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NEW CONSERVATIVE TALK STATION

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radioislife2020

Today it was announced that KYST will soon be Houston's new conservative talk station. I would probably say 920 is a pretty solid signal. Can Houston handle 4 or 5 stations with a similar format? Who does it best?
The Patriot soon on the air!
 

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radioislife2020 said:
Today it was announced that KYST will soon be Houston's new conservative talk station. I would probably say 920 is a pretty solid signal. Can Houston handle 4 or 5 stations with a similar format? Who does it best?
The Patriot soon on the air!
Click to expand...

no... 5 is 4, almost 5 too many
 
radioislife2020 said:
Today it was announced that KYST will soon be Houston's new conservative talk station. I would probably say 920 is a pretty solid signal. Can Houston handle 4 or 5 stations with a similar format? Who does it best?
The Patriot soon on the air!
Click to expand...
It's 10 mV/m does not even get as far north as the city of Houston, and covers about 40% of the market population with what the ITU considers, today, to be the minimum urban area signal. At night it is far worse, covering less than 30% of the market population.

KYST is to KTRH what RC Cola is to Coke.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It's 10 mV/m does not even get as far north as the city of Houston, and covers about 40% of the market population with what the ITU considers, today, to be the minimum urban area signal. At night it is far worse, covering less than 30% of the market population.

KYST is to KTRH what RC Cola is to Coke.
Click to expand...
Might me taking it to far .. After all it was a station that kept its format for over 40 years. At one point it was the Beatles' 920 station. Guess we shall see if they have a fighting chance.
 
radioislife2020 said:
Might me taking it to far .. After all it was a station that kept its format for over 40 years. At one point it was the Beatles' 920 station. Guess we shall see if they have a fighting chance.
Click to expand...
An AM station with a partial market signal has no chance at all.
 
Caramba! Where's my Tex Mex?

I wonder if someone has a trademark on The Patriot as a radio format. Most of the ones I know are owned by Salem, although iHeart and Cumulus use the name. They tend to be all syndicated conservative talk with no ratings.
 
TheBigA said:
Caramba! Where's my Tex Mex?

I wonder if someone has a trademark on The Patriot as a radio format. Most of the ones I know are owned by Salem, although iHeart and Cumulus use the name. They tend to be all syndicated conservative talk with no ratings.
Click to expand...
SiriusXM uses Patriot for its conservative talk channel, Progress for its liberal channel. They used to be "Patriot" and "Left," but I'd imagine they might have gotten blowback on the implication that one can only be a patriot if one is a right winger. Of course, conservatives today might dispute the notion that they're unequivocally against progress, too.
 
DavidEduardo said:
An AM station with a partial market signal has no chance at all.
Click to expand...
Well, this is not the format reveal that many of us were expecting today.😵😵‍💫😖

David is right about the KYST signal, it is badly inadequate. Much of the market is 50 to 70 miles from the transmitter. Extremely limited night coverage. The Radio-Locator maps on this one are way too generous.

This will likely die a quick death, followed by Spanish language religion, or turning in the license.

Is there any official announcement posted anywhere?
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Well, this is not the format reveal that many of us were expecting today.😵😵‍💫😖

David is right about the KYST signal, it is badly inadequate. Much of the market is 50 to 70 miles from the transmitter. Extremely limited night coverage. The Radio-Locator maps on this one are way too generous.
Click to expand...

Why anyone bothers with radio-locator at all is beyond me. It's like the line some newspapers inserted in their horoscope columns, "these columns are provided for entertainment only".
Mediafrog+ said:
This will likely die a quick death, followed by Spanish language religion, or turning in the license.
Click to expand...
Even 37 years ago, it was a marginal station. Daytime was halfway decent in the Montrose but there was not much of it at night. The most attention it ever got was for the all-Beatles stunt, and that only lasted about a year.

I have a tape from 1986 where the station was alternating two Spanish-language songs in various genres with an English-language song. I'm not sure what the game was there.

It probably would have been a little better off positioning itself as a Galveston station, but the lure of the big city always awaits.
 
johndavis said:
Brokered programming doesn't require listeners, it just requires someone who wants to get a show cleared in Houston to pay cash up front.
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If someone wants to run their programming as a charitable act, then, whatever. Economic considerations fly out the window at that point.
 
Did the finally fix the transmitter? From 10/13 STA

"The Station has been operating with reduced day and night power due to unknown issues
with the transmitter. The Station has been operating at 20% licensed power during the day and
50% at night since September 19, 2023. Additionally, the Station is experiencing issues with the
day and night arrays that are causing the Station to operate out-of-pattern. Licensee has ordered a
new main transmitter and has retained consulting engineers to troubleshoot the pattern issues.
They are currently scheduled to visit the site on October 9, 2023. Licensee expects to have a better
sense of timing following that visit and will work diligently to resume licensed operations as soon
as possible"
 
radioislife2020 said:
Today it was announced that KYST will soon be Houston's new conservative talk station. I would probably say 920 is a pretty solid signal. Can Houston handle 4 or 5 stations with a similar format? Who does it best?
The Patriot soon on the air!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I suspect they will affiliate with one of the B-Grade satellite distribution networks (Westwood One, Salem, Genesis, etc.) which only requires a signature on a contract to clear a market, a commitment to air their numerous national spots, and the ability to take advantage of the fewer local avails.

But here's the rub. Filling the broadcast day with halfway decent programming that people would probably listen to is the easy part. The hard part is generating money to pay the taxes on the tower site, the utilities, the insurance, the salaries for the management, salesman, engineer, and janitor. Not to mention the licensing and regulatory fees. That means you actually have to sell and populate those local avails. I've seen many in my career who can do the easy part, but fail to do the hard part. The end result is the same.

I don't know if the Houston market can support another Conservative/Republican radio station. Isn't the market beyond saturated now? Not every advertiser wants to affiliate with a Conservative News/Talk station, and the pie can only be cut so many ways. But I'm willing to sit back and see what happens. Maybe I'll be surprised. Maybe they can put KTRH out of business.

There's one thing of which I'm absolutely certain. Whatever they air, even Beatleradio KBTL Number Nine, is certainly better than listening to an endless loop repeating a message begging for someone, anyone to purchase brokered time of their station.
 
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