105.3 Sports Talk

[bchristi]

It looks like 105.3 The Martini has flipped to a sports talk format. That is unfortunate because I liked the previous format. I am also disappointed they have chosen a sports talk format. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Yawn. It's part of their obligation to CBS that Cumeless made corporately. Oh, but they aren't supposed to control the Last Bastard "Trust", are they? LOL! Why does the government even bother to have rules about cap ownership when companies can play shell games for years and years anyway?

 

[bchristi]

Yawn.  It's part of their obligation to CBS that Cumeless made corporately.  Oh, but they aren't supposed to control the Last Bastard "Trust", are they? LOL!  Why does the government even bother to have rules about cap ownership when companies can play shell games for years and years anyway?

Cumulus has completely destroyed radio in OKC. I am sure it's the same in any other market Citadel owned a large percentage of the frequencies. There are few stations remaining on the dial that are listenable. I am surprised 105.3 didn't go classic rock since that seems to be what everyone is doing in OKC these days.

Since Cumulus doesn't care about ratings, only cash, its quite probable the 105.3 frequency has found its permanent format.

Don't they also own WWLS though? Why would they have two stations of the same format?

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Corporate made a deal to carry CBS sports so it's an obligation. The Last Bastard Trust and 105.3 are sort of kicking-dogs of the group so they put their obligation where it won't hurt them. 105.3 doesn't even cover the entire metro 100 percent so it won't even make a dent in their ratings.

 

[bchristi]

Corporate made a deal to carry CBS sports so it's an obligation. The Last Bastard Trust and 105.3 are sort of kicking-dogs of the group so they put their obligation where it won't hurt them. 105.3 doesn't even cover the entire metro 100 percent so it won't even make a dent in their ratings.

I wish they would have flipped KKWD and left 105.3 alone. Wild is no doubt the worst station in the market and its ratings have tanked since Cumulus switched it to their national gold-based playlist. 105.3 was a good station and unique and I will miss it much.

 

[Kent]

Corporate made a deal to carry CBS sports so it's an obligation. The Last Bastard Trust and 105.3 are sort of kicking-dogs of the group so they put their obligation where it won't hurt them. 105.3 doesn't even cover the entire metro 100 percent so it won't even make a dent in their ratings.

The Last Bastion stations weren't included in their obligation to carry CBS Sports. Cumulus isn't allowed to make operational decisions on those stations. The Last Bastion Trust isn't allowed to get programming from Cumulus unless it pays for it. Such payment is supposed to be documented, and it can't circle from Cumulus back.

Of course, the trustee is paid a management fee by Cumulus and has the obligation to get as much money as possible for the stations while spending the least. So, he has to consider Cumulus before making any decisions.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

There is so much cross-contamination on that whole deal here it's amazing. Last Bastard Trust is just a shell game. They aren't alone. Another group shelled out their dogs to their banker buddy. It's all a game. To be honest, I'd probably do the same if I were in their shoes and allowed to do so. The rules are there to supposedly keep control shared around to where only a handful don't have stuff all sowed up. In practice that rarely happens, and almost never seems to happen with the Commission.

 

[DjNotNot]

RIP crappy Martini and Long Live The Spy FM on KOSU!! ;D

 

[bchristi]

RIP crappy Martini and Long Live The Spy FM on KOSU!! ;D

At least the Martini was something different. Almost every frequency in the OKC market right now is country, classic rock, sports talk, or religious. Hopefully that is unsustainable and eventually a little variety will be brought back to the market.

 

[ionosphere]

RIP crappy Martini and Long Live The Spy FM on KOSU!! ;D

At least the Martini was something different. Almost every frequency in the OKC market right now is country, classic rock, sports talk, or religious. Hopefully that is unsustainable and eventually a little variety will be brought back to the market.

Different, yes. But that only means something if it's contemporary too.

 

[bchristi]

RIP crappy Martini and Long Live The Spy FM on KOSU!! ;D

At least the Martini was something different. Almost every frequency in the OKC market right now is country, classic rock, sports talk, or religious. Hopefully that is unsustainable and eventually a little variety will be brought back to the market.

Different, yes. But that only means something if it's contemporary too.

As popular as alternative and indie rock is right now, it surprises me that it was tried twice in OKC, with the Spy and the Buzz, and failed. Why do you think that is? You would think OKC would be the perfect market for it.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

The commercial spy incarnations were simply too odd to gain any real audience. Ferris' iPod simply doesn't have "faithful" to make it viable in the commercial world. A more mainstream version on a signal that didn't require massive income MIGHT work. 94.7s try was dismal at best. Keep in mind who owns them. Also, at 100,000 watts anything that goes on that channel is expected to turn big bucks, in a short period of time. How's that worked out for them so far in the last four formats? Nope... Not too good.

