Air-1

[bucwhyl]

Black gospel is becoming a very popular format. Look at WHAL in Memphis. They're numbers are not too shabby and that's a Clear Channel station. Gospel FMs are doing well all throughout the south. I don't see why it wouldn't work here.

 

[Rick Rose 2.0]

The problem with urban inspirational/black gospel radio is the inability to get advertisers and get much profit if any. The stations draw great numbers in many markets but dont get advertiser support.


The focus on this board is too often ratings while actual revenue is the real reason behind most format changes.

many sports stations like the Fan in DFW have low to bad ratings but bill well

 

[bturner]

From what I have seen, Black Gospel has a good following with a very loyal audience. The biggest trick is getting the advertising revenue out of a secular marketplace. KROI had impressive numbers but struggled to turn those numbers into revenue.

For lots of Christian formatted stations it's the ministries/churches that fill that void. From a programming aspect, the long-form programs contrast from the music format so much it hurts the overall numbers. Not many stations have had the funding or willpower to weather the lean years until the music format gains enough of an advertising base to replace the long-form teaching and preaching revenue. Worst yet is many cases the music is seen as simply unsold time by management.

The AM dial is where most Black Gospel winds up because of FM stick values and high debt service. If anybody came up with a fool proof plan to market Black Gospel successfully, I think you'd see more than one FM stick doing the format.

I know a guy that has a few AMs doing black gospel and he always struggles but he has pulled it off. And his stations are mainstays in the communitiies he serves. Easily more than half his revenue comes from ministries buying time...the rest from Mom and Pop businesses.

 

[Kent]

Black gospel is becoming a very popular format. Look at WHAL in Memphis. They're numbers are not too shabby and that's a Clear Channel station. Gospel FMs are doing well all throughout the south. I don't see why it wouldn't work here.

As Rick and Turner point out, black gospel can get the numbers, but the power ratio is usually about half what the ratings would indicate. Clear Channel has several "Hallelujah" stations, and some are more successful than others. I believe the one in Jackson, MS does even better than the one in Memphis, but the one Clear Channel tried in Little Rock got exiled to another lower power stick and spun off.

KROI in Houston has no more than half the ratings it had as "Praise 92.1," but it billed more in its first 9 months as a news station than Praise did in a year.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Well,it is obvious that gospel has a lot of fans on here. But I repeat - it is not a one size fits all format. We got that load of bovine excretion from Carpenter's Home Church when they sold WCIE, their new gospel AM was supposed to meet all the spiritual needs of the former WCIE audience. It didn't. Tens of thousands of central Florida listeners, who had just pledged over a million dollars to WCIE on good faith that the format wouldn't change were completely screwed and left with no Christian radio. Mostly young people, who needed it most. Gospel has very little penetration in the teenage and young professionals. It is as irritating as fingernails on a blackboard to them. And useless as a tool to reach them for Christ.

 

[salemjedi54]

Black gospel is becoming a very popular format. Look at WHAL in Memphis. They're numbers are not too shabby and that's a Clear Channel station. Gospel FMs are doing well all throughout the south. I don't see why it wouldn't work here.

It can work, but you have to really hit the local sales, and when you sell the time, you have to collect the money at the same time or at least get half the money up front and do credit on the rest.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Question: How many Black Gospel stations are doing anything with Christian rap or hip hop? I know the stations in West TN might do some music that might would qualify as AC, but to me they seem even more restricted in what they will play than AC CCM stations. Young people need to be reached in that style just as much as AC or rock.

 

[salemjedi54]

Question: How many Black Gospel stations are doing anything with Christian rap or hip hop? I know the stations in West TN might do some music that might would qualify as AC, but to me they seem even more restricted in what they will play than AC CCM stations. Young people need to be reached in that style just as much as AC or rock.

I don't know around the country, but here in D/FW its limited to weeknights and weekends. When I worked for KHVN in the mid 90's they had the Saturday Night Praise Party, that was hosted by two teenagers. They aired those artists/music. As much as I love classic hip hop, gospel rap has never been appealing to me. I have tried to listen to it, and it does nothing for me.

 

[sox fan matt]

How is the signal say around the airport and into Dallas, Denton and Colin Counties?

 

[charles123]

How is the signal say around the airport and into Dallas, Denton and Colin Counties?

The signal's pretty good here in Dallas, people better be glad we have another Christian Rock station with a good signal.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

How is the signal say around the airport and into Dallas, Denton and Colin Counties?

The signal should be almost identical to WBAP FM 96.7, KZZA 106.7, and the little known, little cared about KDKR 91.3.

 

[Huff]

The signal should be almost identical to WBAP FM 96.7, KZZA 106.7, and the little known, little cared about KDKR 91.3.

[/quote]
WBAP-FM, KZZA and KYDA each occupy one of the three candelabras atop the Liberman Tower, so they will have practically identical coverage. KNOR 93.7 is also on the Liberman Tower, but it is side-mounted below the candelabra top.

KDKR runs a directional signal from the Service Tower (the same one that carries KRNB).

 

[rbrucecarter5]

KNOR 93.7 is also on the Liberman Tower, but it is side-mounted below the candelabra top.

I had forgotten about KNOR. When it signed on, it messed up reception of KLBJ, which previously made it into DFW pretty well.

 

[Ryan Williams]

I had forgotten about KNOR. When it signed on, it messed up reception of KLBJ, which previously made it into DFW pretty well.

LOL, no it didn't and there were statistically no KLBJ listeners in the Dallas-Fort Worth market ever.

