1260 Going Country Gold

[vchimpanzee]

Classic Country might soon reconsider having Garth Brooks as a core artists after new allegations of sexual battery and assault surfaced today.

I don't believe it. Like his music or not, he's a good man.

 

[yeoldeschool]

Some people. Most people, even those living in towns with only one radio station, never listened all day, and the vast majority never listened for more than an hour.

You don't think there was a statistically meaningful all-day audience in the before times, at least during weekday working hours?

Thinking back to the world before streaming, I can still remember the sound of radio stations playing in the background at roughly half the businesses I ever went into. Canned Muzak was the norm in drug stores, K-Mart type discount stores, supermarkets, and in some higher end restaurants. But virtually all mom and pop businesses -- auto garages, convenience stores, bodegas, pizzerias, nail and hair salons and barber shops, dog groomers, corner hardware stores, you name it -- had employees running a radio throughout most of the day.

And then there were all the workers with personal radios turned on all day while working, whether cubicle workers with little clock radios playing at low volume on their desks, or truck and delivery drivers, or even guys reading water and electric meters throughout the day wearing walkmans. The list is virtually so endless, it's almost silly bothering with examples.

I can see why most stations now wouldn't program for people who listen all day. Most people will naturally prefer customized iPods and streaming services for such long musical journeys. In a way, people with easy access to streaming and personal MP3 collections might now turn on FM only because of its ability to beat those more diverse sources in the sense of concentrating a high number of rapid succession hits over the duration of a short listening stint. I.e., for a drive to the supermarket, FM will probably sound more energetic and exciting than your iPod's shuffle algorithm.

 

[yeoldeschool]

I'm an honorary member of the Association of Cuban Broadcasters in Exile so I know a lot of the story.

Have you ever written any memoirs about your experiences in that climate? It sounds like they would make for some fascinating reading. Especially:

No different than having my own station taken over, briefly, by guerillas, or ´being beaten up on the street in other points of my career. Oh, and having the building I was in bombed by the Sendero Luminoso in Perú...

... on account of circumstances like this. I can't think of too many programming decisions in the US that resulted in bombings and beatings -- although I hear people were pretty upset about the death of KMET.

Even the transmitters were built by and installed by Russia. In the later 60's, the manufacturer of those Russian transmitters tried to sell them throughout Latin America. On one occasion, I was visited by a "sales rep" offering me the 60 kw and 120 kw AM transmitters at amazingly low prices. The salesman was, of course, Russian. But he was accompanied by a silent guy in a classic ill-fitting Russian suit who just watched what went on... obviously KGB to the core. [...] "You will buy our transmitter, yes? Or else we will be having to shoot you."

That's positively terrifying.

I'm reminded of a great line from an old Simpsons episode (uttered in a live theater): "In Soviet Union, play watches you!" It sounds like you weren't too far from that, having KGB spooks loitering around every time there was a transmitter for sale.

 

[michael hagerty]

You don't think there was a statistically meaningful all-day audience in the before times, at least during weekday working hours?

Thinking back to the world before streaming, I can still remember the sound of radio stations playing in the background at roughly half the businesses I ever went into. Canned Muzak was the norm in drug stores, K-Mart type discount stores, supermarkets, and in some higher end restaurants. But virtually all mom and pop businesses -- auto garages, convenience stores, bodegas, pizzerias, nail and hair salons and barber shops, dog groomers, corner hardware stores, you name it -- had employees running a radio throughout most of the day.

Yep. And what you don't know, unless you were an employee there, was how many times a day the station got changed. I actually got into a little research on that when I was programming an Adult Contemporary station in my first multi-station (14 signals) market.

What I learned was that while I thought we were playing a mix most adults 18-49 could agree on, there was an appetite for tempo as the workday went on, so dials got switched to Top 40, people got tired of hearing commercials so often, or the news, so the radio got turned to album rock or beautiful music----and other than crossovers, we were playing very little a Country fan might like, but most of the playlist of the local Country station was pretty accessible to an A/C listener. The more people in a workplace, it turned out, the greater the chance the dial was getting turned several times throughout the day...even if it was just so as not to leave anyone out.

And then there were all the workers with personal radios turned on all day while working, whether cubicle workers with little clock radios playing at low volume on their desks, or truck and delivery drivers, or even guys reading water and electric meters throughout the day wearing walkmans. The list is virtually so endless, it's almost silly bothering with examples.

And even then, what did they do when two songs in a row they didn't like came on? When a commercial break began? When the news started? Odds are those people you're envisioning had between three and six go-to stations.

 

[michael hagerty]

... on account of circumstances like this. I can't think of too many programming decisions in the US that resulted in bombings and beatings -- although I hear people were pretty upset about the death of KMET.

KMET was down to a 1.9. People were pissed off in 1987 that it was replaced by KTWV, a new age station with no disc jockeys, but I doubt there were many death or bomb threats over it. My conversations with friends who were upset when they heard about the change almost universally went like this:

Friend: "KMET's gone new age? This sucks! How can they? They're number one!"

Me: " Actually, they're tied for 17th with KWKW (a Spanish station at 1300 on the AM dial)." They haven't been number one ever. They were #2, but that was 1979. It's been years since they were even in the top ten."

