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K-Surf 1260 going partial classical??

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Tough as a rock too, especially when she cuts off inquiries by reporters who ask ridiculous questions to undermine the President. She's great!

It's their job to ask those questions and challenge the very rich and very powerful. Just as you are asking ridiculous questions of Saul Levine.

You ask why? He answers: "Because it's my radio station."
 
This is, essentially, a hobby for Sol Levine. No debt, 60 years of making money from the FM, and he can do that. But apparently he wanted to save the operations money for nights and overnights.

By "operations money" I assume you're referring to songwriter royalty fees since most if not all classical music is in the public domain, while oldies are not. Does that add up to substantial saving for just the terrestrial AM broadcast? Because other than that, running automation doesn't really cost anything, especially given that he's still running it for the FM HD channel and streaming during those time periods.
 
There's a part of me that wonders if this is just the first step in flipping the station completely to 24/7 classical and reviving the call letters KMZT.
 
Tough as a rock too, especially when she cuts off inquiries by liberal reporters who ask ridiculous questions to undermine the President. She's great!
OK, you opened the door so here's a bipartisan statement for you: I think that the Republican AND Democratic parties should be required by law to do what they say they do, not what(in the case of at least the republicans)they actually do! Furthermore, with all the instances of voter suppression, gerrymandering and aiding and abetting of Trump's plethora of documented crimes, I think there needs to be an investigation into the Republican Party, to find out if it's inherently evil or just has an inordinate amount of members who are and if they find it to be the party itself, it needs to be shut down and replaced by one that actually does what it says, not what it really does!

Please, feel free to move this to a more appropriate venue.
 
I think you'll find that while the classical compositions themselves are public domain, the interpretation of the work by the specific performers is copyright. In other words, the arrangement versus the work. Every conductor has their own way of interpreting the work played. So royalty fees still apply.
 
Every conductor has their own way of interpreting the work played. So royalty fees still apply.

However, for broadcast, only the composition is subject to royalty, not the interpretation.

The conductor would have to insert his name with the composer's credit. It's been done, but not frequently.
 
I mean, it's an AM. Who listens to AM in 2020? But the ones who do and have discovered 1260 (droves of former K-Earth listeners) are having a blast. For them, it's working. At least give them credit.

You really have to stop trolling by making absurd statements that you know will make people respond to set the record strait.

Nobody listens to Saul's AM oldies station. It gets a 0.0 rating. Yet you say it has loads of listeners.

Now you say nobody listens to AM. Actually, based on cume, there are large percentages of market listeners who do use AM.

In New York City in non-virus times, WINS cumes around 9% of all listeners. WCBS-FM gets 6%. WOR gets 3% WNYC (AM) gets 1% WABC gest 2.5%. WADO gets 0.8% and there are a dozen more AMs that get a 0.1 or more. That does not include the percentage of WFAN listeners who use AM rather than the FM simulcast.

About 30% of New Yorkers use AM each week.

As to share, the AMs have an average share of around 14% of all listening.

To, to answer your question of "who listens to AM" the answer in NYC is: About one out of every three listeners uses AM weekly.

Please stop trolling with obviously inaccurate or intentionally incorrect and absurd answers, or I will shift to moderator mode and put an end to this.
 
Nothing like a big fat carrier to smooth things over. Unless my recollection is wrong, I measured 25 mV from KFI in far western San Fernando Valley. On the east side in Burbank KTNQ was 11 mV. Over the hill in Hollywood KFI and KTNQ both had about 50 mV (KTNQ is directional) .

More recently I was driving north of New York City (heading west to old Tappan Zee bridge) in late afternoon, tuned to 1030 and heard WBZ with a reasonably listenable signal for voice programming.

Decades ago, as a passenger in a car driving in the North Florida night, the car radio antenna hit a branch and snapped off leaving about 2 inches of metal. Being a radio kid, I was frantic and tuned up and down the dial. WBT was the only station that could be heard, albeit with hiss.
 
You really have to stop trolling by making absurd statements that you know will make people respond to set the record strait.

Nobody listens to Saul's AM oldies station. It gets a 0.0 rating. Yet you say it has loads of listeners.

Now you say nobody listens to AM. Actually, based on cume, there are large percentages of market listeners who do use AM.

You misunderstood me.

In comparison to FM, few listen to AM. I never said, NOBODY listens to AM. Of course there are AM listeners, but please don't say that "nobody" listens to 1260. People do listen, otherwise they would not be broadcasting. Another example is KWVE, a good following by Christian listeners throughout Southern California, but yet, they don't show up on Nielsen 6+ but KSUR does (0.4) month after month!

And another thing, please do not accuse me of trolling. I began the post with an upcoming change on 1260 that I simply disagree with. Nothing absurd about posting it. It's simple. Factual.
 
I mean, it's an AM. Who listens to AM in 2020? But the ones who do and have discovered 1260 (droves of former K-Earth listeners) are having a blast. For them, it's working. At least give them credit.