 

[hello4]

The "original 105.3" Spy, run by Jake Daniels et al., was good; nobody wants to hear Ferris' iPod, fer shure!

 

[stevensonair]

hello4, you were saying the same thing over seven years ago.

interesting that "ferris' ipod" is heard over a huge portion of the state now every evening in addition to a successful streaming operation.

you may or may not agree with his playlist choices, but the guy's a survivor who keeps doing it his way, and I applaud him for it.

 

[bchristi]

I don't think OKC will ever have decent radio stations or a successful station playing any of the formats wished for simply because of the corporations who own most of the stations. ClearChannel has found what works for them in this market. Cumulus bought out Citadel and will soon own six stations in the market. Cumulus always plays it safe and refuses to take risks with anything. They also syndicate most of their programming as a way to get by as cheap as possible. Something like an alternative rock station done right isn't going to come out of Cumulus. On top of that, the Christian radio stations own numerous frequencies and simulcast taking frequencies that could be used for something like an alternative rock station or an urban station off the market.

 

[Ryan Beam]

I don't know where you been but Cumulus has owned OKC now for about 2 years.

 

[ionosphere]

RIP crappy Martini and Long Live The Spy FM on KOSU!! ;D

At least the Martini was something different. Almost every frequency in the OKC market right now is country, classic rock, sports talk, or religious. Hopefully that is unsustainable and eventually a little variety will be brought back to the market.

Different, yes. But that only means something if it's contemporary too.

As popular as alternative and indie rock is right now, it surprises me that it was tried twice in OKC, with the Spy and the Buzz, and failed. Why do you think that is? You would think OKC would be the perfect market for it.

3 times and failed. Don't forget 95X from 95-97, which actually was a great station.

 

[hello4]

hello4, you were saying the same thing over seven years ago.

interesting that "ferris' ipod" is heard over a huge portion of the state now every evening in addition to a successful streaming operation.

you may or may not agree with his playlist choices, but the guy's a survivor who keeps doing it his way, and I applaud him for it.

There's always some collection of fringers who can make a small plink with whatever squirrely formatic lean anyone'd care to slap on a stream. Ferris would be doing the music he champions a bigger service if he'd come in from the fringe and mix it in with music "normal people" might have heard; Jake did it, and he turned me on to several songs I'd've never heard before, like from Quarashi and A. To Ferris' credit, I did discover Chrome Pony from him; but I just couldn't force myself to keep listening after awhile, it was too much of a chore. It's funny, he championed La Roux at first, but dropped them like a "lame CD" once they started getting mainstream attention. By no means do I condone commercial Alt stations, who keep pounding Pop crossovers long after they've peaked for the Alt audience, to increase their cume. But quite simply, The Spy is just an attitude, not something anybody normal really desires to adore. And anybody can "survive" with daddy's money; I'd have a station that I, Jake, and ionosphere would like if I had some daddy's money too. I'd like to think I'd fall in the middle, between selfish and indulgent versus a corporate zombie. The fact that The Spy wouldn't exist without daddy's money speaks to its lack of viability; I guarantee you Jake's programming would've done fine if it'd been on a bigger stick.

 

[bchristi]

I don't know where you been but Cumulus has owned OKC now for about 2 years.

I know. That's why all of OKC's stations sound very small market and there is nothing on the dial other than country, classic rock, religious, sports, or top 40 that's 2-3 years out of date. OKC isn't alone though. Cumulus completely destroyed radio in any market where Citadel owned a large number of stations.

 

[Gregg]

I'm not sure you can blame the owners. Maybe you have to blame people in the market. Clear Channel owns an Alternative station in Denver that's #1 and an Adult Alternative station, KBCO, that's #3. CBS's KROQ Los Angeles is one of the country's top 10 earning stations. Clear Channel's Alternative station in Houston, KTBZ, is #7 and the top station for English-dominent young men in the market.

Sorry, but most men in Oklahoma City are listening to Country (3 stations!) or Hard Rock/Classic Rock (3 stations!). Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I think in this case, people in OKC listen to safe, predictable formats, not because owners are too stupid or timid to put an adventurous format on the air. On a Saturday night in downtown Oklahoma City, is the line outside a new Asian Fusion restaurant longer or the line outside Applebee's?

So now Oklahoma City has FIVE Sports stations...

640 KWPN ESPN
1340 KGHM Fox Sports (although no where on their website do they mention Fox)
1400 KREF Yahoo Sports (although no where on their website do they mention Yahoo)
98.1 WWLS Local with some ESPN Programming
105.3 KINB CBS Sports

The only Sports networks that are missing are NBC Sports and ESPN Deportes. You wonder how long the two 1000 watt high-on-the-AM-dial sports stations, KGHM and KREF, can continue to afford local hosts if the sports audience is split among five stations, the others with better signals.