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And KSUR's next move: All Classical

davideduardo

davideduardo

Moderator/Administrator
Staff member
From Inside Radio this afternoon:

L.A.’s ‘K-Mozart’ Returning To Over-The-Air Broadcast.
Saul Levine’s Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters is bringing classical music back to the AM band in Los Angeles, announcing plans to move programming from the company’s “K-Mozart” digital stream to KSUR (1260). It’s the third time Levine has placed classical music on the signal, with its longest run occurring from 2011-2016

More at http://www.insideradio.com/free/l-a...cle_fb002474-2e78-11eb-874c-1b0edf3e5e59.html
 
DavidEduardo said:
From Inside Radio this afternoon:

L.A.’s ‘K-Mozart’ Returning To Over-The-Air Broadcast.
Saul Levine’s Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters is bringing classical music back to the AM band in Los Angeles, announcing plans to move programming from the company’s “K-Mozart” digital stream to KSUR (1260). It’s the third time Levine has placed classical music on the signal, with its longest run occurring from 2011-2016

More at http://www.insideradio.com/free/l-a...cle_fb002474-2e78-11eb-874c-1b0edf3e5e59.html
Click to expand...

Unlike his oldies audience, which gets into fierce disagreements about whether 70s and 80s should be included, he doesn't have to worry about whether or not to include any pieces from the last two hundred years in addition to the even older standards with the classical format.

Plus I think he is on a one-man crusade to show that the 80+ audience really is sellable. One day I will be 80 too and will want someone to fight to keep my 60s and 70s music on when everyone else will be airing only post millennial stuff.
 
Am I to understand that classical is going to be 24/7 with the old call letters from Saul? On an AM station? I can technically see the oldies format, but this is really interesting and not in a necessarily great way.
What is Saul thinking?

Option 1 - he is seeing something with his own life and wants to bring back the heyday memory of something he loved and K-Surf was just a fling.
Option 2 - He is getting a minimal translator and well, this could make a little sense, economically.
Option 3 - He is planning on donating the station at some point to a university.
Option 4 - He is just throwing bricks at a wall and hoping to make some profit and not turn it off.
Option 5 - I don't know....but dang it, this should be bigger news than Tavis, because well this guy is a real radio maverick and in 2020, we need more maverick than moron*.


* not exactly saying that Tavis is a moron. Just more for the situation. I have always liked and respected Tavis. He has a good head on his shoulders and I still feel the real morons are surrounding him.But it's his name on the line.
 
Tibbs4 said:
Am I to understand that classical is going to be 24/7 with the old call letters from Saul? On an AM station? I can technically see the oldies format, but this is really interesting and not in a necessarily great way.
What is Saul thinking?

Option 1 - he is seeing something with his own life and wants to bring back the heyday memory of something he loved and K-Surf was just a fling.
Option 2 - He is getting a minimal translator and well, this could make a little sense, economically.
Option 3 - He is planning on donating the station at some point to a university.
Option 4 - He is just throwing bricks at a wall and hoping to make some profit and not turn it off.
Option 5 - I don't know....but dang it, this should be bigger news than Tavis, because well this guy is a real radio maverick and in 2020, we need more maverick than moron*.


* not exactly saying that Tavis is a moron. Just more for the situation. I have always liked and respected Tavis. He has a good head on his shoulders and I still feel the real morons are surrounding him.But it's his name on the line.
Click to expand...


hes old, hes rich, he knows by now 1260 will never be a ratings or money maker at all, he can afford to do what he likes and pleases.
 
Tibbs4 said:
* not exactly saying that Tavis is a moron. Just more for the situation. I have always liked and respected Tavis. He has a good head on his shoulders and I still feel the real morons are surrounding him.But it's his name on the line.
Click to expand...

Anyone who buys a high end of the dial AM station for over $8 million certainly looks like either a moron, an egotist, or someone who is enormously ill-advised. Or "All of the Above".
 
kevtronics said:
This KSUR listener isn't happy about the format change:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vgB-s16T7Q

He makes our points about there being no market for Classical music on AM, and the lack of proliferation of HD Radio receivers, especially in L.A. where the majority of listening is in cars, and most vehicles on the road are 10+ years old and don't have HD.
Click to expand...

So stop complaining that there aren't many HD receivers in use and find and buy one. Now that so much shopping is online, it doesn't matter as much as it used to that you can't get something at the local big-box location.
 
