KEXP Buys KREV

[michael hagerty]

So---thanks to David's WorldRadioHistory-dot-com, I found the story in R&R: Basically, KGO-FM was able to simulcast KGO-AM 42 hours a week. 5-9 a.m. for Dunbar and Wygant, 4-6 p.m. for the afternoon news and 6-8 p.m. for the first two hours of Ronn Owens.

The rest of the hours were ABC Talkradio (Owen Spann, Dr. Irene Kassorla, Michael Jackson, Dr. Toni Grant, Ira Fistell, Ray Briem).

 

[michael hagerty]

It's about a British sailor stationed in Kingston, Jamaica, where he fell in love. The insinuation is that he has been called to fight the Americans and must leave the girl behind.

Wonder if it's the same girl Harry Belafonte hated to leave in "Jamaica Farewell"?

(that sound is Kelly's head exploding)

 

[Mark Roberts]

Wonder if it's the same girl Harry Belafonte hated to leave in "Jamaica Farewell"?

(that sound is Kelly's head exploding)

Might make a good set for a KEXP DJ.

(A-ha!!!!! Rescued!!!!!)

 

[michael hagerty]

So, anyway...

 

[cc333]

I'm gonna do it again....

It's about a British sailor stationed in Kingston, Jamaica, where he fell in love. The insinuation is that he has been called to fight the Americans and must leave the girl behind.

That's always been one of my favorite songs.

The percentage of people who think Springsteen's "Born in the USA" is a patriotic anthem is wayyyyy too high.

This may be sacrilegious, but I don't care much for Bruce Springsteen, I think his music is overrated, and I don't particularly like his voice.

Might make a good set for a KEXP DJ.

(A-ha!!!!! Rescued!!!!!)

So, anyway...

Famous last words....

c

 

[Mark Roberts]

This may be sacrilegious, but I don't care much for Bruce Springsteen, I think his music is overrated, and I don't particularly like his voice.

If Springsteen wasn't one of post-1982 KFOG's core artists, he must have been pretty close, though they'd be "playing the hits", so to speak. Except for 10 @ 10, KFOG didn't really go out on a limb for anything. KEXP might go deeper and bring some more obscure tracks to light.

I don't think KEXP (KEXC) is going to be a KFOG replacement, which I think will be a good thing, though there will certainly be overlap in audiences.

 

[e-dawg]

Speaking of KGO-FM 103.7 back then in the 80s. Why did ABC sold the FM signal? Did ABC regret selling 103.7FM and keep 810AM?

 

[TheBigA]

Speaking of KGO-FM 103.7 back then in the 80s. Why did ABC sold the FM signal? Did ABC regret selling 103.7FM and keep 810AM?

That's an interesting question. I did some research and discovered that at the time, KGO-FM was the absolute lowest rated station in San Francisco. It got a .9 share. On the one hand, KGO-AM was #1. On the other, KGO-FM was #30. They were running ABC Talkradio syndicated programming.

ARBITRON RADIO San Francisco KGO Strengthens Grip On First As KCBS Slips; KSAN Surges Into Fourth; KITS Becomes A Factor Winter '83 Spring '83 KGO (Talk) 7.2 8.6 KCBS (N/T) 6.3 5.1 KFRC (CHR) 4.1 4.2 KSAN (Ctry) 3.3 4.1 KNBR (AC) 3.0 3.6 KARL -FM (BM) 4.0 3.2 KSFO (AC) 2.1 3.2 KYUU (CHR) 3.7 3.2 KABL (BM) 3.0 3.1 KIOI (AC) 3.5 3.1 KSOL (Urbn) 3.2 3.1 KOIT (Easy) 3.2 2.9 KNEW (Ctry) 2.9 2.7 KBLX (Urbn) 3.3 2.6 KDIA (Blk) 2.4 2.4 KIQI (Span) 1.1 2.3 KMEL (AOR) 2.1 2.3 KRQR (AOR) 2.3 2.2 KSJO (AOR) 2.2 2.2 KITS (CHR) .8 2.0 KQAK (AOR) 1.2 1.9 KBAY (BM) 2.3 1.8 KDFC (Clas) 1.4 1.6 KLOK (AC) 1.6 1.4 KKHI-FM (Clas) 1.4 1.3 KOME (AOR) 1.6 1.3 KYA (Gold) 2.3 1.3 KEZR (AC) 1.1 1.2 KEEN (Ctry) 1.0 1.1 KLHT (AC) 1.0 1.1 KGO-FM (Talk) .9 1.0

