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Austin AM Radio Station Question

E

everydayguy

I had read that 1490 AM in Austin was bought last week for more than a million dollars...other than KLBJ 590 and the Hispanic formats, can any one be a sucess with an AM radio station in Austin?

Just for discussion If you could buy an Austin AM station what format would you put on it to get people to listen?
 
The station was sold for $1.4M. In my estimation that's about $1.0M too much for a high-band graveyard channel operation that doesn't cover anywhere near all of the metro area during the day and barely covers the city of Austin at night with a usable signal.

The stations doing sports aren't what you'd call success stories, and I don't see any other real format possibilities. I can't see why anyone would buy an Austin AM station, especially in today's economy.
 
The AM in question has its tower in east Austin, home to a a large minorty population. The new owner is targeting this audience with a mix of Spanish language religious programing including brokered shows. The format makes money for the station without the need for ratings in the traditional sense. The new owner has made a go with Christian programing in English, first at KIXL-AM and now at KLGO-FM "The Word.'' This new addition allows him to use his expertise and infrastructure to target a different but compatible audience.
 
I remember a programmer once saying it's not a format hole unless there are enough people to fill it. Personally, I have a soft spot for standards and show tunes. But I'd be the first to tell you it's probably not a viable format for any local station. So I get my fix from satellite radio.
 
fredcantu said:
The AM in question has its tower in east Austin, home to a a large minorty population. The new owner is targeting this audience with a mix of Spanish language religious programing including brokered shows. The format makes money for the station without the need for ratings in the traditional sense.
Click to expand...

That much I understand, but I still think they paid way too much. I guess we'll see how it goes.
 
Gosh, that's sad.

I (as well as many other folks here, I imagine) grew up with KNOW. To see that stick reduced to this....................

Yea, I know. It's the business today.
 
I grew up with the top 40 wars of KRIO and KRGV down in the Valley. Today that war continues, but both 5kw AMs are doing brokered Spanish religious programing.
 
wasnt't 1490 at onetime owned with keyi 103.5 (kscw) now bob.
who owned 1490 in the begining? i believe clear channel once owned 1490 at onetime, pecan broadcasters and then BMP.
 
I worked at 1490 and 103.5 when they were KNOW and KSCW respectively. They became KEYI-AM/FM. The AM later tried to return to KNOW roots but the calls were gone. They went with KMOW which they only used in the legal ID. Then came KFON and some kind of talk format. That's where BMP came in.

The FM stayed KEYI or Key 103 until it became KBPA Bob FM.

I believe you're right that CC (or their predecessor Hicks or AM/FM) picked them up but had to spin them off when they acquired 96.7.
 
I worked at the original "Rock of Austin" KNOW 1490 in 1974-1975 as a weekend jock. We were owned by Dynamic Broadcasting, headed up by the legendary Wendell Mayes. 103.5 (current Bob FM) was the amazing KRMH (Karma) back then, owned by R. Miller Hicks and broadcasting from Buda! Wendell bought it and it became KCSW.

KNOW was a great place to work in those days -- even had an excellent local news department with four full time reporters: Bob Schrader, Jim Ribble, Jeff Benkoe and Cyndy Allen...with Dave Jarrott in morning drive, can't remember the name of the midday guy, Wild Bill Mayne in afternoons, Gil Garcia and Bill "Moose" Moss in the evenings -- wish I had a time machine to go back and visit.

As for everydayguy's question about what would work on an Austin AM these days?

I dunno -- maybe Adult Standards, old school R&B, classic country from the 60s and 70s --- ???
 
fredcantu said:
I grew up with the top 40 wars of KRIO and KRGV down in the Valley.
Click to expand...

WOW!..Talk about memories! "1290...KRGV!" I was a little girl when KRIO and barely remember them. But KRGV used to compete with KBFM up until I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Goodness...
 
The Valley went kicking and screaming when FM started rocking. I believe the Valley was #1 in AM penentration even into the 80s. But eventually the FMs took hold led by KBFM, KTEX and 94.5.
 
fredcantu said:
The Valley went kicking and screaming when FM started rocking. I believe the Valley was #1 in AM penentration even into the 80s. But eventually the FMs took hold led by KBFM, KTEX and 94.5.
Click to expand...

I can remember as late as '87 or '88 listening to AT-40 and hearing Casey mention you could hear the program on AM 1290. I seem to remember hearing they tried to blend 1290's format with 99X's shortly afterward and flipped 1290 to SMN's Pure Gold feed.
 
During the early 80s when I was at KRGV TV news, we would do radio cut-ins 24/7 weekdays and daytime during weekends. I remember the last serious format promotion, something called "Magik RGV". The sound actually wasn't bad, a little R&B, some Top 40, a lot of the same kind of stuff that KONO in San Antonio plays. There were a good crew of jocks at the time, names like Manny Lopez, Mike Monday and "Rockin" Ron Shaw (an interesting person in his own right) come to mind. Of that entire crew, I think that Charlie Kennedy is the only one left in Valley radio, someone please correct me if that's not the case.

I remember the book when KRGV finally lost it to KBFM. 104 did a promo called "Live Free for a Year", where they promised to pay your bills for a year, up to the total amount you had spent in the last 12 months. They hammered and hammered and hammered on this contest for at least three months, and it did get a lot of people to give FM a shot for the very first time. In the meantime, I remember no promotion at all for KRIO and KRGV just loped along, doing the same old stuff.

I wonder sometimes, if the Manships (KRGV's owners) knew that AM was on its way out and for that reason put as little money as they could into the station. They weren't cheap owners, after they fired a particular GM who was over both AM and TV we had all the resources we really needed and that's a philosophy that continues to this day at KRGV-TV. But the AM? The Manships seemed to almost lose interest in it in the early 80s, then put it in its own building and sold it off a couple of years later.

It's really too bad...when the plug got pulled on the money, the innovation (no surprise) went out the window as well. I really think something can be done with AM radio, but frankly I'm not smart enough to figure out what. Perhaps in the RGV at least, the Bible-stuff if its destiny.

Here in Austin, however, we've got the screamin' right wing over at KLBJ, Longhorn sports on KVET and not much else. I have to admit that occasionally I turn on KONO 860 out of SA and imagine that I'm listening to 1290 in the RGV or 1490 in Austin once again.

Jeez, do I sound like an old coot or what? ;D
 
What's killing AM is debt. A niche format can be profitable if you own the station outright. But if you've got operating costs and the debt for buying the station it's not going to happen.
 
Indeed, I wonder what percentage of AMs have been sold during the past 4-5 years? I'd bet each of them is struggling under a major debt load.
 
fredcantu said:
The AM in question has its tower in east Austin, home to a a large minority population. The new owner is targeting this audience with a mix of Spanish language religious programing including brokered shows.
Click to expand...

The section of Austin closest to the 1490 transmitter has had a large Hispanic population for decades. A smart broadcaster with a puny signal will analyze the portion of the market where the signal is best, and program accordingly. Overall Austin long ago outgrew the really useable coverage area for 1490.

I well remember the glory days of KNOW as I was growing up in Austin in the 1960's. Runaway #1 in the market with its Top 40 format. Back then the signal covered the city with room to spare...but the Austin market then had perhaps a fourth or even fifth of its current population.
 
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