Mo Kelly show out at KFI

[ILOVERADIO]

You didn't respond at all to what I said about your example of KALL in Salt Lake City. People stopped listening to the station long before it was sold. The station was still all local, and people stopped listening. Why? Explain that to me. They stopped listening, the revenues went down, and they had to cut costs. That's what happens in every business. Not just radio. Why can't you understand that? You can't pay people when the money goes away.



Actually there HAS: They've created podcasts, online content, even streaming services. In fact the digital sources of revenue are growing while broadcasting continues to fall. In some companies, digital now makes more money than broadcasting. Once again, that's why radio companies are diverting resources away from the business losing money to where it's making money. That's how business works.

Broadcasting has no other source of revenue. Radio stations can't add more commercials. They're at the limit, and they know people hate commercials. They can't send people a monthly bill. They can't ask their listeners for their credit card numbers. They can't put their air signal behind a pay wall. But they can online.


Really? What happens when people stop buying radios? What happens when electronics manufacturers stop coming up with fun, exciting radios that make people want to own them, the way they did with the Sony Walkman. That was the last creative radio device that was made. Now people buy phones. Radio companies tried to get the phone manufacturers to activate the FM chip that exists in phones, and they refused. So radio was forced to go online. The FCC didn't step in and require phone makers to activate the FM chip. The FCC didn't mandate HD radio. The FCC forces radio companies to do lots of things the audience doesn't want. Meanwhile digital broadcasting has absolutely no regulation. They can have as many stations as they want. They can broadcast obscenity. They can charge people anything they want. No regulations. And they're thriving, while radio is declining.



They are. They're using NEW MEDIA instead of outdated platforms like AM Radio. You say they're outdated, and you want them to continue spending money on outdated technology. Even NPR is online, where they can say and do what they want and not have to worry about the government shutting them down.



Maybe you don't know this but iHeartRadio owns a streaming platform. It's very popular. As far as I know, the company has no rules that stations can't use video. Most iHeart stations have video in their control rooms. Lots of other companies do the same. As I said, digital revenue is growing while broadcast is declining. At some point, they'll be able to shut down the transmitters and just go online.

Yes. I find IHeart streaming easier to access than Cumulus or Entercom.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

TL;DR?

 

[KilowattKat]

TL;DR?

Too Long, Didn't Read.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Thank you!

 

[KilowattKat]

KFI didn't show up in Radio Researcher's demo rankings for the top 10.

In the 6+ PPM, there was a substantial drop in share from the previous month. 3.6 - 2.9.

And its getting worse 3.6 - 2.9 - 2.7.

It was noted on Radio Insight that this is KFI's lowest share in 6 years.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

And its getting worse 3.6 - 2.9 - 2.7.

It was noted on Radio Insight that this is KFI's lowest share in 6 years.

I just wonder if this is the result of all of the on-air downsizing they have done. Michael Monks is definitely no Steve Gregory...

 

[KilowattKat]

For some reason KFI is only airing the same 4 episodes of Revisionist History over and over. The podcast has over 175 episodes so far. It is mentioned that these are special episodes for iHeart. Why not add additional podcasts or new Malcolm Gladwell episodes?

To allow his kind of repetition to happen is plain sloppy. Robin Bertolucci would never have let something like this slip past her. It's a shame to see KFI management begin to let standards drop this low. The erosion of KFI continues ..

 

[RayydioLA]

The guy who's in for Mo is intelligent but just not that interesting. All this to get union scale talent instead of paying over scale for better talent? Is it worth it in the long run if advertisers eventually leave because the product isn't as good as before?

 

[RayydioLA]

RayydioLA gave us a page-long rant about the content of John Kobylt's program, which is also of dubious relevance to Mo's cancelation, yet you seemed to approve, or at least not take issue with that one.

Uh, it was 9 sentences and fits concisely in about 1/3 of a scrolled internet page on this board. Some dude named "Henry" made several much longer ones. Talk about TLDR.
Also love how you criticized "a full page rant" that really wasn't a full page rant, and then got even more petty with people who asked you to explain yourself and then to calm down. Immaturity at its best on here. Lol.

 

[TheBigA]

The guy who's in for Mo is intelligent but just not that interesting. All this to get union scale talent instead of paying over scale for better talent? Is it worth it in the long run if advertisers eventually leave because the product isn't as good as before?

There's very little demand for advertising after 7PM. That's why most stations run syndication at that time.

The fact that there's someone local there is gift.

 

[radiofan2023]

The guy who's in for Mo is intelligent but just not that interesting. All this to get union scale talent instead of paying over scale for better talent? Is it worth it in the long run if advertisers eventually leave because the product isn't as good as before?

You’re still listening to him, and that’s what KFI’s advertisers care about.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Uh, it was 9 sentences and fits concisely in about 1/3 of a scrolled internet page on this board. Some dude named "Henry" made several much longer ones. Talk about TLDR.
Also love how you criticized "a full page rant" that really wasn't a full page rant, and then got even more petty with people who asked you to explain yourself and then to calm down. Immaturity at its best on here. Lol.

MORE TLDR. Brevity is the soul of wit.

