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Changes Afoot at KKGO-FM HD3?
- Thread starter Joey1986
- Start date
It changed at midnight on New Year's Day to an all Beatles station. I can't remember if Saul has had an all Beatles station in the past. He's changed so many times until I simply cannot remember all the different format changes over the years.
He had an all-Beatles format on his AM at 1260 (then KGIL) for the first eight months of 1997.
Splash page with photo of "The Beatles" Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star:
No additional links embedded.
No additional links embedded.
Looks like KKGO-HD4 has adopted the "Surf" branding with Smooth Jazz as well...
The Surf 105.1 HD4
ksurf.org
It sure is. Incidentally, way back in the 90s when Saul tried All Beatles radio on 1260, KUSC's Rich Caparella actually had a live gig on 1260 for a time and said on the air that the new format drew the highest ratings "this frequency has had in many years". Not sure if that was really true, always wanted to ask him about that..anyway, the All Beatles on HD-3 is a nice "curiosity". I'm pretty sure though that any "all single artist" type station has a very quick listener burn-out factor. Stations have tried all Beatles, all Elvis, all Sinatra, etc and never seem to last very long.
In this day and age though "All Beatles" might make for a nice "musak". Sadly, unlike KKGOs HD-1,2, and 4 which are stereo. Any format presented on HD-3 over the years has always been Mono. Never heard any tech reason as to why??
The only format close to this that I ever really liked was many moons ago when KLOS would have an "All Beatles, Stones, Doors, and Hendrix" weekend,. Sometimes playing 15 min blocks of each artist.
The all-Beatles format on 1260 began January 1, 1997 and ended July 19 of the same year. Spring, 1997 would have been the only complete rating book and they did not get a 1.0 share (which was the cutoff for the R&R ratings directories). @Huff might have the numbers below that.
Ultimately, though, Caparella's comment, if true, says more about how bad 1260's ratings were before the all-Beatles format than how good they were during it---and how long it had been since the station had a number worth talking about.
If I'm not mistaken, 1260 hasn't had a whole number since the mid-1970s. In the fall of '80, they were at a 0.4.
AM 1260 did not register at all in 1997, it hasn't registered a 1.0 or greater on its own since the Fall 1973. Its largest share ever was a 2.2 in 1967.
Thanks, @Huff .
The thing is that there was still enough of a business in local direct advertising in the San Fernando Valley that KGIL could actually be okay with no meaningful number in the L.A. book for quite a few years.
Eventually, though---being "The Valley's Station" wasn't enough.
As I've mentioned on other threads: in the 60s if you were an adult such as my parents in the SFV, and you weren't listening to KMPC or KFI you were listening to KGIL. For so many that was their local station- It sounded great with Major Market talent.
Yeah. And as early as the late 60s, the valley had a population of more than a million. If L.A. weren't there, it would have been a major market on its own---bigger than San Diego at the time. So, as long as there was an audience that wanted a local station, and an advertiser base that would support it, KGIL did well enough to make a profit and pay guys like Sweet Dick Whittington.
HD1 = Go Country 105
HD2 = K-Mozart (Classical)
HD3 = K-Beatle (All Beatles)
HD4 = The Surf (Smooth Jazz with some vocals too)
Surprising that Oldies K-Surf is gone, as it has been the most successful format of all the HD formats that have aired on 105.1 since the launch of the HD digital subchannels in 2011. I suspect management at Mount Wilson presumes that mixing in some vocals into the Smooth Jazz format of the similarly named "The Surf" suffices for keeping the oldies DNA alive.
HD2 = K-Mozart (Classical)
HD3 = K-Beatle (All Beatles)
HD4 = The Surf (Smooth Jazz with some vocals too)
Surprising that Oldies K-Surf is gone, as it has been the most successful format of all the HD formats that have aired on 105.1 since the launch of the HD digital subchannels in 2011. I suspect management at Mount Wilson presumes that mixing in some vocals into the Smooth Jazz format of the similarly named "The Surf" suffices for keeping the oldies DNA alive.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Given the lack of commercials on any of the subchannels, I have to ask what your basis is for calling any of them "successful".
By actually appearing in the ratings book. The others never seem to rise above a 0.0. The cherished K-Mozart does, but presumably because it also is aired on 1260 AM as well as the 98.3 FM booster in the SF Valley.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
This would be where either @davideduardo or myself point out that any stream (or station, for that matter) with less than a 1.0 could actually be a 0.0 when the wobble is factored in.
And since I just did that, he doesn't need to.
Oh that is easy (for me). If I am listening, it is successful.
Any other metrics including (and especially) profitability are for others to worry about.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
And that "for me" qualifier means you don't have to worry about the rest of the market, other than the rest of those pesky listeners not being enough to save the format you like.
Sounds reasonable enough to me, as a personal metric.
Updating my earlier Post #4 in this thread:
Web page (same address as before but with original splash page replaced by a "K-Beatles 105.1 FM HD3" logo + photo:
Now includes an embedded Listen Live link + links to separate apps for smartphones.
***** ***** *****
Direct streaming address (128 kbps, 44.1 kHz, AAC, Stereo): >http://47.179.46.169:8000< (copy + paste for media players)
***** ***** *****
Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc. main webpage with all four stations listed - all have Listen Live links included within their individual websites:
Web page (same address as before but with original splash page replaced by a "K-Beatles 105.1 FM HD3" logo + photo:
Now includes an embedded Listen Live link + links to separate apps for smartphones.
***** ***** *****
Direct streaming address (128 kbps, 44.1 kHz, AAC, Stereo): >http://47.179.46.169:8000< (copy + paste for media players)
***** ***** *****
Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc. main webpage with all four stations listed - all have Listen Live links included within their individual websites:
Last edited:
I’m guessing @david means “longest lasting.” The KSurf format lasted a total of a little under nine years, dating back to when it launched on 1260 on March 17, 2017. The 1260 frequency’s previous stint with oldies lasted just ten months, from August 2004 to June 2005; at which point the format was flipped back to standards.
The shortest-lived format I can remember Saul hosting, either on AM or HD FM, was classic country-formatted Go Country Gold.