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A Change Coming to KGO
- Thread starter atthestars
- Start date
Be glad you got to enjoy some of these great stations while you could. I’m in my 20’s, and I estimate that there’s not a heck of a lot of time left before much of the content I enjoy on the radio will be gone as well (such is life, and thus moving demographics).
Right. 15 years from now, Audacy will have to change the call letters of four radio stations in three major markets (NY, LA, SF).
Not really. Top 40 isn't what everybody listened to like it used to be. I can't name a single DJ in the market where I live. When I was in high school, everybody could. The jokes Dr. Don told in the morning were all over the schoolyard by noon. There is no KFRC anymore. There isn't one guy everybody listens to in the morning. There are many and few are memorable. The market is more segmented now. You used be able to tell everybody's favorite station from the sticker in the back window of their car. Who gives away stickers anymore? Who even has a favorite radio station? Nobody carries transistor radios or boom boxes anymore. Everybody carries a smartphone. What you listen to on your phone is unlimited. Young people today are all on Twitch and Tik Tok. There are kids who don't know who Ryan Seacrest is, much less Dick Clark. They are following Logan Paul.
It just isn't the same.
Nothing is like it used to be. Nobody has an exclusive on anything anymore. That's how it is.
BTW just to clarify, there never was a time when everybody listened to Top 40. Maybe everybody you know, but not everybody.
There was a time when pop radio tried to be all things to all people. WABC played The Beatles, Buck Owens, Aretha Franklin, Jefferson Airplane, and Louis Armstrong records. They called it mass appeal. They got a 20 share. That meant 80% listened to something else. Then format radio took over in the 70s, and that never happened again.
In the 60's, and prior to the surge of FM, most markets had around 6 or so viable stations.
I'll use Cleveland, in 1960 market #8, as an example... 6 stations that covered most of the market by day and all but the outer suburbs at night for all but one. Two limited signals doing R&B. The other 6 were 3 Top 40 stations and 3 MOR stations.
Fast forward to today. The market has 39 stations. That includes some dog AMs that came on later and some limited FMs, but the audience is fragmented. While WHK had 30 shares in 1960, no station today has more than a 9 share in 25-54.
Many are memorable to their listeners. But the tastes in America have changed. Top 40 split into CHR, Hot AC, AC, Churban, classic hits and oldies. Each station has its own set of listeners but no one station has the dominance to be water cooler fodder any longer.
The same happened to TV. Nobody talks about and scripted TV show on the networks any more, because network shows that used to get 20 to 30 rating points (Think "Dallas") now get 3 or 4 ratings points.
More choices, less commonality.
Nobody... because bumpers are not chrome plated and stickers peal the coating. Windows are all tinted, so the stickers don't show through. Again, changes that have nothing to do with the appeal of programming.
Everyone, even the 18-24's that folks are fond of saying don't listen to radio. In fact, about 8'% of them actually do. Yes, a lot less. But they listen and have preferred stations.
That's because a) Seacrest and CHR target 25-44 women and, b) Dick Clark is dead.
And Charlemagne and new young adult focused talents. No station targets "kids" any more because there have not been Clearasil buys for going on four decades.
And I can't go and buy a new Rambler or Corvair or Hudson any more, either.
Before KFRC, there was KYA. The Big Daddy at KYA was Big Tom Donohue. Tom was so big, he promoted the last Beatles concert at Candlestick Park. He was a huge star. Then one day, Tom got sick & tired of Top 40 radio. He saw there was a lot of great music getting made in San Francisco that wasn't getting played on the radio. So he quit KYA. This was 1966, years before Dr. Don. Tom took his ideas to the owner of a small FM station KMPX, and started playing unknown local rock bands. The station grew in popularity. Then the owner got a big head and tried to screw over Donohue. He quit again, took his staff to KSAN, and the rest is history. But that was a different time. Today, everybody thinks of themselves as "influencers." Name all the big DJs at Spotify or Apple Music. You can't. But there are a lot of people pounding away at local radio stations. They'll never be the Big Daddy or Dr. Don, but they do what they do.
And before that there was KOBY on 1550, the first Top 40 station in the market:
When 'Wonderful KOBY' ruled the air
(I was a little too young to listen regularly.) He hosted a local bandstand show, called...
You can’t buy a Rambler, a Corvair or Hudson anymore for good reason. But I can go to the Chevrolet Dealer and buy a new mid-engined Corvette that is light years ahead of the Corvette they sold in 1955. The consensus here is the New Sports Betting KOA won’t bring as many listeners as the old fashioned news talk KOA of 20 years ago, but so what. They are still making money in a dying industry. Lets do some surveys, decide that 25-44 women don’t care about how a car handles, just put a different gas tank in that Pinto and we will still make enough money to balance the books. That doesn’t make your new, improved Pinto any kind of a great car, much less one that is memorable.
Oh, and I never bothered to take my 2017 Mustang to one of those cheap detailing places to get the windows tinted, so the one sticker I put back there for my dog rescue group shows up just fine.
During the late 50's KTKT held 50% of the listeners in Tucson. OK, it wasn't a major market back then but that's a superb achievement. Frank Kalil was the PD then.
>>>There was a time when pop radio tried to be all things to all people. WABC played The Beatles, Buck Owens, Aretha Franklin, Jefferson Airplane, and Louis Armstrong records. <<<
Ahh, not Buck Owens. His biggest Top 40 hit was "Tiger by The Tail" which only hit #25 in 1964. WABC rarely played anything below #20, especially if it wasn't pop/rock/dance. But yes, if a Country artist got into the top 15 or so on the pop charts, WABC played it. Plenty of Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, John Denver, etc.
As for Louis Armstrong, yes, Hello Dolly was #1 for many weeks and WABC played it very frequently all that time. But I don't think any other Louis Armstrong songs got airtime. WABC was Talk Radio by the time What A Wonderful World became a semi-hit after getting featured in "Good Morning Vietnam."
Ahh, not Buck Owens. His biggest Top 40 hit was "Tiger by The Tail" which only hit #25 in 1964. WABC rarely played anything below #20, especially if it wasn't pop/rock/dance. But yes, if a Country artist got into the top 15 or so on the pop charts, WABC played it. Plenty of Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, John Denver, etc.
As for Louis Armstrong, yes, Hello Dolly was #1 for many weeks and WABC played it very frequently all that time. But I don't think any other Louis Armstrong songs got airtime. WABC was Talk Radio by the time What A Wonderful World became a semi-hit after getting featured in "Good Morning Vietnam."
KOA? Did Denver flip?
Yes, but even that still illustrates BigA’s point—-Just as many Tucson listeners weren’t listening to KTKT as were. And in most other markets, it was worse.
Yes, I am a SXM subscriber and listen to 3 of the 5 original VJs on 80s on 8. There are still KFRC and CKLW jocks on 60s Gold.
I meant to say KGO. But you never know. KOA could be next.
The former CKLW jock you're referring to is Pat St. John, who spent 42 years working for FM stations here in New York City.
Would it matter? Are you any more likely to listen this way?
K-Love doesn't buy AM stations, unless one is needed for an FM translator.
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