Yikes…97.1 😱

[michael hagerty]

Please… that HAD to be pronounced as kay-lite. The hyphen was not optional.

A quick scan of L.A. papers---and Santa Barbara (where the call letters had been previous)---showed nobody using the hyphen. And our old buddy Richard Waggoner, writing for the San Pedro News-Pilot sorta kinda went there in the final paragraph about the station:

 

[michael hagerty]

I also used to think about KMPC transferring Robert W. Morgan over to the FM in an attempt to juice the ratings. And, because I listened to entirely too much Robert W. over the years, I know exactly how he'd start the first show.

"Six o'clock at KLIT, Los Angeles.

(four-second pause)

See? I found it."


(straight into "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia whether it was in the library or not, because he was Robert W. Morgan)

And over the moans at the end, he'd almost certainly say:


"I'd like to dedicate that to my first hotline call here at....um....uh.....

(four-second pause)

Oh. Yeah. K-Lite.

(pause until just before the vocal on the second record)

Mm-hm. K-Lite."

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I also used to think about KMPC transferring Robert W. Morgan over to the FM in an attempt to juice the ratings. And, because I listened to entirely too much Robert W. over the years, I know exactly how he'd start the first show.

"Six o'clock at KLIT, Los Angeles.

(four-second pause)

See? I found it."


(straight into "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia whether it was in the library or not, because he was Robert W. Morgan)

And over the moans at the end, he'd almost certainly say:


"I'd like to dedicate that to my first hotline call here at....um....uh.....

(four-second pause)

Oh. Yeah. K-Lite.

(pause until just before the vocal on the second record)

Mm-hm. K-Lite."

I thought this thread was about the new FM sports station in town, or did I miss something?

 

[michael hagerty]

I thought this thread was about the new FM sports station in town, or did I miss something?

Oh, yeah. You missed a lot.

See, I whipped up a logo for Yikes 97.1 FM, and then call letters for that got suggested, but those were deeply problematic when pronounced aloud---or not, depending on who you asked. There was a little journey down memory lane about station names, with a Hendrie story, a little yadayda (as Ron Jacobs would say) about Petros and Money and whether Audacy is ashamed of the word "Radio" and that got around to K.M. talking about the call letters that 101.9 had for five years and then a Richard Wagoner (whose name I misspelled) column popped up, and that led to my "what-if" about Robert W. on K-Lite.

There was also something about Tijuana and loud banging.

Anyway, sorry you missed it! The rest of us had a lot of fun.

As for the new FM sports station in town, we'll have news when it breaks. Just like KFI.

 

[K.M. Richards]

You know what? The hell with it all. Just bring back Gentle Country KGBS.

 

[OldiesMaven]

Ashamed? Got anything to back that up? Radio.com was underperforming and seemed tied to one technology. Audacy put it up for auction at a dirt-cheap $2.5 million and didn't get a bid that high for it.

"Audacy" is worse by far---but let's not jump to unfounded conclusions about the reason for the switch.

If you can't make your stations and streams successful using the Radio.com branding, the problem is the company (and its execs) not the name.
David Field couldn't sell cold soda on a sweltering beach.

 

[OldiesMaven]

They're not in the device business.

Radio is more than a device -- it's a service. When you ask someone listening to a ballgame on SXM's app, they'll reply that they're listening to "radio." Not an audio platform. Radio. R-A-D-I-O.

 

[michael hagerty]

If you can't make your stations and streams successful using the Radio.com branding, the problem is the company (and its execs) not the name.
David Field couldn't sell cold soda on a sweltering beach.

So the issue would then be incompetence, not shame.

Worth noting that CBS, which was not incompetent, couldn’t make anything out of Radio.com for the eight years they had it, either.

 

[TheBigA]

Radio is more than a device -- it's a service. When you ask someone listening to a ballgame on SXM's app, they'll reply that they're listening to "radio." Not an audio platform. Radio. R-A-D-I-O.

I understand all that. Words can be limiting, in the way they create preconceived ideas and prejudice. You say they're "ashamed. We've found in polling that some people are ashamed to say they LISTEN to radio. It goes both ways.

The other thing is these platforms aren't strictly about AUDIO distribution. They also provide video.

If you can't make your stations and streams successful using the Radio.com branding, the problem is the company (and its execs) not the name.
David Field couldn't sell cold soda on a sweltering beach.

The fact of the matter was the domain name was available to anyone. Not just corporate radio. And no one in the traditional radio business got it.

