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Allen Kepler Buys BA

Bill Harmonic said:
This will be interesting...

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...-kepler-acquires-full-ownership-of-broadcast-

CLEAR CHANNEL has agreed to sell its interest in BROADCAST ARCHITECTURE INC. to company President ALLEN KEPLER. BROADCAST ARCHITECTURE will go forward as an independent entity and KEPLER takes full ownership of BA on JAN. 1st, 2010.[EDIT]



[EDIT-post truncated as excerpt exceeds amount permitted under Fair Use.Link added by Radio-Info as a courtesy]
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WOW, I agree, Bill. VERY interesting. My hope is that BA getting out from under the Clear Channel umbrella is a positive sign for this format in the long run, provided Mr. Kepler is amenable to a substantive change in approach as far as programming and marketing goes. He has the OPPORTUNITY to turn the tide and shift momentum. We can only hope that he and his associates can deliver, for artists, broadcasters, and listeners alike. We ALL have a stake in the genre's survival.

Chris
 
We all have a stake in the genre's survival but we all need the opportunity to contribute to the genre's survival. We need an open exchange of thoughs and ideas from a broad cross section of programmers with an equally broad cross section of perspectives. That's how you move forward, you have a pool of ideas, you try them, refine them, take what works and evolve that with another set of ideas coming in. This can not be done in a "community" of one. There are so many smart, creative programmers who are having success with varying approaches to programming this music..ALL of their/our voices are needed!

This does not mean being anti-BA..it means being pro-everyone in the smooth/contemporary community. They are a part of it but it needs to be a part, not whole.
 
Agreed, Cat. Not sure how this gets accomplished. History is not on our side, but there are obviously dynamics at work to which we are not privy that MIGHT be indicative of a real and fundamental change in philosophy. My chief concern is that there still will be unrealistic expectations to generate ad revenue and ratings for a format that historically has produced neither (therefore, the pressure to placate advertisers will continue to drive programming choices). Any new approach should be inclusive of a free and open exchange of dialogue, but it also needs to get back to the principles that this format is survivable and viable if sold as a "lifestyle" and not as a huge moneymaker.
 
AC Tones said:
Agreed, Cat. Not sure how this gets accomplished. History is not on our side, but there are obviously dynamics at work to which we are not privy that MIGHT be indicative of a real and fundamental change in philosophy.
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Or, simply, you are trying to make wishes into reality. Cat theorized that "getting out from under the shadow" of Clear Channel would allow new programming directions, even though it is widely known that BA was operationally autonomous from Clear and guided by the research they themselves did, not by corporate dictates that said, "play more Stevie Wonder."

My chief concern is that there still will be unrealistic expectations to generate ad revenue and ratings for a format that historically has produced neither
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Now that is just false. KTWv in the past was among the top 4 or 5 stations in revenue, and was often in the very top tier in ratings, too. In San Diego, KIFM has often been a ratings and revenue leader in the past, although now it's billing is not even top-10. The format did deliver big numbers in the past, and many SJ stations were in the top 5 or 6 in billings.

Example: 2000. WNUA, Chicago. 4th 25-54, 6th 12+, 5th in revenue.

(therefore, the pressure to placate advertisers will continue to drive programming choices).
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The pressure is to offer to advertisers a medium with enough listeners to be of interest. An advertiser is not "placated." Larger advertisers simply pick in each market the top stations in audience delivery, and generally go no deeper. There is no art in this... it's about delivering lots of consumers at a reasonable cost per consumer.

Any new approach should be inclusive of a free and open exchange of dialogue,
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And that dialogue should be between the stations and their listeners, not a "panel of experts" that decides what is "coorrect" smooth jazz.

We call that "research."

but it also needs to get back to the principles that this format is survivable and viable if sold as a "lifestyle" and not as a huge moneymaker.
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Advertisers buy ears, not taste. In this sense, SJ competes with hip hop, CHR, AC, oldies, classic hits, classic rock, country, urban, urban AC, Regional Mexican, Tropical, news/talk, Sports, NPR and all the other radio formats on the dial.
 
I did not say that BA getting out of the shadow of CC would nudge them to be more innovative. Their clients stations have been conditioned to expect pop oldies and covers and the evolution to Smooth A/C. They can't afford to lose revenue streams so they have to give clients what they want.
 