Friend: "Oh. Hmm. Well, I stopped listening a few years ago. Thought it was just me."

Now, in my career, I did receive a bomb threat. It was right after my arrival at KUKI in Ukiah, and the word had just hit the local paper that we were flipping our free-form FM, KKTU, and going automated country as soon as the equipment arrived.

I went to the General Manager and told him. He said "Mike, don't worry---they're too stoned to actually follow through. In fact, they've probably already forgotten that they made the call."

 

[michael hagerty]

Well that’s just stupid

Is it, though? He's never gotten traction with either format. The last successful (as in making enough money to not flip formats after a couple of years) standards station in L.A. was KMPC---32 years ago.

Someone who was 15 when "Rock Around the Clock" hit is 84 now. Someone who was 15 when the Beatles played Ed Sullivan is 75 now.

The audience for standards is 85 to dead.

 

[michael hagerty]

I doubt that the many people saying how much they like Serenade Radio are that old.

I wouldn't know, Chimp. What I can tell you is that KOY in Phoenix dumped Standards in 2013---11 years ago. Their average listener then was 82.

 

[radiofan2023]

Yep. And what you don't know, unless you were an employee there, was how many times a day the station got changed. I actually got into a little research on that when I was programming an Adult Contemporary station in my first multi-station (14 signals) market.

What I learned was that while I thought we were playing a mix most adults 18-49 could agree on, there was an appetite for tempo as the workday went on, so dials got switched to Top 40, people got tired of hearing commercials so often, or the news, so the radio got turned to album rock or beautiful music----and other than crossovers, we were playing very little a Country fan might like, but most of the playlist of the local Country station was pretty accessible to an A/C listener. The more people in a workplace, it turned out, the greater the chance the dial was getting turned several times throughout the day...even if it was just so as not to leave anyone out.

I once worked somewhere that had a corporate rule which said only a station the company advertised on could be played in the loading dock/warehouse, and since the company didn’t run radio ads in that market, we couldn’t listen to the radio. At another warehouse, we couldn’t listen to anything on headphones because of a workplace safety rule. One place I worked where there was a radio going (other than at stations I’ve been at) it was on the Buzz because that was the station we all liked in the kitchen/back of house. One other place I worked played KCFX when there was a Chiefs game, the rest of the time they ran an in house music service that played mostly 60’s and 70’s songs.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I wouldn't know, Chimp. What I can tell you is that KOY in Phoenix dumped Standards in 2013---11 years ago. Their average listener then was 82.

People aren't saying how old they are, but the man in charge is 63 and he's even more of a curmudgeon than I am. In fact, that's why they listen to his show. He's always complaining.

 

[kevtronics]

1260 is calling itself "AM Stereo", but they're not transmitting a C-Quam signal, I don't hear any IBOC sidebands, and it sounds like they're using the full 10 kHz NRSC bandwidth:

 

[yeoldeschool]

What I learned was that while I thought we were playing a mix most adults 18-49 could agree on, there was an appetite for tempo as the workday went on, so dials got switched to Top 40, people got tired of hearing commercials so often, or the news, so the radio got turned to album rock or beautiful music----and other than crossovers, we were playing very little a Country fan might like, but most of the playlist of the local Country station was pretty accessible to an A/C listener. The more people in a workplace, it turned out, the greater the chance the dial was getting turned several times throughout the day...even if it was just so as not to leave anyone out.

Good point. I had actually forgotten about that aspect of listening back then. Including all the fights that used to happen over the remote in the days of one or perhaps two TVs in the average household.

And even then, what did they do when two songs in a row they didn't like came on? When a commercial break began? When the news started? Odds are those people you're envisioning had between three and six go-to stations.

This may have been where my mental lapse above originated. I never listened that way. Depending on my mood, I would pick one station and stick with it at length, tuning away only to escape the things you just mentioned. But as soon as the commercials, news, or a disliked song or two passed, I was back. I remember entire Saturdays spent doing all-day spring cleaning, or back yard swimming and barbecues, with KPWR or KRTH blaring through a set of JBLs for the whole duration, depending on whether the adults or the kids were in charge. (And usually the adults would flee KRTH's commercials to KRLA, and the kids would flee KPWR's to KIIS. But they always switched back! )

Now, in my career, I did receive a bomb threat. It was right after my arrival at KUKI in Ukiah, and the word had just hit the local paper that we were flipping our free-form FM, KKTU, and going automated country as soon as the equipment arrived.

I went to the General Manager and told him. He said "Mike, don't worry---they're too stoned to actually follow through. In fact, they've probably already forgotten that they made the call."

That's funny. Also, I really long for the America when obviously fake bomb threats resulted in rolled eyes rather than 10 hour lockdowns and 50 MRAPs parked outside the building.

 

[yeoldeschool]

I once worked somewhere that had a corporate rule which said only a station the company advertised on could be played in the loading dock/warehouse, and since the company didn’t run radio ads in that market, we couldn’t listen to the radio.

!?

 

[lanceventa]

Too many threads going down political rabbit holes... Another thread I have to close.