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KEXP Buys KREV

T

TheBigA

This was a big surprise to me. The Friends of KEXP, owners of a AAA station in Seattle, were the winning bidders for KREV Alameda.

www.insideradio.com

Three Bidders Emerge Victorious In Bankruptcy Auction Of Royce International Stations.

A half dozen bidders showed up for the bankruptcy court auction Thursday to sell the Royce International Broadcasting stations, and when the proverbial gavel came down the bids for the
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

They will likely bring the AAA format back to San Francisco. The format has been missing since KFOG flipped to KNBR-FM. I'm expecting it to become non-commercial, as is KEXP. The question is if they'll hire local staff, or use as satellite of KEXP. I expect they will. KEXP is well-funded, and is often top-rated in Seattle.
 
I suppose if Classical KUSC can buy up other stations around California for its classical format (KDFC San Francisco, KDB Santa Barbara), The Friends of KEXP can buy another station on the West Coast and give it a non-commercial, listener-supported AAA format.

For a change, an available frequency in a major city is NOT going to a Christian broadcaster.
 
Gregg. said:
For a change, an available frequency in a major city is NOT going to a Christian broadcaster.
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Rather surprising VCY didn’t get (back) KREV along with its other winning station bids. Maybe they were surprised at the aggressiveness of the KEXP offer, or are perhaps saving their money for an acquisition elsewhere. We’re keeping an eye on VCY here in Houston; they could be a player for KROI should that station‘s sale to SBS implode.
 
Whether this is a first step or an experiment remains to be seen.

The KEXP approach is different than the approach KFOG took. KFOG was a commercial station, always using consultants, and had less variety than its on-air slogans promised. It also could be inconsistent in its approach to music - again, other than sloganeering. It was most notable for its personalities, the daily "10 @ 10", "Live from the Archives", and other features. It was also very adept at social media, at least in the earlier days of social media, as exemplified by the "Fogheads". Aside from the commercial aspects, these are all characteristics that KEXP will need to reflect or even replicate in order to succeed. The previous statement, of course, makes assumptions about how KEXP is defining success. KEXP could define success as launching a new station in a new market - or it could define success as a modest extension of -its audience base that enables it to get a bit more revenue. Picking up a class A FM that doesn't have anywhere near full-market coverage makes me lean toward the latter definition right now. "What about streaming?", you might ask. Then KREV adds nothing new to the ensemble. There has to be more to it than that, and could augur for at least some separate programming. At this moment I would imagine that KEXP would be spending some effort in figuring out next steps, assuming that the sale is approved by the court.

There are enough cultural similarities between urban Seattle and urban San Francisco/Berkeley/Oakland that a repeater might work. That's probably not the most desirable outcome, but it is the most economical one. That formula, though, isn't likely to go far from the West Coast. On the other hand, can 92.7 sustain itself economically given the limited coverage area?

With all respect to the folks at Bonneville, I don't think "Highway 1 Radio" is going to be much of a factor in these considerations.

I could say "let the speculation begin" but I think that's the motto of Radio Discussions.
 
TheBigA said:
I'm sure people will point out the signal issues. I don't think it reaches Marin, and is primarily a city signal.
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Looks like it gets to Mill Valley and Sausalito and maybe San Rafael. But certainly not much of Marin.

Flying Bear (Energy) was very explicit in targeting a San Francisco audience, mostly out of necessity.
 
TheBigA said:
I'm sure people will point out the signal issues. I don't think it reaches Marin, and is primarily a city signal.
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It is indeed a horrible signal. Not all the way down the peninsula, no San Jose signal and only the closest areas of East Bay.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It is indeed a horrible signal. Not all the way down the peninsula, no San Jose signal and only the closest areas of East Bay.
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[Edit to add this - ] It looks like the station's best coverage is in the bay. COL is Alameda so there must be a certain level of coverage there.

[Another edit - Leavenworth & Jones streets run parallel; the original 92.7 site was the apartment building at Leavenworth & Green]

It might have done a little better in Marin from the old Leavenworth site than it does now. Flying Bear also briefly tried Sutro, but the ERP had to be racheted down, and all sorts of coverage problems resulted even close-in, according to what the late Eric Weaver told me.

I don't know why KREV moved to the site near Candlestick. This was after Stolz took it over.

There's no San Jose signal; moreover, it's short-spaced to 93.3 KRZZ so any moves are limited; it doesn't make it over the Berkeley and Oakland hills (there is a bit of signal in Orinda but that's it) ... though one wonders if Alpha might be amenable to a splash of cash for 92.1 Walnut Creek.

92.3 San Jose was a super-power signal until Clear Channel put together the 92.1-92.3-92.7 trimulcast in the late 1990s and had to reduce the 92.3 coverage area due to overlap with 92.7.
 
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It's perfect format for the Bay Area especially the areas that KREV will be serving. I know the north bay has 95.9 The Krush. As for the non commercial listener support AAA format. Didn't KCRW 89.9 buy a radio station (KERW 101.3) for the San Luis Obispo market? Also, I think they tried to buy 88.9 KUSP Santa Cruz, but their were outbid by EMF by a merely $5,000 ($605,000 vs $600,000).
 
e-dawg said:
Didn't KCRW 89.9 buy a radio station (KERW 101.3) for the San Luis Obispo market?
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However, KERW airs the "Eclectic 24" format that is on HD-2 channels of other KCRW stations. It is more of a cross between lounge-lizard music and newer AAA, generally avoiding anything too familiar. The broadcast of Eclectic 24 rather than a straight-up simulcast of KCRW may be to avoid conflicts with San Luis Obispo's KCBX, which is a longstanding NPR member station for San Luis Obispo and southern Monterey counties.
 
Mark Roberts said:
Picking up a class A FM that doesn't have anywhere near full-market coverage makes me lean toward the latter definition right now. "What about streaming?", you might ask. Then KREV adds nothing new to the ensemble. There has to be more to it than that, and could augur for at least some separate programming. At this moment I would imagine that KEXP would be spending some effort in figuring out next steps, assuming that the sale is approved by the court.
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I don't know their plan either but it seems to make sense to me to use KREV's OTA signal to introduce their format localized to the market and then drive their listeners to streaming and their own app/web site.

It's a tough battle but maybe if they could cultivate a community around the station, get themselves involved in a lot of local events, and don't just use the signal as a repeater of their station up north they have a chance.
 
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