AnotherCat said:
I did not say that BA getting out of the shadow of CC would nudge them to be more innovative. Their clients stations have been conditioned to expect pop oldies and covers and the evolution to Smooth A/C. They can't afford to lose revenue streams so they have to give clients what they want.
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Clients don't "want" any particular kind of music... or talk... they want audience delivery. It does not matter to a client if a station drops one radio format to run another, or whether there are more or less new songs or artists. They never even ask those questions...
 
I guess it's time to start spamming the board again with talk about new music :D.
 
BTW, if you can't get Smooth Jazz to work in those markets (Los Angeles and San Diego), you don't deserve to be broadcasting it. And KIFM should NOT be compared to its large market sibblings. Apples to oranges comparisons. LOCALLY-owned, LOCALLY-programmed, and LOCALLY in touch with its listeners. And speaking about apples to oranges comparisons, let's talk about how well Smooth Jazz is doing outside of those markets. My statement was not as false as you have made it out to be, but of course, you nailed me on making a generalization by throwing out markets where the genre was born, so I guess I asked for it.

You know what cracks me up, David? It's one thing to go after a guy like me who has not spent a day in the business. I am an easy target, and I have to tell you I find it quite amusing that someone so "statistically insignificant" has drawn so much attention from those apparently in the know. But to go after guys with a combined 75+ years in the industry who know this particular genre inside and out, far more than what those seemingly "in charge" give them credit for, shows me that you MUST be quite the expert, my friend.
 
AC Tones said:
BTW, if you can't get Smooth Jazz to work in those markets (Los Angeles and San Diego), you don't deserve to be broadcasting it. And KIFM should NOT be compared to its large market sibblings.
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Larger market? It's a top 15 market!

Apples to oranges comparisons. LOCALLY-owned, LOCALLY-programmed, and LOCALLY in touch with its listeners.
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It's owned by a life insurance company out of North Carolina. Has been since 1991 (one insurance company bought the other, of course).

And speaking about apples to oranges comparisons, let's talk about how well Smooth Jazz is doing outside of those markets. My statement was not as false as you have made it out to be, but of course, you nailed me on making a generalization by throwing out markets where the genre was born, so I guess I asked for it.
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I cited three markets where SJ had been Top 5, and very high in billing until the demos moved older. KIFM is now not even in the top 10 in billings, for example.
 
Well, at least those insurance company folks in North Carolina stick to what they do best and ALLOW the locals to do what they do best, and no one does it better in my mind than KIFM. Are you sure your name is not Daniel Snyder? There was an amusing piece about Mr. Snyder in Rolling Stone this month how his meddling has reduced a once proud franchise to a laughing stock. And FANS are fed up. Is the organization worth a lot of money and profitable? In this case, yes. But the fact is, the guy knows nothing about football and refuses to empower and let football people make football decisions that will result in fielding a WINNING team and a product an entire city can be proud of. Sooner or later, the FANS will start to walk (in fact, they are doing it already---I have NEVER seen more empty seats for Redskins games than I have this year). Yet another professional sports team analogy that I think is very applicable to this discussion. Just read the Rolling Stone piece and you'll understand EXACTLY what I am talking about.
 
Speaking of the Skins, here is a GREAT quote I pulled from a poster on a Redskins fan forum discussing the very article I refer to and Daniel Snyder in particular. Again, the similarities for the purposes of this discussion are striking:

Sadly the article doesn't matter at all. A narcissist basks in the certainty of knowing everyone else is wrong. He may make some hollow gestures later in the season attempting to repair some of the enormous fractures in the fanbase, but they will be superficial and ineffective.

Worst case scenario, (if he even reads any of his bad press, which I doubt) he will react with rage and contempt and punish the fans in some way in a misguided attempt to show them who's boss. Who know...

Wow, sure sounds like some of the disgruntled posters (industry folks and listeners alike) on this board :D.
 
AC Tones said:
Well, at least those insurance company folks in North Carolina stick to what they do best and ALLOW the locals to do what they do best, and no one does it better in my mind than KIFM.
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And then explain why even the 12+ ratings are off by about 40% in the last 7 to 8 months, and the station is down to around 15th in billing in the market... a point where they may not be profitable any more.
 
Off topic but kind of along the lines of the Snyder situation a good question brought up on sports talk radio: How come in Cleveland they blame the coach and the players and in Jacksonville they blame the fans?
and now back to our previously scheduled programming
 
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