 

[gbranch]

LOL, no it didn't and there were statistically no KLBJ listeners in the Dallas-Fort Worth market ever.

Technically, you are correct when you say that there were never any statistical listeners of KLBJ in DFW. However, KLBJ-FM was easily receivable in DFW with a decent outdoor antenna. I know this because when I lived in central Arlington near UTA 1987-1989, I had a Radio Shack FM antenna installed on the south facing balconey of a second floor apartment, and KLBJ-FM was receivable to some extent 100% of the time. It certainly was not a city grade signal, and subject to fading, but it was listenable.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I had forgotten about KNOR. When it signed on, it messed up reception of KLBJ, which previously made it into DFW pretty well.

LOL, no it didn't and there were statistically no KLBJ listeners in the Dallas-Fort Worth market ever.

Obviously, from the post above this one, there were other KLBJ listeners. Yes, I was using an antenna - it was the best rock station since KZEW went away, certainly a lot more interesting to me, and the other few listeners in the metroplex than that foreign language garbage that replaced it. And I did have it fairly reliably in my car - in Plano. Probably because I had a decent whip antenna on the car instead of a piece of garbage shark fin or nub "antenna" they put on cars these days. Antennas are like speakers - the bigger the better.

 

[davideduardo]

KLBJ ... it was the best rock station since KZEW went away, certainly a lot more interesting to me, and the other few listeners in the metroplex than that foreign language garbage that replaced it.

Why do you always consider Spanish language stations to be...

1. "Foreign language"? Spanish was spoken in Texas long before English.

2. "Garbage". To many people, the music you like is not pleasing to the ear, but there is no need to call what is pleasing to others "garbage" because, simply, it is not garbage... it is just different.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

KLBJ ... it was the best rock station since KZEW went away, certainly a lot more interesting to me, and the other few listeners in the metroplex than that foreign language garbage that replaced it.

Why do you always consider Spanish language stations to be...

1. "Foreign language"? Spanish was spoken in Texas long before English.

2. "Garbage". To many people, the music you like is not pleasing to the ear, but there is no need to call what is pleasing to others "garbage" because, simply, it is not garbage... it is just different.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

KLBJ ... it was the best rock station since KZEW went away, certainly a lot more interesting to me, and the other few listeners in the metroplex than that foreign language garbage that replaced it.

Why do you always consider Spanish language stations to be...

1. "Foreign language"? Spanish was spoken in Texas long before English.

2. "Garbage". To many people, the music you like is not pleasing to the ear, but there is no need to call what is pleasing to others "garbage" because, simply, it is not garbage... it is just different.

Sorry about the double post.

And various native American dialects were spoken in Texas long before Spanish was spoken by Spanish speaking invaders that committed genocide on native American cultures and people to extract the maximum quantity of gold they could out of their hapless victims. No doubt the Spanish speaking residents thought the same of the English speaking settlers when they were in the process of being displaced. But it was Santa Ana, not the English speaking settlers, who gave the "no prisoners" order at the Alamo. I forgive him because he invented chewing gum - which is a lot more useful than slaughtering settlers, then hiding in a hollow tree when the next battle went against him. The battle of San Jacinto settled the English speaking Texas vs. Spanish speaking Texas dispute long ago.

English is the most commonly spoken language in the United States, those who are not proficient in it are severely handicapped because it is official language of science, technology, industry, and banking. Were I a non-English speaking person, I would be working diligently to learn the language. Just as I would diligently work to learn the language in Mexico should I move there so I could easily assimilate into the dominant culture. America was once called a " great melting pot" - no doubt a politically incorrect notion in today's world but still the smart thing to do if you find yourself in another country is to assimilate into its culture, not attempt the other way around which has always proven to be spectacularly futile.

Yes, tastes are subjective. But no doubt every single DFW DX'er who enjoyed KLBJ, and there were probably a few more than two, would consider KNOR to be garbage. But I am an equal opportunity judgementalist. Al Jezeera will be garbage. Hip-hop is garbage. And lest I leave out my own race - country music is garbage. Except by special dispensation Taylor Swift, who has always been quite nice to my family on several occasions. It is all a matter of one's perspective - as you pointed out. Do I wish KNOR would K-NOT and clear the frequency for KLBJ - you bet! Do I wish KEYH would shut up so I could hear KONO? You bet! At least the Air-1 situation in Dallas proves that Spanish language is not necessarily forever, and stations can come back from a black hole status (in my opinion) to become a useful frequency again. Because I don't speak foreign, I will never be excited about the plethora of invading languages on our airwaves like Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, or whatever it is. I would not be excited about French language encroachment on the radio if I lived in Canada. If the station is foreign language, I don't listen. Plain and simple. Its not formatted for me, so to me it is garbage. I apologize if my personal tastes offend anybody, but they are what they are.

 

[davideduardo]

I would not be excited about French language encroachment on the radio if I lived in Canada. If the station is foreign language, I don't listen.

But Canada is officially a bilingual nation, and both French and English share center stage. So in Canada, French can not "encroach" in that nation since it "belongs there".

That's also the situation in Hawai'i which is officially a bilingual state. Puerto Rico, similarly, is bilingual. And the Constitution of New Mexico provides for a bilingual government. When you have over 30 million Spanish speakers in the US, and when the language predates English in many places, it's kinda' hard to consider it "foreign".

By the same token, all politics, generals, treaties and such aside, Spanish was not only the language of most of today's Texas for a huge portion of its history, but it is also the language heritage of a significant portion of the population.