect on 1440.
I like broadcast radio a lot better than streaming. (-:
The original Goldmine (as defined by a member of this forum IIRC) is 1440 AM but its signal won't light your lamp (see what I did there?). Their signal also travels the Valley's airwaves on 92.7 in MPX FM and 93.3 in glorious digital FM. Definitely Oldies!
Yes indeedy! Once know as the "all day Goldmine" due to its previous daytime only status, Lumberyard 14~Forty was more than Cool and played 14 in a row. Best known for a drifting lamptimer which turned the transmitter on and off inconsistency, KAZG dared to play Edd Byrnes' greatest hit simply because the station was the ginchiest. Now known as Oldies 92~Seven, the Valley's remaining oldies station is heard on three signals. And unlike the other station that once played oldies, KAZG never dumped the format for All Christmas Music (only dumped the oldies for brokered hours under the mismanagement of Gumpdusky ownership).
Sounds like some very old websites! Before 88.7 came around, The Pulse did use both 90.7 and leased 92.7. After they upgraded to 88.7, KAZG 1440 started using 92.7 and I believe they now own it. KVIT 90.7 then flipped to country, but now have flipped once again (last year) to classic top 40 (80s / 90s) Neon Radio.
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But Mother Hubbard has been known to use 1440 as a sports parking lot. During the now-defunct AAF Arizona Hotshots' brief season, either they or ASU baseball would get moved to 1440 when they played at the same time. Once in a while, there would also be a conflict between ASU baseball and women's hoops, and one or the other would be shipped off to the Lumberyard.
But the oldies would continue on 93.3-HD2 and 92.7. I'm guessing that the official feeder for 92.7 is 93.3-HD2, not 1440, so they can get away with that.
That's correct.
Also heard on 1440 AM KAZG earlier this year was NAU basketball. Where that affiliation came from, who knows, but I did hear an NAU game on there. It would be nice if 1440 would play the old rotation of 50’s and 60’s oldies like before with those 3 Frank Sinatra songs mixed in while Oldies 92.7 / 93.3 HD-2 kept to the current 60’s and 70’s oldies format. I miss me some Edd Kookie Byrnes!
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