I don't believe KCBQ or KECR were ever at the Highway 52 transmitter site. That was KFMB-AM for decades, then after I-Heart bought it, they changed the calls to KGB. Now, I-Heart has proposed diplexing KOGO at the KGB-AM site.
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10 yrs later, another set of firings at KGO
- Thread starter Hole in your radio
- Start date
Yes, the KOGO site in Emerald Hills in SE San Diego was sold recently I believe, to be turned into a housing development. Iheart got lucky with the KGB-AM purchase to be able to diplex there.
That
That loaded-wire antenna attached to the KLSD tower is now being used by KSDO 1130. They've had that as a "temporary" 2.5kw antenna for several years now, ever since KSDO's former transmitter site in Santee was sold to become a housing development.
Darryl Parks wrote similarly back in 2016 and the way he outlined how the station’s complete complacency during a period when innovation should have happened struck a cord with me.
You can say the same exact thing with KABC-AM since they face the same issue. But in the case of saving KABC-AM that means nothing at this point given that in this decade Cumulus and Westwood One has to respond to the new demo the transition point between Young end Millennials and Old End GenZ (1997-2003) approx. Also it's more about hyping up podcasts now and having their shows on audio apps like Tunein and Iheart to reach a national audience.
I cannot say if KGO-AM or KABC-AM will turn in their license but not likely for now.
But KGO was a market leading station well into the 2000's. It was declining as the first decade progressed, but the mortal blow was the PPM which showed that there was no "phantom cume". It collapsed once the PPM began.
KABC is a 5 kw station that had seen the market outgrow it over 30 years ago. KFI was there at the right time with 50 kw on a better frequency with a fresh approach to the format and a more contemporary "attitude". Better signal, better programming, vastly better news department. KABC collapsed and then made stupid moves like trying to make Ronn Owens work in LA...
They have not figured out that KFI works because it is almost entirely live and local. KABC tries to make the Cumulus/Westwood product fit... and it does not work.
KABC has been for sale for a decade. But what has been offered is less than what it is worth to clear the Westwood product, so they keep it. Probably the same goes for KGO... although KGO likely gets combo buys from the cluster, particularly KNBR, and from pairing with KSFO. KABC is a stand-alone and has not packages to sell.
It probably didn’t happen, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if Cumulus offered KABC on a silver platter when they offloaded KLOS to Meruelo Media, and Meruelo said “nahhh, we’ll pass”.
It’s one thing to have a station on the block, it’s another when it has a weak signal that struggles badly to cover much of the market. Cumulus’s hands are tied and the current sorry lineup KABC has—a mixture of syndicated talk, KTLA audio simulcasts and dollar-a-holler on weekends—proves that. Basically, they’re doing the bare minimum and while the ratings are nonexistent, the weekend brokered fare probably does help turn a profit.
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In their latest numbers, they include LA as one of the markets that met its revenue and EDIBA goals for 2021. San Francisco was not on that list. It's likely KGO was the reason. Could explain the Chip Franklin change earlier in this thread.
Yes, it was likely set so low to begin with that it was not hard to meet.
They have a variety of issues, the largest being the tiered increases in play by play costs for KNBR which lost nearly 50% of its gross revenue between 2019 and 2020 and apparently did not recover significantly in 2021. Cumulus has KGO, KTCT, KNBR and KSFO, all AMs or an AM/FM combo based on a big signal heritage AM. Other than the KNBR FM simulcast, they have only one other FM in the market, the rather mediocre performing KSAN.
Case in point, losing the Warriors radio rights to 95.7. Sure Cumulus could have paid dearly to keep Golden State, and the ratings for KNBR would still be impressive, but at what cost?
It's so sad about KGO, back in the 70s and 80s it was an absolutely spectacular radio station.
The station is still mostly live and local. Unfortunately the audience for what they do isn't there anymore.
Those listeners have moved over to KQED and KCBS, both dominate news and talk in the bay area. KGO will never get that audience back.
If I still lived in the Bay Area they would be my main stations as well. Here in SoCal, for news I Iisten to KPCC, KCRW, and a lot more of KNX now that they're on FM.
Your listening choice in SoCal is in line with what dominates in the Bay area (NPR news/talk and All News). LA as we know is a much different market where the format doesn't do nearly as well. You have KFI on top (without the big ratings you see in SF). And all news KNX behind them. KPCC and KCRW way behind KNX. In fact KCRW doesn't even crack a 1.O audience share.
Keep in mind that KCRW features a lot of eclectic music along with news and talk. That's very different from KQED.
That brings up a difference between NPR and commercial radio, in that NPR seems to allow multiple stations in a market to air their programming (like KPCC and KCRW). While only one commercial station in a market would have the exclusive rights for syndicated talk and news. Maybe NPR thinks the more, the merrier, no matter if takes audience and donations away from another member station.
Interesting that "mostly live and local" works well for KFI in Los Angeles, but not KGO in San Francisco. Similar big signals, but very different ratings. Maybe the live/local need in SF is already satisfied by KQED & KCBS.
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NPR is a membership organization, and the stations are its members. Each station pays NPR for the local broadcast rights to its national programming. So by having two stations in a market carrying that programming, it receives twice as much money. The stations themselves can co-ordinate airtimes so they don't compete. But NPR is simply providing the programming, and each member station is equally entitled to air the programming.
Also, KCRW and KPCC's signal coverages are vastly inferior to KNX.
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