You really have to stop trolling by making absurd statements that you know will make people respond to set the record strait.

Nobody listens to Saul's AM oldies station. It gets a 0.0 rating. Yet you say it has loads of listeners.

Now you say nobody listens to AM. Actually, based on cume, there are large percentages of market listeners who do use AM.

In New York City in non-virus times, WINS cumes around 9% of all listeners. WCBS-FM gets 6%. WOR gets 3% WNYC (AM) gets 1% WABC gest 2.5%. WADO gets 0.8% and there are a dozen more AMs that get a 0.1 or more. That does not include the percentage of WFAN listeners who use AM rather than the FM simulcast.

About 30% of New Yorkers use AM each week.

As to share, the AMs have an average share of around 14% of all listening.

To, to answer your question of "who listens to AM" the answer in NYC is: About one out of every three listeners uses AM weekly.

Please stop trolling with obviously inaccurate or intentionally incorrect and absurd answers, or I will shift to moderator mode and put an end to this.

Nothing says 2020 like censoring facts and opinions you disagree with and lording your position over underlings to stifle debate. Glad to see you are keeping up with the times.

Let's analyze his comment, shall we? he said:

I mean, it's an AM. Who listens to AM in 2020?

A rhetorical question, implying that not many do (even by your numbers AM share is small compared to the total, especially when you consider it is the legacy band with some blowtorch stations that cover entire states, not just metros). And he didn't say "nobody listens to AM" You put those words in his mouth. Now it is YOU that is spreading fake facts.

But the ones who do and have discovered 1260 (droves of former K-Earth listeners) are having a blast.


"Droves" may be an exaggeration, but perhaps he is aware of a community of people that do, so to him, it does seem like there are "droves"
There are people who have discovered 1260 and enjoy it. Even if he is in a tiny minority, SO WHAT? If exaggeration on this board was a crime, you wouldn't have a board to moderate in the first place. People have opinions, whether or not they conform to your worldview.

For the record, I have discovered 1260 and enjoy it too. You might even say I am "having a blast". If there are droves, then I am one of them. But of course you have many times over the years written off my tastes as statistically insignificant (probably true) and therefore not relevant (definitely NOT TRUE).

And of course there are listeners to the station. Even with a 0.0 rating, especially for a low powered AM, that doesn't mean NOBODY is listening. It means that so few are listening that they are hard to measure. But it most certainly is broadcasting to a certain set of people. I am pretty sure most 80 somethings (its core audience) are not participating in the meter program, so already they are a harder group to measure than most, but that doesn't mean they don't listen to the radio. With this sophomoric analysis it is actually YOU that is again spreading fake facts around. The worst part is I know you know this, you just have to lose your decorum to make your point to an individual who posts on a radio board, one who is not even in the business just a fan. Geez.

By the way, for me, As Oldies, says, it is working and you should give me credit. As for Oldies, well, you owe him an apology.
 
Why??

From their facebook page:

"We'd like to let you know of a programming change coming to AM 1260.

Beginning tonight we're introducing Music til Dawn, which will feature classical music from sister station KMozart from 8pm-6am daily, except Saturday evenings for Disco Saturday Night.

No need to worry because from 8pm-6am, you'll still be able to hear all your favorite L.A. Oldies playing on-air at 105.1 FM HD2, online at 1260ksurf.com and through our K-Surf app for your smartphone during those times.

As soon as 6am hits daily, all your favorite L.A. Oldies will then also return on-air to AM 1260."


https://www.facebook.com/1260ksurf

Why mess up something that has been working in L.A. for several years now?? I just don't get it. Anyways, classical is meant for FM fidelity, not mono.

Agreed, what a dumb stupid move for whoever is responsible.
 
It means that so few are listening that they are hard to measure. But it most certainly is broadcasting to a certain set of people.

Getting back to the OP, the station owner isn't adding classical music between 8PM and 6AM because he thinks the core K-Surf audience will appreciate it, right? He's not making this change because he thinks that "certain set of people" will broaden their musical taste.

Agreed, what a dumb stupid move for whoever is responsible.

Maybe from your perspective. But the owner of the station loves classical and jazz. The owner gets to do whatever he wants.
 
Getting back to the OP, the station owner isn't adding classical music between 8PM and 6AM because he thinks the core K-Surf audience will appreciate it, right? He's not making this change because he thinks that "certain set of people" will broaden their musical taste.



Maybe from your perspective. But the owner of the station loves classical and jazz. The owner gets to do whatever he wants.

Oh, come on. I have for years defended Saul and his decisions and you must not be reading the thread very carefully because at no time did I condemn this decision. As always, he can do what he likes with his station.

As for the change itself, just recently David said the hours between 7pm and 6am are essentially unsellable (I may have the 7pm part wrong, but it was a much earlier time in the evening than I expected and I don't have time to do the proper search, so he is welcome to correct if need be on this point), so your point is somewhat invalidated. He is taking the non-sellable part of the day and putting classical on and retaining oldies on during the sellable parts of the day. I am pretty sure we can take away what Saul thinks is the more relevant and profitable format.
 
