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KITS 105.3 Stunting... Return of Live 105?
- Thread starter AceBiscuits
- Start date
Does Disney, or one of its subsidiaries like ABC, own 900 Front? If yes, what you say is absolutely true. But if not, KRON/Nexstar is leasing their space on the 3rd floor from the owner/landlord, while *also* subleasing excess capacity (in the form of said TV studio) directly from Disney/ABC. Or Disney leases the entire building and the KRON deal is a sublease off their lease.KRON most certainly did get studio space at 900 Front. There were two big TV studios on the ground floor there for KGO-TV, one of which is rented out to KRON as its studio.
Site of the Week 7/17/2015: More San Francisco, 2014
Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH One of the things we most enjoy doing here at Site of the Weekwww.fybush.com
Actually, I would, too!
Note, though, that they're not talking about bringing back people like Steve Masters or Big Rick Stuart.
@michael hagerty , do you remember when KCBS moved from One Embarcadero Center to Battery Street? I don't remember, myself, but I think this would be the second newsroom move in the past decade. I would think that a newsroom move would be one of the tougher moves for a radio (or TV) station to make. Yes, it can be done, but there are lots of things that could go wrong.
On the other hand, 88 Kearny is a pretty good location unless you have to park a car.
KCBS has been at 855 Battery a lot longer than ten years. Late 90s, I think, after the 1995 Westinghouse/CBS merger.
ABC bought 900 Front in 1981 and spent four years remodeling it before it moved KGO AM & TV there from 277 Golden Gate.
They'd be crazy to be paying rent for 42 years. KRON, on the other hand, had just been bought taken over by Media General, a company that probably couldn't have built a television facility in San Francisco at the time (ten years ago).
Newsroom moves can be tricky---the station I work for is about to do one later this year.
It can also be an opportunity (and we're taking this route) to ditch a lot of old gear and start with fresh equipment and systems in the new place. The major upside to that is the ability to do training and dry runs to work out glitches before the studios go live while continuing to broadcast from the current site.
I spent the day in the KCBS newsroom as the guest of the PD in late 2015 and pretty much everything there apart from the computers seemed like it dated back to the late 90s---so maybe they took that approach when they moved in from Embarcadero Center.
Given that they'll have spent about the same amount of time at Battery as they did at Embarcadero (27 years at Embarcadero Center, 26 at Battery if they move next year), maybe they'll do the same when they move to 88 Kearny.
That comment got at least one laugh, but I'm not kidding. Wanna be in the same building? Space is available:
https://marketplace.vts.com/building/88-kearny-street-san-francisco-ca
The 21-stall parking garage is not the big deal the listing makes it sound like for a 21-story building. There was a time when KCBS would have eaten that with company vehicles all by itself.
Live105’s ratings weren’t terrible for a decade, they did acceptable up until maybe 2014/2015, and then they made the very odd choice to re-brand an iconic signal, while also stepping back on some of the staff. These ratings are available via way back machine.
After 2015, The station lost some what made it unique and its audience was already being tugged to the increasingly popular streaming services. Fast forward to today, those services are seeing declines as people use free alternatives, such as Spotify’s ad supported sides. Radio has stabilized as the pandemic’s affect on our lives has stabilized and is no longer declining (it’s on a relatively healthy trend based on what I have read from sources such as Forbes.
Live 105 was not like the failure of KFOG. Go to the San Francisco Reddit and look at the interest garnered from its revival.
There is no shame in acknowledging its shortcomings or the format having its issues. Live 105’s revival is a mix of the 2000’s to today with a select few classics tossed in. It is not the same Live 105 when it began to decline, it is not based on an alternative format copy pasted on the national level with no direction. And as a listener who’s got it stuck on my dial, it’s evolving in just the short time since it’s returned.
Side note; anyone who listens to this can compares to DaveFM and see they’re already having a lot more success booking ads.
Live105’s advertisements are normal, healthy and they’ve quickly found plenty of interested folks. They’ve increased how often they do them and it doesn’t seem to have the set schedule for its first week. They’re also already hosting a concert, so they’re clearly doing something right…
Hosting a concert is not an indicator of success, it's a promotional tool intended to attract a larger audience.