 

[BossRadioDJ]

...pining for the fjords

Mark,

Everything you wrote in your post was excellent and well thought out, but – for those of us who understood your reference to "pining for the fjords" – you achieved a higher level. I am now willing to kill for you.

I wasn't before, but now I am. Just say the word, and you may consider it as good as done.

With utmost respect,

DJ

 

[BossRadioDJ]

I have a silver foil poster from the beautiful music era of KFOG.

I have a helmet made from the same material. Keeps out spurious RF like no one's business.

DJ

 

[Weiserguy]

Wonder if it's the same girl Harry Belafonte hated to leave in "Jamaica Farewell"?

(that sound is Kelly's head exploding)

Ooh, ooh, Youtube video? Pleeze?

 

[Weiserguy]

So---thanks to David's WorldRadioHistory-dot-com, I found the story in R&R: Basically, KGO-FM was able to simulcast KGO-AM 42 hours a week. 5-9 a.m. for Dunbar and Wygant, 4-6 p.m. for the afternoon news and 6-8 p.m. for the first two hours of Ronn Owens.

The rest of the hours were ABC Talkradio (Owen Spann, Dr. Irene Kassorla, Michael Jackson, Dr. Toni Grant, Ira Fistell, Ray Briem).

I was "on the beach" in Seattle* in May-August of '82, just ahead of starting a new job in San Jose. So I became part of that 0.9 thud that KGO-FM landed with in the fall book.

A few notes: (1) Owen Spann led off Talkradio's day with a 7-9 AM PT (10-Noon ET) program, then moved across the hall and did two more local hours (9-11 AM PT) on KGO-AM. KGO-FM did *not* air Spann's 7-9 AM segment, as it was in simulcast mode until 9:06.

(2) New York not only wanted Spann to be the lead-off for Talkradio's schedule, but also to be on the east coast and originate the program at WABC. (6-10AM ET was the local Ross & Wilson show, a holdover from their last days as a music station.) So they pressured Spann to relocate to NYC, a place he'd never lived previously, and give up his #1 show on KGO. (Which became Ronn Owens' timeslot.) Again, Spann's Talkradio show did not air on KGO-FM because of the Morning News simulcast. Eventually they worked out a deal so Spann could do 11-Noon PT each day for KGO-AM remotely from a WABC studio. That arrangement lasted about a year, maybe two, after which Spann "retired" to Palm Springs.**

(3) Irene Kassorla was part of the original rundown of Talkradio, but if I remember correctly, she didn't last long. Also, her program "originated" from KABC between 9-11 AM PT, but it didn't air locally in L.A., since it conflicted with Michael Jackson's local hours. (IIRC he did four hours a day, two local and the other two national over the Talkradio bird.) I don't recall who replaced her. Possibly David Viscott or Judith Kuriansky?

* In Seattle and environs, "on the beach" means freezing thine royal ass off, except possibly in August and September.

** Owen Spann, it turns out, had not been a healthy man, and pushing him to move to NYC did him no favors. He didn't last too many more years after that.

 

[michael hagerty]

Speaking of KGO-FM 103.7 back then in the 80s. Why did ABC sold the FM signal? Did ABC regret selling 103.7FM and keep 810AM?

I'm sure at some point ABC did regret that---but they really didn't know what to do with the signal. It was too early to consider moving KGO to FM, and the poor performance of the simulcast/Talkradio wouldn't have made a strong case for doing it.

An FCC decision allowing the resumption of full simulcasts was years in the future---may not even have been on the radar at that point.

San Francisco was the one market where the album rock format they ran in other markets didn't work---in fact, it failed twice.