You misunderstood me.

I understand clearly. You start a thread or two every few months with the same exaggerated and poorly or falsely documented observations. This has to stop.

In comparison to FM, few listen to AM.

Nearly a third of all people listen to AM in LA... that is over 3 million people. Under no circumstances can that be called "few".

By the way, in statistics... and dealing with measured audiences is a use of pure statistics... tiny results are considered "none". That means that there are so few that no conclusion can be made about the group's composition or behaviour patterns.

In the case of this station, the AQH listening is such that we can extrapolate the finding that, on average, each daypart has a single meter registering listening for just a fraction of the total quarter hours. So we are talking about the shares representing occasional use by one person or less at any given time.

Of course there are AM listeners, but please don't say that "nobody" listens to 1260. People do listen, otherwise they would not be broadcasting.

There are perhaps a thousand or more stations, excluding LPFMs, that truly have no measurable audience. Yet they broadcast. Half the stations in the US do not make a profit. But they keep trying.

Another example is KWVE, a good following by Christian listeners throughout Southern California, but yet, they don't show up on Nielsen 6+ but KSUR does (0.4) month after month!

Sol is a subscriber, so his stations are all listed. KWVE is not a subscriber, and is not listed. For an unsubscribed station to be listed in the subscriber reports, they have to have a 0.1 rating, which is today about a 1.3 share. When Nielsen changed to a minimum rating in 2018 (Summer) KWVE had around a 0.3 to 0.4 share. That does not meet the new minimum, so even those of us getting subscriber data can't see their results as they are below the minimum.

And another thing, please do not accuse me of trolling. I began the post with an upcoming change on 1260 that I simply disagree with. Nothing absurd about posting it. It's simple. Factual.

When you keep posting the same absurd comments over and over, without ever learning (as you just proved with your lack of awareness of why KWVE has not "shown" for 3 years) how the business works, that is classic trolling. Give us a break.
 
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Nothing says 2020 like censoring facts and opinions you disagree with and lording your position over underlings to stifle debate. Glad to see you are keeping up with the times.

Let's analyze his comment, shall we? he said:

I mean, it's an AM. Who listens to AM in 2020?

A rhetorical question, implying that not many do (even by your numbers AM share is small compared to the total, especially when you consider it is the legacy band with some blowtorch stations that cover entire states, not just metros). And he didn't say "nobody listens to AM" You put those words in his mouth. Now it is YOU that is spreading fake facts.

But the ones who do and have discovered 1260 (droves of former K-Earth listeners) are having a blast.


"Droves" may be an exaggeration, but perhaps he is aware of a community of people that do, so to him, it does seem like there are "droves"
There are people who have discovered 1260 and enjoy it. Even if he is in a tiny minority, SO WHAT? If exaggeration on this board was a crime, you wouldn't have a board to moderate in the first place. People have opinions, whether or not they conform to your worldview.

For the record, I have discovered 1260 and enjoy it too. You might even say I am "having a blast". If there are droves, then I am one of them. But of course you have many times over the years written off my tastes as statistically insignificant (probably true) and therefore not relevant (definitely NOT TRUE).

And of course there are listeners to the station. Even with a 0.0 rating, especially for a low powered AM, that doesn't mean NOBODY is listening. It means that so few are listening that they are hard to measure. But it most certainly is broadcasting to a certain set of people. I am pretty sure most 80 somethings (its core audience) are not participating in the meter program, so already they are a harder group to measure than most, but that doesn't mean they don't listen to the radio. With this sophomoric analysis it is actually YOU that is again spreading fake facts around. The worst part is I know you know this, you just have to lose your decorum to make your point to an individual who posts on a radio board, one who is not even in the business just a fan. Geez.

By the way, for me, As Oldies, says, it is working and you should give me credit. As for Oldies, well, you owe him an apology.

I appreciate the support, thank you Channel Flipper.

You know, I just began this thread as a way to provide information, not to troll, or to provide fake news or facts. I am at a loss for words. But it's 2020, so anything goes, right?
 
Agreed, what a dumb stupid move for whoever is responsible.

It sounds like a smart move to me.

The station is certainly not profitable. And during the pandemic, his cash cow, the big FM, is billing less. But costs have not gone down. So the answer is to cut expenses wherever possible.

There are no publicly held US radio companies reporting a profit either in Q2 or Q3 of the fiscal 2020 year. Every company, every small private group, every owner-operator station has tried to reduce expenses to minimize the losses.

We don't know why Levine has cut back the oldies hours, but it looks like cost-cutting. Since the station has been a hobby operation for years, I'm even surprised he did not turn it off for 6 months or so... which he can do legally. After all, he just essentially gave away his stations up in the Monterey market area for the same reasons.
 
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