 

[HerbNero]

For some reason KFI is only airing the same 4 episodes of Revisionist History over and over. The podcast has over 175 episodes so far. It is mentioned that these are special episodes for iHeart. Why not add additional podcasts or new Malcolm Gladwell episodes?

To allow his kind of repetition to happen is plain sloppy. Robin Bertolucci would never have let something like this slip past her. It's a shame to see KFI management begin to let standards drop this low. The erosion of KFI continues ..

The guy in charge of changing them out was laid off.

Fact.

Attention to detail is gone at KFI

 

[TheBigA]

The guy in charge of changing them out was laid off.

Fact.

Attention to detail is gone at KFI

The reason behind the scenes people are laid off is so they can still have live & local talent.

Fact.

The amount of money KFI makes is not what it once was. It's not because of staffing.

 

[Ray D. Owe]

The reason behind the scenes people are laid off is so they can still have live & local talent.

Fact.

The amount of money KFI makes is not what it once was. It's not because of staffing.

What’s not because of staffing? I would normally assume, because of your “mocking” of HerbNero’s (accurate) post, that you’re referring to the lack of……you know what? Never mind. I lost interest in what you have to contribute here. To ignored status you go.

 

[TheBigA]

What’s not because of staffing? I would normally assume, because of your “mocking” of HerbNero’s (accurate) post, that you’re referring to the lack of……you know what? Never mind. I lost interest in what you have to contribute here. To ignored status you go.

Ignoring me won't change the fact that radio (and KFI in particular) is making less money, and as a result, stations have less money for staff.

You can't hire people or pay people what they deserve if advertisers are spending less on radio. Unless you have a cure for that, the layoffs will continue.

But I get it. Everybody wants to put their heads in the sand and believe that somehow, radio will find money to do what they want.

If they don't, blame me or blame the owners or blame the government. Blame everybody except the real problem, which is the lack of advertising.

 

[sjs1959]

Ignoring me won't change the fact that radio (and KFI in particular) is making less money, and as a result, stations have less money for staff.

You can't hire people or pay people what they deserve if advertisers are spending less on radio. Unless you have a cure for that, the layoffs will continue.

But I get it. Everybody wants to put their heads in the sand and believe that somehow, radio will find money to do what they want.

If they don't, blame me or blame the owners or blame the government. Blame everybody except the real problem, which is the lack of advertising.

Ok, the billing is good, IIRC, meaning they are bringing in revenue but their profitability is not what it was, so what is causing that? The revenue is ok, so someone has to pay for that, but what part of their outflow is too high? That is the real answer to the question.

 

[TheBigA]

Ok, the billing is good, IIRC, meaning they are bringing in revenue but their profitability is not what it was, so what is causing that? The revenue is ok, so someone has to pay for that, but what part of their outflow is too high? That is the real answer to the question.

Everything is getting more expensive. Talent contracts have escalator clauses, so the talent gets paid more, the rent is higher, utilities are going up, taxes are going up, music royalties, and insurance is through the roof. My ISP cost just doubled. Contrast that with the fact that radio ad revenue everywhere is down. It's not just affecting radio. The layoffs will continue. They have no choice.

 

[michael hagerty]

Ok, the billing is good, IIRC, meaning they are bringing in revenue but their profitability is not what it was, so what is causing that? The revenue is ok, so someone has to pay for that, but what part of their outflow is too high? That is the real answer to the question.

Let me see if I can cut to the chase as an eight-year iHeart employee who got whacked in the January 2020 layoffs:

It's not about making money. It's about protecting a pre-set profit margin.

Their billings, while admirable for an AM station in 2025, are and have been declining.

The costs of doing business continue to grow (inflation and other factors).

It's not that they can't afford to continue to do (name a thing) anymore. It's that they can't do that and maintain the profit margin.

iHeart cut the fat 15 years ago. Everything from that point onward was going to have impacts on the audience experience.

I came up in an era when owners would have been happy with a third of iHeart's profit margin. Those days are long, long, long gone---and given how they ended, I'm willing to bet that a lot of those more "generous, visionary" owners would have gone for the big margin if they'd thought of it and thought they could get away with it.

The only way this works differently is for iHeart to say "we'll just give up and make lower and lower profit margins every year until we bottom out". They won't do that and they can't. They have a fiduciary responsibility to protect shareholder value.

 

[TheBigA]

iHeart cut the fat 15 years ago. Everything from that point onward was going to have impacts on the audience experience.

That's exactly right. At some point, they will HAVE to cut one of the daytime hosts. That's what they're trying not to do. But they're all getting older, and at some point, that will take care of itself, if you know what I mean.

At the same time, the audience itself has been declining. Hiring more staff won't get people to stop using their phones and instead use radios.

The only way this works differently is for iHeart to say "we'll just give up and make lower and lower profit margins every year until we bottom out". They won't do that and they can't. They have a fiduciary responsibility to protect shareholder value.

We're still talking about a company that hasn't made a profit in over 15 years. So cutting the "profit margin" in one of their best markets means the overall company suffers. That's when they have to consider shutting down all the markets that are being kept afloat by the major markets. They don't want to do that because it hurts their "national" business.