Air America to KHTS-FM 93.3 HD3

[sdwulfdawg]

To me it is just ironic that our economic system, not actually capitalism of course because that requires competition, delivers up the same uniformity of praise for the administration that Russians used to get under Communism. Official media in Russia was largely ignored, politics and culture were passed along citizen to citizen by samizdat and thats the system that is developing here as well for the same reason: official media is worthless except for scores, traffic, and weather.

What is your background/resource that you are making direct references to the Soviet Russian media system?

 

[Lopaka]

Hedrick
Smith "The Russians" on samizdat. A NY Times reporter. I have never been to Russia but some friends were, even before the USSR broke up, they had similar observations. Lets just bury this OK, its over.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Thank you for being truthful that you were repeating second-and-third hand sources rather than truly witnessed observations.

 

[Lopaka]

The internet is a jazzed up version, a higher tech version, of samizdat. People can open their own internet radio stations. Its a great technology. I suppose it will eventually be smothered just like radio has been. I am always truthful so I am thankful you notice and appreciate that fact. Hedrick Smith was the NY Times Moscow bureau chief, no lightweight at all.

 

[Lopaka]

Samizdat was the way Russians shared culture, passed around culture, when the official media was offering nothing of interest; perpetual rapturous praise of the glorious leader's speech on agriculture for example. (The USSR was such a wonderful target for humor!!) People would make and pass around, by hand, tapes. Speeches, poetry, music recorded from western stations that leaked thru the jamming, or were secretly recorded in a satellite country and spirited back to the USSR. Smith had no axe to grind either in reporting on samizdat, or on life in the USSR, it was an interesting and informative book, which granted was a second hand source as all books must be. A much more important and powerful book which I encourage everyone to read is "Gulag Archapelago" by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, all three volumes, it teaches its own lessons so please read it.

 

[Lopaka]

The Voice of San Diego site has a review of the book "Border Radio" (which sounds like a good read!) and in passing it mentions that KLSD brought in $2.5 million last year. It would not be realistic to call that figure, if it is correct, underperforming.

 

[Jacmac]

The Voice of San Diego site has a review of the book "Border Radio" (which sounds like a good read!) and in passing it mentions that KLSD brought in $2.5 million last year. It would not be realistic to call that figure, if it is correct, underperforming.

Grossing and netting are two very different things, which one is it?

 

[bossforever]

non issue air america is dead stacy come to kogo since roger will be national full time soon the san diego flavor will be over stacy can take over no rick roberts or lightweight chip at kogo please respond

 

[willcail]

As a fan of Progressive Talk I joined a group to bring back that format in Columbus Ohio. We succeeded. It is http://www.wvko1580.com. The fact is that there is support for the Progressive Talk format in the San Diego area. Does 1700 AM have Micheal Jackson? (I am talking about the lib talker not the creepy former pop star.) We have Jones programming from 6AM to 3PM all proven ratings winners. There is Sheridan WY KYTI 93.7 HD3 sub station that airs a straight AAR Feed. If the former KLSD wasn't making any money then why hired Stacy?

I am not a big fan of AAR On the WVKO AM message board I pointed out that there are other progressive talkers out there. Like Peter B Collins, Leslie Marshall Mike Malloy and that other Nova M Talker. You can have Progressive Talk with out needing AAR.

 

[SDRadio]

As a fan of Progressive Talk I joined a group to bring back that format in Columbus Ohio. We succeeded. It is http://www.wvko1580.com. The fact is that there is support for the Progressive Talk format in the San Diego area.

If there was support there would have been ratings at 1360 AM. There was no ratings. The support was very vocal and very small in numbers.

 

[Bob_Hudson]

As a fan of Progressive Talk I joined a group to bring back that format in Columbus Ohio. We succeeded. It is http://www.wvko1580.com.

WVKO was off the air for financial and antenna site reasons (they lost their lease) - they went back on the air in March at 290 watts of power with a Spanish language format (they had to use the low power because of their "temporary" transmitter site).

This is a station with basically zero value - I'm not sure we have any comparable worthless AM's in San Diego.

 

[RBA]

If KLSD keeps with its sports format it will have no value. Much like the sports stations in Cincinnati are tanking after moving from Progressive Talk to sports.

 

[SDRadio]

Value is in the ear of the beholder. In this case, ears on sports is an easier sale than ears on a talk format that had no talent value -- but a good message.

 

[mr_arbitron]

Value is in the ear of the beholder. In this case, ears on sports is an easier sale than ears on a talk format that had no talent value -- but a good message.

I'll bite: what is that good message?

 

[SDRadio]

A good message is one that entertain, and makes you think. I listened to Air America and Ed Schultz -- and for the most part, disappointed with the quality of shows on AA. Big Ed can hold his own. Stacy is still Stacy, thankfully.

I enjoyed Alan Colmes when he was on KFMB before they sold out to TRN carried shows.

 

[RBA]

Well, I'm still hearing advertisements for "The Nation" on KLSD and other advertisements more suited for the Progressive Format. If sports talk on 3 stations is such a great sell, wouldn't these ads be replaced with ones that are more tailored to the audience? I'm not convinced KLSD is going to make more money doing sports.

 

[mj]

The spots you are hearing are from the Air America or Schultz networks that locally they probably need to run to fulfill their contractual obligations. They will go away when that is up. Typically you can make much more money in Sports, than being the 3rd or 4th talk station. Sports tends to be a less ratings driven sell,
and much easier with less ratings. They may be the second sports station out of three, but they were one of how many talk stations in the market. ESPN 800 takes virtually no ratings or revenue out of this market.

 

[willcail]

No one on this topic explain if KLSD was not making any money or ratings then why hired Stacy Taylor. One time the station was getting a 2.2 share. In my makrket WYTS is the former progressive talk station and right now there ratings are a *. WVKO right now broadcast 3200 watts daytime and 290 watts nighttime. Plus there are more local ads playing on WVKO AM. then there was on WTPG/WYTS.

 

[SDRadio]

>No one on this topic explain if KLSD was not making any money or ratings then why hired Stacy Taylor.

Stacy was at KLSD from the beginning; and the other question on money/ratings, please ask the program director at Clear Channel San Diego.

From a business model the station was initially paying for itself, then ratings dropped, ad sales dropped in billing and in frequency. There was not a clear path on selling KLSD as a "liberal talker". Given the illusion that San Diego is a GOP city, that didn't help either.

That aside, comparing the station in question to SD is not fair. Is your station locally owned or corporate ran? It tends to make the business model different if the bean counters are in the same city or off in a far far land of Texas.