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2 Shows GONE !

On the other hand, due to the results with Burbank, how willing will area talk stations be to try another younger host. I could listen to talk if it was entertaining and not all about slanted political hype. Yet every time one of these shows is tried, like TBTL, it seems to halt abruptly and with results that don't encourage any more experiments. Makes one wonder why younger people would ever listen to talk even on FM. I like the idea of talk radio, but most of it isn't entertaining. It's partisan shouting. I want to laugh but don't need a "shock jock." So, in that regard, I admire what Burbank was trying to do.
 
Jimmy James - I'm glad you admired Burbank's efforts; everyone needs someone to like them. But IMO, the problem isn't the relative youth - it's the culture/demo shock. Ross on in the day doing mostly serious, left-leaning. Doris follows with hours of bullshit but mostly aimed at adults. Then they send in the clowns with the Ambiguously Gay Duo, capped off by Slackerfest. Any serious talk listener HAS to be scratching their head. This kind of block programming would have worked in Lincoln NB, circa 1963 but not today. No consistency, no theme, nothing unifying them. 710 ESPN has a theme, a consistency. KIRO-FM does not. Confused listeners = NO!
 
WKomm said:
Jimmy James - I'm glad you admired Burbank's efforts; everyone needs someone to like them. But IMO, the problem isn't the relative youth - it's the culture/demo shock. Ross on in the day doing mostly serious, left-leaning. Doris follows with hours of bullshit but mostly aimed at adults. Then they send in the clowns with the Ambiguously Gay Duo, capped off by Slackerfest. Any serious talk listener HAS to be scratching their head. This kind of block programming would have worked in Lincoln NB, circa 1963 but not today. No consistency, no theme, nothing unifying them. 710 ESPN has a theme, a consistency. KIRO-FM does not. Confused listeners = NO!

Without agreeing with your rather middle school etiquette comparisons, I do agree that at least for me, KIRO sounds like a proverbial ship without a rudder. There is no cohesion between any of their shows, combined with even less cross promotion. It's almost as if the station is programmed solely with paid block programming of vastly different talk formats. I've heard stations be accused of the 'format of the month club', but KIRO is the poster child for format of the hour club.

I suspect the problem for Bonneville is that they may be stuck with contracts that were negotiated during the days of diary success for the station. Now that ratings no longer just associate KIRO with being the only news station in town, they may be stuck with diary-based multi-year talent contracts. My hope for management is there are performance clauses baked into the contracts, where so many down rating periods signal a window to make changes.

My take is the morning news sounds lifeless and disinterested. Dave Ross sounds pompous. Dori Monson sounds small market. And those two guys at night, like pub talk from a small station in Wisconsin, not PM drive in market number 13.
 
So funny. I haven't checked back here in months and here's the World Flame-ous Guru calling my takes "middle school" and he won't agree with them ... and then he agrees with them.

Guru - you're a piece of work. If cordovan shoes and a striped tie could write, it would be your post. Still - I think what you say may be accurate. But I've had several of my contracts abrogated (like that? ask a middle schooler for a definition) simply because new mgt or no chemistry. I can't imagine a huge co. like Bonneville being unable or unwilling to eat a relatively paltry sum to cleanse their airwaves, salt the earth and begin anew. The more the PPM truth befalls them, the closer they'll be to pulling out both their checkbook and a supply of cardboard boxes.
 
I've actually been in this situation; here's the scenario.. You purchase a station with pretty good ratings, maybe even the market leader in demo or revenue. Then something changes such as PPM turns the game board upside down. Adding insult to injury, the valuation of the property was based on the X times cash flow that the station brought in during the good times. Now not only did the value slide because of the new measurement system, the entire advertising and economic climate goes cold within months of each other.

The previous owner, in the honest interest to protect that leading stance at the time, does multi-year contracts with the existing talent. Now we're not privy to what the previous owner wrote into the agreements, but even if there were performance clauses, we also don't know what any trigger points were in those agreements. To simply brush it off and say "eat a paltry sum" is, to say the least, not a rational statement. I'll guarantee that if you were having to write a check for potentially millions of dollars while your business is down 30%, you wouldn't be jumping into rash decisions.

Of course even my statements are simplistic for this audience, but here is the third major issue at stake; assuming you could change the talent line-up, there isn't a way on God's green earth that during these economic times could a station anywhere replace 75% of their revenue producing talent line-up all at once, let alone the massive amount of investment required with promotion alone in making the change.

So the options are: 1- sit tight and get a year of data until the advertising market stops struggling with a known commodity. 2- Start making wild speculative changes based on panic and risk really losing it. 3- While the economy remains slow, keep expenses low while looking at options, performing research to make the best call so when the economy turns around, you'll be ready to capitalize on the research and analysis. I'd take option 3 any day.

But in the meantime, the programming folks at KIRO can at least make small corrections in the interest of shoring-up their presentation while looking at the options.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a solid colored tie for work today since it's raining.
 
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