CTListener said:
So stop complaining that there aren't many HD receivers in use and find and buy one. Now that so much shopping is online, it doesn't matter as much as it used to that you can't get something at the local big-box location.
Click to expand...
Did you miss the part where I said most people are listening to radio in their car? And the average age of cars on the road today is 11 years old -- which is old enough to not have HD Radio, but new enough for the audio system to be integrated into the design of the dashboard, and thus not easily replaceable by an aftermarket head unit.
 
kevtronics said:
This KSUR listener isn't happy about the format change:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vgB-s16T7Q

He makes our points about there being no market for Classical music on AM, and the lack of proliferation of HD Radio receivers, especially in L.A. where the majority of listening is in cars, and most vehicles on the road are 10+ years old and don't have HD.
Click to expand...

While the average age of a car on the road in America is more than ten years, I'd be willing to bet that among Angelenos who'd listen to Classical, it's much lower and there's likely a higher percentage of them with HD capability.
 
Per the FCC Database the licensee for KKJZ is "CALIFORNIA STATE UNIV., LONG BEACH RESEARCH FOUNDATION". Has been that way about forever. I believe Saul just manages the station for them. Makes selling it with KSUR more than a little problematic :)
 
michael hagerty said:
While the average age of a car on the road in America is more than ten years, I'd be willing to bet that among Angelenos who'd listen to Classical, it's much lower and there's likely a higher percentage of them with HD capability.
Click to expand...

We know that classical predominantly appeals to seniors now. And if you look at auto statistics you will find that seniors change cars far less often than younger consumers.

My 6 year old car is nearly indistinguishable from the current model. It runs fine, is comfortable and has every one of the features newer models have in the area of safety. Why trade it? The area where I live is predominantly populated by seniors and retired folks, with the average non-ethnic age of the market well over 50. Among other older people I know, the tendency to keep cars "as long as they run" is extreme; this is fortified by California's enormously high vehicle license fee which declines by the year.

What I am observing, based on some universal statistics and some anecdotal and unrepresentative personal observations, is that it is going to take between "a long time" and "forever" for there to be enough classical music proponents with adequately equipped cars to make this viable. By then, most will have some device like the Amazon Echo (Which everyone now calls the "Amazon Alexa") for home listening and somewhat fewer than "nobody" will have a home HD capable radio.

While the effort certainly wins points for valiance, it seems way to much like spitting into the wind.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
hes old, hes rich, he knows by now 1260 will never be a ratings or money maker at all, he can afford to do what he likes and pleases.
Click to expand...

Not sure who you copied that has posted similar responses, RadioGuy, but I can assure you that until you are somewhat old, somewhat rich or somewhat someone with decades of smart experience the phrase should be:

"he's old. he's rich and no one that's either of those makes uncalculated moves on a whim and just throws finances too the wind." Saul has a reason and I think it's been mentioned in the other post on this subject. IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY.
Saul may not need it, but he can't stand to have to feed it. It's more competitive and tactical, than just about the money.
 
Tibbs4 said:
Not sure who you copied that has posted similar responses, RadioGuy, but I can assure you that until you are somewhat old, somewhat rich or somewhat someone with decades of smart experience the phrase should be:

"he's old. he's rich and no one that's either of those makes uncalculated moves on a whim and just throws finances too the wind." Saul has a reason and I think it's been mentioned in the other post on this subject. IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY.
Saul may not need it, but he can't stand to have to feed it. It's more competitive and tactical, than just about the money.
Click to expand...

I don't know if that is the only answer.

I mentioned earlier that I put a classical FM on the air in Quito, Ecuador in the later 60's. It was the fifth FM license I had in Quito out of about 20 I got in the whole country. I used three of them to simulcast three of my AM stations, and did a very Latinized Beautiful Music on the fourth. I had no vision for the fifth one, so I did a format for my own satisfaction... one I could pick the music for and not worry about sales. I did not even print a rate card. My other stations were all in the top 5 in their target S/E level (upper, middle and lower) and I was building several new stations a year and needed a station that was fun, not a sales and programming challenge.

I didn't have a Land Rover or a Mercedes... I had my own personal radio station.

Who's to say that Saul is not similarly motivated. Of course, when he built his first station I was 13 and had just started my first part time job so he may have a perspective that I can't imagine. But sometimes, even in business, we do things for fun.
 
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