They did well with dance music in the 70s, but KSOL ultimately ate their lunch and was dominant by 1983, when they made the decision to sell. And CHR was not really an option as both KYUU and K-101 sort of eased themselves into that space from their original AC formats, and Mike Joseph was doing Hot Hits on KITS.

Bill Weaver offered them $5.5 million and they took it.

I don't know if they put it on the market or if Bill (who did such things) just cold-called and made them an offer.

 

[michael hagerty]

Mark,

Everything you wrote in your post was excellent and well thought out, but – for those of us who understood your reference to "pining for the fjords" – you achieved a higher level. I am now willing to kill for you.

I wasn't before, but now I am. Just say the word, and you may consider it as good as done.

With utmost respect,

DJ

Mark, I've met him. He's serious. He'll not only kill for you, he'll buy you lunch.









I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a Cowpoke Radio T-shirt, though.....

 

[michael hagerty]

Irene Kassorla was part of the original rundown of Talkradio, but if I remember correctly, she didn't last long. Also, her program "originated" from KABC between 9-11 AM PT, but it didn't air locally in L.A., since it conflicted with Michael Jackson's local hours. (IIRC he did four hours a day, two local and the other two national over the Talkradio bird.) I don't recall who replaced her. Possibly David Viscott or Judith Kuriansky?

I listened fairly regularly to Talkradio on its Reno affiliate (my brain is fighting with itself---I think KOH was entirely local, but I can't remember anyone else doing talk at the time). Jackson did four hours ( 9-11 Pacific for Talknet, 11-1 for KABC).

Viscott replaced Kassorla, and you're right---it happened pretty quickly.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm sure at some point ABC did regret that---but they really didn't know what to do with the signal.

The irony is the man running ABC Radio at this time was Ed McLaughlin, former GM of KGO. He knew the market, but his head was obsessed with talk. In 1984, one year after selling KGO-FM, Ed discovered Rush Limbaugh in Sacramento, and put him on WABC New York. The rest is history. I doubt Ed had second thoughts about selling KGO-FM.

ABC never again owned an FM in San Francisco. They had many opportunities. NBC sold KYUU to Emmis in 1988. Emmis then sold it to Alliance, who then sold it to Infinity. ABC didn't buy many radio stations. In fact, when the ownership rules loosened in 1996, and everyone else was buying radio stations, ABC was the one company that sat on the sidelines. By then, they were owned by the Walt Disney Company, and they were more interested in selling the whole radio division.

 

[radiofan2023]

This is a great (and sad) article on David Viscott - it says he started out filling in for Toni Grant after the PD of KABC, Wally Sherwin, heard him on Michael Jackson's KABC show: The David Viscott You Didn't Know

 

[michael hagerty]

I doubt Ed had second thoughts about selling KGO-FM.

Ed and I had mutual friends. He didn't, but I'm sure his successors at some point did. They had to deal with having a standalone AM.

At the same time, like RKO and 106.1, you can't justify keeping a money loser for decades just for the right moment you don't know will ever come.

 

[TheBigA]

Ed and I had mutual friends. He didn't, but I'm sure his successors at some point did. They had to deal with having a standalone AM.

It wasn't actually a standalone AM. They also owned KGO-TV. Then around 1994, they got a waiver from the FCC to buy KSFO. So in fact they had two AMs and a TV. When they sold the radio division in 2006, those were the two stations in San Francisco. The only reason Cumulus owns two FMs is because they bought Susquehanna before buying Citadel.

 

[michael hagerty]

It wasn't actually a standalone AM. They also owned KGO-TV. Then around 1994, they got a waiver from the FCC to buy KSFO. So in fact they had two AMs and a TV. When they sold the radio division in 2006, those were the two stations in San Francisco. The only reason Cumulus owns two FMs is because they bought Susquehanna before buying Citadel.

Yeah, I know---but the TV (other than branding) didn't really support the AM, either with revenue (separate divisions run by separate managers) or a place to transition as AM got weaker.

As for the KSFO deal:

"First prize, a stand-alone AM in 1994. Second prize, two AMs in 1994."