It instead when to a music distribution company:

Crown by Radio.com - Call the hit before everyone else

Listen to short clips from emerging artists. Claim the songs you think will break out. Music discovery is now a game of taste.

www.radio.com

 

[K.M. Richards]

So the issue would then be incompetence, not shame.

That was the word I was looking for earlier. Thanks, Mike.

 

[iDontHeartRadio]

I gave the afternoon show another chance. I just can’t. Each time I tune into 97.1, I flip to 570 a few minutes later. Petros and Money are doing actual radio and have energy. The Fan assembled podcasters together. You can tell the difference

Love this analysis. I do like DMack but I think he’s a better fit as a “Dodgers Insider”. Reiter likes the smells of his own farts. I will say I got a chance to really listen to the new James Coe night show last night and I had to make sure I was still listening to The Fan. It sounded like an actual radio show as opposed to a podcast with commercials.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Love this analysis. I do like DMack but I think he’s a better fit as a “Dodgers Insider”. Reiter likes the smells of his own farts. I will say I got a chance to really listen to the new James Coe night show last night and I had to make sure I was still listening to The Fan. It sounded like an actual radio show as opposed to a podcast with commercials.

I don't listen to any of the sports stations very much, but Petro's and Money are by far the best local show in my opinion. They bring the meat while still being entertaining.

I especially like Petros' analysis of college football during the season. He brings it, provides a lot of great insights not available elsewhere, and he is real because he has lived it. You could almost say he is money.

 

[Weiserguy]

Please… that HAD to be pronounced as kay-lite. The hyphen was not optional.

OK, I'm two days late in reacting to this, but...

HUH???

I was referring to KYKS. KYKS. Pretend it's a word and say it out loud. (Hint: don't pronounce it as "Kicks". Hard "Y".)

Now do you see the problem?

 

[fybush]

OK, I'm two days late in reacting to this, but...

HUH???

I was referring to KYKS. KYKS. Pretend it's a word and say it out loud. (Hint: don't pronounce it as "Kicks". Hard "Y".)

Now do you see the problem?

This thread has more than run its course.

There are all sorts of words in the English language that can be twisted into uglier meanings by changing vowels and pronunciations.

In the real world, there are and have been no shortage of "Kicks" stations using callsigns that could be stretched into other interpretations. Doesn't mean we have to go inventing more of them.

 

[K.M. Richards]

In the real world, there are and have been no shortage of "Kicks" stations using callsigns that could be stretched into other interpretations. Doesn't mean we have to go inventing more of them.

One last word before this thread heads toward closure. IMO, the need to broadcast call letters and COL has long ago become irrelevant. §73.1201 is mostly paid lip service by burying one, the other, or both in a variety of ways, and no one but the FCC cares.

If Brendan Carr really wants to get rid of outdated rules, he needs to put that one on the list.

 

[davideduardo]

OK, I'm two days late in reacting to this, but...

HUH???

I was referring to the GM of KMPC and K-LIT who would sanction any staffer who misused the calls. This is the same GM who, in a meeting after the closing of the sale of that station to Heftel, told Richard Heftel, Bill Tanner and me that the frequency could never get more than a low 1 share (We got it into the 5's and 6's).

I was referring to KYKS. KYKS. Pretend it's a word and say it out loud. (Hint: don't pronounce it as "Kicks". Hard "Y".)

And that is how we got onto a discussion of unintended call letter pronunciations.

For example, years ago a station in a market with lots of Hispanics wanted to change calls to KULO. And there is the urban legend about the University of North Texas wanting to use its initials for a K-based call sign...

Now do you see the problem?

No.

 

[davideduardo]

One last word before this thread heads toward closure. IMO, the need to broadcast call letters and COL has long ago become irrelevant. §73.1201 is mostly paid lip service by burying one, the other, or both in a variety of ways, and no one but the FCC cares.

If Brendan Carr really wants to get rid of outdated rules, he needs to put that one on the list.

I'll repeat what I have mentioned before: when in Ecuador, I wanted one of my stations to sound different by just using its call letters as its identifier. The government refused, saying that in Ecuador calls were not allowed to be used on the air by commercial stations!

Call letters, save for a station or two, are now meaningless and that is why we hide them..Their only use is to uniquely identify stations for ad sales and ratings.

 

[Loverofradio]

I don't listen to any of the sports stations very much, but Petro's and Money are by far the best local show in my opinion. They bring the meat while still being entertaining.

I especially like Petros' analysis of college football during the season. He brings it, provides a lot of great insights not available elsewhere, and he is real because he has lived it. You could almost say he is money.

Agreed. Pairing DMac and Retier against Petros and Money is like having Louisiana Tech play USC