Maybe. They really can't sell actual ads for the station until they have documented audience figures, and that won't be for a few more months. The spots you're hearing now may be left over from Dave. Or they might be spots sold at an early discount with the thought that when they get ratings, they will justify the price.
It's not, but given that car-haters are firmly in control of San Francisco transportation policy, it still could be considered a selling point. It is convenient to BART and MUNI, but BART's future is looking shaky right now, even with additional state subsidies. MUNI is doing somewhat better.
I've said that San Francisco is actually not a difficult city to drive in - I admit you have to account for streetcars and trolley buses, but that just means paying attention to your driving, which is something that should be done anyway - but the hard part is finding parking once you get to your destination.
I'm with you---I'm fine driving in SF. Parking is another matter.
My point is not so much the parking as it would pertain to another client, but to a radio cluster. Again, KCBS alone would have killed all 21 slots with company cars a few years back.
Come to think of it, though, 855 Battery is parking-challenged, too. KPIX live vans are frequently parked on the street around the building during the day so crews can get to them quickly.
Thus far I find the music good. The Imagining needs to be more snappy and uptempo i.e. "Good times and cool music on Live 105 !"
96.5 Jack FM however plays the harder alternative and rock too though they also play some Classic Hip Hop since KUBE isn’t in Seattle anymore. I think Jack FM in Seattle plays more grunge than most adult hits stations considering grunge is a niche there.
I know we're 19 pages into this thread. But do we have a breakdown of whether we can call the new Live 105 a Classic Alternative station that also plays some current and recent titles? Or is it a current alternative station that's willing to go back 25 or more years for some Classic Alternative titles?
XETRA-FM 91X San Diego decided to concentrate mostly on Classic Alternative and found better ratings not competing head on with iHeart's current-based KYSR. Salt Lake City has an all-Classic Alternative station, 103.1 KLO-FM. It also avoids competing directly with current-based KXRK 96.3.
Is KITS trying to straddle current-based and classic alternative at the same time? Can one station please both audiences?
XETRA-FM 91X San Diego decided to concentrate mostly on Classic Alternative and found better ratings not competing head on with iHeart's current-based KYSR. Salt Lake City has an all-Classic Alternative station, 103.1 KLO-FM. It also avoids competing directly with current-based KXRK 96.3.
Is KITS trying to straddle current-based and classic alternative at the same time? Can one station please both audiences?
No, and I think that was the point I was trying to make on page 2 of this thread. It becomes Goldilocks syndrome, where there's not enough new music to please the people who want currents, and the currents disrupt the classic alt that the older audience wants. Looking at how other stations handle it, the majority of the music is familiar alt from the past 25 or so years, with maybe a dozen currents. But as you say, the better ratings will likely come from classic alt.
What I see is 20 currents, with Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, and Fall Out Boy as most played, and the rest classic, with a 350 song playlist.
The answer may be more of a qualified yes. Most people listening to FM radio these days are old enough to have grown up with those classic songs, and the type of person who is attracted to the alternative format probably still appreciates at least some new music. So, the 25 years of familiar alt with a few currents formula is a pretty safe bet.
Speaking for myself as an Alternative fan, if there were two stations in town -- one focused on currents and the other one playing classic alt -- I'd have both on my presets and gravitate toward the one playing more new music. But if there were just one alt station in town playing mostly older familiar songs with just occasional currents, I'd still listen to it.
Would I be "pleased' with it? Meh...but it would still likely be my first preset by default.
I only listen to KITS, it’s pretty down the middle. Some of the older “classics” make me flip the dial, like I have zero clue why “No Doubt” is on an alternative station. Really silly there. They seem to be increasingly trending to songs released after the 20th century. I looked up today’s songs so far and placed it all together and the average song age was 2012.
Maybe. The songs that get played the most are 21st century. Then throw in one spin of Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones from 1976. That's probably the oldest song in the list. I also saw one spin of Hurt by Johnny Cash. That's pretty creative.
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